"I'll go," Ah Jiu said calmly.
Liu Cai'er, her body trembling, suddenly turned to look at her sister Jiu'er standing beside her.
Her eyes lit up, and she was too grateful to speak, but she resented this world even more, and the rules of the healers in Nanming City.
Why should such privileges as the Medical Purity Hall exist?
One could tell how deep the waters were, and how much hardship pressed down on every bird that dared to stick its neck out, making it impossible to breathe. Who would dare to charge forward then?
"Oh? That would be excellent," the Hall Master looked at Ah Jiu.
"But you must send my nephew back. You know what the military camps are like. Once I go, there will be no possibility of escape."
Ah Jiu's voice was neither hurried nor slow. Ever since her sister-in-law was willing to take in their entire family, she knew her sister-in-law was loyal and righteous. She had wanted to repay her sister-in-law with all her might ever since then.
"Alright!" the Hall Master readily agreed.
He stood up and walked to the door, beckoning.
The curtain of a carriage swayed, and an old woman carrying a boy with a small bun hairstyle got out.
She placed the child on the ground, and he could barely stand on his feet.
He looked to be no more than two years old.
Liu Cai'er stared, her body trembling.
"Quick, come to Mama," Liu Cai'er burst into tears, looking at the chubby little face, wishing she could rush forward and hug him tightly.
But it had been half a year, and the little one had grown a lot. He was only a little over a year old when he was taken away, just learning to walk with the support of the wall.
"Nee chin..." Little Zhiyuan ran unsteadily, throwing himself into Liu Cai'er's embrace.
Liu Cai'er finally couldn't hold back her tears, hugging her son tightly, wishing she could fuse him into her own body.
Ah Jiu let out a long sigh. Was this little one her nephew? She was even an elder now.
Watching the little hands with dimpled cheeks cling tightly to their mother's neck, Ah Jiu felt an urge to bite them, they were so tender.
"Miss Meng Jiuer, it's time to set off. Military matters brook no delay," the Hall Master said to Ah Jiu, his hands behind his back. "Besides, I have never mistreated your nephew. I even hired an old woman who understands medicine to take care of him."
Ah Jiu remembered her sister-in-law's words. They wouldn't dare do anything to Ah Yuan. If Ah Yuan died, wouldn't the Liu family, who would be sent to the Hua Lan Medical Hall under intense scrutiny, fight to the death? Who would volunteer to go to the morgue to treat the dead?
"Alright!" Ah Jiu did not refuse, but for the first time, she saw this nephew, and she had to pat his little head.
"Remember, I am your little aunt."
The little fellow blinked his big eyes at Ah Jiu, his pink lips pouting for a long time before he called out, "Little Huhu..."
"Good boy!" Ah Jiu squeezed his little cheek, indulging herself for a moment. He was so tender.
She stood up to leave.
"Jiuer... Let me go with you. It's really tiring." So many people were sick, and her father had died from exhaustion.
"No need." Ah Jiu smiled innocently. "If sister-in-law goes, what about Ah Yuan? He will definitely miss you. But I am confident that I can handle it."
After speaking, Ah Jiu went back into the house to pack her things. In fact, she didn't have much to pack, mainly intending to prepare more water for the family.
With six water skins, Ah Jiu simply sat in front of the water vat in the kitchen.
After filling the six water skins, she poured them into the water vat. Repeatedly, she finally finished filling the spiritual spring water, which filled more than half the vat.
Ah Jiu kept one water skin for emergencies, as treating illnesses required water. While waiting for the spiritual spring to replenish, it was always good to be prepared.
She returned to the front hall.
Liu Cai'er was instructing, "Hall Master, you must release two of those three King Cobra Kings and send them to the military camp. Also, you can't let my sister work alone; she must have help." She still couldn't forget the scene of her father dying from exhaustion.
"You don't need to worry. They have already been sent. As for personnel, there are three army doctors in the military camp, and Ye Qing from Nanming City will go to assist."
The Hall Master's expression was inscrutable.
Given that natural disasters, man-made calamities, and warfare had all converged, and military orders were paramount, as the Hall Master of the Medical Purity Hall, he had to bear this heavy burden.
"This old man will accompany my granddaughter."
Madam Wang walked out from the kitchen, a white mist, visible only to Ah Jiu, swirling around her.