When they emerged from the Hollow, it was already afternoon in New Eridu.
Sunlight slanted in from the mouth of the alley, falling warmly on Fu Hua.
The cuffs of her beige striped jacket had been torn in several places inside the Hollow, exposing the white fabric of her shirt with slightly scorched edges.
The widest tear had been slashed by aether crystal vines when the swarm of Ethereals was drawn away, and two or three smaller cuts were scattered along the outer side and the inner elbow area below the cuff.
The left cuff also showed wear, and a small piece of the beige fabric near the shoulder blade had been scraped off, revealing the light-colored pattern of the shirt underneath.
Her grayish-white ponytail was dusted with tiny fragments of aether crystal, glowing with a faint fluorescent sheen in the sunlight.
The azure eyes behind her red-rimmed glasses narrowed slightly; having stayed in the Hollow for too long, ordinary light appeared exceptionally dazzling.
Zhu Yuan was walking beside her.
Traces of battle remained on her Public Security Bureau uniform—wear and tear on the cuffs, and tiny fragments of aether crystal on her shoulder insignia.
Fu Hua looked at her with aching eyes.
At this moment, Zhu Yuan’s right arm was hung across her chest.
The laceration piercing the outer side of her upper arm had received simple treatment; the clothing fabric had been cut open, the congealed blood on the exposed inner lining had been preliminarily cleaned, and emergency medicine had been simply applied to the edges of the originally everted wound, wrapped loosely with a layer of gauze.
Yet one could still tell it was an irregular tear directly pierced by the tip of a bone blade and then ripped out along the curve of the blade.
There was also an injury on her right thigh.
The piercing tear in her uniform trouser leg from the outer side of the thigh to above the knee had its edges carefully cut open, and congealed dark red bloodstains spread from the thigh down to the fabric below the knee.
The scent of disinfectant from the emergency treatment still lingered in the air.
When walking, Zhu Yuan deliberately landed on the outer side of her right leg, shifting her center of gravity toward her left foot.
However, her left ankle had been severely sprained when it was entangled by aether crystals in the Hollow; with every step, her swollen ankle could not bear the weight of her body, causing her whole body to lean slightly to the left.
Because of this, she would immediately brace herself against the nearby wall with her right hand to pull her body back upright.
When walking, Zhu Yuan kept her back straight, and her pace and rhythm were completely identical to usual.
Her left hand would occasionally raise to tidy up her cuff, which was dirtied by aether crystal fragments.
Only her right hand never moved at all.
The piercing wound on the outer side of her right leg was mostly concealed by her slightly sideways posture while walking, while the ankle sprain was braced by her thick-soled boots.
The leather on the inner side of the boot shaft was already slightly deformed, and the swollen joint pushed the boot out of its normal curve.
Meanwhile, her ankle, which she had hastily wrapped with cloth strips, was firmly compressed by the boot shaft at this moment, leaving almost no trace of it having been treated.
“Zhu Yuan”
Zhu Yuan stopped in her tracks and turned her head slightly with a hint of curiosity.
Fu Hua had already walked up in front of her, her azure eyes sweeping quietly over every injury on her body through her red-rimmed glasses.
“You’re covered in injuries right now.
Don’t tell me you plan to shoulder such heavy injuries and go write a report!?”
Fu Hua’s tone was stern, resembling a parent reprimanding a misbehaving child at home, her brows tightly knitted.
“Are you just going to let your team members watch you go write a report like this?
Is that right!”
Zhu Yuan’s lips moved slightly, and she lowered her head like a wrongdoing child, her answering words tinged with a bit of nervousness.
“I…
I just wanted to let the team members finish confirming the headcount first.
Then—”
She paused for a moment, pulling the cuff dirtied by aether fragments downward with her right hand to cover the last fading aether mark on her wrist.
“Then I’ll go to the infirmary…”
Fu Hua looked silently at this nervous yet stubbornly single-minded young girl, sighing helplessly.
“The nearest hospital is at least a ten-minute walk from here right now.
In your current state, you can’t walk that far.”
Fu Hua reached out to gently support the left arm Zhu Yuan was hanging by her side, carefully avoiding the swollen spot with the crook of her thumb, and rested her elbow in the palm of her hand.
“I’ll help you with a simple treatment first, and then I’ll accompany you to the hospital.
You’re injured too heavily, don’t think too much about it; your team members can bring the data over.”
Zhu Yuan lowered her head to look at the hand Fu Hua was using to support her left arm.
That hand was very light, with its five fingers slightly closed together, steadily supporting her elbow in the palm without exerting any excess force.
Fu Hua did not urge her, did not say “Why don’t you cherish yourself more?”, nor did she question why she had kept enduring it without a sound after coming out of the gathering point.
She just quietly supported that left arm of hers which could no longer be raised, waiting for her answer.
“…Okay.”
Even the most confident little bird needs care from others.
Fu Hua turned her head to look at the team member running over to report the situation.
“Please prepare an empty infirmary for Officer Zhu Yuan.
A mid-shaft fracture of the right arm requires splint fixation and an X-ray to confirm if there is a bone crack, the piercing wound on the right leg requires debridement and sutures, and the severe sprain on the left ankle requires ice application and compression bandages.”
“Also, normal saline for debridement, sterile gauze, and antibacterial dressings—these should be in the infirmary.
If not, let me know, and I’ll go buy them at the pharmacy.”
“In addition, contact the emergency department of the nearest hospital in advance.”
The team member was stunned for a moment, glanced at Zhu Yuan, then looked at Fu Hua, and quickly ran toward the direction of the Public Security Bureau.
Fu Hua watched the team member run away, turned around, gently placed Zhu Yuan’s left arm back by her side, and then stood on her right side, bending down to cushion her right shoulder beneath Zhu Yuan’s right arm.
“Lean on me, don’t move your right arm, and try to put as little weight on your right leg as possible.
It’s about five hundred meters from here to the Public Security Bureau, let’s walk a bit slower.”
Zhu Yuan did not move immediately.
“…Understood.” Zhu Yuan rested her right hand on Fu Hua’s shoulder, not pressing her entire body weight onto it, just supporting herself lightly.
She let her right leg bear a little less force, and when taking a step with her left foot, she tried to step as lightly as possible to reduce the burden on her ankle.
The two walked side by side toward the Public Security Bureau.
Zhu Yuan walked very slowly, her left arm hanging by her side, her right leg lifting off the ground with the minimum amplitude at every step.
The swelling and pain of her ankle made every step feel like walking on the edge of a knife, but her back remained straight.
Fu Hua walked on her right side with a very steady pace, always maintaining a rhythm half a step slower than hers.
With every step Zhu Yuan took, Fu Hua’s heel would linger on the ground for a fraction of a second longer, waiting for her to transfer her body weight from her injured left leg to her right arm on the side close to Fu Hua, before continuing to the next step.
Their walking speed wasn’t particularly slow, yet Zhu Yuan felt that her injuries didn’t hurt quite as much.
Several pigeons in the alley weren’t afraid of them at all.
A fat one jumped down from the top of the wall and swaggered past their feet.
The wind in the alley whipped up light gray dust, brushing past their blood-stained uniforms, blending this fleeting moment of peace into the post-war silence.
It might not seem tempting right now but who knows what the future holds?
“And If you’re enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!”