Song Chuyi narrowed her eyes as she stared into the pitch-black rainy night. The poor light made it impossible to see much; all she could hear was the sound of footsteps mingling with the rain.
After a while, she finally made out what seemed to be several soldiers in tattered armor, helping a man in silver armor toward them.
Judging by their clothing, they looked like Zhao soldiers. Song Chuyi’s mouth fell open.
No way. Could they really have been defeated despite having half again as many men as the enemy? Otherwise, how else could they have ended up in such a sorry state?
The figures drew closer and closer. The warm glow of the fire fell upon them, softening the cold gleam of their weapons and armor with a layer of warmth. Only when they were nearly upon them did Song Chuyi see clearly that there were seven people in total.
Six were dressed as ordinary soldiers. One was leading the way, while two supported a general in silver armor between them, and three more brought up the rear. It was obvious that they had formed this arrangement to guard against pursuers.
“Hey! You two, get out of here at once!” the soldier in front shouted.
Hearing this, Zhao Yilou tugged at Song Chuyi, who remained completely motionless.
The rain at the end of autumn was bitterly cold. Both the soldiers and the general were injured, yet after waiting a moment, they saw that the two wretched-looking people beside the fire showed no intention of leaving. Anger crept into the soldier’s voice. “Are you deaf? Get lost!”
With her back to them, Song Chuyi reached up and mussed her hair, letting it fall over most of her face. If she wanted to put on an air of mystery, how could she possibly do it with such a young-looking face?
Thinking she was doing it for safety, Zhao Yilou hurriedly reached up to mess up his own hair as well, only for Song Chuyi to smack his hand away. “What are you doing?”
“I look better than you. Isn’t it more dangerous for me to show my face?” Zhao Yilou whispered with complete sincerity.
“Damn it, you’re a man!” Song Chuyi was speechless. There was nothing she could say, either, because the truth was that he really was several dozen times better-looking than her.
But when she saw the soldier reaching for his sword, she had no time to argue with him. She gave a soft cough and said, “If the injuries on him aren’t treated immediately, he probably won’t survive the night. Instead of wasting your strength here, you’d better bring him over and let me treat him.”
Song Chuyi deliberately lowered her voice, but there was still an unmistakably youthful quality to it. Her tone and the seriousness of her words, however, concealed most of it.
If they had been inside a city, and the speaker had been an elderly man of some status, there would have been nothing particularly strange about it. But here, in the middle of the wilderness, hearing such words from a child who was barely grown made the whole thing seem exceedingly bizarre.
The soldiers froze for a moment.
Then the general, who had remained silent all this time, said, “Help me over.”
His voice was deep and resonant, the kind that immediately inspired a sense that he was someone worthy of trust.
Song Chuyi stood up and stuffed a bundle of dry grass into Zhao Yilou’s arms. The two of them shifted farther to the side, making some room for the newcomers.
The general sat down in front of the stone wall, leaning back slightly before turning his head to look over Song Chuyi and Zhao Yilou.
Only he himself knew that Song Chuyi had been telling the truth. If they delayed any longer, there was a very real chance he would not survive.
Two men quickly removed the general’s armor, baring his upper body.
Song Chuyi stole a glance. As expected, he had a sturdy build. But her attention was soon drawn to a broken arrow lodged in his chest. The shaft had clearly been hacked off, leaving only a little over an inch protruding from the flesh. Judging by how deeply it had gone in, it would be extremely difficult to pull out.
It was hardly surprising that someone wearing armor could still be struck by an arrow. In fact, neither the general’s armor nor the soldiers’ was capable of providing absolute protection against a sharp weapon.
A soldier’s armor, for example, only protected the vital areas of the chest and abdomen, along with the head. The rest of the body was covered merely by ordinary hemp-cloth garments.
Officers of somewhat higher rank had better protection. Their armor was made by linking together individual plates to form a proper suit of battle armor. Not only was it more resistant to attack, but it also protected most of the vital areas of the body.
Even so, it was impossible to make it completely foolproof. Armor had its weaknesses, too: there were gaps between each individual plate. An archer skilled enough could exploit those tiny openings and shoot an arrow straight through the armor.
“You know medicine?” the general suddenly turned his head and stared directly at Song Chuyi.
Only now, seeing him face-to-face, did Song Chuyi get a proper look at the general. He was quite handsome, with sword-shaped brows, bright, star-like eyes, and a high, straight nose. His features were remarkably well-proportioned.
“A little.”
Seeing that the men on the other side were all looking rather hostile, Song Chuyi had no choice but to admit it.
