Chapter Forty: For Survival

When I woke up again, sunlight was actually streaming down through the gaps in the foliage, falling almost directly onto my face.

Therefore, I squinted, giving my eyes a moment to adjust to the surroundings. Listening intently to the quiet around me and sensing no apparent abnormalities, I slowly opened my eyes.

Immediately, I saw Lanfang. True to form, she still hadn't slept, leaning against the support with a sharp thorn in hand, looking rather haggard overall. Whether the medicine she took yesterday was genuinely effective or some innate tenacity within her life had miraculously sparked a partial recovery, she now looked distinctly different despite remaining listless.

Ouxiang was still resting nearby, curled up inside a flat, three-pronged tree fork. Seeing her huddled there in deep sleep was genuinely somewhat heartwarming.

Although she hadn't endured any brutal combat or true brushes with life and death, we had nonetheless shared weal and woe together. A sense of gratitude stirred within me for her, but I knew this was hardly the time to indulge in such sentimental thoughts.

After letting my limbs adjust—the aching muscles feeling as though they might tear apart—I slowly stretched to ease the tension, then gave a slight nod of acknowledgment to Lanfang, whose eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope. Without speaking aloud immediately, I turned my gaze toward Huang Jianfen.

She was still lying flat on her back in the position we had secured for her. If not for Lanfang keeping vigil nearby, looking at her pale face and utterly motionless posture would guarantee the assumption that she was a corpse. Naturally, I felt no schadenfreude, but seeing her state made my heart involuntarily give a sharp jolt!

Could it be?

"Ah-Jing, she, she seems, seems to be not making it..." Unusually, upon catching my expression, Lanfang seemed to sense something. Yet she did not hesitate and took the initiative to speak.

A hint of a sob even laced her voice, making her already listless appearance seem all the more pathetic. "Earlier, I don't know what happened, but she convulsed for a moment, and her body kept shifting between hot and cold. I didn't know what to do! But now... it's been a while, and there's no response, no response at all!"

She seemed stripped of her former aloofness. Sitting close beside Huang Jianfen, she had cast aside any deliberate airs. Yet the genuine anxiety welling up from the depths of her gaze was a visceral feeling.

Although I, too, felt a faint sense of foreboding, I did not show excessive surprise. After all, the events of the past two days had been far too bizarre, bordering on a subversion of everything I had previously known. Pondering for a moment, I moved closer to the utterly motionless Huang Jianfen.

First, I checked her pulse; her skin, having lost too much blood, felt icy cold. Next, I tested her respiration—I could barely sense the slightest breath.

"What are you worrying about... She isn't dead yet!" I didn't care about Lanfang's agitation, keeping my voice very low. Though I spoke rather quickly and didn't even raise my head, I expertly pried open Huang Jianfen's eyelids.

"To be honest, she's got a tenacious life of her own, but she doesn't seem far from death either. From here on out, we'll have to rely on the bodhisattva to bless her!" Turning my head, I saw the startled Lanfang with reddened eye rims, so I denied her the chance to speak. "Our medicine is limited, and you're not out of the woods yet, so things are very troublesome right now!"

Sensing that Lanfang had fallen silent, clearly nursing a deep sorrow, I glanced up at the canopy above, a sense of helplessness weighing on my mind. In an environment like this, someone sentimental like me was clearly the most prone to sinking into a quagmire.

The dense canopy and intertwined vines above made it difficult for us to see a broad expanse of the sky under normal circumstances, but through the crystal-clear gaps in the leaves, I could sense that the sun was blazing outside. Anyone caught in that sunlight must surely hold hope in their heart.

Hence, I didn't bother waking Ouxiang, turning instead to Lanfang. "If it were anyone else, do you think anyone would save her? Even you are in grave danger right now; if she manages to wake up, consider it her good fortune! Of course, it's not because I'm a saint, but if she can wake up, we might finally learn the secret behind why she's being hunted!"

My words at that moment were likely biting and carried a touch of cruelty. Yet I understood that if Lanfang wasn't utterly foolish, she should grasp my meaning. Leaving aside the fact that I rarely interacted with her under normal circumstances, even when we did, she always acted superior. Thus, no matter how low my voice dropped, the implication of my words was enough to leave Lanfang suffocating.

Sensing her respiration indeed grow hurried, I couldn't tell if she would be angered, but noticing she remained silent, I said flatly, "There's no telling what might happen next. Just in case, I must go find some more medicinal herbs!"

Having rested for a spell, my spirits had recovered considerably. As for the gnawing sensation of hunger, I felt quite confident in my ability to mentally push it into the background. However, my face and body still bore multiple aches that throbbed with pain.

That unforgettable pain was a testament to how harrowing last night's battle truly had been. Yet, compared to survival, what did a little pain matter? Especially sensing Lanfang's depressed emotional state, I refrained from speaking further to provoke her.

Subsequently, I tried pinching Huang Jianfen's jaw. Though she remained deeply unconscious, I was somewhat surprised to find that her mouth could still be forced open slightly.

With that, I crushed an anti-inflammatory pill and an antibiotic tablet, caught the powder on a large leaf, and dissolved it with a few drops of mineral water. I had Lanfang help hold Huang Jianfen's mouth open, and slowly fed the concoction to her.

"This is the utmost we can do for her!" When Lanfang subsequently refused to let me hand her more medication to administer, I paused in mild astonishment. Was she throwing another temper tantrum? Of course, I didn't dwell on it, too disdainful to quibble over such things.

Yet, looking at Huang Jianfen's condition, a flash of impatience crept over me, chilling my tone. "If she takes these and they do no good, we certainly can't afford to waste them. I wouldn't want to waste even half a pill!"

"I... I feel much better!" Seeming to realize her previous action might be misinterpreted, and recalling that everything I had done over the past two days was entirely selfless, Lanfang—despite her pale complexion—spoke in a trembling voice in response.

Although Huang Jianfen had earlier abandoned us without a backward glance alongside Peng Qian and the others, seeing Huang Jianfen reduced to this tragic state once more caused Lanfang, whose mind was clearing slightly, to have a sudden shift in perspective.

Especially upon hearing my tone, she clearly forced back her distress, clenched her teeth, and murmured softly in reply, "The medicine... keep some of it, and give it to her."

"Keep it for her? Do you think all this medicine is meant for you?" My emotions flared up. Whether driven by her misplaced mercy or the harsh cruelty of our present reality, a chilling edge crept into my voice.

"You can barely protect your own life, yet you're daydreaming about others? This isn't a charity ward, and there's nothing here we can spare for philanthropy!" The thought of Lanfang's words stirred a surge of anger within me, and I glared at her with a low growl. If not for the choice I made at the very beginning, I genuinely wanted to turn around and walk away!