Jiang Lai didn’t know how the "Miracle Recovery" skill worked, but when she touched the injured person, her mind suddenly filled with images and information she had never encountered before.
Looking at Jiang Ling now, Jiang Lai realized the severity of his injuries. Severe fractures, internal organ damage, and after feeling his pulse, she discovered that his heart and lungs were severely damaged from congestion. If he did not receive timely treatment, he might kick the bucket today.
The surrounding humidity was too high. Jiang Lai tried to drag Jiang Ling a bit, but he felt as heavy as if he were filled with cement and couldn’t be moved.
Seeing his lips growing paler, Jiang Lai went to the pond, scooped some cold pond water in her mouth, and sprayed it mercilessly onto Jiang Ling’s face. Seeing Jiang Ling regain a bit of consciousness, Jiang Lai grabbed his collar and slapped him left and right.
Jiang Ling was forced awake, his face noticeably more flushed, though his eyes looked like they wanted to kill someone.
In the next second, after hitting someone, Jiang Lai’s face filled with heartache and guilt, and the gaze she fixed on him contained a hint of emotion.
"Can you stand up? It’s too damp by the water here, and your injuries are too severe; you need warmth. Come, I’ll help you."
Jiang Ling said nothing, his eyes darkly focused on Jiang Lai.
If he wasn’t mistaken earlier, the speed at which his sister’s expression changed was faster than the weather.
He hadn’t completely lost consciousness; Jiang Lai’s gaze went from indifferent to caring in an instant. Looking at the facade in front of him, Jiang Ling realized that his seemingly simple and foolish foster sister was far more complex than he thought.
"Have you never seen someone more beautiful than your sister?"
Jiang Lai supported him, heading toward a not-so-far patch of dry withered grass. After settling Jiang Ling down, she turned back to look at the person by the pond and found that Luoyang had already woken up and was supporting the heavily injured Murong Dun toward them.
Seeing Murong Dun awake, Jiang Lai turned her head and continued to make a fire. As the flames grew, the valley was consumed by darkness.
The temperature was painfully cold.
Everyone was wearing the light, thin clothes meant for riding and shooting during the hot midday, unable to keep warm, so they had to rely on this small fire for warmth.
Murong Dun looked deathly pale, fainting frequently, and upon waking his nostrils were filled with a rich aroma.
At some point, a rabbit had been placed over the fire, and Jiang Lai, expressionless, was turning the skewer in her hands. The firelight made her eyes look dim, which only added to Murong Dun’s guilt and unease in his already heavily injured state.
"Here, you’re injured. Eat something to gain some strength."
Jiang Lai cut off a rabbit leg, giving one to Jiang Ling and one to Murong Dun, then looked at Luoyang, her tone cold and impolite.
"If you want to eat, find a way yourself."
Luoyang, having expected Jiang Lai’s antagonism, said nothing more, lowered his head, and took out a flask from his bag to drink from, then pulled out a small white porcelain bottle and handed it to Murong Dun.
"Here, take this to relieve the pain."
Murong Dun took one, then Luoyang tossed the bottle to Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling looked at the bottle, took one, and thanked him.
Finally, Luoyang looked at Jiang Lai.
"You’re injured too, want one?"
Jiang Lai gave her a cold look, using silence to express her disdain and disgust, aligning perfectly with the original character’s petty, jealous, and insidious nature.
Luoyang didn’t take offense, put the medicine bottle away, and Murong Dun beside her offered her the rabbit leg.
"Eat some."
"No need. You’re injured; eat more to conserve energy. I’m not hungry."
The comparison highlighted Luoyang’s generosity and tolerance.
Murong Dun, having lost a lot of blood, became increasingly pale, his eyelids heavy and expression pained. The wound on his leg looked increasingly terrifying and gruesome. Unable to bear looking, Luoyang rummaged through his bag again, pulling out a red medicine bottle and sprinkling some white powder on the wound.
"This works wonders for dissolving stasis and stopping bleeding. Hang in there; someone will come to rescue us soon."
Murong Dun, pained to the point of losing awareness, still mustered the last bit of strength to look at Jiang Lai.
With just one look, he noticed the teary glint in Jiang Lai’s caring gaze.
Sure enough, she cared about him.
"Heartbeat Value change, current Heartbeat Value: fifty-two."
Jiang Lai, almost driven to tears by the smoke from the fire:
"?"
They all waited until night fell completely, but no sound of rescue was heard. With two of the men seriously injured, especially Murong Dun who couldn’t even stand with his leg, venturing out on their own was impossible.
That night, Jiang Lai found a secluded cave, helping Jiang Ling inside. As the bonfire warmed the cave slightly, the valley remained bitterly cold.
Jiang Ling leaned against the hard rock wall, his face ashen and body shivering. Jiang Lai checked his pulse; his internal energy was in chaos, indicating he wouldn’t survive long.
"Do you think if I act now, there’s a good chance I could take him out?"
If Jiang Ling died, wouldn’t the task be completed?
Jiang Lai increasingly thought this was reasonable. As she looked at Jiang Ling beside her itchily, she tightened her grip on the hairpin in her hand, just as Little Buding coolly remarked.
"Don’t even think about it. The protagonist can’t die, and you’d better not entertain this thought. Killing the main character is a grave taboo; don’t say I didn’t warn you."
Jiang Lai silently withdrew the hairpin, watched Jiang Ling for a while, and finally sighed, reaching out to pull his head onto her shoulder.
Jiang Ling struggled to open his eyes, catching sight of the woman’s fine white earlobe, the damp dry breath tinged with an alluring fragrance.
The scent was soothing, and Jiang Ling slowly closed his eyes, curious to see what Jiang Lai intended to do.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he closed his eyes, the woman beside him turned, pressing his head onto her lap.
Next, she began undressing him while muttering softly.
"It’s really my bad luck to be your sister. I’m telling you, you better not die here, or I won’t be able to face Dad. You’re his precious lifeline; do you know how many beatings I took because of you when you were young?"
Listening, Jiang Ling’s tightly knitted brow furrowed even more, sneering inwardly.
Jiang Xiong spoiled her without boundaries, so how could he ever have hit her, let alone because of him?
Feeling a coolness from his chest, Jiang Ling hesitated whether to open his eyes to protect his dignity but didn’t expect, in the next second, a pair of gentle, warm hands pressed lightly on his chest, slowly massaging along his ribcage area that was painful to the point of suffocation.