Chapter Forty-Seven: Healing Wounds

When Qi Jun regained consciousness, he found himself lying on a large, soft, and comfortable bed. Instinctively, he reached out with his right hand to feel his left arm, discovering that not only had his wound been bandaged, but his arm was still intact. The fine pinpricks on his skin also revealed that someone had performed acupuncture to treat the poison.

Qi Jun couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. The thought of ancient medicine’s tendency toward amputation unsettled him—if he’d suffered only mild poisoning but some brute had hacked off his arm, that would have been a truly bitter injustice.

He tried lifting his injured arm and moving his fingers. To his delight, apart from some numbness and a heavy soreness, there was nothing amiss. It appeared the nerves in his arm remained undamaged.

He gently rolled his stiff neck, his head still somewhat clouded. As pain shot up from his legs and abdomen, Qi Jun hastily threw back the covers to inspect himself—only to be shocked to discover he was completely naked.

The abrasions on his abdomen and the bruises on his legs startled him even more. He remembered only being struck in the left arm by an arrow when ambushed by that red-eyed hawk before it died—so how had he ended up with these other wounds?

“What a vicious poison!” Qi Jun thought, sighing inwardly. It seemed all these injuries were symptoms of the toxin.

Peering through a gap in the curtains, he saw the furnishings and layout of the room looked oddly familiar.

This was... the County Constable’s residence?!

A flash of memory returned—wasn’t this the very room Yun Fei had stayed in before? He instinctively tried to get up, but the dizziness in his head and the weakness throughout his body forced him back onto the bed.

Perhaps alerted by the sound of his stirring, a house servant soon entered and, after stealing a quick glance at him through the curtain, hurried out excitedly.

Moments later, a shuffle of footsteps approached outside, and a group of people gathered around a young man who appeared to be a physician. Qi Jun strained to look, but could only vaguely make out the doctor’s delicate features through the gap in the curtain.

A slender, fair hand pressed lightly on Qi Jun’s wrist to feel his pulse.

After a short pause, the physician jotted something down on paper and handed it to a waiting servant, who passed it to a literate companion.

“Mr. Tian says the patient is out of danger. He will change the dressing now, and asks that we leave and not disturb the patient’s rest,” Deng Fang read aloud from the note.

“This doctor is rather interesting—was it necessary to write all that down for just a single sentence? Is he... perhaps mute?” Qi Jun wondered, his curiosity piqued, as the group discussed and dispersed.

Then, the curtain was drawn back, and brilliant daylight spilled onto the bed. Having grown accustomed to the dimness, Qi Jun instinctively turned his head away from the sudden glare.

In the next instant, the covering on his body was abruptly yanked away, leaving him utterly exposed before the physician. Qi Jun sat up in alarm, hastily shielding himself.

To find himself bare before a stranger—even a physician—filled him with shame and confusion. Flustered, he glanced up, catching sight of the doctor’s face. Though mostly concealed by a green veil, the doctor’s features were undeniably delicate.

Qi Jun froze, unable to discern the physician’s gender, and the mystery of the covered face only deepened his curiosity.

Smack!

A sheet of paper slapped against his face, snapping him from his thoughts. Embarrassed, he removed it and glanced at the hastily scrawled words: “What’s there to be shy about? I’ve seen plenty. Is it not rude to stare at others?”

“S-sorry. If I’ve offended you, please forgive me...” Qi Jun stammered, blushing, and quickly apologized in a low voice. Squeezing his eyes shut, he lay back down. Staring at the doctor’s face was inappropriate enough—let alone when the doctor was here to treat him.

One should never offend the person tending your wounds.

Qi Jun suddenly recalled an anecdote he’d once read: a patient awaiting surgery joked with a pretty nurse in the ward, only to be rebuked by a doctor who entered. The patient, far from chastened, only became bolder in front of the doctor. After the doctor left, a neighboring patient informed him that the doctor was his lead surgeon—and the nurse was the doctor’s wife.

Qi Jun had found it funny at the time, never expecting to experience a similar situation himself. Anxiously, he sneaked another glance, but the physician was busy preparing medicine and seemed unbothered.

