Chapter 48: Tiger Cub in Critical Condition, Chu Feng Demonstrates Healing Abilities

Du Dahai took a sip of wine.

Then, he fell silent.

He seemed to be pondering the wisdom behind Chu Feng's words.

Sun Can and Wang Wei gave Chu Feng thumbs-up.

Du Dahai was naturally one of the most respected elders in the village, as well as the most learned.

His word was practically law in the village.

Never had they imagined that such a profound and sensible speech would come from Chu Feng.

Even more unexpected to them was that Du Dahai not only didn't get angry, but actually began to seriously consider Chu Feng's words.

Just at that moment, Widow Wang rushed in abruptly.

"Village Chief..."

After crying out, Widow Wang's eyes welled up with tears.

She looked at the village chief.

With a flustered tone, she said, "Xiaohu isn't acting right..."

Hearing this, the men in the courtyard all stood up.

"What's wrong with Xiaohu?" Chu Feng asked.

"I'm not sure myself. He was perfectly fine at home just a moment ago, but suddenly he collapsed and became unresponsive. Now his face is pale, and he's even having some spasms."

Hearing this, Chu Feng felt a sudden surge of foreboding.

God forbid it's tetanus.

When that group of people came earlier, many of them were holding hoes in their hands.

Those hoes had been used for many years.

Some of them were even rusted over.

There was no telling how many bacteria were on them.

Tetanus in this era meant certain death.

Right now, he could only pray it wasn't tetanus.

Chu Feng hurriedly ran toward Widow Wang's house.

Du Dahai was much calmer.

There was a doctor in their village.

Although he was merely a barefoot doctor,

he was still better than a bunch of laymen who knew nothing.

"Wang Wei, go fetch old Zhang. Sun Can, go to my house and tell your aunt to cut off a piece of meat and bring it to Widow Wang's house."

The village's three-piece set for treating injuries:

Find the village chief, summon old Zhang, and brew meat broth.

Of course, these had no scientific basis whatsoever.

But this era didn't need scientific basis; as long as it could save a person's life, that was enough.

Chu Feng had never been to Widow Wang's house.

Women in this era cared deeply about their reputation.

If a woman did not plan to remarry and continued to live with her child under her deceased husband's surname,

other men were not allowed to enter their home casually.

If gossip and rumors spread, the man would undoubtedly face condemnation from the entire village.

However, to save a life now, and since Chu Feng wasn't the only man entering Widow Wang's house,

those rules were temporarily set aside.

Widow Wang's house was very clean.

There were only two people in their family.

Fortunately, Du Dahai was a good man, and everyone else in the village was good-natured too.

Even as a widow and orphan, no one had ever bullied Widow Wang and her son.

The main room was not very large.

The bedroom connected to it was much more spacious.

A huge brick bed, or *kang*, occupied most of that space.

Little Hu was lying on the *kang*, wearing thick clothes, wrapped tightly in a large cotton quilt, with cold sweat already beading on his forehead.

By the time Chu Feng and Du Dahai arrived, Wang Wei and Zhang Xuan had followed closely behind.

Chu Feng didn't speak at first.

After all, Zhang Xuan was the doctor.

Seeing the situation, Zhang Xuan didn't hesitate to say,

"Build up the fire and put another layer of cotton quilt on him."

As soon as these words were spoken, Chu Feng was momentarily stunned.

Even though it was the depths of winter,

the temperature inside the room was already quite high.

Adding so many quilts on top of the patient,

the temperature was more than sufficient.

Under such circumstances, if the patient was still feeling cold, it obviously had nothing to do with the temperature.

"No, we can't keep heating him up."

Chu Feng said.

Zhang Xuan glanced at Chu Feng and frowned, saying, "You're not even a doctor, what do you know?"

"Then what do you know?" Chu Feng's gaze instantly turned sharp.

Du Dahai hurriedly stepped in to block Chu Feng.

He was a hunter.

He went up the mountains year-round and encountered injuries very frequently.

Zhang Xuan was the only doctor in the village.

If Chu Feng were to offend him, there wouldn't be anyone to help treat him if he got injured in the future.

Chu Feng's reputation in the village was huge.

