Chapter 53

Lian Qingbai's eyes were already red and swollen with tears; if it weren't for protecting him last night, how could His Majesty have ended up like this!

"His Majesty… please… please bear with it," Lian Qingbai said, tears streaming, doing his best to steady his hands, "I'll help you take off your clothes."

Xiao Qidi secretly drew a deep breath, "Okay, go ahead."

Lian Qingbai mustered all his focus, using a small knife, he slowly cut open Xiao Qidi's tactical uniform.

Although he was already being very careful, when he lightly lifted the fabric, it was inevitable that he would pull at the adhered flesh.

Xiao Qidi didn't utter a sound, yet his whole body shuddered.

"His Majesty…" Lian Qingbai was so frightened he dared not move.

Xiao Qidi laughed, "This burn is actually more painful than being whipped—don't worry, go ahead."

As he spoke, he pulled out the phone Ning Jinli had given him from his pants pocket.

After unlocking it, the screen suddenly showed the photo she had taken of the two of them together.

Xiao Qidi stared at the photo, gradually becoming lost in thought.

He didn't know why, but ever since coming here from Xi Tun Guan, no matter how busy or even in a life-or-death situation, her image would uncontrollably appear in his mind.

Only now, finally able to catch his breath, did he take out his phone and glance at the photo.

Seeing Ning Jinli tilt her head and lightly lean against his shoulder, her face full of a bright, innocent smile, he seemed to no longer feel the pain in his back.

However, just as Lian Qingbai was about to peel off the last piece of the tactical uniform's fabric,

The phone died.

The screen went dark.

Xiao Qidi came to his senses, and instantly felt an excruciating pain like his skin being peeled off, drilling into his bones.

Extreme fatigue and excruciating pain finally overwhelmed him.

He let out a muffled groan and passed out.

The situation was worse than Lian Qingbai had anticipated, so he could only shout for a few Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army officers to come over.

When the officers saw Xiao Qidi's back wound, they were all shocked to the extreme.

"How did His Majesty end up like this?"

"This… this is practically no good skin left at all!"

"His Majesty actually went into battle with such a serious wound?"

Facing the officers' questions, Lian Qingbai quickly recounted what had happened the previous night.

It turned out that at the time, Ba Meng saw he couldn't beat Xiao Qidi, so he used a broken axe handle to sneak attack Lian Qingbai.

Taking advantage of Xiao Qidi lunging to block the axe handle, he immediately grabbed a bronze cauldron and hurled it over.

Xiao Qidi didn't have time to get Lian Qingbai out of the way, so he could only backhand his blade and use his bare back to block the bronze cauldron's impact.

However, the scalding meat broth inside the bronze cauldron splashed out and drenched his back.

As a result, his back, waist, and buttocks suffered severe burns.

Moreover, the bronze cauldron plus the meat broth weighed nearly a thousand jin; bearing that impact also gave him a serious internal injury.

If it weren't for Xiao Qidi's extraordinarily strong physique, far beyond that of ordinary people, he would likely have died then.

Several men instantly teared up, dropped to their knees, and begged Lian Qingbai to be sure to save His Majesty.

Lian Qingbai's old tears streamed down, "Gentlemen, please rise at once; His Majesty was injured while saving me, and I would spare no effort to treat him, even if I had to sacrifice my life."

"I have already used silver needles to stabilize His Majesty's pulse, but… to cure him, we need medicine."

"But the medicinal herbs in Yaowang Gu have been completely looted and destroyed by the barbarian troops and the local Sha Yue people; if we don't have suitable medicine within an hour, His Majesty will probably…"

The officers became anxious.

Some wanted to chase after the barbarian army to retrieve the herbs; others wanted to lead the Xuanjia Armor Armor Armor Armor Army to snatch the herbs back from the Sha Yue people here.

But the barbarian army had already marched far away, and those Sha Yue people near Yaowang Gu appear and disappear unpredictably.

Trying to obtain medicinal ingredients within just an hour is utterly impossible!

"Right!" one officer slapped his thigh, "Didn't we bring a medicine box given by a Fairy on this trip? It contains emergency medicines!"

He hurried out, soon returning with a square box, opened it and asked, "Clan Chief Lian, do you see anything usable inside?"

The remaining officers gave Lian Qingbai a rough overview, talking over each other.

When the Fairy originally gave them the medicine, she had told them how to use it.

Lian Qingbai was greatly surprised.

He had never seen such a medicine box before; its tools and medicines were also unheard of.

Moreover, the characters on the medicine's outer packaging were completely unknown to him.

