Luzhou-Mond - Kapitel 118
After looking at it carefully, I said, "As long as we find the right direction, we can always get back. The map isn't completely destroyed yet."
Shen Haoyu went out, knowing that his injuries wouldn't heal anytime soon. He found some dry branches nearby and carried them into the cave. Even though they were still a bit damp, they would dry in a couple of days. He glanced at the bed that Shen Haoyu had made, shook his head, picked up some branches of similar thickness, tied them together, found some grass, dried it, and laid it on top. It wasn't bad at all.
Every day, he would scout ahead, while I would do what I could without aggravating my wounds. Life didn't seem too difficult, and the cave gradually began to feel more like a human settlement. Every morning and evening, Shen Haoyu would apply medicine to my wounds, and they slowly healed. By the seventh day, they had begun to scab over, though I couldn't see it myself; Shen Haoyu told me.
Four or five more days passed, and the wound seemed to have almost healed. I asked Shen Haoyu when we would set off. Shen Haoyu examined the wound carefully before saying that we could leave.
We had no luggage; everything was still in Caizhou City. The two of us quickly checked our belongings, and Shen Haoyu took off another of his clothes for me to keep my back warm. To be honest, I'd been wearing this same clothes for over half a month, and I really didn't want to wear it anymore. But there were no other clothes to change into in this desolate wilderness, so I had to grit my teeth and persevere. Luckily, I'd just gotten my period before leaving the city, otherwise it would have been even more troublesome.
These past few days, Shen Haoyu and I have carefully analyzed the current situation and unanimously agreed that a decisive battle is imminent. Someone knew that Shen Haoyu intended to escape, so they took preemptive action before Shen Haoyu could run away. Because they were afraid that the news might be leaked, they specially arranged for someone to disguise themselves as the Xuan Ying Kingdom's army. Even if the truth was revealed, they could still pin the blame on Xuan Ying Kingdom.
But who orchestrated this? Dai Chongyan is the prime suspect, and his abilities are truly frightening. He commanded an army of over a thousand men to keep his secret while hunting down a prince! However, these men are all unfamiliar faces; they might be his privately trained army.
In short, this situation is fraught with danger at every turn, shrouded in mystery. It's unclear who is who, or who is working for whom. At this point, there's no hope of finding out the truth; all we can do is escape safely.
The river flows eastward, and regardless of its final destination, continuing in this direction is the right thing to do. Besides, gliding on the ice is much more comfortable than traversing mountains. But feeling the surging water beneath the ice reminds me of Zinuo. I wonder where he is now, whether he's alive and well like me. Every time I think of this, my heart aches terribly, and I vow to exchange half my life for Zinuo's safety.
Upon hearing my vow, Shen Haoyu said softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't keep an eye on him."
I shook my head. Actually, Shen Haoyu has already done a lot. Didn't he sacrifice dozens of guards to save Zi Nuo outside Qingzhou City last time?
As we continued our journey, the river changed course again, forcing us to disembark and enter the mountains. We began hacking our way through the undergrowth, heading only east. When we were hungry, we hunted small animals to fill our stomachs; when we were tired, we found a cave to sleep in. Sometimes, unable to find a cave, we would simply sit in a tree, using branches as a makeshift roof, and take a nap. At those times, I was incredibly grateful for the cold weather; otherwise, if it had rained, we would have had nowhere to shelter. However, eating meat every day made me nauseous. For a long time after our escape, I was terrified of meat, and Shen Haoyu wasn't much better off.
After traveling east for five or six days, Shen Haoyu took out the map again to compare it, but he was even more confused about where he was. His current location was similar to several places on the map, but not exactly the same. Frustrated, Shen Haoyu stopped looking at the map. Later we learned that this place was not even within the map's area; we had gone dozens of miles south.
That night, I found another cave. Although it was winter, I felt like I smelled bad, and the smell wasn't the worst part; I was unbearably itchy all over. I kept thinking that I had to take a bath, even if it was just ice water, regardless of whether I changed my clothes or not. The next day, I found a stream. At a bend in the stream, I painstakingly dug a hole in it, told Shen Haoyu to wait at a distance, and jumped in after taking off my clothes. My teeth were chattering from the cold, but I managed to finish washing. When I came back after getting dressed, I thought I would set off with Shen Haoyu, but he also told me to wait and went to the place I had just been. It turned out that he couldn't stand it either.
After taking a shower, I felt much better and could walk faster. That night, I found a cave, lit a fire, and slept soundly until I was awakened by a sharp pain. By the firelight, I saw a brightly colored little snake slithering towards me.
Why would there be snakes this season? That was my first thought.
I just got bitten by a snake! That was my second reaction.
He raised his hand, and two tiny holes on his wrist oozed wisps of black blood.
It's poisonous. This is the third reaction.
Shen Haoyu! This is the fourth reaction.
The little snake had already crawled onto Shen Haoyu's body. I was terrified, but I didn't dare to make a sound for fear of disturbing it, nor did I dare to catch it. Just thinking about its slippery feel made me nauseous.
Seeing that it was about to climb onto Shen Haoyu's head, he couldn't care less about anything else. He raised his sword and swung it at the creature, accurately lifting it up and tossing it away. Shen Haoyu was already awakened by the shock: "What happened?"
"There's a snake." I was still in shock.
