Chapter 182: Medicine and Food
After spending quite a bit of effort, they finally recovered all six tiny red pills.
Because they had been held in his mouth for only a short time, they had barely dissolved at all and still retained their original shape.
Shang Yue fed one to Ke Wen.
Then, he carefully used a bamboo sliver to scrape out the medicinal powder hidden inside the deepest wound on his arm, sprinkling it onto the wound on Ke Wen’s abdomen.
Having been dug out of the dirt pile, the medicine on the other parts of his body had mostly rubbed off. Only the powder inside this deepest wound remained.
Shang Yue no longer complained about the pain of tearing his wound open—had he known earlier, he really should have used the blade to score a few more deep gashes.
Once the medicine was applied, Ke Wen felt much better. Lu Bo and Wang Sheng were also each allocated a bit of the medicinal powder.
The remaining five pills were held in their hands and studied for a long time before being handed back to Shang Yue.
Wang Sheng asked curiously, “Old Shang, you said this medicine is called Bao Xian Zi? What a strange name.”
Shang Yue nodded. “That’s what my benefactor told me when she gave it to me.” He hadn’t had the time to ask about the origin of the name Bao Xian Zi either.
Ke Wen, however, rolled the three words Bao Xian Zi around in his mouth and felt the name was excellent.
“’Bao Xian,’ literally translated, means to secure and protect from danger… The more hazardous the situation, the more it can secure peace. This medicine truly lives up to the name Bao Xian Zi.” Not long after he took it, the wound that had torn open from moving rocks earlier stopped bleeding completely.
Lu Bo held Shang Yue in even higher regard now. Previously, he only felt Shang Yue’s architectural construction talents made him worth recruiting; now it seemed Shang Yue had a formidable figure backing him.
But Lu Bo wasn’t particularly surprised. He carried such a background himself—in a massive mine like this, how could there not be a few individuals possessing extraordinary skills yet burdened by tragic injustices?
Lu Bo deliberated for a moment. By now, the few of them could be considered comrades who had shared life and death. Revealing his true background now should be appropriate.
“Brothers, I want to tell—”
However, the moment Lu Bo opened his mouth, his words were interrupted.
Like a dog, Old Ou extended his nose a mile past his face, clinging to Shang Yue and sniffing him up and down.
“So fragrant! So fragrant, so fragrant!”
Only then did Shang Yue remember, hurriedly pulling a large… yet damaged lotus leaf bundle from his tunic.
Truth be told, the appearance of this lotus leaf bundle was rather unseemly. Various vegetables, meat, oil, flour, and rice were all kneaded into a single mass, packed flat and solid. It had been fine when wrapped inside the lotus leaf originally, but after the frantic scrambling just now, the lotus leaf bundle had torn long ago. At this moment, it was leaking everywhere, looking even more difficult to accept.
Wang Sheng shouted in pure shock, “There really is food! I kept smelling the fragrance of food just now, I thought I was going crazy from hunger!”
Lu Bo and Ke Wen didn’t speak, but judging by their expressions, they surely felt the same.
Shang Yue had eaten his fill, his blood sugar had risen, and his intellect had re-occupied the high ground, so lies tumbled right out of his mouth.
“My benefactor delivered this to me; I only hid it yesterday.”
The men crowded closer, staring intently at the lotus leaf bundle Shang Yue held, their gazes burning as they repeatedly swallowed their saliva.
Wang Sheng looked up at Shang Yue with pure admiration. “No wonder you suddenly dug the earth faster just now… Did you remember that you hid food near here?”
Shang Yue: ?
That makes sense.
“Yes, I suddenly remembered it just now. My benefactor said it would be hidden here, telling me to dig around the fifth watch.”
Lu Bo nodded. “True. During the fifth watch, the sky isn’t bright yet, and the guards are drowsy. Even if the mine shaft hadn’t collapsed, this watch would be the most suitable time to pass supplies and sneak an extra meal.” His retainers and soldiers would occasionally exchange resources and information with him during this exact watch.
(Note: The fifth watch generally refers to three to five in the morning.)
With Lu Bo putting it that way, the men grew even more convinced. Shang Yue himself even wavered for an instant—he felt what Wang Sheng and Lu Bo said made perfect sense, as if that was exactly how it happened.