"You say this thing called penicillin can prevent the wound from worsening?" Lian Qingbai asked, taking out a small vial of injection.

The officers nodded repeatedly.

Indicating that the Fairy had said so; earlier at Xi Tun Guan, wounded personnel had used it with excellent results.

But the Fairy also said, this medicine carries a certain chance of causing an allergy, so a test dose is needed before use.

Lian Qingbai didn't have time to ask who the Fairy they mentioned was; he followed the officers' method, first using the syringe from the medicine box to give Xiao Qidi a small subcutaneous injection of penicillin on his arm.

While waiting for the test results, he continued, as the officers instructed, using other tools to clean Xiao Qidi's wound.

Finally, after confirming Xiao Qidi had no abnormal reaction to penicillin, Lian Qingbai proceeded to give him the full injection.

After all that busyness, Xiao Qidi's pulse was much steadier than before.

Only then did Lian Qingbai have the chance to ask a few people about the Jinli Fairy's situation.

"From the medical tools and medicines this Fairy provided, it truly opens my eyes—could she be a divine doctor from beyond the world?"

"Could you help arrange an introduction? I'd like to consult with her."

Lian Qingbai, being both the clan chief of the Lian family and revered as the Divine Physician of Yaowang Gu, inheriting the medical legacy of Shennong, yet after this eye-opening experience, he felt he still had too much to learn.

He, with the thought of humbly seeking advice, made a request.

A commander scratched his head and said, "Jinli Fairy is a true immortal; she only emerges from the Immortal Cave in Lin Xian Village, so we fear we cannot help you arrange an audience."

Soon after, a few more people described how the Fairy had suddenly appeared, how she had given them immortal artifacts, and how she had helped them.

Lian Qingbai's eyes widened. "I was presumptuous; I thought you called her Fairy as an honorific, but I never imagined… she truly is an immortal!"

"Clan Chief Lian, although we cannot help you secure an audience, if the opportunity arises you could go to Lin Xian Village; perhaps the Fairy will appear and offer you some guidance."

"Really? Then I'll definitely make a trip later! If I could receive the Fairy's instruction, I would die without regret in this life."

"Clan Chief Lian, with these medicines from the Fairy, could His Majesty recover?" The commanders, still worried about His Majesty's condition, then steered the conversation back.

Lian Qingbai's expression grew solemn. "In my view, these medicines are indeed effective for external wounds, but His Majesty's injuries are too extensive, likely insufficient; moreover, besides external wounds, he also suffers from relatively serious internal injuries…"

He said this while letting out a heavy sigh, indicating that the precious medicinal herbs still remained in Yaowang Gu; combined with the Fairy's divine medicine, His Majesty's internal and external wounds could be healed in a short time.

But looking at it now, he couldn't be sure when the treatment would be completed.

The several commanders conferred and decided to immediately take Xiao Qidi back to Xi Tun Guan.

Because they recalled that the last time His Majesty suffered severe injuries, he went to the Fairy for treatment and recovered quickly.

"No, no!" Lian Qingbai hastily interjected, "His Majesty's burns on the back, waist, and buttocks are severe; they must not be touched carelessly, or they could ulcerate, and his internal injuries cannot withstand any jostling!"

He then proposed his suggestion: "Thus, according to my observation, His Majesty will be fine in the short term; you take people to nearby areas to find the Sha Yue people and retrieve the medicinal herbs they stole from Yaowang Gu while taking advantage of the barbarian troops' chaos, fishing in troubled waters."

Upon hearing this, the commanders set off without another word.

Lian Qingbai also summoned his clansmen, urging everyone to continue searching within Yaowang Gu for any medicinal herbs that might have fortuitously escaped the barbarians and the Sha Yue's plundering.

"Ning… Ning maiden…" murmured Xiao Qidi, who lay unconscious on the bed, as he muttered in his dream.

Lian Qingbai, beside him, carefully examined and studied the strange medical box, failing to notice His Majesty's abnormality.

Xiao Qidi had fallen into a nightmare at this moment.

In the dream, he returned to the time when he was a hostage prince.

Now transformed into a child, he was locked in a cabinet by several peers of his age.

The surroundings were cold and dark, constantly revealing the vicious grins of those who daily bullied him.

He tried to shout for his mother to come to his rescue.

But in the darkness appeared the scene of his mother cavorting with some men, utterly ignoring his cries for help.

Despair and loneliness continually engulfed him.

He struggled to get out, but could find no one who could still help him.

At that moment, a faint light appeared as if floating in his mind.

The faint light coalesced into the likeness of Ning Jinli, and he seemed to hear her teasingly call him "little brother" with a giggle…

"Ning maiden… save me… please save me…"

……

At this very moment.

