Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!-Chapter 148: First Encounter with Refugees

"It was my fault before, sister-in-law. I won’t speak ill of you anymore. Auntie has a loose tongue. Don’t hold grudges against me..."

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Xiaoxiao’s lips twitched.

It’s one thing to badmouth someone behind their back, but now you’re admitting it in front of everyone!

It’s as if you’re afraid no one knows!

"I’m cooperating with Grandpa Huang to do our utmost to treat Brother Dalin, but as for whether we can save his life, no one can guarantee that."

When Aunt Liu heard there was no assurance, she became even more anxious.

That won’t do, she only has one son, "Xiao, take it out on me if you’re upset. I won’t complain, but I really can’t lose Dalin!"

Xiaoxiao was speechless. What kind of logic was that from Aunt Liu?

Does she think Xiaoxiao is harboring a grudge from past events and is unwilling to save her son?

Cheng Shuitian, who just had his wound bandaged, reprimanded, "Enough with the crying. We’re all from the same village. If they can save him, Doctor Huang and Xiao will naturally do so. Stop causing trouble."

Looking at his son growing paler, with his wife still incessantly bringing up past grudges, Cheng Shuitian was exasperated.

Aunt Liu was most afraid of her husband. She was so startled by his yell that she collapsed, only daring to sob quietly on the side.

"Sorry for the trouble!" Cheng Shuitian apologized to the two of them.

Doctor Huang didn’t say much and asked someone to prepare a clean tent.

Despite their ample supply of medicine, a lot had been used on the severely injured. Now there wasn’t much hemostatic medicine left, and Cheng Dalin’s wound was deep and large. Less hemostatic medicine might not suffice.

Xiaoxiao instructed someone to tie a cloth tightly around the top of Cheng Dalin’s thigh, removed the powder from around the wound, which was still oozing blood, though slower.

Indeed, it had hit a major artery.

Cheng Dalin’s wife helped up her mother-in-law, eyes fixed on the tent, tears flowing endlessly. At this moment, crying was all she could do.

Huang Zhongyi and Xiaoxiao discussed the surgical plan. They had to stitch the major artery to completely stop the bleeding, but that was a blood vessel!

Huang Zhongyi dared not take the lead, fearing that a slip of the hand would cost Cheng Dalin his life.

In the end, Xiaoxiao took up the scalpel, with Huang Zhongyi assisting, because Cheng Dalin was already unconscious. If they didn’t act, he wouldn’t make it. It was a desperate move.

Xiaoxiao discreetly switched the suture line to sterile catgut, sprinkled disinfectant, and applied antibiotics. It was her first time doing such a complex procedure, and it took two whole hours to complete.

With lingering fear, Xiaoxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, it was done, it was exhausting.

By then, daylight had already broken outside the tent. The anxious people waiting outside hadn’t slept, anxiously awaiting, and watched as Huang Zhongyi came out first.

They all rushed forward to ask.

Huang Zhongyi nodded with difficulty, "The surgery was somewhat successful. As long as he can survive the next twelve hours without high fever or infection, we can save his life."

Aunt Liu nearly fainted when she heard it would take twelve more hours to know if her son would survive, thankfully supported by her daughter-in-law.

"Oh, my poor son! Why does no one else suffer such serious injuries? Only you suffer the worst. This is bullying my honest son! Life is truly unfair!" She wailed and cried.

No one wanted to hear Aunt Liu’s lament about the injustice of the world now that things had settled.

Shaking their heads, they walked away.

"Enough, my son isn’t dead yet!" Cheng Shuitian couldn’t hold back his fiery temper any longer.

Aunt Liu was so frightened that she fell silent, biting her lip hard, her tears falling in streams, while her husband’s expression remained cold.

Xiaoxiao was too tired, planning to return to the tent to catch up on sleep, and her stomach growled.

"I’m starving!" Just as she finished saying it, she smelled a delicious aroma.

Sure enough, her sister-in-law had already prepared breakfast. "I knew you’d be hungry when you got out, so eat up!"

Looking at the steaming bowl of millet porridge, Xiaoxiao felt even hungrier!

"Thanks, sister-in-law!"

By this time, everyone was having breakfast, mostly discussing the wolf attack from the previous night.

Last night’s terror caught everyone off guard, and for the first time, they experienced the harshness of the outside world.

To survive in this brutal world, they might still have to face many more dangers and crises. How would they save themselves then?

But the vicious wolf pack had taught them a valuable lesson.

Not only must they quickly improve their combat power, but they also needed to prepare more life-saving medicine and increase their vigilance.

If it hadn’t been for Xiaoxiao’s early warning, who knows how many would have died.

They dared not eat the wolf meat they gathered, but the pelts were still worth some silver.

Right after the battle, Cheng Dashan led a few men to handle the wolf pelts.

They planned to sell them and distribute the profit according to labor!

For that reason, they stayed an extra day in the same place.

Two days later, they arrived at a desolate village.

It had been a slow journey over the past two days, as the injured needed more time to recover, yet they couldn’t linger for too long with the Great Xia’s troops advancing.

Xiaoxiao didn’t mention King Qi’s defeat or demise to the villagers — ignorance is bliss. If they knew, it would only spread panic.

The village was in ruins, houses collapsed, in complete disarray, and covered in dust, long since abandoned and vacated.

They didn’t dare use the village stoves to cook, fearing contamination and viruses.

Xiao had warned them not to touch anything outside. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

They could only cook at the outskirts.

They cleaned up a nearby house to barely stay the night,

Fortunately, they had plenty of food, including some pickled vegetables and fish.

Just as they finished cooking a simple dinner, more than thirty refugees appeared from somewhere.

Among the thirty people, there were men, women, and children, and mothers carrying babies, trembling old people with hunched backs, all with disheveled hair and emaciated bodies.

They carried a hodgepodge of belongings, heavy bundles weighing down their frail bodies, making them appear burdened.

Seeing this group, everyone sighed in relief — they were refugees, not bandits, or robbers.

But their eyes were too intense, staring at the food cooking in the pots like starving wolves at a feast, with eyes green and stomachs rumbling like a hollow castle.

The leader, a middle-aged man around 40, stocky and face covered in grime, had almond-shaped eyes obscured, making it hard to tell what he was thinking.

He seemed a bit embarrassed, stepping forward slightly, and spoke in a pitiful tone: "Dear folks, we’re truly at the end of our ropes. Can you spare some food for the children?"

Everyone looked at the children, the youngest barely two, cradled by his mother, the oldest about ten, and there were six children, all so malnourished that their cheekbones protruded, appearing gaunt with jutting jaws covered by only a layer of skin, as if they had never had a full meal since birth.

How pitiful they were!

Despite the women’s deep sympathy, the person in charge remained vigilant.

The man had to explain, "Rest assured, we mean no harm. We’re from the adjacent Lijia Town. I’m Pillar, from Yunshui Village in Lijia Town. These are all villagers from Yunshui Village."