He relaxed a little until, as the doctor removed the old bandage and applied new medicine to his arm, a wave of excruciating pain shot through him, making him question his very existence.

“It hurts! It really hurts... you’re not doing this on purpose, are you?” Qi Jun looked at the physician, eyes brimming with tears.

The doctor paused, a faint smile crinkling the eyes, then tossed him another note and quickly packed up the medicine box before leaving.

From the gleam in the doctor’s gaze, Qi Jun could tell that perhaps a touch of personal resentment had found its way into the treatment.

He picked up the note: “Bruises are harmless, the arm injury will mend in time. Don’t move, don’t get angry. Rest is best.”

No sooner had the doctor left than Deng Fang, Sun Jiu, and others burst in to crowd around the bed, with Liu Kui and A Xin following behind.

Qi Jun hastily wiped away his tears, covered himself, and forced a calm smile for his visitors.

“Brother Jun, you’re so fierce taking down bandits, but it turns out you’re scared of pain?” Deng Fang teased, pulling up a stool by the bed. Seeing Qi Jun’s face fall, he quickly turned serious. “So, what did the doctor say?”

“That doctor really is something. We tried several the other day, and they all said you wouldn’t make it. We were nearly worried to death,” Liu Kui recalled, patting his chest in relief.

“It’s all written here.” Qi Jun handed over the note.

“What’s there to be shy about, I’ve seen plenty...” Deng Fang began to read aloud, then stopped short, stunned.

“Oh, I grabbed the wrong one—this is the actual prescription!” Qi Jun, mortified, snatched the slip from Deng Fang and tore it up, handing over the correct note.

“Brother Jun, what’s this ‘I’ve seen plenty’...” Deng Fang, regaining his composure, struggled to keep a straight face.

Sun Jiu and Liu Kui wore similar expressions, while even the usually reserved A Xin had retreated to the doorway.

“Wow, that poison was quite something. Who would’ve thought that red-eyed hawk would resort to such despicable tricks...” Qi Jun, eager to move past his embarrassment, quickly changed the subject and showed Deng Fang and the others the bruises and wounds on his body.

Deng Fang, who had been suppressing laughter, could no longer contain himself at the sight of Qi Jun’s bruises and dashed out the door, stifling his mirth.

Liu Kui’s face also changed, and he quickly found an excuse to follow.

Bewildered, Qi Jun watched the two depart in confusion. Fortunately, Sun Jiu remained, shaking his head with a knowing smile.

“What’s going on?” Qi Jun frowned at Sun Jiu, a hint of anger in his eyes. “Is my condition that amusing?”

“N-no, that’s not it...” Sun Jiu composed himself and stifled his laughter. “Sir, the poison in your arm is real, but as for those other injuries...”

“What about them? Tell me!” Qi Jun sensed there might be more to his wounds than he’d realized.

“Those bruises on your body... Liu Kui and Deng Fang are to thank for those,” Sun Jiu managed, barely suppressing his mirth.

“They caused them?” Qi Jun was stunned.

“After you collapsed from the poison and lost consciousness, Liu Kui carried you down the mountain path in a hurry. The trail was slippery... well...” Sun Jiu gave Qi Jun a sympathetic look.

“What’s Deng Fang got to do with it?” Qi Jun knew Liu Kui’s actions were out of concern and bore no grudge, but Deng Fang’s reaction perplexed him.

“Seeing how badly you’d been jolted, Young Master Deng took over from Liu Kui, but after only a few steps, his feet slipped too...” Sun Jiu couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing, excusing himself with urgent business and fleeing before Qi Jun could reply.

Qi Jun stared at his battered body, lost in thought, finally understanding how his injuries had come about. No wonder the physician had said the bruises were harmless—they had nothing to do with the poison after all.

“Sir, the master left a message for you.” Always lingering by the door, A Xin waited until the others had gone before approaching Qi Jun’s bedside.

Qi Jun snapped out of his reverie and looked up, slightly startled.