Mo Sang – CH 286

Chapter 286. Facing a Major Event

Da Chang and Meng Yanqing, positioned above, had already seen the two wounds on Li Sangrou’s body.

Da Chang threw down his spiked mace and, before Li Sangrou’s head hit the tree trunk, reached out and caught her neck.

Hei Ma plunged into the Taoist temple, then quickly leaped out, lunging and leaping towards Da Chang.

Xiao Lu and the others, close behind Da Chang, now stood scattered around him, their eyes filled with terror as they stared at the blood-covered, unconscious Li Sangrou.

“Boss just has a superficial wound! It is just a superficial wound! The Boss is fine! The Boss will definitely be alright! What could possibly happen to the boss?!” Hei Ma said viciously after glaring at Li Sangrou, then suddenly turning sharply, pointing at Datou.

Datou, struck on the head, leaned back, unable to speak, only nodding repeatedly, almost falling backward to the ground. He stumbled back two or three steps before regaining his footing.

Meng Yanqing hurriedly beckoned two Old Yunmeng guards over, instructing them to quickly cut some bamboo to make a bamboo bed to carry their Boss back.

As he gave the orders, Meng Yanqing squatted down, taking over from Da Chang’s support of Li Sangrou. He carefully examined the steel spike embedded in Li Sangrou’s back, then raised his hand, pinched the handle of the spike, and gently moved it.

Xiao Lu stared wide-eyed and hissed.

Da Chang carefully released his grip, stood up, and quickly untied his wide belt, taking off his outer garment.

Chuantiao and Mazha rushed forward to take the garment, stretching it up. Da Chang hurriedly shook the medicine, pills, and a clean cloth soaked in medicine from his belt onto the outer garment, then grabbed the medicine and cloth and squatted down.

Chuantiao and Mazha, pulling the outer garment piled with pills and cloth, quickly squatted down beside Da Chang.

“Stay calm! It is nothing serious!” Meng Yanqing snapped.

Da Chang gave a low “hmm.”

“Look here first.” Meng Yanqing gestured to the steel spike in Li Sangrou’s shoulder blade. “I moved it just now, and it seems to have pierced through here. It is not a serious injury, just a deep wound; do not worry.

This thing needs to be removed. If left untreated, it can cause problems later.” Meng Yanqing gently pushed the steel spike again, telling Da Chang.

“Remove it now? There’s no physician.” Da Chang frowned.

“No need for a physician. We’ve treated plenty of these kinds of injuries before. I’ve treated more than any physician.

No powder, and do not sprinkle it into the wound. Wait, be gentle.” Meng Yanqing directed Da Chang, shifting his position to support Li Sangrou’s back with his knee, his left hand pressing on the wound. “Support her, prepare the bandages. If you need more, bring them all. Alright, like this, get ready, one, two, three!”

Meng Yanqing first placed the fine cloth Da Chang was holding in the most easily accessible position, took a deep breath, grabbed the steel spike, quickly pulled it out, threw it away, and immediately grabbed the cloth, rapidly wrapping it around Li Sangrou’s shoulder.

A spurt of blood gushed out, then quickly subsided. However, even after Meng Yanqing finished wrapping, bloodstains had still seeped into the bandage.

Meng Yanqing held his breath and stared for a while, then slowly let out a sigh of relief.

The bleeding had largely stopped.

“Lift her leg a bit; this wound needs to be re-bandaged,” Meng Yanqing then gestured to Da Chang.

Da Chang hurriedly lifted Li Sangrou’s injured leg.

Meng Yanqing picked up a bottle of medicine from the outer garment that was being torn apart by Chuantiao and Mazha, then took several rolls of medicinal cloth and placed them aside before untying the bandage on Li Sangrou’s thigh.

The cloth was already soaked with blood.

With the cloth untied, a deep hole was revealed in her thigh, mirroring the wound on her back; both appeared to have been caused by steel spikes.

Meng Yanqing estimated the direction of the wound, carefully pressing it to ensure there were no remaining foreign objects, before pouring the medicine around the wound and re-bandaging it with the medicinal cloth.

Nearby, several Old Yunmeng guards moved swiftly, having already cut two bamboo poles, tightly bound them with silk ropes they carried, and then tied them back and forth into a net. They removed their outer garments and tied them between the two bamboo poles.

