Chapter 75: Desparation, Part I

Four days had passed since the Wu Clan’s enemies had attempted to break into the compound and failed. Several battles had taken place each day, and each time, the Wu Clan’s forces would be reduced from injuries and deaths. What had been a clan of around five hundred strong was now only about four hundred—and at least half of that number was made up of young children and people who had no cultivating talent.

Deaths were relatively low, with only twenty-five people having been killed since the first wave of attacks. The rest had received injuries so brutal that it would take months for them to recover. The only upside to all of this was that Father had woken up three days after the first attack, though he still lacked the strength to stand at the frontlines. It appeared he had been poisoned by Tian Hao. This had the effect of weakening his body. According to Wu Shaolin, it would take at least one month before he recovered enough to fight.

Wu Jian had not participated in any of the battles since that first one. After being simultaneously thanked and scolded by Wu Taohua, who told him she didn’t know whether to be grateful for his quick thinking or furious for his recklessness, he had been tasked with helping Mother care for the injured alongside Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu. Together, the three of them did everything in their power to help preserve the lives of those who fought to keep them safe.

Having experienced another battle where their lives were put on the line, Wu Jian no longer held the same fear he used to for their situation. He still felt its icy hold. Only fools felt no fear when death loomed over them, but more than being afraid, what he felt was helplessness at their situation.

At present, Wu Jian was located inside the hospital wing. The sleeves of his blood-coated hanfu had been torn off. He had used them to bandage a young man’s injuries. The person in question was currently lying down, the fabric wrapped tightly around his bicep as a makeshift tourniquet.

His arm was missing from the elbow down.

They had long since run out of actual bandages and were being forced to tear strips of fabric to use in their place. Hou Jingshu had been the first to tear her dress apart and use it, and now the others were following her lead. Wu Jian had to admit that she had never looked more like a noble princess than she did in that moment.

“You’re going to be okay. Come on. Let’s change your bandages,” he said.

The man he was now seeing to groaned groaned as he lifted his leg. Wu Jian removed the bandage, careful not to aggrandize the wound further, and managed to keep the grimace from his face thanks to having already experienced worse. Ugly festers covered the wound and it was beginning to turn green. The wound was infected.

This is bad. We haven’t been able to gather any herbs, so we’re running low on salves for stopping infections. To top it off, we’re almost out of salt too…

They had been using their stores of salt, mixing it with water to create a disinfectant. It stung, but it was effective. However, that had only been a temporary solution. It was never meant to last. As he looked at the wound, Wu Jian realized they were truly backed into a corner.

We’re out of salves, almost out of salt, and nearly out of food. Even if the Ming Family and Fierce Tiger Sect do nothing, they will win.

These thoughts passed through his mind as he tore more of his clothes, cleaned them with salt water, and wrapped them around the wound as a makeshift bandage. Sweat beaded his forehead as he tried to focus only on his task. He knew that thinking too much about the future would cause him to freeze.

“There. You’re all better. Take it easy and get some rest,” Wu Jian said with a smile.

The Wu Clansman, injured and in obvious pain, smiled back at him. “Thank you, Young Master. We are… cough cough… very grateful to you, for all the help you have given us.”

“Easy there. Just relax. Try to get some rest if you can. If you need it, I think Mother still has some herbal tea that will help you get a good night’s sleep.”

“No. I am fine. Please give that tea to someone suffering more than I.”

“Okay.”

The man he had been tending to was lying out in the hallway since all the beds were already taken by patients with worse wounds than him. Wu Jian had already given someone else his blanket, so he didn’t even have something to offer this man aside from his clothes. Sharp pain stabbed his chest at seeing his own people in such dire straights.

There has to be something we can do…

He walked down the hall and looked at all the people. Over there, a young woman sat against the wall, a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around her head, eyes dead as she stared into space. To his left rested a pair of young men, their bodies covered in cuts, bruises, and contusions. They were the better off ones. He passed by one of the hospital rooms and found people missing limbs, missing eyes, and even worse injuries. It was a brutal sight.

Is there nothing we can do to stop this from happening?!

Wu Jian found Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu doing the same thing he had been doing just moments ago. Hou Jingshu was tending to a young woman a few years older than them. Wu Meiying was helping an older man drink from a glass of water. He could not see for both of his eyes were wrapped in bandages. According to a report, this man had shielded Wu Taohua from a powerful fire technique and paid the ultimate price.

Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu looked up and turned to him. Their eyes met with his, but the two did not stop until they finished their tasks. They only came to him after they were done.

“How’s it looking?” he asked.

“Not good,” Hou Jingshu said. “There are more injured coming in with each passing day, and we’ve completely run out of alchemy pills, salves, and salt. I’m beginning to regret using those alchemy pills that first day. We could have really used them now.”

“What’s done is done. There’s no use crying about what already happened. For now, we should focus on doing whatever we can,” Wu Meiying said.

