Li Yuan felt as if he were on the brink of death, his consciousness hazy, forehead burning hot, accompanied by violent coughing.
Aunt Wang helped to boil some hot water.
Lady Yan wiped his body clean, changed him into fresh clothes, and laid him on the bed.
There was no doctor in Little Ink Workshop, so Lady Yan gave Aunt Wang a large coin to go to the county and fetch one.
After a long time, the county doctor arrived.
But upon arrival, he neither spoke nor sat down, just stood there impatiently, looking as if he would leave at any moment.
Seeing this, Aunt Wang quickly pulled Lady Yan aside to whisper something to her.
Only then did Lady Yan realize that the county doctor was reluctant to come to a place like Little Ink Workshop, and it was only after Aunt Wang mentioned the consultation fee being two large coins that he agreed to come.
Lady Yan hurriedly took out another large coin for the doctor.
Aunt Wang watched with a heartache from the side...
Two large coins, that could feed them for half a month if they were frugal. Why is the consultation fee so expensive?
After seeing the money, the doctor finally sat down. After observing for a while, he said, "It's nothing serious, just excessive hunger and depletion of vital energy and blood. Additionally, it seems... he may have encountered something and is in a state of shock."
"Since he's a hunter, he likely encountered a tiger or bear in the mountains, which could explain his condition, right?"
Lady Yan was stunned.
Tiger or bear?
Her husband had tamed tigers; would he still be afraid of them?
But what had he seen to be so overly frightened?
She remembered Li Yuan mentioning going deeper into the mountains to explore one night, and suddenly a sense of dread welled up from within her.
In the rural workshops, there was never a shortage of mysterious and secretive ghost stories.
Lady Yan suppressed this speculation and asked, "Then, may I ask the doctor, what should we do now?"
"Start with rice porridge to restore his health, and once he is better, provide nourishment."
"Should we prescribe any medicine?"
"His condition is quite severe, ordinary medicine won't work; we need top-grade medicine."
"How much does a dose cost?"
"This medicine, there's some top-quality stuff.
But there's also some specifically for Entry Grade Martial Artists; it's more expensive, but the effect is good."
"How much?" Lady Yan looked at the doctor eagerly.
The doctor glanced at her and said, "The top-quality medicine is three large coins per dose. To fully recover, ten doses are needed."
"And the more effective one?"
The doctor sneered slightly, a hint of disdain in his expression, seemingly implying, "Can you afford it?"
But considering this family were hunters who might have some extra money, he said, "For Entry Grade Martial Artists, it's 12 large coins per dose, but it works quickly. You could try a few doses first."
Aunt Wang muttered, "12 large coins? This... it's more than one tael of silver... Who can afford such treatment? Are you exploiting our ignorance of the market by quoting such high prices on purpose?"
The doctor felt guilty but quickly said in an impatient tone, "That's for Entry Grade Martial Artists, it works well. As for you... maybe better not to get medicine."
He then hastily stood up, ready to leave.
This wretched place, he didn't want to stay a minute longer.
Lady Yan glanced at the doctor, then looked at Li Yuan lying in bed.
Previously, Li Yuan had gone several times with Uncle Wang to deliver goods to the county tavern, and the family did save some money.
But both she and Li Yuan knew these funds shouldn't be casually exposed.
But at this point...
What if, because of her hesitation, Brother Yuan didn't pull through?
She looked at Li Yuan again and forced a smile, saying, "Doctor, we'll buy it! Could you make it a bit cheaper?"
The doctor asked, "Which one do you want to buy?"
Lady Yan gritted her teeth and said, "We'll get the best one."
"The best one?" The doctor eyed her suspiciously, then said, "If you're sincere about it, take five doses first, I'll charge you 58 large coins, saving you two."
"Would 55 work?"
The doctor asked, "Do you want it or not?"
"Can you give a bit of a discount..."
"If not, I'm leaving."
Lady Yan sighed, "We'll take it..."
"Where's the money?"
"I have it..."
...
After that, Lady Yan handed the money to Aunt Wang, who then left her two kids at Li Yuan's home, and called two men from the village to go to the county together.
By evening, Aunt Wang returned with the five doses of medicine.
Lady Yan had already prepared millet porridge earlier.
The two kids had already eaten the porridge clean, even licking the bowls.
Seeing Aunt Wang come back, Lady Yan served her a bowl of porridge and then went to decoct the medicine herself.
The two women were busy until late in the night, finally getting Li Yuan to drink the medicine and lay down properly.
Lady Yan opened the door to send Aunt Wang and her two children to the fence, saying, "Aunt Wang, thank you for all you've done."
Aunt Wang saw her sorrowful expression and consoled her, "Don't worry too much; it's good that the man returned... unlike my husband... sigh..."
...