Hei Ma, Datou, and Xiao Lu stood on either side of Da Chang and Meng Yanqing, bending over, watching silently, not daring to make a sound. After bandaging the two wounds, Meng Yanqing checked them again and gestured to Da Chang. Da Chang carefully lifted Li Sangrou, whose arm, which had been pressed against her chest, drooped down, and the little puppy she had been holding in her arms yelped and fell to the ground.

Meng Yanqing reacted quickly, catching the puppy before it hit the ground. He looked at it and was immediately stunned.

Where did the Boss get such a little thing?

And at a time like this, the Boss still had time to hold this little thing in her arms?

“What is it?” Da Chang craned his neck to look.

“A newborn puppy.” Meng Yanqing held the trembling, yelping puppy in his hands, showed it to Da Chang, and casually handed it to Hei Ma.

“Do not move her yet; check for other injuries.”

Da Chang, supporting Li Sangrou, stopped. Meng Yanqing examined Li Sangrou from head to toe, circling her once and then letting out a sigh of relief. “Just these two wounds. Put her on the bed quickly, and get back!”

Da Chang lifted Li Sangrou and carefully placed her on the bamboo bed.

Hei Ma, fingers interlaced, cradled the little puppy, blinking seven or eight times, holding his breath, and carefully brought the puppy to his chest.

That was how the Boss had held it earlier.

Dong Chao had already rushed up from another direction, glanced at Li Sangrou, stepped back a few paces, and directed his team to search and deal with the situation inside the Taoist temple.

Meng Yanqing, Da Chang, and the others surrounded the bamboo bed, while dozens of veteran Yunmeng guards formed a fan-shaped protective circle. Wei Fu and another Yunmeng guard carried the bamboo bed and raced towards the dock.

Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, smoke rose from the Taoist temple halfway up.

Meng Yanqing paused, turned back, glanced at it, then continued running.

Upon reaching the outskirts of Shichui Town, Meng Yanqing gathered five or six men and quickly searched for goats that were nursing, determined to buy one or two, regardless of price.

The sun was high overhead, and the group, drenched in sweat, rushed onto two large boats that had been moved to a secluded spot on the dock.

“You wait here for Old Dong. We will set sail and wait on the lake!”

Meng Yanqing immediately gave the order as they boarded the boats.

A quarter of an hour later, Dong Chao and the others rushed back to the boats. The Old Yunmeng guards who had gone to buy the goats also returned, carrying two ewes and holding lambs.

Meng Yanqing immediately ordered them to set sail, hoisting the sails and heading into the Yangtze River towards Jiangzhou City.

Inside the cabin, Da Chang, holding his breath, carefully removed Li Sangrou’s blood-stained outer garments, placed her on the bed, and tucked several soft cushions behind her back, positioning her in a semi-reclining position.

Xiao Lu, Mazha, and Chuantiao rushed to the stern, lit a fire, placed a large pot on it, and quickly boiled water.

Hei Ma handed the puppy to Datou, rushed into the hold, grabbed a large bag of herbs, and then rushed back to the stern, pouring the pre-prepared herbs into the pot to brew a medicinal soup.

This was the Boss’s order; when injured, this medicinal soup was used to wipe the body, wash clothes, clean the bed, and wipe various parts of the body.

In the past, when comrades were injured, this medicinal soup was always prepared and used for washing.

Datou held the whimpering puppy in his hands, frozen in place, afraid to move.

Meng Yanqing stood at the bow, vigilantly surveying the surroundings, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Several experienced Yunmeng guards, skilled in raising and milking goats, settled the goats, milked a bowl of goat milk, and carefully carried it into the stern. Xiao Lu found a small earthenware pot, simmered it over a low flame, added sugar, poured it into the bowl, and handed it to the front cabin.

Da Chang took the bowl of goat milk, which was more than half full.

Smelling the milk, the puppy, which had not been too fussy before, immediately started barking loudly, wriggling in Datou’s hands, struggling desperately towards the milk.

It was starving.

“Brother Chang! Brother Chang!” Datou cried, cradling the puppy in his arms, his face filled with fear.

“Silly!” Xiao Lu slapped Datou on the head, turned around, looked around, and flipped over a stool, gesturing to Datou, “Put it in there.”

