Chapter 145

"Ah—"

The low roar coming from the tent made Su Ren's heart sink. Big Brother never let the military physicians knock him out when treating wounds; he always endured it. It was common for those who fought on the battlefield to be injured, and he had never seen Big Brother in such pain before. Su Ren was worried and finally couldn't help but rush in.

In the tent, two soldiers were pressing tightly on Su Ling's shoulders. Su Ling's military uniform and face were covered in splashed blood. Su Ling was half-lying on the bed, his dark, strong back crisscrossed with streaks of blood, and a deep, bloody hole in his right shoulder was shocking. Su Ling was breathing rapidly, his hands gripping the edge of the bed tightly, veins bulging. His complexion was frighteningly pale, and sweat beads on his forehead dripped onto the bed. His face, enduring the pain, was almost twisted together. Su Ren exclaimed, "Military physician, what's going on?"

One military physician was helping to treat Su Ling's wound, while the other held a bloody short arrow in his hand, placed it on a cloth on the low table, let out a long sigh of relief, and replied, "It's done. The short arrow has been removed. Commander, rest assured, once the wound is treated, he will be fine."

Walking closer to look, Su Ren's black eyes flickered slightly. This arrow was truly too devious. The five-inch-long short arrow was covered in blood, and the tiny, barb-like patterns on the arrow shaft made him tremble. When such an arrow entered the body, every movement would cause the barbs to pierce deeper into the flesh. No wonder the military physician had been treating it for so long!

Having finally stopped the bleeding, the military physician carefully bandaged the wound, and Su Ling's tense hands finally relaxed. Looking at Su Ren to the side, Su Ling asked in a low, panting voice, "Where is that woman?"

He hadn't expected Big Brother's first sentence to be asking about Qing Mo. Hesitating for a while, Su Ren replied, "She... she went to see Han Shu." If Big Brother knew she had gone to the rain forest, he would probably be annoyed again.

His sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Su Ling said coldly, "Tell her to come to my camp later." Since when had she become so close to Han Shu that she had to go see him first thing! He didn't know where the anger in his heart came from, but in any case, Su Ling was just unhappy.

Su Ren was slightly startled and laughed sheepishly, "Big Brother, your injuries are so severe, get some good rest. It won't be too late to see Sister-in-law tomorrow!"

Ren's expression was wrong! Su Ling's eagle eyes darkened, "Where did she go?"

Su Ren was thinking about how to answer, but Su Ling had already impatiently barked, "Speak."

After weighing his words, Su Ren avoided the serious and focused on the trivial, replying, "She went to the rain forest, saying she wanted to train the soldiers' ability to sleep in the rain forest at night."

"She's going to stay in the rain forest tonight too? Damn it!" Su Ling braced his upper body and actually wanted to sit up, but the moment he moved, the bloody hole in his shoulder immediately bled profusely. The military physician was so frightened he said urgently, "The wound is too deep, General, you must not move around!"

The excessive blood loss made his vision start to go black just from moving. Bracing his body, Su Ling roared at Su Ren in a low voice, "Call her back for me!"

"Big Brother!" Su Ren was truly startled by Su Ling's irritability. He knew Big Brother would be angry, but he hadn't expected him to be this furious. Could it be that concern leads to chaos?

Having just saved the beauty, he was now anxious and burning with impatience, yet he still claimed he didn't have feelings for her! Su Ren laughed and replied, "I had Yu Shijun accompany her. Rest assured, her hand injury has already been bandaged. I saw that her spirit and body are both fine, so don't worry."

Su Ren's knowing look made Su Ling tremble all over, and the roar burst out again, "When did I worry about her!"

Su Ren raised his eyebrows slightly, and Su Ling felt even more uncomfortable, roaring in embarrassment and anger, "Everyone get out."

The military physician had just finished bandaging and, upon hearing this roar, didn't dare stay any longer and retreated. Seeing that he still had the strength to roar, Su Ren also left in peace, leaving only Su Ling lying on the soft couch in annoyance. He must be crazy; it was just sleeping in the rain forest, why did he care what she did!

The night in the rain forest was cold and damp. Although five or six large fires had already been lit on the ground, the moisture was still biting. Gu Yun and Yu Shijun were already used to it, but the two military physicians couldn't help but shiver.

Yu Shijun asked worriedly, "Madam, the Xu hour has already arrived. Will they be alright?" In this godforsaken place, he had been unforgettable after entering once. At that time, he was only near Crow Valley and was already in such a sorry state. They had gone deep into the rain forest; who knew what they would encounter!

Gu Yun's heart was also unsettled, but she could only reply calmly, "Wait a little longer."

Time passed minute by minute. Waiting for half an hour in the rain forest had already made them a bit frantic. Suddenly, firelight flickered not far away. Yu Shijun gripped the large saber in his hand alertly and roared, "Who's there!"

The firelight grew brighter. Gu Yun guessed that they should be back, but they had split into ten teams, and she didn't know which team was returning. Gu Yun asked loudly, "Who is it? State your name!"

"Leng Xiao." The cold voice was clearly filled with exhaustion. As the person approached, Leng Xiao called out, "Boss, it's me."

Gu Yun sighed secretly; finally, someone was back.