Wang Sheng even lamented, “But your benefactor must have placed it inside before the mine collapsed. Otherwise, seeing the mine cave in, your benefactor surely would have come to rescue us.”
Shang Yue spoke at the opportune moment, “My benefactor carried no way to help with the mine collapse, but as long as we can crawl out of this mine shaft, my benefactor can assist us with even more!”
When he was at the manor just now, Shang Yue had seized the time to ask Jian Xingxia if he could still come to the manor in the future. Jian Xingxia had nodded and said, “Yes.” Then she mentioned that she was powerless against them being trapped in the mine shaft, but as long as they could get out, Shang Yue should be able to come to her through the hole in the ground in the future.
The men shared the food inside the lotus leaf bundle.
Old Ou was the first to yank a compressed meat patty from the bundle—a patty nearly the size of a face had been pressed tightly flat, looking only the size of a child’s fist before being pulled out. Only after it was yanked out did they see it was a massive, thick meat patty. The dough skin on the outside of the patty was currently soaked through with various vegetable juices and rich oil, looking exceptionally fragrant.
Wang Sheng couldn’t control his saliva at all, reaching out in disbelief to pinch the patty Old Ou was clutching.
“This is… white flour flatbread? A white flour flatbread that rose so well and grew this massive!” Heavens knew how long it had been since he last ate white flour flatbread! Since entering the mines, he hadn’t even eaten a single full meal, let alone a flatbread—a white flour flatbread, a white flour flatbread thoroughly soaked in rich gravy!
Lu Bo added, “And it has meat filling!” From his angle, he could see a torn section of the meat patty, holding a thick, solid, and juicy meat filling inside. As Old Ou yanked and tore at it, the savory juices from the meat filling trickled down.
A man as steady as Lu Bo couldn’t resist, swiftly extending his hand to catch a few drops of the gravy, bringing them to his lips to lick them clean.
Shang Yue felt a sharp pang of sorrow watching this. If he hadn’t endured too much suffering and grown so ravenously hungry that his stomach clawed at him, given Lu Bo’s disposition, he would surely never engage in such a reckless act.
Shang Yue immediately tore the meat patty apart, giving half to Old Ou. Old Ou clutched it, hid in a corner, and began eating to himself.
Wang Sheng exercised restraint over and over again to keep from putting his hands in, but the saliva in his mouth could barely be contained. Shang Yue broke off a tightly packed clump of food and handed it to Wang Sheng.
Wang Sheng caught it with both hands, took a massive bite, and let out a cry of pure shock and joy: “It’s eggs! It’s eggs! Deep-fried eggs! So fragrant!”
Only then could Shang Yue tear the remaining half of the meat patty out, handing it to Ke Wen.
Ke Wen buried his head and ate frantically. Having lost too much blood and lying on the ground the entire time, he was actually terrifyingly cold all over, but he had clamped his teeth together without uttering a peep. On one hand, he feared causing trouble for Shang Yue, Lu Bo, and the others; after all, even if he voiced how miserable he felt now, everyone carried no way to do anything, and could only feel miserable alongside him.
On the other hand… he also feared everyone would judge his injuries to be too severe and his body too weak, refusing to carry him along anymore. But now, he had actually been allocated a meat patty fully half the size of a face. The solid, plump meat filling, mixed with savory juices and his tears, packed both his cheeks full.
He swallowed the food with all his might, murmuring indistinctly through his tears, “I must live on!” Such precious food and medicine had been given to him; he no longer doubted that his older brothers would find him a burden or abandon him. He must show some resolve and live on!
Lu Bo was the last to be allocated food.
Shang Yue directly signaled Lu Bo to grab it himself. “It’s lost its shape, just eat it like this.”
Lu Bo didn’t hesitate, grabbing a handful and eating in massive drafts. A person had to be alive to carry hope. For the sake of revenge and the common folk of Lunan, he also had to endure humiliation, bear heavy burdens, and survive through thick and thin, awaiting the exact moment of his rebirth!
The appearance of Shang Yue caused the conviction in Lu Bo’s heart to grow increasingly resolute. Heaven helps those who help themselves; he had finally awaited his own heaven-sent helper!
He also wanted to pass this exact conviction to the common folk of the Great Yan Dynasty, letting all the citizens carry hope and live on!
