Translator: Soldier
‘How long has it been?’
Yun Wu had no idea. When she came around from coma, she felt drowsy, and she also found that she was lying on a rough bed instead of on the riverside
With parched lips and a deathly pale face, Yun Wu slowly opened her purple eyes and this movement seemed to have cost all her strength.
This was a very crude cottage and the furnishings in it were rather simple. Though it was not spacious, there were two beds in it.
Apart from the rough bed that Yun Wu was lying on, there was another worn one.
It could be told that there should be two people living in this cottage.
She faintly heard people talking outside the cottage.
"Little Leaf, I heard that your grandma took another people home. You barely have enough food for yourselves. Why did she take in a dying person again? Please take my advice and send that person back to the riverside while your grandma isn't home."
"Aunt, how could you say that? That is a person's life you were talking about. Not just my grandma, I myself would also have taken that person back if I were the one who found her, so stop nagging and go back to your own place if you don't have other business here. If my grandma hears your words, she'll get mad again."
That was a fairly childish voice tinged with anger.
"Okay, okay. Bot you and your grandma are good Samaritans. I, your aunt, am the villain. I was just thinking that you were having a hard time yourselves, so I wanted to remind you out of good will. It seems that I'm just being a busybody. No good deed goes unpunished — this is so true," the woman nagged and left, sounding as if she was very displeased.
And then she faintly heard intermittent light footsteps. It seemed as if that person outside was walking back and forth and busy doing something.
Yun Wu glanced around and noticed that the branch previously sticking in her abdomen was gone, and that all her wounds had been dressed.
'Did that person who saved me dress my wounds?'
'Once touched, that branch would sink deeper into my body. How did that person get rid of it?'
These questions flashed through her mind, but gradually she felt as if her eyelids were getting heavier and that she was about to fell asleep again.
Yun Wu knew that she was too feeble. The first reason for this was probably that she hadn't eaten anything for a long time, and she also hadn't drunk any beast blood for just as long, which might be another reason.
She could distinctly feel that although her wounds had been dressed, they weren't healing at all.
If she kept lying in bed like this, it was very unlikely for her body to recover naturally.
Clenching her teeth, Yun Wu attempted to sat up.
But at this moment, the door was pushed open. A petite figure holding a bowl of medicine walked in.
The moment that girl saw that Yun Wu had woken up, she hurriedly reminded her, "Don't get up. You're still very weak. You might worsen the wounds."
After putting down the bowl on the table, the girl came over, grabbed a pillow and cautiously placed it upright at the head of the bed so that Yun Wu could lean on it.
"I did what my grandma told me to and dressed your wounds after washing them with medicine, but it's been three days and your wounds still didn't heal. My grandma said that your injuries were too serious and that you had been soaking in water for too long. This morning, she went to the mountain to collect medicinal herbs for you. Be a good girl and lie in bed. If your wounds ache, try to subdue the pain. I've decocted some herbal medicine for you. You'll gradually feel better after drinking it. Don't worry."
This was a little girl about ten years old. Her skin color was somewhat unduly yellow, but she had bright, big eyes and comely countenance. She talked with a frown on her face, as if she was an adult.
However, Yun Wu could tell from her tone that she was a kind-hearted girl.
"Don't move. I'll go and get the medicine for you," the girl reminded her again. Seeing that Yun Wu was no longer fidgeting, she looked relieved and turned around to get the bowl of medicine on the table.
Yun Wu looked at her blandly with her purple eyes and said nothing.
Little Leaf sat on the edge of the bed, blew on the medicine in the bowl to cool it down and then sent a spoon of it to Yun Wu's mouth.
Heavy odor of medicine rushed at her nose. According to her knowledge of medicine, that was a mild medicine that helped wounds heal and it was very beneficial for feeble patients with major injury.
But for Yun Wu, this mild medicinal property was totally ineffective in healing her wounds.
Seeing that Yun Wu wouldn't open her mouth, Little Leaf thought that she was afraid of the bitterness. Like coaxing a child, she said, "Elder sister, all good medicine is bitter. If you drink this medicine, I'll buy you some sweetmeat later, okay? Come on. Ah… Open your mouth."
Yun Wu frowned, but surprisingly, when she saw the sincerity in the girl's eyes, she didn't have the heart to decline, so her tightly clamped lips slowly parted.
Seeing this, Little Leaf delightedly curved her lips in a smile, "Good girl. I'll keep my promise and buy you sweetmeat later."
Her coaxing words made Yun Wu somewhat speechless with embarrassment.
Upon her remarks, the girl spooned the medicine into her mouth one spoonful after another…
She did it so skillfully that it seemed as if she had been doing this on a regular basis.
"You must be hungry since you've been in coma for three days. Get some more rest. I'll go and make some millet congee for you."
Little Leaf tucked Yun Wu in and made sure that she was okay, and then she took the bowl and walked out of the cottage.
Before long, Yun Wu heard faint, intermittent footsteps outside the door. It seemed that the kitchen was outside.