The back of the stool was surrounded by wooden planks, low enough to confine the puppy. Datou cradled the puppy in his hands and placed it inside.

The puppy inside the stool barked even louder, its front paws scratching incessantly at the wooden planks.

Da Chang glanced at the half-full bowl of goat milk, then at the crying puppy, and sighed.

“Sigh, this is the little thing the Boss cherishes. Give it some.”

Da Chang took a teacup, carefully poured a sip of milk into it, touched it, and placed the teacup in front of the puppy.

The puppy squealed and plunged its head into the teacup.

Da Chang sighed, picked up the bowl, and squatted down beside the bed. He looked at the unconscious Li Sangrou, glancing left and right, then scratched his head again.

He’d never fed anyone before. His Boss was unconscious and would not even open her mouth; how could she possibly drink?

“Hei Ma!” Da Chang called out.

Last time his Boss was unconscious, Hei Ma and Jin Mao had taken care of her. Hei Ma definitely knew how to feed her!

Hei Ma responded and entered. Seeing Da Chang holding the bowl, pointing at Li Sangrou, and gesturing towards him, Hei Ma quickly stepped forward, took the bowl, and said, “I will do it, I will do it!”

Hei Ma kicked the stool, moved it around until he was comfortable, scooped up a small spoonful of warm goat’s milk, and carefully fed it to Li Sangrou.

Da Chang bent over, watching intently.

Mazha and Chuantiao carried in a large basin of medicinal soup. Xiao Lu and Datou each took a piece of fine white cloth, soaked it in the medicine, shook it to cool, wrung it out until half-dry, and began wiping the entire cabin.

Mazha and Chuantiao put down the medicine and also started wiping with their cloths.

They planned to wipe the inside of the cabin first, then the outside, cleaning the entire boat from bow to stern.

Mazha and Chuantiao stopped wiping beside the little puppy on the stool, staring at it, one on each side, its face covered in milk and hiccuping repeatedly.

“The Boss was able to pick up this little thing; it will be fine. This puppy is very small,” Mazha said, scratching the puppy with his finger.

“Too small, will it survive?” Chuantiao also stroked the puppy’s head, looking worried.

“Who will raise this? You? You? Brother Chang?” Mazha pointed from the dog to the others, then to Da Chang.

“Dogs are easy to raise, but this one is too young. We cannot spoil it. I will go outside and ask. Old Meng and the others know a lot.”

The little dog peeked over as he looked at it. He stood up, stuffed the rag into Datou’s arms, and went out of the cabin to ask Meng Yanqing.

Hei Ma, completely focused, fed Li Sangrou most of the bowl of goat milk, handed the bowl to Da Chang, and wiped his brow.

This bowl of goat milk had really bothered him.

Meng Yanqing followed the little dog in, first going to the bedside to carefully examine Li Sangrou’s complexion, then placing two fingers on her forehead and moving them back and forth.

“How is it?” Da Chang, watching Meng Yanqing’s actions closely, asked in a low voice.

“She’s alright now, but by the afternoon or evening, she will likely get feverish. It is best to give her a few pills now. Use your medicine; those are the best.”

Meng Yanqing examined the fine cloth on Li Sangrou’s shoulder and thigh again, pressing it with his finger. Blood had soaked through the cloth, but when pressed, it did not flow out. Meng Yanqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the bleeding was much slower.

Meng Yanqing pointed to the cloth and said, “Change it in an hour. Dissolve your wound medicine in warm water, pat it onto the clean cloth, and pat it thoroughly. Using cloth with wound medicine is good for the wound.”

“Alright,” Da Chang agreed.

Without needing any orders, Mazha and Chuantiao went to the back cabin to fetch the medicine bowl and boiling water.

Da Chang prepared the medicine and handed it to Hei Ma, who then fed it to him. Da Chang took the bowl from Mazha, prepared more medicine, and soaked a piece of cloth in the medicine.

Meng Yanqing watched for a while before turning to look at the little puppy whimpering in the overturned stool.

Meng Yanqing squatted down and gently rubbed the puppy’s round belly with his fingers.

“It ate too much. How long has it been eating? About fifteen minutes, right? Take a cloth, dampen it, and wipe it here,” Meng Yanqing said, tearing off a piece of fine cloth, dampening it, and wiping it.

“Look, it peed. Now wipe the poop. See? Like this.

