Chapter 18: Offering Herself

When Song Jinxiu saw him, she realized that the man with the hempen face must be the leader.

She then said to him, “Go find some clean bandages for me. After pulling out the arrow, I’ll need them to dress the wound.”

The pockmarked  man nodded, and a man dressed in black went out. Soon, he returned carrying young Physician Li’s medicine box.

Song Jinxiu opened it and found that the contents were fairly complete—silver needles, a surgical knife, bandages, and some hemostatic medicine.

She gathered the necessary items together, then covered the bowl of sugar water with a white cloth.

Picking up another white cloth, she pretended to soak it in the sugar water bowl, but in truth, she was dipping it into the iodine stored nearby.

She tore open the patient’s clothing and disinfected the area around the arrow with the iodine. Then, holding the arrow shaft firmly with one hand and a silver needle in the other, Song Jinxiu quietly focused her energy into her eyes and, with a single strong pull, began to extract the arrow.

Yes, she didn’t need to use a knife to cut into the flesh because she could see what was inside. When pulling out the arrow, she only needed the silver needle to control the barbs on the arrowhead, guiding it out along the same path it had entered.

The pockmarked  man stared at her. He saw her quickly stab the silver needle several times, then with a single strong pull, the arrow was pulled out from their master’s back.

“You…”

He exclaimed in surprise, wanting to stop this girl.

He could pull out arrows like this himself—why would he need to beg some little girl to do it?

But the arrow had barbs, which would tear flesh as it was pulled out. Wouldn’t their master’s back be left with a huge hole? How could the bleeding be stopped?

Could it be that this girl didn’t understand this truth? Or did she not truly know medicine at all and was just playing with their master?

Besides, didn’t young Physician Li say the arrow was close to the heart? If she kept doing this, would their master…?

The pockmarked  man suddenly regretted letting this girl take action.

However, before his shocked exclamation could leave his throat, he saw the girl press a bundle of something directly against the wound.

The bleeding stopped just like that.

How could this be possible?

The group of men in black stood tensely, barely daring to breathe, watching the young girl skillfully dress their master’s wound.

The pockmarked  man blinked. Though the girl’s movements were quick, he still noticed that after the arrow was pulled out, the wound was not very large.

How did this girl manage that?

Song Jinxiu thought to herself that it had been a long time since she had dressed a wound and that she was feeling clumsy now. If her big brother were here, he definitely wouldn’t be able to watch this.

Then she thought to herself, why does Shixiong demand so much from me? I’m not trained in medicine, nor am I his disciple.

Sigh! She wondered if Shixiong would avenge her when he found out she got into trouble.

The pockmarked  man reached out to check their master’s breath, then exhaled in relief. Turning to the anxious men watching him, he said, “Our master has fallen asleep. His breathing is steady.”

“Phew.”

The men in black, tense all day, collectively relaxed. The atmosphere in the room immediately softened.

Some of the men sat down hard, while others leaned against the bedside.

The pockmarked  man also sat down opposite Song Jinxiu. Rubbing his face, he offered what he thought was a kindly smile and said to her, “So it turns out the young lady is a hidden genius—a divine physician. We were rude just now; I hope the divine physician will not take offense.”

Song Jinxiu snorted and turned her head, ignoring him.

Hmph, who was the one just now who raised a knife to cut me? If I hadn’t reacted quickly, I’d probably be cold dead by now.

The pockmarked  man paid no mind and laughed heartily. “Little divine physician, don’t be angry. Once our master wakes up, he’ll surely take you in. You’ll enjoy a life of luxury following him—how wonderful is that?”

Song Jinxiu was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

What does “take me in” mean? Surely it’s not what she was thinking, right?

The pockmarked  man put on a flattering smile. “Of course it means taking you as a concubine. Don’t worry, our master will give you a proper status.”

Song Jinxiu looked at the pockmarked  man in disbelief and asked in shock, “You, you, you still have any sense of reason? I saved him, you know?”