A faint fluorescent vortex began to appear behind the rear door of the factory's small warehouse.

Ning Jinli sat on the ground by the rear door, her back against the frame, asleep soundly.

The bright morning sunlight streamed through the fluorescent vortex at the rear door, falling on her face like a shimmering layer of golden ripples.

As the fluorescent vortex grew larger, it once again filled the entire rear of the small warehouse; the fluorescence finally surged upward into the sky as before, like a great fountain spraying a curtain of light that covered a wider area.

Outside the warehouse came the chirping of birds.

Ning Jinli was awakened by the noise, but still too drowsy to open her eyes, she instinctively wanted to turn over to adjust her sleeping position.

But she forgot that she was asleep sitting on the ground with her back against the door frame.

Suddenly her body tilted, and she rolled entirely out the rear door.

"Ah!"

She cried out in alarm and instantly woke up.

Opening her eyes, she discovered she had actually rolled into a cave.

After a stunned two seconds, she sprang to her feet, "Has the spacetime portal recovered? Can I come to Lin Xian Village again?"

She hurriedly looked around, only to realize something was off.

This cave resembled the one in Lin Xian Village, but upon closer inspection it was different.

Moreover, she saw no cave guards at all.

Ning Jinli glanced back; the spacetime portal was still there, so she cautiously walked to the cave entrance.

Upon seeing that the outside environment was completely unlike that of Lin Xian Village, she was certain this was another place.

Although the outside seemed utterly desolate, at least it was not as severely arid as Lin Xian Village, and some plants and trees could be seen.

"What… what brings me here?" Ning Jinli stared in bewilderment, "Can the spacetime portal still lead to other places? Is this an upgrade…?"

Confused, she glanced about while walking out of this cave.

To get a clearer view of the surroundings, she climbed up beside the cave.

Having gained elevation, she saw that a valley lay in the distance.

She could see many traces of human-caused destruction, yet no human figures.

What she heard was only the wind sweeping through the valley, with occasional insect chirps and bird calls from all directions.

Out of concern for her own safety, she had originally intended to return to the warehouse.

But thinking of Xiao Qidi, she decided instead to venture forth and investigate.

The spacetime portal had suddenly linked to this place; surely there must be a reason.

What if Xiao Qidi were here?

She pondered while continuing to climb higher toward the rear of the cave.

There were signs of damage in front of the mountain cave; it was best to avoid it.

First observe in secret; if you meet someone who seems relatively safe, then show yourself and ask about the situation.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from nearby.

Ning Jinli immediately hid in a patch of grass, crouched on the ground, and tiptoed to part the grass slightly to make a gap.

Soon after, she saw a girl carrying a bamboo basket.

Judging by her build, she seemed to be in her early teens, younger than Ning Jinli.

However, her skin was somewhat dark, she wore simple clothes made of mixed animal hide and coarse cloth, and her hair was somewhat messy, casually draped over her shoulders.

Regardless of appearance or attire, she differed from the Xuan Guo people Ning Jinli had seen in Lin Xian Village, giving an overall impression of being more primitive.

Ning Jinli felt doubtful, wondering if she had arrived at an era even earlier than that of Xuan Guo.

She remained quiet and observed for a while longer.

When she realized the girl seemed to be gathering wild vegetables and was also holding a baby in her arms, she relaxed.

Thus, the other party posed no threat.

If she had encountered a man in such a place—even an elderly man or a fierce adult woman—she would not have let her guard down.

Thus, she slowly rose, waved her hand in greeting, and said, "Hello."

The girl was startled, clutched the baby in her arms, and warily sized up Ning Jinli.

Ning Jinli smiled, walked over slowly, and politely asked, "Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

Ning Jinli said, "I'm lost here; may I ask where this is?"

The girl stared at her intently and asked, "Are you from Xuan Guo?"

Ning Jinli's eyes showed surprise; she had thought she had arrived in another era, but it turned out she was still in this period, so that was correct.

"Ah… yes, I'm from Xuan Guo, aren't you?" Ning Jinli said with a smile.

A flash of ferocity suddenly appeared in the girl's eyes, and she let out a strange cry.

Ning Jinli instantly sensed something was wrong, turned, and ran.

However, a man similar in appearance and attire to the girl leapt out from the side, holding a wooden staff, and moved swiftly through the rugged forest overgrown with weeds and vines.

Before Ning Jinli could retreat the way she came, the man caught up to her.

The man raised his wooden staff and struck her hard on the back of the head.

Boom—

A muffled sound.

Ning Jinli's vision went black, and she lost consciousness…