Next Patient, Please!

The commandants left the meeting with broad smiles and springy steps. They each informed their troops of the good news. The troops had just finished their meager breakfast of bland grain porridge, so the prospect of eating delicious lunch and dinner in the future was a great comfort.

They happily departed for their destination, all the while discussing their favorite cuisines from their hometowns. Even Captain Zhang, who initially felt that Xiao Yue's and Yu Fen's appointment as squires was unfair toward the others, started to warm up to them.

He knew that Yu Fen still felt uncomfortable when riding on horses, so he shared good tips to reduce nausea and dizziness. To Xiao Yue, he made a point to tell her things that newcomers need to know, such as how to take care of dirty laundry and what kind of dry food to keep in case of an emergency.

Within two days, Xiao Yue and Yu Fen knew what it took to survive in an army on daily basis, so much that Wu Chao Guang even marveled at their adaptability.

"Brother Wu, Brother Wu," Yu Fen would call when they happened to ride side-by-side. She then passed him a bag of snacks out of nuts, dried fruits, and dried meat strips. "Here, some food in case you go hungry."

"..."

After exiting the border, the group rode for another two hours before they finally reached the base. Thick bamboo poles were strung together to form a fence to surround the large base.

The top parts of the bamboo poles were purposefully cut in a slanted manner to create pointy edges which prevented enemies from climbing into the base secretly, especially at night.  In the middle of the base, a huge tower was erected. A soldier on top of the tower acted as a lookout.

When he noticed that Long Zhao Feng's troops were drawing near, he quickly shouted for the gate to be opened.

"Open the gate! Open the gate! General Long is here!"

"General Long is finally here! Open the gate! Open the gate!"

The troops were welcomed by their comrades with loud cheers and open arms. They were not blood-related, but a lot of them had been fighting side-by-side for many wars, so they took each other as foster brothers and parents. While the soldiers greeted each other, Long Zhao Feng approached Xiao Yue.

"Xiao Ya," he called. "Come with me."

"Go," Yu Fen whispered to her. "I will set up our tent."

Xiao Yue nodded at Yu Fen and followed Long Zhao Feng wordlessly. The man took her deeper into the base. Another layer of bamboo-pole-fence stood inside the base, enclosing numerous tents.

Soldiers came in and out of the tents, each of them greeting and welcoming Long Zhao Feng as they went about doing their activities. Xiao Yue who followed behind Long Zhao Feng also bowed at the unknown soldiers as a sign of courtesy. The General took her into one of the larger tents.

As soon as Xiao Yue entered, a strong smell of disinfectant attacked her nose. Before she saw the many makeshift beds inside the tent, she knew what the place was. It was their hospital. Male caretakers and medics went around to attend to the patients on the beds. Xiao Yue was shaken when she passed by a few soldiers.

Some had lost their limbs, some had serious burn injuries. Some were carried out of the hospital, their lifeless arms dangling from stretchers. Those who were still struggling for their life lay on the beds. Some were sleeping, some were crying for their parents.

Some kept moaning from the pain, asking to be killed. Some just lay there on beds, their empty eyes gazed at no particular spot at the tent ceiling.

Long Zhao Feng looked around, searching for someone. An elder medic in white robe approached him and greeted, "General Long, you are here."

"Yeah. Medic Chen, how are you doing?"

"I am fine. We are trying our best to patch up those who were injured from the last war. The trip here was not easy. Some have lost their lives."

Long Zhao Feng nodded. When Medic Chen eyed her curiously, Xiao Yue bowed at him as sign of respect. Medic Chen smiled and bowed in return.

"What about the poison victims? Are they still alive?"

"Of the total amount of seven people, only two are left. One died yesterday."

"Do not send the corpses away first, I would like to examine it. Where are the other two?"

"This way..."

Medic Chen led the way. They walked among rows of beds and exited the hospital. Near the hospital tent was a smaller tent. There were only two beds inside, with a person lying on top of each bed. They were as pale and cold as corpses, but they were still breathing. Their nails were blue, and dark blue veins were bulging at their necks. Xiao Yue sucked in her breath at the sight.

"Leave us," Long Zhao Feng told Medic Chen. The latter bowed one last time and left Long Zhao Feng and Xiao Yue in the smaller tent. Long Zhao Feng took off his helmet and mask. The hair underneath was messy, and sweat beads dotted his exhausted face. He took a seat in a nearby empty stool and crossed a leg on top of the other.

"We had a little scuffle with some people from the Hei Kingdom two weeks ago," Long Zhao Feng explained. "It was not our first confrontation with them, so we can roughly estimate their strategies. We thought we had an idea of how the battle might turn out."

Long Zhao Feng gazed at the poisoned people on the bed for some time before he continued.

"We were wrong. The Hei Kingdom had started to use unknown poison against their enemies."

Xiao Yue knew that before Long Zhao Feng even said it. She also knew what kind of poison these people were subjected to. This kind of poison was made with wolfsbane extract. Xi'an tribe concocted this poison to lace over their spears and sabers and arrows to give them a competitive edge.

While the regular wolfsbane plant was already poisonous enough, this extract was a hundred times more potent. A droplet was enough to kill a full-grown man within hours of exposure. Xiao Yue approached one person to examine him, but Long Zhao Feng grabbed her wrist before she touched the patient.

"Careful," he said. "You will also get poisoned."

Right. Xiao Yue forgot that she was no longer in her original body. Xi'an tribe made poisons, but at the same time they also fed the tribespeople with little bits of poison since childhood to develop poison resistance. Xiao Yue had ingested various kinds of poison since she was a toddler, including wolfsbane extract. Chun Ya's body on the contrary had not.

"If I am not mistaken, this poison is developed by your tribe," Long Zhao Feng said, still holding onto Xiao Yue's wrist.

"I want you to share the recipe for the cure."