Jiang A Yao immediately spotted Lu Da who was about to take action and raised her voice, “I’ll treat him!”
After speaking, she shook her head at Lu Da, signaling him not to act rashly.
“Quick, how do we treat him?”
Scarface looked agitated, and as he spoke, the knife in his hand moved. The cold blade pressed against her neck sent chills down Jiang A Yao’s spine.
She bit the tip of her tongue hard to calm herself, then said, “The carriage is too cramped. You need to carry him down and find a clean spot. Also… we’ll need wound-healing powder, a charcoal brazier, and a small knife to cut open the wound…”
As soon as she finished, Scarface turned and shouted to his subordinates, “Go to the village and find a charcoal brazier and charcoal.”
Jiang A Yao quickly added, “Alcohol… we need alcohol too.”
“You heard her! Go find it now!”
“Carry the master down and into this house.”
Scarface pointed his knife toward a villager’s house, and the others immediately complied.
Several men carried the injured person while two others went to inspect the house and tidy up.
The cold blade was finally removed from Jiang A Yao’s neck, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.
But when Lu Da saw the person being carried down from the carriage, his expression grew even more tense.
An arrow wound to the chest—it was extremely dangerous. Could Jiang A Yao really treat it?
Quietly, he picked up the kitchen knife at his feet and silently assessed the group.
The other villagers gasped in horror at the sight of the blood-soaked man being carried down, closing their eyes, too afraid to look.
Jiang A Yao, however, was pulled into the house by the man.
Soon, the charcoal brazier was lit, and alcohol was found—though it wasn’t fine liquor, just rough grain spirits brewed by the villagers.
Two small knives, each about the length of a woman’s palm with blades only as long as a finger, narrow and flat like hidden weapons, were produced.
Along with a slightly larger dagger.
They also pulled out four bottles of wound-healing powder from their persons.
It would barely suffice, but it was better than relying on herbs.
Jiang A Yao tied her sleeves up above her elbows, carefully examined the wound, then used the dagger to cut away the surrounding clothing before preparing to cut the arrow shaft.
Just as she was about to begin, Scarface, who had dragged her inside, snapped, “What are you doing? If you cut it, how will we pull the arrow out?”
“We can’t pull it out.”
Jiang A Yao said sternly, “The arrowhead has barbs and is deeply embedded. If we rashly pull it out and it damages the heart or causes unstoppable bleeding, not even a deity could save him.”
Scarface stared at her, his gaze sharp and seemingly distrustful.
“Are you going to let me treat him or not? If not, kill me now. If you do, from this moment on, you must listen to me.”
Jiang A Yao’s voice suddenly rose, her eyes turning equally fierce.
The person shouting in front of her no longer seemed like a menacing threat but more like the medical disputes she had faced in years past.
Scarface was taken aback by her outburst, his eyes widening slightly in shock.
“Listen… listen to her!”
At that moment, the injured man’s weak voice sounded, and Scarface’s eyes instantly reddened, “Master!”
The man painfully uttered one word, “Treat!”
Scarface gritted his teeth and said to Jiang A Yao, “Continue.”
Jiang A Yao took a deep breath, gripped the dagger, and forcefully cut the arrow shaft.
But she didn’t immediately cut into the wound. Instead, she poured alcohol over her hands and the dagger, then passed them through the flames of the charcoal brazier. Only when her skin stung sharply did she quickly extinguish the fire.
“There’s no anesthetic here. I need to dig the arrowhead out of his flesh directly. You’ll have to hold him down later and not let him struggle, otherwise the arrowhead will sink deeper and he’ll die.”
After she spoke, no one made a sound. Jiang A Yao directly roared, “Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
Only then did they snap out of it, their dazed expressions completely different from their earlier murderous shouts outside.
Suppressing her anger, Jiang A Yao added, “If you can’t do it, call someone from outside to hold him down.”
“No need, we can hold him.”
Scarface’s expression turned sharp, then he respectfully addressed the injured man, “Master, we must offend you.”
After speaking, he instructed two people to hold down the legs while he and another person pressed down on the man’s shoulders.
Before starting, Jiang A Yao said, “Find something for him to bite.”
Without thinking, Scarface offered his hand. Jiang A Yao instantly flared up, “He might bite your hand to shreds later—how will you hold him down then?”
“Use cloth!”
At her command, Scarface immediately complied, twisting a piece of cloth from his clothing into a ball and placing it in the man’s mouth to bite.
With all preparations ready, Jiang A Yao closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then bent over and began cutting the wound with a small dagger to dig out the arrowhead.
As soon as she started, the man couldn’t bear the pain and twisted violently.
“Hold him down!”
She didn’t stop, and those holding him didn’t dare relax, pressing the patient down with all their strength.
Jiang A Yao dug bit by bit, not even daring to blink.
At this moment, all she saw was a pool of blood gushing out and a black iron barb. The blood flowed like a river in her eyes, the crimson color so intense it made her body involuntarily retch.
But she didn’t dare stop, nor could she.
Gritting her teeth, she dug out the iron barb, tossed the small knife aside, grabbed a bottle of wound-healing powder and poured it on the injury. One bottle wasn’t enough—she used all three, then covered it with cloth.
This was emergency treatment, essentially the method used for treating livestock. As long as the wound was sealed and bleeding stopped temporarily, there would be no immediate danger to his life.
But if the wound kept bleeding, he would die from blood loss.
While pressing the wound, Jiang A Yao closed her eyes and prayed, begging heaven to spare this man’s life.
After a while, she slowly released her hand. Though there was a lot of blood, the wound-healing powder wasn’t completely soaked through.
The bleeding had stopped!
Seeing her motionless, staring intently at the wound, Scarface asked nervously, “Is… is it done?”
Jiang A Yao nodded, then immediately added, “Don’t move him at all!”
At her words, the men instantly froze in their positions, not daring to move an inch.
“Let him lie still. Don’t move him around. As long as the bleeding doesn’t restart, he’ll recover.”
After speaking, Jiang A Yao’s legs gave way and she slumped to the ground.
What had just happened was truly terrifying.
Even though it was over, flashes of that bloody scene still haunted her vision.
“Find a brush and ink. I need to write a prescription. You must send someone to town immediately to get the medicine and brew it for him to drink. In his condition, if he develops a fever, it’ll be disastrous.”
The man absolutely couldn’t be moved now—they had to be the ones to fetch the medicine.
To her surprise, Scarface actually pulled out a pouch from his person, producing a brush half the usual length along with paper, and even ink.
Witnessing all this, Jiang A Yao grew increasingly aware that this group of people held unusual identities.
“Speak, and I’ll write.”
Fearing her handwriting might differ from theirs, Jiang A Yao began dictating the prescription orally.
When she saw their script matched the writing on Lu Mingzhu’s prescription without discrepancy, she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
They left three people guarding the man while one took the prescription and headed out.
At this moment, Jiang A Yao slowly rose to leave. The man grabbed her firmly and said in a low voice, “You’re not going anywhere!”