Chapter 80: Testing the Medicine on Oneself

Fei Li glanced at the still-unconscious Luo Sang and immediately countered, “He won’t die. As long as I’m here, I won’t let Luo Sang die.” With those words, he returned to Luo Sang’s side and continued to monitor his condition.

By noon, Luo Sang’s body was still burning hot, showing no signs of a fever breaking.

Fei Li was getting anxious.

He heated up the medicine he had prepared in the morning and poured a bowl to continue feeding Luo Sang.

After administering the medicine, he examined the swollen lump on Luo Sang’s back.

The lump wasn’t red and swollen anymore, but it hadn’t decreased in size.

What could be happening?

Even with the Qianzhi grass, Luo Sang’s fever persisted. Was the Qianzhi grass ineffective?

That’s impossible!

He helped Luo Sang sit up and planned to use spiritual energy to heal him.

As soon as his hand touched Luo Sang’s skin, he was repelled by the intense heat.

What’s going on?

He gradually realized that Luo Sang’s condition involved more than just toxins.

It seemed necessary to return to the riverbank to investigate what might be in that patch of grass.

Leaving the house, he entrusted Luo Sang to Xiao Chun’s care and went to the riverbank with Mao Li.

After last night’s events, the seedlings in the field had not been damaged again.

He walked past the field and went straight to the edge of the grass patch.

“Help me clear the grass,” he said to Mao Li.

Mao Li quickly cleared the grass, revealing a small hole about the size of a fist.

“There’s actually a small hole here,” Mao Li said, somewhat surprised.

The two of them stared at the small hole, which seemed to be bottomless. They had no idea what might be inside. Fei Li picked up a long branch from the side and carefully inserted it into the hole.

Even with the entire branch inserted, they couldn’t reach the bottom.

He decided to use his spiritual energy to extend the branch and probe further inside.

At that moment, a scorpion crawled out of the hole.

As soon as the scorpion reached the hole, it seemed to sense something was wrong and tried to retreat into the hole.

“Mao Li, quickly stop it, we can’t let it go back into the hole.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, Luo Sang was bitten by this scorpion.

He remembered that when he was a child at his grandmother’s village, where medical conditions were poor, if someone was bitten by a scorpion and no antidote was available, they would use the scorpion itself in medicine.

Since he had no better medical equipment to check Luo Sang’s toxins, he had no choice but to use this traditional method.

He hoped it would be useful for Luo Sang.

Mao Li clumsily tried to block the scorpion from returning to the hole, but the frightened scorpion was about to bite Mao Li’s hand.

Seeing this, Fei Li immediately picked up a nearby stone and pressed the scorpion down.

“This thing is poisonous, you can’t touch it with your bare hands.”

Upon hearing this, Mao Li quickly withdrew his hand, feeling scared.

Mao Li looked at the scorpion trapped under the stone. “What should we do now?”

Fei Li pondered while searching for useful items around.

After a thorough search, Fei Li made a simple pouch out of straw and placed the scorpion inside.

“What is this? Why are you after it?” Mao Li asked curiously.

Fei Li carried the pouch back, “This is called a scorpion. It is highly toxic, and it bit Luo Sang. I’m going to use it as a medicinal ingredient to treat Luo Sang.”

Mao Li was alarmed. He grabbed the pouch containing the scorpion from Fei Li’s hand.

“What? You’re going to use a poisonous creature as a medicinal ingredient for Luo Sang? I don’t agree.” Mao Li glared fiercely at the scorpion.

“Give the scorpion back to me.”

“I won’t. I can’t let you use such a thing to save Luo Sang.”

Seeing Mao Li’s determined expression, Fei Li said helplessly, “Do you have any other way to save Luo Sang? If you do, I wouldn’t need the scorpion.”

Mao Li’s raised hand slowly fell.

“You’ve seen Luo Sang’s condition. If we don’t treat him quickly, he will truly die. Do you want to watch him die?”

Mao Li remained silent and lowered his head.

“Ahh—” Mao Li let out a painful groan, and reflexively threw away the pouch.

The scorpion had already crawled out of the pouch and quickly escaped.

Realizing this, Fei Li immediately picked up the pouch and anxiously chased after the scorpion.

Mao Li’s wrist, where the scorpion bit him, was red and swollen, and he was feeling weak, sitting on the ground.

After chasing for a while, Fei Li finally caught up with the scorpion and successfully put it back into the pouch.

He immediately returned to Mao Li’s side and saw that Mao Li’s face was pale.

“Mao Li, how are you?”

Mao Li was unable to move, his eyes turning toward Fei Li. “My arm seems to have no feeling, and I can’t move at all.”

“I’ll help you back.”

Fei Li didn’t blame Mao Li and helped him back.

Mao Li, feeling guilty, spoke softly, “I’m sorry. I should have listened to you and not caused you trouble.”

“It’s okay, I understand you were only trying to help Luo Sang.”

The two walked on in silence.

After a few steps, they encountered Aola.

Aola had been hiding nearby and had overheard their conversation clearly.

Worried about Luo Sang, Aola came out from the side.

Without saying a word, Aola supported Mao Li’s other arm, and together with Fei Li, they helped Mao Li back to Luo Sang’s home.

As soon as they entered the house, Aola released Mao Li and went straight to the bed.

“Luo Sang, what happened to you?”

