Chapter 460: with translation of chapter title

"Boss Gu! Boss Gu!" Mrs. Chen appeared at the gate.

She stopped, panting, and looked toward the courtyard.

Gu Xixi hurriedly carried her bundle forward, "Sister-in-law, please come in quickly—what happened?"

Mrs. Chen had run in a hurry, one hand braced on her waist, panting as she said, "I—I won't go in."

"The person living at the west end of the village—something's happened, I think it's serious."

"There's no time to go to the army to fetch a doctor; I just heard you'd returned, so I hurried over here..."

Gu Xixi thought that Yina's due date was also recently.

Her expression turned grave; she flung the bundle onto the flatbed cart, "Time waits for no one—let's talk as we go!"

Lv Jing heard it in the kitchen, forgot about looking for beans, and rushed out.

"I'll go too!"

The three walked quickly toward the west.

Lv Jing said, "Our timing is really coincidental—we hadn't even put down our luggage when we ran into this urgent matter."

Mrs. Chen said, "It's not just a burning eyebrow, is it?"

"We're all at our wits' end, only hoping Boss Gu can come over and help us decide!"

Gu Xixi asked what exactly was happening.

Mrs. Chen frowned anxiously and sighed, "Ah! That child... the hand is down there!"

Gu Xixi startled; even though she usually remained calm in great storms, she couldn't help being shocked now.

"What?!"

Lv Jing, an ancient young lady who didn't understand these things, asked bewilderedly, "What's wrong with a baby's hand being down there?"

Mrs. Chen and Gu Xixi exchanged a glance, both expressions grave.

Gu Xixi said, "In a normal delivery, the baby's head should come out first."

"Otherwise, it's called an abnormal fetal position."

"If the baby's hand comes out first, it's especially dangerous."

"Either it leads to a difficult labor, or the baby is forcibly expelled from the mother—either way, both mother and child will die."

Lv Jing turned pale with fright, "Is it really that serious?"

She then realized the situation was dire, panicking, "What should we do? Is there any other way?"

"Just hearing about it sounds painful! What should we do? What can I do?"

Gu Xixi said in a low voice, "Stay calm!"

"Being panicked now won't solve any problem."

She thought, then told Lv Jing, "Don't follow me; go back, saddle the mule, and head to the military camp."

"Fetch the military doctor to Yina's house, and make sure he brings all the tools and medicines for treating knife and arrow wounds."

"You only need to tell them at the camp gate that Gu Xixi sent you with word that the Northern Li woman is in mortal danger, and someone will naturally pass the message along."

Lv Jing struggled to calm herself and noted down Gu Xixi's words.

"All right, I'll make sure to do it as soon as possible!"

Lv Jing took off running back.

Although her riding skills weren't yet polished, fortunately the Xi Bei borderlands are vast and sparsely populated, so riding poorly doesn't risk hitting a wall or hurting someone.

All that matters is to ride swiftly to the military camp.

Gu Xixi looked at Mrs. Chen and said, "Tell me in detail what Yina's condition was before you came."

According to Mrs. Chen's subsequent account, Yina had gone into labor about an hour earlier.

The elderly woman beside her ran to Aunt Lin's house to seek help.

Thus the experienced women in the village who had given birth all went to help.

At first it seemed to be proceeding normally; they expected the baby to be born by noon.

As it turned out, thanks to Aunt Lin noticing Yina's severe pain, she pressed on Yina's lower abdomen and discovered an abnormality.

"When I saw Aunt Lin's expression, I knew something was wrong," Mrs. Chen said.

"Aunt Lin immediately washed her hands, lifted the blanket, and reached in to feel for a while."

"Aunt Lin then told Yina not to exert herself, to lie flat and breathe deeply."

Then Aunt Lin, with a grim expression, called the Northern Li elderly woman to her side.

She told everyone she had felt the baby's hand.

The delivery room instantly fell into dead silence.

Everyone present, having been through this before, clearly sensed that the situation was a dead end.

Giving birth for a woman is essentially only a curtain away from King Yama.

Encountering difficult labor or an abnormal fetal position makes it a nine-out-of-ten chance of death.

And in Yina's case, with the baby's hand down below, it's an extremely rare situation.

It can be called ten deaths, no life.

Someone whispered, "I recall this happened five years ago—the wife of our village's former Junior Commander Zhou was just like that… and she died."

The others remained silent, confirming that it indeed happened.

The Northern Li elderly woman's face drained of color, her lips trembling uncontrollably.

She grabbed Aunt Lin's hand and pleaded in unskilled Han Chinese: "Save, save, save me!"

"I'll be an ox or a horse, repay you in any way!"

Aunt Lin supported the elderly woman's hand, not knowing what else to say.

Other women also turned their heads away, unable to bear looking at the old woman's eyes.

When labor began, they discovered the fetus was malpositioned, especially the situation where the baby's hand came out first.

At this moment, a military family member who had just finished farm work came by on the way, wanting to see if any help was needed.

Upon entering, she laughed and mentioned that she had run into Gu Xixi on the road.

Everyone immediately felt as if they had found a savior.

Among them, the Chen family young lady ran the fastest, and she volunteered to go fetch Gu Xixi.

After saying that, the Chen family young lady, though knowing in her heart it was unlikely, still asked with a sliver of hope:

"Can Boss Gu use acupuncture to correct the fetal position?"

Gu Xixi pondered, then said, "The baby's hand has already reached the birth canal; it's difficult."

"But…"

She sighed, "Let's take a look first and then decide."

West of the village.

Gu Xixi had just entered the house when several military family members rushed up to meet her.

She glanced at everyone and said, "I roughly understand the situation; I'll go check on Yi Na first."

Madam Lin and the others were still guarding beside the bed.

The old woman from North Departure was feeding Yi Na sugar water.

At this moment, Yi Na herself seemed to have sensed something wrong, her head drenched in sweat, she panted as she looked toward Gu Xixi.

"You once saved me; I trust you."

"If we cannot have both, I beg you, you must save my child."

Gu Xixi walked to the bedside, and the others naturally made way.

She stared fixedly into Yi Na's eyes, her expression solemn, "Have you decided? Even if you must sacrifice your own life, you want to protect this child?"

Yi Na nodded on the pillow.

Although she looked somewhat weak, her gaze remained sharp, showing no trace of fear or wavering.

Just like a female eagle circling over the Gobi.

"This child is not mine alone."

"Many people await his arrival in the world; he must live."

Besides Yi Na's personal attendant, probably only Gu Xixi present fully understood the weight of these words.

Yi Na herself is a tribal chief.

This child is the tribe's future leader and the sole remaining orthodox bloodline of North Departure.

His birth carries the hopes of many and will also provoke a change in the political situation of North Departure.

Thus Gu Xixi asked again, "As long as you can deliver this child, are you willing to cooperate in any way?"

Yi Na exhaled a breath and said firmly, "Anything at all, I can do."

Gu Xixi and Yi Na locked eyes for a moment, then she said solemnly, "I promise you."

Yi Na smiled, as if relieved of a heavy burden.

The old woman from North Departure burst into hot tears, and Madam Lin and the others also felt unable to bear it.

Everyone watched as Gu Xixi began to examine Yi Na, holding onto the last faint spark of hope.

Could a miracle happen?