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墨書 Inktalez
Ye Xiaohan stopped in front of the cave, gazing into the dark interior, unable to determine if it was safe.
She set the young boy down, leaning him against the rock wall, and quietly approached to discern any sounds from within.
After a while, she heard nothing unusual. Ye Xiaohan moved a bit closer, inhaling the air inside; it carried a hint of dry dust but no scent of animal droppings.
She relaxed her body; it was safe to conclude that this cave had not been inhabited by wild beasts for quite some time.
Finally, she had found a temporary refuge. If she hadn’t, her strength would have been nearly depleted.
Earlier, they had heard the distant howls of wild animals. Her earlier judgment had been correct; there were larger beasts in these woods.
In such circumstances, dragging another half-conscious person while being utterly exhausted and trying to continue through the night would be reckless.
Fortunately, the forest was abundant with wood. Since arriving in this world, if Ye Xiaohan had learned any new skills, it was how to expertly start a fire.
In an era without lighters or even matches, fire was typically kindled using flint stones. These stones were quite cheap due to their abundance.
Ye Xiaohan searched around for a while and quickly found what she needed. She gathered some dry leaves and placed them underneath, using a spark to ignite them.
On top of the leaves, she added some twigs, completing her makeshift fire pit. Ye Xiaohan lit her homemade torch from the fire and held it up to make a final inspection.
Illuminated by the flames, the cave that had seemed bottomless moments ago now lay clearly before her eyes.
The cave was not as large as she had imagined; it could accommodate only three or four people at most. The back wall was solid rock with no passageway leading out.
Upon inspection, there was a thin layer of dust inside the cave, but otherwise, everything seemed fine.
Ye Xiaohan picked up a few branches and casually cleared the area before dragging the boy into the cave.
At the entrance, she lit another fire to ward off wild beasts and provide warmth.
Although it was summer, the nights in the mountains were still somewhat chilly. Moreover, there was a boy who had lost a lot of blood; when someone loses too much blood, their body temperature can drop sharply. Without sufficient warmth, it could easily lead to death.
To prevent the fire from going out, Ye Xiaohan gathered more branches and placed them beside the cave entrance. This way, she could easily add fuel to the fire as needed and also create a slight barrier against any beast attacks.
Though the latter effect was minimal, almost negligible.
After completing all this, Ye Xiaohan finally sat down to catch her breath. Her strength had been severely depleted; the struggle for survival along with the constant mental tension had taken a significant toll on her body.
"I'm so tired; I just want to sleep," Ye Xiaohan leaned against the cave wall and closed her eyes.
But soon, she opened them again; it wasn't time to rest just yet.
Aside from worrying about potential beast attacks and whether other figures in black would come after them, the most pressing concern was that the boy was gravely injured. Especially with wounds caused by metal, he was at risk of developing various complications.
The most common and dangerous of these was a fever resulting from the injury.
Such fevers often struck suddenly and could escalate to dangerously high temperatures in a very short time. If not addressed promptly, they could lead to severe aftereffects from the high fever.
The boy was already in such a dire state; if he became delirious from fever, it would be impossible for him to communicate normally.
Ye Xiaohan touched the boy's forehead; fortunately, there was no sign of deterioration for now. However, she couldn't afford to let her guard down—high fevers could easily manifest in the latter half of the night.
Get up. The boy's physical condition was astonishingly good.
If an ordinary person had sustained such severe injuries, they would have long since succumbed. Just the amount of blood lost would have been enough to be fatal.
Ye Xiaohan glanced at the boy. His clothes were so soaked in blood that the original color was unrecognizable, turning him into a veritable blood-soaked figure, with not a single clean spot on his body.
To survive like this showed remarkable vitality.
Earlier, in a rush to escape, she had only managed to staunch the bleeding from the large wound. Now that there was a moment of respite, she needed to clean up the other injuries as well.
The blood had begun to coagulate, and in some places, the wounds had stuck to the flesh, making it difficult to remove his clothing.
With no other choice, Ye Xiaohan had to forcefully pull the dagger from the boy's tightly clenched hand. He seemed to be in a serious condition; despite all this commotion, he still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Ye Xiaohan recalled how the boy had previously looked at others with a terrifying gaze whenever they got too close. Now, he lay there like a dead pig, completely at her mercy, which made her feel somewhat melancholic.
Holding onto that precious dagger, Ye Xiaohan carefully cut through the fabric of his clothing, piece by piece.
She had searched around for water earlier but found none. At this moment, even wetting the wounds was impossible; she could only try to minimize her force to avoid causing him further pain.
This painstaking effort was akin to performing surgery. As Ye Xiaohan gradually peeled off the boy’s shirt, her eyes widened in shock.
In addition to the fresh wounds, there were many old scars on his body. Whip marks, knife wounds, sword cuts—almost every type of weapon she could think of left its mark on him.
The scars varied in depth; some were clearly old injuries from long ago. Many of these old wounds had been covered by new ones before they could fully heal.
Scars covered scars, and just one glance made one's heart ache.
Gently reaching out to touch those scars, Ye Xiaohan suddenly understood why this boy was so cold-blooded, able to kill without a flicker of emotion.
Looking at his injuries, it seemed he had long been subjected to violence.
A child raised in an environment of brutality could easily develop a callous personality.
From this perspective, the boy was also a victim.
Although murder is a crime, that is an undeniable fact. However, the law does recognize excessive self-defense.
If those Black-Clad Masked Figures were indeed the ones who inflicted these wounds, it wouldn't be hard to understand if the boy retaliated when they came after him.
Ye Xiaohan shook her head; she was no longer in her original world. Many things could not be viewed through the same lens as before.
She took out the remaining herbs and crushed them into a paste with a stone, gently applying it to the boy's wounds.
As a professional doctor, Ye Xiaohan certainly wouldn’t hesitate during a critical moment. So she quickly removed the boy's pants and applied medicine to his legs as well.
Due to the sheer number of wounds, once she finished applying the ointment, Ye Xiaohan nearly burst into laughter.
The boy was entirely covered in green paste, resembling a slim version of the Hulk.
The warm glow of the fire illuminated her, making Ye Xiaohan feel somewhat hot, but the boy's body felt very cold to the touch.
Ye Xiaohan closed her eyes, afraid to fall into a deep sleep. She could only doze off for a short while, waking up from time to time to check on the boy's condition.
What impressed Ye Xiaohan was that the boy had not uttered a single groan throughout his ordeal. Even though his tightly furrowed brows revealed his pain, he bore it all in silence.
So when the boy began to let out a few faint groans, Ye Xiaohan jolted awake, instinctively sensing that something was wrong.
She placed her hand on the boy's forehead and felt the heat radiating from him; he was burning up.
He still had a fever.
Fortunately, Ye Xiaohan had prepared in advance and was not caught off guard when the situation escalated.
Without any medical disinfectant or alcohol, she ground the herbs she had collected into a paste and applied the cooling mixture to reduce his fever.
The boy's face was flushed red, his neck also bright with color, resembling a cooked shrimp. However, his lips were pale, and his limbs felt icy cold.
Ye Xiaohan repeatedly pounded the herbs and applied the mixture without allowing herself a moment of negligence.
At one point, the boy even began to convulse in his delirium. Ye Xiaohan picked up a jagged stone and used its sharp edge as a makeshift needle, pressing it against the boy's acupoints to clear his meridians and stimulate his body's response.
It wasn't until the night faded away and the eastern sky began to lighten that the boy's high fever finally subsided, and his brows relaxed slightly.
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