By evening, they finally arrived at an abandoned, dilapidated temple. Su Niyue claimed a spot near the back door. She and Nangong Yunqi carefully carried Nangong Yunteng inside, choosing this location for its ventilation and the corner, which made it convenient to change his bandages. After two days on the road, Yunteng had surely sweated a lot, and leaving the wounds uncleaned risked infection. The three people spying on them still hadn’t made a move, so it was safe to start treating Yunteng’s leg with acupuncture.
They spread the remaining bedding from the cart for Ruan Mingyu and the others to sleep on and used Su Niyue’s Earth-element ability to surround them with protection.
Without a river nearby, they ate a simple meal of steamed buns from her space with spiritual spring water and went to rest early. Su Niyue had Nangong Yunqi watch the first half of the night while she would take the second half, ensuring everyone’s sleep wouldn’t interfere with her treatment. The woman spying on them was already covered in red welts and constantly scratching, unable to pay attention. The other two could be dealt with later.
Su Niyue planted vegetables, peanuts, potatoes, and sweet potatoes in her space before finally sleeping. Exhausted, she was soon woken by a commotion. Instinctively, she looked at Nangong Yunteng—he was still the same. The old madam and the others were also awake, and seeing that everyone was unharmed, she walked toward the group causing the noise.
It turned out a young laborer’s face was swollen like a pig’s, leaning against Head Laborer Liu, turning purple. Su Niyue immediately recognized the bite marks of a venomous spider. Liu trembled with panic.
“Huzi, go find a doctor!” Liu stammered through tears.
“There’s no village or shop nearby! Who knows if there’s even a doctor around?” Huzi replied anxiously.
“Move aside!” Su Niyue quickly stepped forward, grabbing the young man’s wrist to take his pulse.
Liu paused, realizing from her confident movements that she must know medicine.
“Can he be saved?” Liu asked hurriedly as she withdrew her hand.
“Wait! Shine the torch!” Huzi raised a light. Su Niyue checked the young man’s head and behind the ears, finding two small black dots, swollen and raised—the spider’s fangs.
“He’s been bitten by a venomous spider. If we don’t act immediately, it’s too late. Lay him flat! Everyone else, stand back—stay far away if you don’t want to be poisoned.” She pulled out her silver acupuncture needles.
Hearing her, the surrounding crowd moved back far enough to be safe without further prompting.
Liu’s tears fell as he begged, “Please, save him—he’s my only son!” Su Niyue realized the bitten youth was Liu’s son.
“Step back a little—don’t block the light!” In moments, she had inserted over ten needles in his head, face, and shoulders, then one in each fingertip. Black blood oozed from the needle points.
She then gave him a red pill from her sleeve, her special antidote capable of countering nearly any poison, which she quickly administered.
Twisting each silver needle, she activated their vibrations. Liu, watching her technique, immediately felt reassured—surely no doctor in the entire Imperial Hospital could match this skill.
The black blood at the fingertips increased with the vibrations and gradually turned red. The swelling on his face slowly subsided, and the purple hue disappeared.
After about fifteen minutes, Su Niyue removed the needles. He would soon wake. Once conscious, he should drink some water—perhaps lightly salted water or porridge to replenish the blood lost.
“Thank you! Thank you, young lady of the Nangong family!” Liu said, filled with gratitude.
“No problem. Call me if anything happens,” Su Niyue replied, returning to the back door to check on Nangong Yunteng. The four who had been guarding him had not moved; Yunteng remained surrounded and safe.
Soon, Liu’s son whispered, “Sanhu, are you alright?”
“Father!” he said.
“Ah! I’m here!” Liu’s tears fell onto the ground.
“Sanhu, you scared me!” Huzi, Sanhu’s lifelong friend, cried as well, grateful for Su Niyue’s skill.
As Su Niyue walked back, she glanced around—the venomous spider was nowhere to be seen. She would need to prepare some insect-repellent powder.
“Sister-in-law, you’re amazing! I want to learn medicine from you!” Nangong Yundran exclaimed with admiration.
“Of course, but learning medicine is tough. Are you willing?”
“Yes! I can endure hardships!”
“Then you must persevere and never give up,” Ruan Mingyu said, ruffling her daughter’s hair.
“Yes! I’ll study diligently! I want to be like you, saving many people!”
“Good! Then go to sleep now. Starting tomorrow, I’ll teach you to identify herbs.”
“Okay!”
With everyone settled, Su Niyue attended to Nangong Yunteng, checking his wounds and changing the dressings. As expected, most were healing well, except those on his back. “Looks like he’ll need to lie face down tomorrow.” She efficiently replaced the bandages.
After another fifteen minutes of acupuncture, Su Niyue changed Yunteng into fresh clothes, discarding his blood-stained garments and used dressings into her space for later disposal.
She surveyed the abandoned temple—everyone else was asleep, the scratching woman had disappeared, and the other two spies were confined to the outer grounds.
Su Niyue retrieved a soup cup from her space, a leftover from the Imperial Palace. She had cleared out the entire imperial kitchen, and the space’s temperature-control feature kept it warm. Yunteng had not eaten for two days, so she carefully fed him a small portion of nourishing soup. He drank mechanically, and she returned the cup to her space once finished.