Lying in this rough bed and hearing the busy footsteps from outside, Yun Wu felt comfortable and relaxed for the first time.
She felt as if she could leave all her disguise and burden aside here in this cottage.
Though that medicine was ineffective in treating her injuries, she felt a warmth in her body after drinking it. She didn't know whether it was because she was too relaxed, but she unconsciously fell into a deep sleep again.
…
When Yun Wu woke up again, her wounds still didn't heal, but she regained much of her strength along with her spiritual power.
After inhaling gently, she mobilized the Qi in her Dantian and exerted her spiritual power on the inside of her body, trying to check her current physical condition.
When she realized what had happened to her body, Yun Wu couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.
She had thought that the branch had been pulled out of her body, but unexpectedly, she found that the whole branch had gone into her abdomen and that all the small twigs had intertwined with her flesh, as if it had rooted in her.
'Damn it.'
'What the hell is that thing?'
Yun Wu was rather startled. She struggled to sat up and attempted to remove the white cloth that had been wrapped around her abdomen in order to check it…
But at this moment the door was slowly opened.
However, this time it was not the little girl but an old woman dressed in plain, patched clothing.
With white hair and a deeply wrinkled face, she seemed to be in her seventies or eighties. Her kind eyes gave people an inexplicable feeling that she had been through numerous hard times, and people couldn't help feeling pensive on the sight of them.
"You woke up. You're still very feeble. Just lie in bed," a kind, old voice was heard.
After entering the cottage, the old woman went to the table, poured a cup of water, walked to the bedside and sent the cup to Yun Wu's lips, "Drink some water. It can help your throat feel better."
Looking at the old woman before her, she recalled the previous conversation and realized that this old woman was the one who had saved her.
After pausing for a couple of seconds, she stretched out her hand and took the cup.
"Thank you for saving me, grandma," she hadn't spoken for days so her voice was somewhat hoarse.
The old woman smiled.
"You seem to be recovering well, kid. Judging from your wounds, you must have been washed downstream by that fast-flowing river in the Magic Beasts Forest. Apart from those wounds, there are also several fractures, which I don't know how to heal. In a few days, I'll find a doctor to help you."
Judging from the economic conditions of this family, Yun Wu actually could tell that they probably couldn't afford the money to find a doctor to treat her.
In fact, with her medical skills and 'special" body, she was capable of treating herself.
But on this occasion, Yun Wu nodded at her, "Thank you, grandma."
"Since you're calling me grandma, there's no need for you to be too courteous. Your wounds haven't been healing all this time, so I collected some other medicinal herbs. Later, I'll have Little Leaf wash your wounds and apply the medicine."
Smiling, Yun Wu nodded.
The old woman told her not to move too much and then walked out of the cottage.
…
Yun Wu lay in bed for another three days.
During the three days, those wounds still hadn't healed, but she had handled those fractures by herself, and both her strength and spiritual power had recovered.
However, she had been in horror all along because of that eerie branch that had rooted in her abdomen.
She had scoured the Soaring Dragon Scroll but hadn't find any records of this weird branch.
She had meant to extract it by herself several times, but she could feel that every time she thought about removing it from her body, the branch started ramifying and growing more roots in her flesh, as if it possessed consciousness of its own.
The pains were unbearable but not intense enough to kill her.
After three days, Yun Wu gave up attempting to remove it from her body. She was afraid that the roots of that branch would be everywhere in her body if she ketp thinking about getting rid of it.
After getting out of bed, Yun Wu checked the cloth wrapped around her and then slowly walked out of the cottage.
The moment she walked out, she saw that a woman in plain clothes, who was about thirty years old, hastily running in her direction.
"You're… You're the girl that Grandma Medicine saved, right? I'm Sister Li living near the entrance of the village. Is Little Leaf home?" Sister Li, who had just ran over to the cottage, peered at Yun Wu and was somewhat stunned when she saw her uncanny purple eyes and beautiful looks.
But she soon took her eyes off Yun Wu and intended to walked into the cottage.
This was a remote valley, and there were barely any others living nearby. Outside the cottage, there was a thatch-roofed shed. A primitive kitchen was on one side of the shed, and there were some medicinal herbs on the other side of it. Further away, there was a fenced yard. Everything was full of rustic charm.
"She's not in," over the past three days, Yun Wu had known more about the little girl and her grandmother.
That little girl was not Grandma Medicine's biological granddaughter. Grandma Medicine found her when she was young and took her in, so she named her Little Leaf. As regards Grandma Medicine, it was said that she was born with no fighting force, and her children were unwilling to support her, so she moved here and lived in this mountain alone.
In fact, Yun Wu had always had a feeling that Grandma Medicine's identity was not exactly what she had told her, but Yun Wu hadn't asked any further questions about it.
"She's not in? Where could she be on this occasion? Something happened to her granny," with a tight frown, Sister Li looked very anxious.
Though Grandma Medicine lived deep in this mountain, all poor residents living nearby relied heavily on her medicine when they got a headache or fever or any other illnesses.