Zhang Xuan had even gone to Chu Feng's house to buy meat, so of course he recognized him.

"I only knew that you, Chu Feng, are good at hunting; I didn't know you could treat injuries too? You should know my medical skills were passed down from my father. Who did you learn yours from?" Zhang Xuan asked rhetorically.

"Myself!"

"Yourself?"

"That's right! I've been injured a few hundred times and figured it out through my own experience!"

Zhang Xuan instantly turned serious.

"Then tell me what we should do. I'll assist you."

This time, it was Chu Feng's turn to be stunned.

He thought Zhang Xuan's pride would be hurt and that he would stubbornly argue for right and wrong against Chu Feng.

Chu Feng had already prepared himself to take firm action.

After all, Little Hu ended up like this because of him.

He certainly didn't want Little Hu to die right in front of him.

Never had he expected Zhang Xuan to be so reasonable.

"What are you standing around for? My father said that the most important thing in medical skill is empiricism. If your experience is higher than mine and you've survived until now, it means you're better than me in this regard. The kid is running out of time, stop wasting it!"

"Burn charcoal!"

Chu Feng also said urgently.

He stepped forward and joined forces with Zhang Xuan.

First, they tore off Little Hu's outer garments.

The temperature in the room gradually rose.

Chu Feng was left wearing only a short-sleeved shirt.

Together with Zhang Xuan, he began to examine Little Hu's wound.

That wound had been bleeding ever since they returned to the room.

That was why Little Hu felt cold—because his blood loss was too severe.

Coupled with the fact that he was wrapped up in the quilt right after coming home,

the warm environment inside had created favorable conditions

for the wound to potentially become infected.

During warfare between two armies, the highest mortality rate did not occur during the battle itself,

but during the treatment phase.

Back then, a vast majority of soldiers died from wound infections.

In this era, there were no sterile environments, let alone antibiotics.

Once a wound became infected, failing to pull through meant death.

Fortunately, Chu Feng knew how to handle it.

External wound infection was something Chu Feng was all too familiar with.

During a military exercise, he had sustained an injury deep in the mountains.

His equipment was broken, and he had no medicines on him.

The wound became infected in less than two hours.

A delirious Chu Feng did not wait for military reinforcements.

To achieve victory, he had to keep himself conscious.

Therefore, he used a red-hot blade to perform a brutal physical high-temperature sterilization on himself.

Although the wound was left with burn marks, it allowed Chu Feng to secure first place in that grand competition.

The situation was the same now.

Every household in Yulong Mountain had charcoal.

Once the charcoal fire was burning fiercely, Chu Feng thrust his short blade straight into it.

Zhang Xuan clearly understood what Chu Feng was about to do.

"Are you sure Little Hu is in this state because his wound wasn't sterilized?"

From Zhang Xuan's medical knowledge, Little Hu was simply suffering from excessive blood loss, physical weakness, and cold toxins invading his body.

Keeping Little Hu warm and helping him survive the day—

if he lived, it was fate; if he didn't, it was just the cruel hand of fortune.

It had never crossed his mind that this might be caused by a wound infection.

Chu Feng ignored him.

When the short blade turned glowing red, he plunged it directly into Little Hu's wound to excise the infected tissue.

Sun Can happened to be walking in carrying the meat and was so frightened by this sight that he almost fainted on the spot.

The intense agony caused Little Hu's eyes to widen in shock as he let out a piercing scream.

"Little Hu..."

Seeing her son in such excruciating pain, Widow Wang burst into tears.

"Hold him down!" Chu Feng commanded urgently.

Wang Wei, Sun Can, and Du Dahai immediately stepped forward, pinning Little Hu tightly onto the bed.

After nearly half an hour of torment, Chu Feng finally allowed Zhang Xuan to suture Little Hu's wound.

"I never would have guessed it. You, Chu Feng, actually possess such skills. I am truly impressed. However, for Little Hu to pull through, he still needs two medicinal ingredients. One is Liangui, the main medicinal guide for the body-nourishing powder taken internally, and the other is Baihezi, the main medicinal guide for the wound ointment. You can't buy these two items in town; they can only be found in Yulong Mountain."

"Alright, I'll go dig them up!" Chu Feng said without a moment's hesitation.