Aola anxiously looked at Luo Sang and then turned to Xiao Chun.

Xiao Chun shook his head, not knowing much about Luo Sang’s condition.

Angry, Aola turned to Fei Li and loudly questioned, “What exactly have you done to Luo Sang? Why is he like this? Aola hadn’t mentioned it, but as soon as he did, Fei Li was filled with anger.

Fei Li placed the pouch with the scorpion down and quickly moved in front of Aola, grabbing him by the neck.

“Lord Fei Li,” Xiao Chun exclaimed in surprise.

Fei Li coldly glanced at Xiao Chun, who stepped back and dared not speak.

“If it weren’t for you destroying the rice seedlings, Luo Sang and I wouldn’t have had to wait by the river in the middle of the night. All of this is because of you. How can you still have the face to say anything?”

Xiao Chun stared in shock at Aola. “What? You actually destroyed the rice seedlings? Aola, you…” With a sigh, Xiao Chun couldn’t continue his sentence.

“That’s not true, you’re talking nonsense.” Aola’s face changed, and he immediately protested.

Fei Li sneered coldly, pointing at Mao Li who couldn’t move. “Look at Mao Li. His symptoms are exactly the same as Luo Sang’s.”

Xiao Chun and Aola both looked at Mao Li, then at Luo Sang.

Aola lowered his head, his face full of regret.

If he had known his actions would harm Luo Sang, he would never have destroyed the rice seedlings.

Fei Li released Aola and warned him harshly, “You’d better pray that Luo Sang recovers. Otherwise, I’ll use your flesh as medicine for Luo Sang.”

After saying this, he placed the captured scorpion into the stone pot with the herbs and continued heating the medicine.

Soon, the small room was filled with the bitter smell of traditional Chinese medicine.

Xiao Chun glared at Aola. “Aola, how could you do such a thing? Luo Sang didn’t blame you for not helping with the rice planting, and yet you still dared to destroy the seedlings.”

“If it were another tribe leader, you’d have been killed by now, or at the very least, expelled from the tribe. How could you still expect to stay here?” Xiao Chun interrupted Aola, continuing to scold him.

Casting a disappointed look at Aola, Xiao Chun approached Fei Li. “Lord Fei Li, is there anything I can help with?”

“Help me watch the fire, and I’ll apply more medicine to Luo Sang.”

After handing the fire over to Xiao Chun, Fei Li returned to Luo Sang’s side.

He continued applying the crushed Qianzhi grass to Luo Sang’s back, and afterward, he took the remaining Qianzhi grass to Mao Li.

Seeing that there wasn’t much medicine left, Mao Li refused the treatment. “Save the medicine for Luo Sang. I’m fine, even if I die.”

Ignoring Mao Li’s protests, Fei Li forced the medicine onto Mao Li’s wrist.

Feeling weakened, Mao Li could only allow Fei Li to apply the medicine.

After treating Mao Li, Fei Li returned to the stone pot and saw that the scorpion had been thoroughly boiled.

He ladled out a bowl of medicine and was about to go to Luo Sang when Mao Li shouted, “Give me the medicine first.”

Xiao Chun was momentarily stunned.

In the tribe, Mao Li is the most loyal to Luo Sang.

Now…

“Mao Li, how can you compete with Luo Sang for medicine?” Xiao Chun scolded.

“I agree that the medicine should be given to Mao Li first,” Aola interjected.

In Aola’s mind, as long as Luo Sang is okay, that’s what matters.

This scorpion is poisonous, what if using it as medicine increases the toxicity?

Xiao Chun looked at the three of them in confusion. “What’s going on? Why are you giving medicine to Mao Li first?”

Aola explained the situation to Xiao Chun, and after hearing it, Xiao Chun stopped talking.

“If this scorpion cannot treat Luo Sang, then you would have killed Luo Sang with your own hands. You can’t use this medicine on Luo Sang.”

Aola spread his arms and blocked Fei Li’s path.

Fei Li, holding the stone bowl, chuckled and pushed it towards Aola. “Then why don’t you take it? Luo Sang was poisoned because of you. Shouldn’t you make amends?”

Aola looked down at the black, bitter medicine in the bowl, hesitated, and reached for it.

Just as he touched the bowl, Fei Li moved it away.

“Forget it! There’s only a little medicine, I don’t want to waste it.” It seemed Aola wasn’t entirely bad.

He walked over to Mao Li with the stone bowl. “Are you sure about this?”

Mao Li nodded.

“Very well.”

He helped Mao Li sit up and held the bowl to Mao Li’s mouth.

Mao Li swallowed the bitter medicine in large gulps.

After finishing the bowl, Mao Li rested against the stone bench.

Xiao Chun and Aola both watched Mao Li intently, their expressions showing complex emotions.

Fei Li seemed untroubled and ladled another bowl of medicine, slowly approaching Luo Sang.

“Wait!”

The three in the room spoke almost in unison, stopping him.

He turned to the three of them. “Is there something wrong?”

Xiao Chun and Aola looked at Mao Li but did not speak.

“Can you wait a bit until we’re sure I won’t be poisoned before giving the medicine to Luo Sang?” Mao Li looked at him with pleading eyes. Fei Li smiled, “Trust me, it will be fine.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Mao Li didn’t improve but instead began to vomit violently…