This puppy is too small; it cannot pee on its own yet. It will be almost a month old before it can pee and poop on its own.

Also, do not overfeed it. It is fine if it is a little hungry, but if it gets overfed, it will be too late to save it.

Puppies are easy to raise.” Meng Yanqing patted the puppy’s head.

The puppy whimpered contentedly.

“I wonder where the Boss got this little thing. It is so small. If it were in a litter, this small one would probably be the last one born, would not get any milk, and probably would not survive,” Meng Yanqing remarked.

“What can it eat? Just goat’s milk? Is goat’s milk enough?” Xiao Lu, seeing that the puppy was clearly much more comfortable, could not resist scratching its head.

“Just goat’s milk. We will feed it something else around its one-month milestone. There’s not much else. Dogs are like wolves; if you want to feed them well, it has to be meat.” Meng Yanqing glanced back at the unconscious Li Sangrou, then at the little puppy, and sighed.

When the Boss was soft-hearted, his heart was truly soft.

He wondered if the Boss was so badly injured because he could not bear to hurt this little puppy.

………………………………

Just as Meng Yanqing had predicted, as the two large ships turned into the river at dusk, Li Sangrou’s forehead became feverish.

Hei Ma had been thoroughly washed from head to toe with medicinal liquid, changed into clothes soaked in medicinal liquid, and had his head tightly wrapped with a fine cloth soaked in medicinal liquid. He sat, half-sitting, half-lying, on the deck in front of Li Sangrou’s bed, feeding her water every half hour, goat’s milk every hour, and medicine every three hours.

This was all instructed by the Boss; they had always taken care of their injured comrades this way.

The two ships traveled day and night, and the next evening, they anchored at the Jiangzhou City dock.

Dong Chao selected a few experienced but unassuming men to go ashore and buy food and medicinal herbs.

Meng Yanqing did not let Da Chang leave the cabin. He squatted by the cabin door, watching the dock and the ships on both sides, while talking to Da Chang inside the cabin.

“The Boss is seriously injured. Right now, we cannot trust anyone but ourselves!” Meng Yanqing’s gentle tone carried a hint of ruthlessness. “I am telling you, right now, we cannot trust anyone but ourselves!”

Da Chang frowned, not quite understanding, but still hummed in agreement.

The Boss had said that in times of great crisis, Meng Yanqing was more suitable to lead the group than him.

Now that the Boss was seriously injured, that was a great crisis.

“We will anchor here. The Boss is alright right now.

I’ve seen injuries like this, much worse than this, dozens of times. You’ve seen them too, right? It is good that the Boss has a fever; it is what it is supposed to be like. If she does not, that would be a real problem. If she wakes up tomorrow, she will have passed the first hurdle.

If she does not wake up tomorrow…” Meng Yanqing paused, then continued, “Go get a physician. Once he’s on the ship, we cannot let him off.”

“The Boss will definitely wake up tomorrow,” Da Chang said in a low voice.

“Yes, that’s what I think too. The Boss is not an ordinary person. This injury is not too serious; it is not a big deal. She will get through it.”

Meng Yanqing wiped his face.

“You and Xiao Ma, just focus on taking care of the Boss. We, old brothers, will handle things outside.”

“Yes, this is the first time the Boss has been injured like this,” Da Chang’s voice was very low.

“Just this once.” Meng Yanqing patted Da Chang on the shoulder and glanced at the overturned stool.

Inside the stool, the well-fed puppy was whimpering and struggling to climb out.

“Look, the Boss still had the leisure to pick up this thing; what could possibly be wrong?”

Da Chang looked back at the puppy, a slight smile appearing on his face. “This little thing, so tiny, is already full after half a sip of milk. How many years will it take to grow up?”

“A dog does not take years to grow up; a year is enough. This puppy is too small; it looks like it will not grow into a big dog,” Meng Yanqing glanced at it again.

“It has quite a temper. Yesterday, Datou wiped its pee, probably a little too roughly, and it barked and howled at Datou, very fiercely.” Da Chang leaned over and pushed the puppy, which was struggling to climb out, to the middle of the stool.

“The Boss picked it up; of course, it is fierce.” Meng Yanqing clicked his tongue.

If they were talking about ferocity, the Boss was undoubtedly number one in his entire life; the second one was so far away that he was practically invisible!