After Aunt Wang left, Lady Yan bolted the door, placing a kitchen knife and a laundry bat next to the bed, and retrieved a bag of lime powder from under the bed. She had secretly obtained the lime powder from the workshop after the nocturnal assault of Zhang Shisi.
Then, Lady Yan quietly removed her clothing and untied the clasp on her chest, climbing into bed.
The doctor had diagnosed it, Brother Yuan only had a depletion of vital energy and blood, which meant sleeping together was still fine.
In the darkness, seeing her husband sleeping inwardly, Lady Yan raised her hand, her slender fingers gently wrapping around his waist, hugging him from behind, and they nestled together like two shrimp.
...
Li Yuan didn't sleep well, the medicinal properties of the Entry Grade Martial Artist quickly spread within his body, expelling the cold inside.
In the middle of the night, his whole body was cold.
Even wrapped in a quilt, he was still cold.
The chill emanating from the ancient manor in the deep mountains was spreading and dispersing.
Lady Yan woke up from the cold, touched her man, and was shocked.
She gritted her teeth, hurriedly comforted him, turning herself into a large heater, pressing against her man to warm him.
Li Yuan dreamed that he was in the Ice Hell, and suddenly... there was a sun in this hell.
He desperately held onto this sun, squeezing it, to draw warmth from the only heat source.
...
The next day, waking up from a sleep.
Li Yuan was covered in sweat, feeling as if he had come back to life.
Lady Yan busied herself back and forth, cooking meat porridge for him.
The cooking smoke curled up, footsteps came and went, Lady Yan's charming figure flitting about, filling this earthen house with the breath of living in the Human World...
This breath was what pulled Li Yuan back to reality.
However, his heart was heavy.
The corpse-like ancient manor in the deep mountains, and the eerie sound of the door opening, gave him a strong and terrifying sense of suffocation.
This world... is very, very scary, completely different from what he initially thought.
If he hadn't used the unconventional method of "Add Points to gain memories," forcing new consciousness into his mind, he would've died on the road long ago.
"Sister Yan..."
"Brother Yuan, are you feeling better?"
"Much better."
Li Yuan paused, then said in a deep voice, "We can't go to the mountains."
Lady Yan fell silent, then said, "Then we won't go. You need to recover."
Li Yuan agreed, glancing at the data beside him.
Without a bow, his stats had changed from "9~10" to "4(9)~5(10)."
It seems that being injured indeed reduces one's strength.
He looked into the distance again, on the way back, his bow, arrows, and Firewood Blade were all lost.
Regardless, he must first recover his health.
This time, it wasn't without any gain; rather, he glimpsed a corner of this world's terror.
Li Yuan clenched his fist...
Since these terrifying things are hidden in the deep mountains, there is only one way forward: make money, then move to a safer neighborhood with better security.
...
...
Night fell.
The moon was dark and the wind was high.
Li Yuan lay in bed all day, and his stats changed from "4(9)~5(10)" to "5(9)~6(10)."
Apparently, his body wasn't in too bad a shape, and the recovery was swift.
At midnight, after a moment of gentle and routine intimacy with Lady Yan, he rested.
But as he slept, Li Yuan's eyes suddenly opened wide.
He is an Entry Grade Martial Artist, even injured, his five senses are sharper than the average person.
At this moment, he distinctly heard faint footsteps coming from outside the door.
The footsteps stopped by the window for a while.
Li Yuan could even see the shadow of a human face against the oiled paper window.
That face seemed to be peering in through a crack in the window.
After watching for a bit, the face retreated, and a finger lightly tapped the oiled paper.
With a gentle "pop" sound, the oiled paper of the window was poked with a hole.
Soon after, a slender hollow tube was inserted inside.
From the tube, a dizzying smoke was blown out.
Li Yuan's expression turned cold, holding his breath, he pulled the quilt lightly, covering Yan Yu.
Yan Yu woke immediately, only to have her mouth covered by the man.
A moment later, there was a soft "thud" at the front door, the wooden latch was unhooked, and a shadow darted in.
Li Yuan glanced at it under the dim moonlight, but in the shadow's hand was a vegetable knife gleaming with coldness, with a "1~2" floating above its head.
As soon as the shadow entered the house, it headed straight for the closed box in the corner of Li Yuan's house.
He opened the box, reaching inside, about to fumble, when he suddenly sensed something was wrong.
But before he could turn his head, he felt something grip his head.
In the darkness, Li Yuan's five fingers gripped the shadow's head, slamming it down hard.
Thud!!
The whole shadow sat down, its head slamming into the earthen floor with a "boom" sound, feeling dizzy and shocked.
The shadow's fear turned to rage, and it hurriedly swung the vegetable knife backward.
But before it could strike...
Crack!!
A great force passed to his elbow joint.
There was a crisp "crack" sound from that arm, it wasn't broken, but dislocated.
And the vegetable knife flew out.
The shadow let out a scream.