Chapter 301: Poisonous Bats
Yan Xiaosi led the chestnut-red horse to the stables, made brief preparations, then dove headfirst into the tent housing the wounded soldiers.
Murong Qinjian, along with the other military doctors and medical assistants, were all busy on their feet without pause.
From the time the troops returned to camp until dawn, they worked continuously to bandage all the soldiers with external injuries.
After dawn, while the medical assistants cleaned the wounds of those bitten by poisonous bats and fed them heat-clearing and detoxifying medicinal soup, Yan Xiaosi, Murong Qinjian, and the other military doctors finally had a moment to catch their breath.
Yan Xiaosi shook her somewhat stiff and numb arms, yawning as she said to Murong Qinjian, “I’m really exhausted. I’ll go back and rest for a bit first.”
It had been a long time since she’d done so much work. This sudden busyness was taking a toll on her delicate body. If she didn’t rest soon, she feared she might collapse before finishing treating all these wounded soldiers.
Seeing the weariness written all over her face, Murong Qinjian felt great sympathy.
This young man was the precious treasure in Long Yu’s heart. If he were to become exhausted from caring for the wounded here, with Long Yu’s foul temper, he would definitely blame him indiscriminately.
He waved his hand, saying, “Go on, go on. I’m here with the other military doctors watching over things.”
When the other military doctors saw that Yan Xiaosi was leaving, they felt more or less dissatisfied, their faces clearly showing jealousy and unhappiness.
Yan Xiaosi noticed but said nothing.
Murong Qinjian said coldly, “What are you all looking at Xiao Yan for? I’m the one who told Xiao Yan to go rest. If you have any complaints, direct them at me.”
He silently added to himself: If you have the ability, go climb into the War King’s bed too. If you can manage that, I’ll let you go rest as well.
All those military doctors knew about Murong Qinjian’s relationship with Long Yu. After being scolded by Murong Qinjian, none of them dared to speak. Though they were dissatisfied in their hearts, they could only suppress it.
Yan Xiaosi felt warm inside and quickly shot Murong Qinjian a grateful look.
“I’ll go back and sleep for one hour, then come back to relieve you.”
Before she could leave, she heard a wounded soldier cry out in agonizing screams.
In the silent night, the agonized screaming was somewhat hair-raising.
She, Murong Qinjian, and several other military doctors hurriedly looked toward that wounded soldier.
They saw the wounded soldier screaming in agony while writhing on his bed, looking extremely pained.
After writhing for a while, he lay prone on the bed, then began banging his head against the ground.
Since they were sleeping on floor mats, his head easily struck the cold ground. In just moments, his forehead was covered in bruises. A few more strikes and he would likely knock himself unconscious.
Seeing this, Murong Qinjian waved his hand, instructing the nearby medical assistants, “Quick, quickly hold him down.”
Only then did the medical assistants react, rushing forward to pin down the screaming wounded soldier on his bed.
Fearing he might bite his tongue in agony, Murong Qinjian took out several silver needles and inserted them into his head a few times. Only then did he quiet down.
After the wounded soldier calmed down, Yan Xiaosi approached and carefully examined his complexion.
His face was greenish, his lips purple—clearly signs of poisoning.
She frowned and quickly grabbed the wounded soldier’s injured arm to examine it. There were small bite marks on the arm, obviously from a poisonous bat bite.
“Did you give him heat-clearing and detoxifying pills?”
A medical assistant answered with certainty, “We gave them to everyone. Every soldier bitten by poisonous bats received them.”
The toxicity of ordinary bats wasn’t significant. When people were bitten, as long as they took heat-clearing and detoxifying pills, they wouldn’t suffer any serious harm.
Yan Xiaosi understood what was happening and raised her eyebrows, meeting Murong Qinjian’s gaze.
Murong Qinjian said, “The creatures that bit these soldiers weren’t ordinary poisonous bats. The heat-clearing and detoxifying pills are useless against them.”
Just as the two understood this problem, three more wounded soldiers began screaming in agony, reacting exactly like the previous soldier. Murong Qinjian, the other military doctors, and all the medical assistants became busy again.
Yan Xiaosi had originally wanted to go back and rest for a bit, but seeing this situation, she could only force herself to stay alert and remain to help.
In the commander’s tent, Long Yu waited until after the third watch, but Yan Xiaosi still hadn’t returned.
That young man’s wounds had just begun to heal a little, yet here he was staying up all night—truly someone who made others worry.
He tossed the scroll in his hands onto the bedding, got dressed, rose from bed, and strode purposefully out of the tent, heading straight for where the wounded soldiers were housed.
“Ah, ah, it hurts so much.”
“Military Doctor Murong, please just kill me.”
“Military Doctor Xiao Yan, I beg you to put me out of my misery.”
Before even stepping into the wounded soldiers’ tent, Long Yu first heard sounds of wailing and howling.
Long Yi, with a tense expression, helped him lift the hanging curtain.
The moment the curtain was lifted, a strong smell of blood mixed with herbal medicine hit them in the face.
Long Yu slightly furrowed his brows and stepped inside. Upon entering, he saw chaos throughout the tent.
Yan Xiaosi and Murong Qinjian were busy administering acupuncture to wounded soldiers, while the other military doctors helped medical assistants hold down the wailing and howling wounded soldiers. Everyone was in a frantic rush.
Seeing how serious the situation was, Long Yu’s brow twitched.
“How did it become like this?”
Yan Xiaosi had just finished administering acupuncture to one wounded soldier. Looking up to see it was Long Yu, she wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and explained, “These soldiers who are wailing and going mad in the middle of the night were all bitten by poisonous bats. The poisonous bats released by the Rongdi aren’t ordinary poisonous bats. The heat-clearing and detoxifying pills that Young Master Murong prepared have no effect. We can only temporarily use acupuncture to calm these wounded soldiers down. Tomorrow morning, we’ll think of another solution.”
Long Yu saw that she looked extremely exhausted, her voice soft and weak when speaking, and felt deeply distressed.
“You still have wounds on your body. Go back and rest first.”
“If I go back to rest, what about these wounded soldiers? Young Master Murong can’t handle this alone.”
Only she and Murong Qinjian could perform acupuncture on the wounded soldiers; the other military doctors lacked the skill.
“I’m fine. I’ll rest after finishing this work.”
Long Yu’s gaze swept toward those military doctors, and two more wrinkles appeared on his forehead.
What a bunch of useless fools.
He withdrew his gaze and walked to Yan Xiaosi’s side. As Yan Xiaosi was about to administer acupuncture to another howling wounded soldier, he watched carefully from beside her.
While administering acupuncture, Yan Xiaosi said, “You should go back and rest. You staying here can’t help with anything.”
After she finished treating another wounded soldier, Long Yu was still standing beside her.
She currently had no time to deal with this man. Frowning, she urged, “Why haven’t you left yet? Are you too excited from winning the battle to sleep?”
“Mm.”
Long Yu agreed with her words, extending his hand toward her, “Give me a few silver needles.”
Yan Xiaosi didn’t understand, “What do you want the silver needles for?”
“To help.”
Yan Xiaosi waved her hand weakly, yawning as she said, “I’m already very tired and don’t want to talk anymore. Don’t cause trouble, just obediently go back to sleep.”
“I’m not causing trouble. I’m being serious. I just watched you administer acupuncture to these wounded soldiers and learned how to do it.”