Chapter 48: Bringing Down the Child's Fever

The woman was somewhat surprised. "How does Om know?"

Her child was already six, but had never grown taller. The other cubs were all a head taller than him.

Nan Qinghuan was quite helpless. "Of course I know. I told you I'm a female doctor. By the way, does the child have any other health problems?"

The tribespeople now knew that Nan Qinghuan could cure illnesses, and anyone with any discomfort came looking for her. Nan Qinghuan was kind-hearted and accepted them all.

Soon, Axi had found the Bupleurum. Nan Qinghuan immediately put the Bupleurum into a stone pot to boil in water. Soon, after a bowl of medicine was poured down the child's throat, Axi was still very worried.

"Qinghuan, it's still burning hot."

She recalled the first time Nan Qinghuan was carried back by Ying. Qinghuan had been sick then too, and she had even harbored dark thoughts of throwing Qinghuan out. Later, it was this Bupleurum that saved her.

"What's the rush? This is herbal medicine, not a fever-reducing injection. It won't work that fast."

"Thank you, Om. With Om here, everything will be fine. Om, why haven't we seen Ying?"

The woman seemed to glance inside the Cave and didn't see Ying return. Nan Qinghuan said quickly, "He took people out hunting and hasn't come back yet."

The woman was very respectful toward Ying, her eyes full of admiration. "Ying is a good man. If not for him protecting our Tribe, we would have been eaten clean by the Rongdi Beastmen long ago. But Om, you're from the Ape Tribe, right?"

"Ape Tribe?"

Nan Qinghuan frowned. What race was that? The woman saw her frown. "The Ape Tribe is the noblest race here. Seeing your fair, delicate skin, you must be. That A Yue keeps saying you're a demoness and telling us not to come to you for treatment, but you're so good — you treat our illnesses and teach us to make pepper sauce and brew wine. We all believe you, not A Yue. In the past, people seeking her treatment lined up full at her Cave Entrance, but now it's fine — there's no one left. They've all come to you."

Axi heard this and said quickly, "That's A Yue's own fault. She shouldn't have gone against Sister Qinghuan."

"Sigh, Om, don't go out while Ying isn't in the Cave. I keep worrying that A Yue will come after you."

Hearing this, Nan Qinghuan quickly smiled. "Don't worry. If she dares to come after me, I'll make her regret it."

As she spoke, she quickly checked the child's condition again, and to her surprise... "Wonderful, the fever has broken!"

"Wah wah wah..."

The child suddenly started crying wah-wah. Nan Qinghuan knew he was hungry, but he couldn't eat fruit or raw meat right now. "Here's what you do — go back and get the child some honey to eat. I'll go find yam. By the way, how many children like this are there in the Tribe?"

Axi knew. "There are more than ten children like this. Qinghuan, why are you asking about this?"

"More than ten?"

She thought for a moment. "From now on, the Tribe's children should all eat yam and stop eating fruit."

"Yam?"

Neither Axi nor the woman understood what kind of medicine this yam was. The children would have to eat yam from now on — how could they take medicine every day? "Qinghuan, if the child isn't sick, why can't he eat fruit? Why does he have to eat yam? What is yam?"

After Nan Qinghuan had the woman take the child back, she prepared to take Axi out to find yam. But just as she stepped out of the Cave Entrance, the wild wolf Mos came padding up. Nan Qinghuan had noticed — she could only wander near the Cave. If she went too far, Mos would block her path. She had to admit, Ying's pet was more loyal than any person.

"Axi, tell this wild wolf not to follow us. I need to go find yam. The children's food from now on will be yam."

Right — she had already figured out a plan. There weren't many children in the Tribe, so she could solve their food problem first. Yesterday, on the way to search for fruit, she had seen a large patch of wild yam leaves. That place must have a lot of yam.

As long as she gathered some and had the tribespeople cook it, mashing it into yam paste to feed the children, they would no longer be sallow and stunted.

Axi saw that she genuinely had the children's best interests at heart. She made a strange gesture at the wild wolf, and sure enough, the wolf stepped aside and stopped following them.

Seeing this, Nan Qinghuan also understood — Axi was placed by Ying's side to watch her. That man was still afraid she'd run.

"Qinghuan, where are we going?"

It was noon, with cicadas buzzing, summer insects calling, and the sunlight blazing fierce.

She had to admit, the air in the Primeval Forest was quite nice — birds flying, the air moist. She was dissatisfied with everything else about this place, but the atmosphere here she was very pleased with.

Untainted by modern urban pollution, this place was a pure land.

"Axi, hurry, it's just ahead."

Nan Qinghuan had come prepared this time. She had brought a homemade hoe to dig up yam. The tools for making the hoe were taken from the Merchant city. With the second-level space opened, she could access quite a few tools. Once the third-level space opened, she would be able to obtain some Seeds.

Axi saw her holding something she couldn't understand, and they had come to this gloomy mountain woods. When she spotted some shed python skin on the ground, she shook her head like a rattle drum. "Qinghuan, we can't go in. Look at what's on the ground!"

Nan Qinghuan was bold. Living in the Primeval Forest these days, what wild beast hadn't she seen?

She used the hoe to lift up a piece of snake skin lying on the bracken, then held it in her hand and examined it carefully under Axi's astonished gaze. "This is a three-headed python. It should be fully grown. Judging by its size, it's about ten meters long."

She was a biologist — she could gauge the general situation just from a snake's shed skin, and naturally knew the python's current size and age. Seeing that Nan Qinghuan wasn't afraid of snakes, Axi's eyes went wide. "Qinghuan, you're not afraid of the three-headed Giant Python?"

Nan Qinghuan tossed the snake skin aside. "It's just a beast. What's there to be afraid of? Don't worry, nothing will happen with me here. The yam grows just ahead, in a spot we can all see. We'll dig it up and leave right away. Nothing will happen."

Her mind was entirely focused on digging up those yams to feed the children, so she didn't care about anything else. Seeing her stride boldly into the Forest, Axi had no choice but to follow.

"Hey, Qinghuan, wait for me!"

After they had gone in, two people suddenly stood up from the bushes behind them. The one in the lead, A Yue, dropped the leaves in her hand and watched Nan Qinghuan's retreating back with dark, gloomy eyes.

"Even the Heavenly God is helping me, A Yue. Aning, where is the thing I told you to find?"

Beside her, Aning watched with great concern as Nan Qinghuan entered the jungle. These past days, Aning had watched Nan Qinghuan help the tribespeople live better lives. She now had a thought — she no longer wanted to do the Shamaness A Yue's bidding.

She feared that in the end, she would be dragged down too. If Ying found out what they had done, Ying would drive her out of the Tribe, and it would also implicate her A Mu, getting her driven out as well.

Yesterday, Nan Qinghuan had taught her A Mu to make Fruit Wine and sauces. She had tasted those things herself — they were delicious.

But she couldn't disobey A Yue. If A Yue got angry, she would throw her to the tyrannosaurus.

Trembling, she pulled out a bag from the side. Inside were coiled venomous snakes, their biting force astonishing as they coiled in the bag. "In — it's in here. A Yue, don't do this. If Ying finds out, he'll kill you!"

A Yue snatched the bag from Aning's hands, a cold smile flashing across her face. "Ying won't find out. I'm ridding the Tribe of a menace. Even if that female dies, it's her own fault. Who told her to trespass into the three-headed Giant Python's territory?"

Dropping these words, A Yue plucked a leaf and blew a tune on it. Then — thump, thump, thump — from not far away came...