The pockmarked  man looked serious. “Yes, you saved our master. Isn’t it said that a life-saving grace can never be fully repaid except by offering oneself? So you’ll become a concubine to our master. Hmm, if he’s pleased, I’ll even put in a good word for you. He’ll surely reward you with the rank of noble concubine. How about that? Your family must be burning incense in thanks already.”

“I spit on your family burning incense!

What life-saving grace? Offering oneself? And becoming a noble concubine? What kind of daydream are you having, huh?”

This was truly intolerable. If she were to die, so be it. She wasn’t willing anymore.

Song Jinxiu put her hands on her hips and shouted, “Even if it were the Heavenly Emperor himself, don’t think for a second that I’d become a concubine!”

The pockmarked  man grew displeased. The little girl kept calling herself “laonang” (old lady), yet still wasn’t grateful to be chosen as the master’s concubine.

“So what? You want to be the lawful wife instead? Stop dreaming. Do you even know who our master is?”

Song Jinxiu thought, Is this man crazy?

“I don’t care who your master is! I’m the physician now, and he’s the patient. Without me, he’d be dead, and so would all of you.”

She pointed at the group of men in black one by one. “Let me tell you, this whole ‘life-saving grace, offering oneself’ nonsense doesn’t even get a foot in the door with me.”

Then she pointed at the pockmarked  man. “And you’ve got one thing wrong—I saved your lives. If anyone’s going to offer themselves, it’s you following me. What, you want to be my only husband?”

She counted off the men one by one: “One, two, three, four, five… twelve? Impossible. Let me tell you, all you old men here could be my fathers. This young girl has no interest in your bunch of dried-up old weeds.”

Song Jinxiu put her hands on her hips, letting out a good, satisfying scolding.

The men in black all froze.

Could this girl really have come from the mountains? Claiming she’d have twelve husbands and calling them old dried weeds—where did she get such audacity?

As the men, insulted and furious, felt a chill run through their hearts, none of them even noticed that their master on the bed had awakened.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

A sudden coughing sound finally startled everyone.

The pockmarked  man took a swift step forward. “Master, you—you’re awake? Hush hush, woo woo…”

“Master,”

“Master…”

A group of big men dropped to their knees by the bedside, shamelessly sobbing.

Song Jinxiu: …

It was utterly embarrassing to watch. Just moments ago, they had been sharpening their knives like fierce demons, and now they had all turned into crying babies.

By the way, how did this man wake up so quickly?

Although she hadn’t given him much anesthetic, it should have kept him asleep for at least an hour or so.

This was because Song Jinxiu had given him diluted Linglu—a powerful elixir.

Just as the anesthetic began to take effect, the strong energy of the Linglu forced it out.

Also, Song Jinxiu’s swift arrow extraction happened to coincide perfectly, so Su Mo woke up right as the arrow was pulled out.

Though he was awake, he focused on absorbing the lingering energy within his body, so his eyes remained closed.

Of course, he was aware of everything happening around him.

The pockmarked  man checked his breath, the conversation with the young girl, and her barrage of outrageous curses.

Being called “old dried weeds,” Su Mo couldn’t hold back and started coughing, choked by his own saliva.

“The pouch has arrived.”

At that moment, the man in black who had taken young Physician Li away returned, carrying Xiao Li, followed closely by the curious Song Jinxiang.

But no one paid any attention to the life-saving medicine now—since the master was awake, those medicines were obviously just an excuse the young girl had used.

Song Jinxiu glared at the men in black and young Physician Li in displeasure. “My little sister is still young. Why did you bring her here?”

Young Physician Li sighed helplessly. “I told you, but she didn’t trust us and insisted on coming.”

Song Jinxiu waved at her sister with a smile. “I’m fine. It’s just a patient—young Physician Li can’t manage alone, so I’m helping him. You should go back now.”

“Oh,”

Song Jinfang glanced nervously at the men in black, took a timid step back, then looked at her sister. Seeing Song Jinxiu smiling and waving at her, she felt reassured. Her sister was really brave, and she was smiling—so she wasn’t worried anymore. With that, she quickly turned and ran off.