Hou Jingshu wore a bitter smile. “You’re right, of course. I know that regretting what already happened is pointless… but I still feel responsible.”

“Is that why you’re working so hard?” asked Wu Jian.

The Shang Kingdom princess shook her head. “Of course not. This is my family—o-or it will be when we come of age. I just… don’t want to see my family get destroyed. That’s all.”

Wu Jian smiled. They had been together for nearly six months now, and in that time, Hou Jingshu had become a member of their family. She was irreplaceable to him. An existence he could no longer do without.

It made him happy to know that she felt the same way he did.

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As they walked through the hall, off to see who else needed help, Hou Jingshu suddenly stumbled. Panic raced through Wu Jian as he caught the girl before she could fall. He cradled her to his chest and looked down. Her face was haggard and there were bags under her eyes.

“How long have you been helping out for?” he asked.

“I… I don’t know,” Hou Jingshu confessed, looking away.

“She hasn’t slept for two days,” Wu Meiying answered. “She’s been helping this whole time.”

“Meiying! You said you wouldn’t tell him!”

“I never said that. All I did was smile when you asked me not to tell him.”

“You… you…”

Hou Jingshu’s face turned red with embarrassment, and that blush became even fiercer when Wu Jian lifted her into his arms like a newly wed bride. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

“W-Wu Jian! There is no need to carry me! I can still walk! I—”

“If you’re going to be my wife, then you need to learn when to rely on me. Now be quiet and let me do this for you.”

His words effectively shut the girl up. With a deep flush on her cheeks, she allowed Wu Jian to carry her out of the hospital, a giggling Wu Meiying following just slightly behind them.

Wu Jian eventually entered Hou Jingshu’s room, the now sleeping girl in question still resting within his arms. Her soft breathing let him know she was truly asleep. The fact that she had slipped into slumber so soon after he picked her up was just a testament to how hard she had been working.

“She’s a very hard worker and always takes everything so seriously,” Wu Meiying giggled as Wu Jian set Hou Jingshu on the bed. She mumbled something under her breath and shifted but didn’t wake up. That, too, was a sign of how hard she had been pushing herself.

He nodded ever so slightly as he removed one of Hou Jingshu’s boots. Her small jade foot was covered in rashes and blisters, no doubt from how she had been moving around for so long. A few of the blisters had popped.

Just how much did she push herself?

Wu Jian sighed as he slipped a hand into his robe and removed a small box no longer than his fist. He opened it to reveal that the inside contained salve. It was probably some of the last they had left.

“I’ve noticed that. While she seemed a bit spoiled when we first met, it’s obvious that she has a very strong sense of duty to protect those under her care.”

“She even tried to protect a cat from some kids when she first arrived,” Wu Meiying added. She eyed him. “You knew she would do this, didn’t you? That’s why you hid some salve away so it wouldn’t be used by anyone else.”

“I just had a hunch.”

Wu Jian shrugged as he dabbed two fingers into the salve and touched it to Hou Jingshu’s foot. The girl’s face scrunched up with pain, but as he began rubbing the salve onto the blisters and rashes, that expression faded along with the wrinkles of her brow. He made sure to cover her entire foot in the salve, including between her toes. There weren’t any blisters there. However, there were some serious rashes.

“It was a good hunch. You’ve begun to really understand Jingshu much better.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely.”

“Huh…” Wu Jian finished with one foot and got started on the other, removing Hou Jingshu’s other boot and setting it on the ground. He spoke as he rubbed salve onto the foot. “I guess I do. It’s weird. I never imagined I’d eventually learn so much about another person. For the longest time, I thought you were the only person I’d ever know this well.”

Wu Meiying sat down on the bed and looked at them both, her smile oddly tender and full of wisdom, like someone far older than her appearance would suggest.

“That’s definitely a good thing. Jingshu is a wonderful girl. She’s very earnest, but she has the markings of greatness in her. If you can help her, she’ll be able to ascend to new heights, and that will help us as well. It’s always good to have one more ally we can trust to watch our backs. Besides, I really do love her.”

“I do too.”

Wu Jian finished applying the salve. The last thing he did before standing up was remove Hou Jingshu’s necklace and set it on the dresser, so it wouldn’t get caught in her hair. His own legs wobbled a bit from all the work he had been doing. It was only hitting him now that he had been up since early yesterday morning.

“It looks like Jingshu isn’t the only one who is overworking themselves. Go and get some rest. I will watch the other missus while you sleep,” Wu Meiying said.

“Are you sure?” he asked. She had been up for nearly as long as he had, so she had to be just as tired, and yet here she was offering to stay with Hou Jingshu despite this. Part of him felt guilty for being so ready to accept her offer. Another part felt grateful.

Wu Meiying smiled and waved him off, causing him to sigh in resignation as he trudged out of the room. The last thing he saw was Wu Meiying tenderly stroking Hou Jingshu’s hair. With the expression on her face and that loving gesture, she really did look like an older sister watching after her beloved younger sibling.

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