They were in the wilderness along the border between Qi and Zhao, and these people were extremely wary. As long as she could prove useful to them, she probably would not have to worry about being killed – at least not for the time being.
“You. Come here,” the general said.
The moment he finished speaking, someone immediately objected. “General, you mustn’t. There’s something strange about this person.”
A physician should not have fallen into such a sorry state as Song Chuyi had. What was more, they were in the middle of nowhere, in the barren mountains and wilderness along the border between the two countries. How could they have happened to run into a physician here of all places?
You’re willing to let me treat him, but I’m not even willing to do it!
Song Chuyi really wanted to swear, but for the sake of her life, she could only grit her teeth and endure it.
Still, compared with cursing, what she wanted even more at that moment was to grab the general by the collar and ask him a few questions.
Was he the commander-in-chief?
And was he that unbelievably hopeless bungler?
The general raised a hand slightly, signaling that they needn’t worry.
“Come here.”
Song Chuyi obediently walked over.
Now that she had already approached, the soldiers had no reason to object further. They merely remained on full alert. One of them asked, “Do you have a way to remove the broken arrow?”
Song Chuyi gave a quiet hum and said to the general, “My apologies for the offense, General.”
Seeing that he did not stop her, she reached out and spent a while feeling around the area of the wound on his chest. Then, with a solemn expression, she said, “The arrow has penetrated a full two inches into the body, and it is close to the heart. We’ll need someone with enough strength to pull it out. Whoever removes it must keep their hand steady. Once the arrow is out, leave everything else to me.”
When Song Chuyi said, “Leave everything else to me,” her expression was exceptionally grave.
She was also perceptive enough to know that they did not trust her, so she asked for some wound medicine and cloth before retreating to the fire. She pulled apart the damp cloth and spread it out to dry by the flames, then had Zhao Yilou fetch a clay pot and boil some water.
Seeing her take care of these preparations, the others did not dare slack off either, and immediately began getting ready to remove the broken arrow.
“You know medicine?” Zhao Yilou came over and asked in a lowered voice.
Song Chuyi gave a faint smile, looking rather inscrutable.
Seeing this, Zhao Yilou did not press her further. After all, she even understood military formations. What was so strange about her knowing a little medicine too?
Over on one side, they were in the middle of a life-or-death struggle to remove the arrowhead, every person’s nerves stretched taut.
Meanwhile, the two of them sat contentedly by the fire, warming themselves and drying the cloth that would be used for the bandages. Zhao Yilou would occasionally glance over anxiously to check on the situation, while Song Chuyi sat beside the pleasantly warm fire for a while.
Before long, her eyelids began to droop.
Listening to the general’s muffled, restrained groans of pain, she nearly fell asleep.
Half an hour later, someone finally came running over. His voice was loud with a jumble of joy and worry, relief and lingering nervousness.
“The arrowhead is out!”
Song Chuyi, who had been half-awake and half-asleep, was startled into full consciousness. She sprang to her feet and turned around.
The moment she saw the unfamiliar face, she slipped instantly back into character. Turning to Zhao Yilou, she said in a deep, solemn voice, “Bring the water. Follow me.”
Zhao Yilou hurriedly picked up the water that had been boiled and then allowed to cool, and followed her to the general’s side.
Song Chuyi used a piece of cloth she had torn off to wipe the blood from his body. There was a gaping hole in his chest, and blood was still steadily seeping from it. She carefully cleaned the wound, then poured the entire bottle of wound medicine she had obtained from the soldiers over it. Perhaps the large amount of dry medicinal powder absorbed the blood, because the bleeding actually slowed somewhat.
Song Chuyi quickly cleaned the area around the wound and carefully wrapped it with the cloth she had dried by the fire. She had often treated this kind of injury for soldiers in the past, so there was naturally nothing lacking in her bandaging skills.
“All done.”
Song Chuyi stood up and looked at her handiwork with satisfaction.
The six soldiers and Zhao Yilou all stood there with their mouths hanging open.
From the way she had acted earlier, they had thought that once the arrowhead was removed, the general would be hovering on the brink of death, at which point she would demonstrate her medical skills and save him.
But looking at the situation now…
Could the “leave everything else to me” she had mentioned actually have meant nothing more than bandaging the wound?
Several of the soldiers were furious and wanted to draw their swords and demand an explanation. But after thinking it over carefully, they realized that she had never actually said what she was going to do afterward.
The general’s life was no longer in immediate danger, and she had not exactly deceived them…
So why, then, did they feel so damn annoyed?