The group walked unusually slowly. Gu Yun suddenly had a bad premonition. As soon as she stepped forward to meet them, she saw face after face of exhaustion and listlessness—the trance that comes from the relaxation of long-term tension. Behind Leng Xiao, several soldiers were supporting three or four small generals with foot injuries. Gu Yun narrowed her eyes; the injuries on their feet seemed to have been left by accidentally triggering traps. Gu Yun called out in a low voice, "Military physicians, treat them."

"Yes." The two military physicians hurried over with their medicine boxes.

The first batch of returning soldiers all sat down by the fire, exhausted and silent. Gu Yun didn't tell them to line up either; after today, they should understand better what the rain forest was.

Walking to Leng Xiao's side, Gu Yun asked, "Did you encounter rebels?"

A flash of surprise and admiration crossed Leng Xiao's eyes. He hadn't said a word, yet she knew! "Yes, we encountered a small team, but they were probably here to fetch water and didn't carry any weapons. By the time we discovered them, they had already retreated. That section happened to be a deep pool, and the back was overgrown with vegetation, so I didn't order a pursuit."

Gu Yun smiled with satisfaction, "Hmm, well done. Is the map drawn?"

Nodding, Leng Xiao took the drawing from the wood ash and spread it out before Gu Yun. Leng Xiao had drawn it very meticulously, even including some small tributaries. Gu Yun asked, "In which section did they appear?"

Pointing to a specially marked place, Leng Xiao replied, "Here."

Yu Shijun also came over, looked at the position on the map, and said happily, "If the rebels are fetching water here, it means the camp must be nearby. Looking at it this way, it's not hidden very deep!" Madam is truly smart; by placing the map in the wood ash, it wouldn't get damp, unlike him, who drew for a day and returned with it blurred!

Gu Yun's clear eyes raised slightly, and she shook her head and laughed in a low voice, "Not necessarily. A cunning rabbit has three burrows; it's better to judge after analyzing all the water system maps."

Just as they were discussing this, another dazzling firelight appeared. This team's marching speed was quite fast, and in a moment, they had rushed to Gu Yun. As soon as Luo Yan saw Gu Yun, he said urgently, "Madam! Please take a look at him."

After saying this, a soldier was carried before her. His foot had already swollen to twice its normal size. Gu Yun frowned and asked in a low voice, "Was he bitten by a poisonous snake?"

Luo Yan shook his head and replied, "Not a snake, it's a kind of small red insect!"

"How long has it been?"

"Two hours."

Although the soldier's foot was swollen severely, he hadn't fallen into a coma after several hours and could still complain of pain, so it shouldn't be serious. Gu Yun breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Lucky, it's not a fatal poison. Military physician, clean his wound."

"Yes." The military physician who had just finished treating the other side hurried over here.

Another half an hour passed, and the ten teams finally all returned, with more or less everyone having suffered injuries. These were all within Gu Yun's expectations, and she didn't feel much, but Yu Shijun frowned tightly. These were all elites in the Su Family Army, yet after just one day inside, they had become like this. In this state, how could they fight the enemy? What should be done about the other soldiers?

Letting them rest for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, Gu Yun shouted loudly, "Line up, Luo Yan, take a headcount."

"Yes."

Both body and mind were extremely exhausted, but soldiers had to obey orders. Although they didn't want to move at all, the soldiers still crawled up from the ground and stood in line.

After Luo Yan finished counting, just as he was about to report, he passed by a small general who had been scratching his back and shouted, "Fang Qinghong, why are you moving around while lining up!" The small general was scolded and didn't dare move again, but the pain on his face still caught Gu Yun's eyes.

Luo Yan was satisfied with his performance and strode toward Gu Yun, "Reporting to Madam, the team—"

He was still speaking, but Gu Yun waved her hand at him, signaling him to stop.

Walking to the small general who had been moving non-stop, Gu Yun asked, "Are you very uncomfortable?"

Fang Qinghong nodded vigorously, still not daring to move his body.

The young man's face was pale, and his eyes were unfocused. Gu Yun's heart trembled and she said, "Turn around."

"Yes." The small general immediately turned around.

"Take off your top."

The small general was stunned and hesitated for a moment. After all, Madam was a woman, and besides—

Not letting him dawdle any longer, Gu Yun said sternly and urgently, "Take it off! This is a military order."

The small general steeled his heart and stripped off his top in two quick motions.

His back was exposed. Apart from Gu Yun just frowning, Leng Xiao, Luo Yan, and Yu Shijun beside her all gasped at the same time. Fang Qinghong was facing the soldiers, and the soldiers were all curious: what was it that made the battle-hardened generals show such astonishment?

The gasps from behind made Fang Qinghong's heart rise. He turned back and said urgently, "Madam, what's wrong with me?"

As he turned, his entire back was exposed to the soldiers. This time, an even louder gasp came from behind him, because—

On that back that should have been strong and solid, twenty or thirty black soft worms, thicker than a thumb, were tightly attached to it. Looking closely, those soft, bloated bodies of the worms showed a blood-red color, and bit by bit, they were still slowly swelling...

Luo Yan came to his senses, rushed forward, and was about to help him pull the soft worms off, but Gu Yun shouted urgently, "Stop!"

(End of Chapter)