Shen Haoyu looked around; the snake had already swum back. It really wasn't afraid of death.
Shen Haoyu drew his sword and thrust it at the snake, but the small snake was surprisingly agile. Before he could react, it coiled around the sword and flew swiftly toward Shen Haoyu's sword-wielding hand. In a panic, Shen Haoyu used his other hand to slap the snake away, and the force of his palm sent the snake flying. I quickly followed up with another strike before it could recover, cleaving it in two.
Shen Haoyu was bitten after all, just a shallow bite. The hand holding the sword was the opposite of mine. Looking at my wrist again, my arm was already quite a purplish-black. So this was a potent poison.
Upon seeing my hand, Shen Haoyu exclaimed in surprise, "You were bitten too?"
I nodded: "Before you wake up." As I spoke, I quickly tore off a piece of my clothes and wrapped it around my arm to prevent the poison from spreading further. I also wrapped strips of cloth around Shen Haoyu's wrist, which was also blackened.
"What medicine do you have on you?" I asked Shen Haoyu.
Shen Haoyu said, "There's only medicine for external injuries; it can't cure snake venom." After saying that, he remained silent for a long while.
I've been terrified of snakes, eels, loaches, and other slippery creatures since I was a child. I don't know much about snakes, let alone how to treat a snake bite. I've only seen people on TV sucking out the venom with their mouths, and then the person trying to help often dies first. Snake antivenom can be used to treat snake venom, but where am I supposed to get it?
After a long while, Shen Haoyu said, "Mr. Qi seems to have said that the venom of a poisonous snake is in its fangs, but its bile can be used as an antidote. We might as well give it a try." It seems, it seems, that's something like that.
Without hesitation, Shen Haoyu picked up the dead snake, slashed open its intestines with his sword, and took out a small snake gall bladder, which was pale green and had a disgusting smell.
“Let’s share it,” Shen Haoyu said. I quickly shook my head and backed away. It was impossible for me to eat that stuff; at least… it had to be cooked.
Shen Haoyu frowned. Judging from his expression, he probably just meant it and wouldn't dare to eat it even if he asked him to. After hesitating for a long time, Shen Haoyu finally put the small snake gall on the tip of his sword and held it up to the fire to heat it. After heating it for a while and waiting for it to cool down, he split it in half with one stroke, handed me one half, and took the other half for himself.
It's much better than before. I figured I might as well try anything, so I reached out and took the snake gall, grabbed a handful of snow from outside the cave, closed my eyes, swallowed the half-snake gall, and quickly stuffed another handful of snow into my mouth. Shen Haoyu followed suit, swallowing the snake gall as well.
We dared not sleep in that cave again, lest another snake appear out of nowhere. That snake might have woken up because we had lit a fire in the cave, causing the temperature to rise. We found a tree outside the cave with lush foliage, swept the snow off the branches, and then leaned against the trunk to drift off to sleep.
As dawn broke, I looked at my arm. The black aura hadn't dissipated, nor had it faded. Having no other choice, I used my sword to cut a gash in my skin, and thick, black blood flowed out. It wasn't that I didn't know I needed to bleed, but I was afraid to; now, however, I had no choice.
The fact that the black mist didn't spread means that the snake gall was effective, right?
After grilling and eating meat with Shen Haoyu, we got up again and headed east. After walking for a while, I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my chest and abdomen, which was very uncomfortable. I couldn't help but bend over. When Shen Haoyu saw this, he quickly asked me what was wrong. Before I could answer, I saw him frown as well.
"My stomach feels hot," I said. Shen Haoyu nodded slightly; it seemed he felt the same way.
"Did we eat something wrong?" I asked. "Was the rabbit we ate today any different from usual?"
Shen Haoyu shook his head and said, "It wasn't a rabbit, it was yesterday's snake gall."
No way, the reaction is so slow, so many hours have passed. Was it medicine or poison?
I felt increasingly uncomfortable and had to squat down. My consciousness became increasingly blurred, and I vaguely saw Shen Haoyu also squatting on the snow. Then I felt my body sway and fall down. The moment my face touched the snow, all I could think was that you really can't just eat anything.
Do not lean against the west railing to lock in the clear autumn. Chapter 102
Chapter word count: 3583 Update time: 09-09-05 08:13
When I opened my eyes, above me was the pretty face of a little girl—she must have been a little girl, wearing a small fur hat, with two little braids dangling beside her ears. She was wearing something underneath, a layer of animal skin on top, which gave her a somewhat wild and cute look. Seeing that I was awake, the little girl happily ran out, chattering away as she went.
I stretched my arms and legs, only to find them stiff and immobile. Of all my joints, only my neck could move slightly. Turning my head, I looked around the room: rammed earth walls, a thatched roof, and dirt floor. Inside was a very primitive table, practically cobbled together from a few branches; the bark on the legs hadn't been peeled off. The so-called stool was just a wooden stake. The window was a hole carved into the earthen wall, with a lattice window made of branches and filled with grass. The door was also made of branches, but covered with a layer of bark on the outside. So primitive…
Looking away, I realized that my bed was also made of rammed earth, but it was flat, much better than the tree branches I used to sleep on with Shen Haoyu. The mat I was on and the blankets I was covered with were rough linen and animal hides. There was no cotton, no silk, and no quilt, but it was warm to sleep on.