"If I catch that runaway physician, I’ll chop him into eight pieces! What kind of people have you been hiring?!"
The bearded man jabbed a finger at the cowering man and snarled: "If anything happens to Tianyin, or if any of our brothers die on this road, you’ll be buried with them!"
The man didn’t dare breathe loudly: "I didn’t expect the physician to sneak away as soon as he found out there was a plague."
"What do you expect?! These new recruits are as dumb as you are!"
"I just thought they were quick on their feet and seemed sincere. I hadn’t even had time to explain the rules yet."
The bearded man grew more irritable as he spoke, and the muffled sobs from the tent only deepened his anxiety.
Seeing the scapegoat in front of him made him even angrier. He raised his foot to kick the man but spotted Huo Shu and Ji Taoyu approaching.
"What do you want?"
The bearded man reined in his temper slightly and asked. Then he noticed the medicine chest in Huo Shu’s hand and exclaimed in surprise: "You’re a physician?!"
Ji Taoyu replied meekly: "It’s me."
The bearded man stared at the frail-looking Ji Taoyu standing beside Huo Shu and fell silent.
After a long pause, he spat out four words: "Can you actually treat illnesses?"
The young ger before him didn’t even look twenty yet. Most capable physicians out there were older men with a few wisps of beard.
The bearded man's bushy eyebrows twitched. After a moment's thought, he realized why that fool had been fooled by looks - this one was indeed quite handsome.
But at first glance, the young ger appeared more like a spoiled rich boy from some noble family. What could he possibly know about medicine?
Under normal circumstances, the bearded man would have immediately erupted with curses - "What use is a milk-stinking brat like you?!"
[乳臭未干 (rǔ xiù wèi gān): lit. The smell of mother's milk not yet dried; fig. Young and inexperienced]
But right now, he had no other options.
Something was better than nothing. The bearded man took a deep breath, as if resigning himself to a farce:
"Quick, get inside the tent. My fulang is on the verge of death, hurry up and take a look."
Seeing the bearded man’s frantic impatience, Ji Taoyu hurriedly clarified: "My medical skills are limited. I can’t guarantee—"
"I know, I know!"
The bearded man cut him off, his tone that of a drowning man grasping at floating reeds: "Just take a look first."
[溺水者攀草求生 (nì shuǐ zhě pān cǎo qiú shēng): lit. A drowning man grasps at floating reeds to survive; fig. Desperation leads people to cling to even the faintest hope or flimsy solutions in dire situations]
Ji Taoyu opened the medicine chest, covered his mouth and nose, then carried it inside.
This tent was clearly larger than their own, but no matter how big, it was still just a temporary resting place.
The bearded man only let Ji Taoyu enter alone, leaving the two men to stand guard outside.
Huo Shu didn’t like Ji Taoyu leaving his sight, and the bearded man wasn’t too confident in Ji Taoyu’s medical skills either, fearing he might mess things up.
So each man held one side of the tent flap, watching the scene inside closely.
Inside the tent, a young maid knelt beside the bedding, wiping the face of a ger lying on the bed.
When she saw Ji Taoyu enter, she immediately said: "Fulang can be saved! The master has found a physician!"
Ji Taoyu walked to the bedside and saw that the person lying there wasn’t much older than himself.
A quick look showed the ger’s complexion was normal—no signs of fever. He didn’t look like he was on the verge of death at all.
"Where does it hurt?"
Ji Taoyu sat cross-legged by the bedding and asked gently.
The ger, who had been lying with his eyes closed and moaning, suddenly opened them upon hearing this voice.
Seeing the beautiful young ger before him, he blinked: "Physician?"
Ji Taoyu nodded.
"You’re really a physician?"
Ji Taoyu expected all sorts of patients. Keeping his patience, he asked again: "Can you tell me where it hurts?"
"Oh—right."
The ger said: "My stomach hurts, I’m dizzy, weak, nauseous, and sleepy. Today I ate a braised pork knuckle and threw up badly, I used to love braised pork knuckles. Little physician, tell me, am I dying? This plague is so vicious, why did it have to be me?!"
"I don’t want to die yet. I want to go home. If I die on the road, it’ll still take three to five days to get back. By then, my body might already be rotting—"
Like the wind shifting to rain, the ger seemed to envision himself lying stiff on a wooden plank. His eyes welled up with tears, and the maid beside him, even more emotional, burst into sobs.
"..."
Ji Taoyu exhaled quietly: "You don’t have the heat-rash plague."
"Ah! I only have two days left to live! Heaven, why is my fate so—"
The ger immediately wailed. Outside, the bearded man startled, almost rushing inside—then froze when he heard:
"Wait, what did you say? I don’t have it?"
"Have you had a fever or itchy rashes?"
The ger tentatively scratched himself: "No, not really."
Ji Taoyu exhaled faintly in exasperation: "Give me your hand. I’ll check your pulse."
The ger pursed his lips, half-doubting, and extended his arm.
The moment Ji Taoyu pressed his fingers to the ger’s wrist, he heard:
"Your hands are as pale as your face. And very smooth."
"Patients shouldn’t talk during diagnosis, or their tongues will rot."
The ger giggled: "I’m not stupid. As if that’s true."
Then he immediately shut his mouth.
Ji Taoyu felt the pulse, his brow furrowing slightly. He glanced at the ger, who was staring at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
He carefully checked the pulse again.
"You really don’t have the plague. Rest easy."
Ji Taoyu withdrew his hand and delivered the diagnosis.
"Then why do I feel so awful?"
The ger tilted his head at Ji Taoyu: "If I’m about to die, you have to tell me straight. I can take it."
"Your body is healthy. There’s nothing seriously wrong. The dizziness and nausea are because..."
Ji Taoyu said seriously: "You’re pregnant."
Thank you for the update!!!!!!
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