By the time A'Jiu opened her eyes, the mountain ridges were already bathed in the fiery glow of the setting sun.
She stood up, ready to descend, when she saw several soldiers entering the village.
Things had been relatively peaceful lately. She didn't know how the investigation into the deaths was progressing, but A'Jiu had no time to bother with it. She hurried down the mountain directly to Hui'er's house.
This time, with her acupuncture technique to detoxify, even if it wasn't completely effective, it could still save Hui'er's mother's life.
She knocked on the door, but Hui'er didn't open it for a long time.
"Hui'er, it's Auntie Jiu. Open the door."
"Wuwuwu..." She seemed to have held back her tears for a long time before finally crying out, "Auntie Jiu, you're here. Hui'er will open the door for you right away."
There was a rustling sound as she operated the door, followed by the scraping of a stool.
It took a long time before the door was finally pulled open.
"Why did you bar the door before it was even dark yesterday?" As A'Jiu stepped inside, she realized it wasn't just a crossbar. Tables and chairs were piled up.
They looked like they were used to barricade the door.
"Auntie A'Jiu, the officials were here just now. I was afraid they would take my mother away, so I used everything in the house to block the door."
A'Jiu's tears had not yet dried on her face.
A'Jiu pondered. The soldiers were likely there to investigate the matter of the three corpses. However, Hui'er was clever and knew to pretend no one was home, refusing to open the door for the soldiers.
If Hui'er's mother's condition were discovered, she would surely be taken away and then... then she would be thrown into the public mortuary.
"Take off your mother's clothes," A'Jiu said quickly.
Outside, the morning sun was rising, but inside, it was pitch black, so dark one couldn't see their hand in front of their face. The little girl stumbled and bumped her head.
But she didn't cry. She felt her way to the bedside and, with A'Jiu's help, removed her mother's clothes.
"Don't speak," A'Jiu wanted to say she could see, but the little girl might not be able to see in the dark.
She quickly took out her needle bag and inserted eight needles into Hui'er's mother:
"Get a bowl."
Hui'er fumbled in the dark, found a bowl, and handed it over.
A'Jiu took out some spiritual spring water from her embrace and poured half a bowl into it. She then dropped the snake venom into it.
"Help your mother sit up and drink this water."
"Okay." Hui'er felt her way to the bed and, with her small body, helped her mother sit up, leaning her mother's body against her own small frame for support.
A'Jiu quickly brought the bowl of water mixed with snake venom to her lips.
Perhaps because she hadn't drunk any water for several days, Hui'er's mother drank heartily.
"Hui'er, lay your mother down." As A'Jiu spoke, Hui'er carefully laid her mother flat on the bed. She sat by the bedside, unwilling to leave, her small hands constantly stroking her mother's cheek, occasionally leaning her own face against it to rub.
A'Jiu observed carefully. This time her mother didn't vomit, indicating that her ear acupuncture treatment for regulating the spleen and stomach was effective.
"Is anyone there? Someone reported that there is a patient here with symptoms similar to the plague in Nanzhou County. We are under orders to take them back for investigation."
The soldiers outside the door had returned.
"Sister A'Jiu... I'm scared." Hui'er clung to A'Jiu's arm, tears streaming down her face, but she dared not make a sound.
A'Jiu found the voice rather familiar.
"Don't be scared, Hui'er." A'Jiu stood up and went to the door, pulling it open.
The leader was none other than Xiao Yan'yan, followed by three or five others.
"Ah? Little Sister A'Jiu, why are you here?" Xiao Yan'yan was startled and quickly dismounted.
"Hui'er's mother's illness is just a common hysteria. She'll be fine in a few days."
"Little Sister A'Jiu, you still haven't said why you are here." Tuoba Yan's eyes brightened considerably when he saw Jiu'er. He had planned to finish quickly tonight and then go see her.
"Mom... Mother!" Hui'er's heart-wrenching cries came from inside the room.
A'Jiu couldn't afford to pay attention to anything else. She turned and went back into the room, only to see the woman on the bed foaming at the mouth and convulsing all over.
Poisoned?
A'Jiu panicked. The book said the gallbladder meridian could expel toxins, and she had already taken preventive measures.
As Xiao Yan'yan entered, the torchlight immediately illuminated the entire room.
Hui'er, terrified, hugged her mother tightly and shrank back into the corner of the bed.
"Isn't this a late-stage symptom of the plague? Tuoba, this is a mission assigned by the leader. Take them away."
The patrol soldiers who rushed in behind him recognized it immediately.
"No, don't take my mother away... don't." Hui'er, overwhelmed with fear, finally burst into tears, clinging tightly to her mother's body.