Shi Feng recalled the battle earlier, and a wave of unwillingness welled up inside him. He was still far too weak. If he were strong enough, Shi Lan wouldn't be in this situation.
Shi Feng's body was terribly weak at that moment. After thinking for a while, he drifted into an exhausted sleep.
Shi Lan had been startled awake by Shi Feng. Worried that something else might happen during the night, she stayed awake and began cultivating the Jade Forging Art.
As soon as she started circulating the Jade Forging Art, Shi Lan discovered that her cultivation had reached the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm.
After puzzling over it for a while, Shi Lan realized that although Samsara had only borrowed her body briefly, that powerful surge of energy had still lingered within her. It was only natural that it had shattered the barrier to the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm.
She kept watch through the night until dawn.
As the sky began to lighten, Shi Lan put out the fire and started packing. She walked over to Shi Feng, and the moment she touched his arm, she jolted. Reaching out to feel his forehead, she found it scorching hot.
Clearly, he had started running a fever.
"Samsara, can you help bring his fever down?"
"There's nothing I can do. Keeping him alive is already the limit of what I can manage."
At that, Shi Lan hurried to gather everything. Once she had bundled it all up, she hoisted Shi Feng onto her back and hurried out of the cave.
She quickened her pace, and soon they were out of the mountains. Once they reached the plains, the road became much easier to travel, and she picked up speed again.
At last, at dusk, Shi Lan reached the city.
The city was called Twin Moon City. It was not large, about the same size as Tenglong City, and black-armored Demon Suppression soldiers guarded its gates.
After being questioned, Shi Lan entered the city, asked several people for directions, and carried Shi Feng to a medical hall.
A long line stretched out in front of the medical hall. The injured were covered in scratches and bite marks, and most of them were ordinary people.
Shi Lan looked at the line, which nearly reached the end of the street, then felt the heat growing stronger against her back. Anxiety seized her. If she waited in line, it would be too late.
A fever that wouldn't go down could easily leave someone a fool.
"Sorry for the trouble. Please let me through."
"Please, let me past."
After much difficulty, Shi Lan squeezed through the crowd and reached the entrance to the medical hall.
"What are you doing? Cutting in line? Get to the back!" A burly man in his thirties stood at the front of the queue. When he saw Shi Lan head straight for the medical hall, he shouted at her.
"Big brother, please, show some kindness. The person on my back has had a fever for a whole day. If he doesn't get treatment soon, I'm afraid he won't make it. Could you let me go in and ask the doctor first?" Shi Lan smiled ingratiatingly.
The burly man pointed at the bandaged arm. "How many people here aren't in a hurry? If everyone did what you're doing, would anyone else ever get their turn?"
"Why not let this young fellow go in first? The people waiting behind us only have flesh wounds. A little while won't hurt them," an elderly man in his sixties behind the burly man suggested.
"What's it to you?" The burly man glared at him. The old man moved his lips, but in the end he said nothing more.
"Big brother, please make an exception." Shi Lan didn't want to invite more trouble, so she took a silver ingot from her pack and offered it to him.
The burly man's eyes lit up. He took the silver, weighed it in his hand, then tucked it into his robes. But he didn't move an inch. Instead, he looked around, occasionally glancing up at the sky.
A chill flashed through Shi Lan's eyes at his reaction. She took another silver ingot from her pack and held it out.
The burly man accepted it with a satisfied smile and stepped aside, leaving a narrow path.
Shi Lan carried Shi Feng two steps forward and was about to enter the medical hall when the burly man blocked her again.
"What does this mean?" Shi Lan asked coldly.
"Only one person can go in." The burly man held up a finger and grinned.
Three strikes and you were out. Shi Lan's dwindling patience was utterly spent.
"Thud—"
The long case in Shi Lan's hand slammed onto the ground. The blue-brick road instantly cracked like a spiderweb.
"Say that again?" Shi Lan stared at the burly man.
The burly man looked at the web of cracks in the road and swallowed. He instinctively backed away two steps.
"Please, go ahead. Right this way." Coming to his senses, the burly man gave an awkward laugh and bowed as he moved aside. He also pulled the silver from his robes and offered it to Shi Lan.
Shi Lan had no time to argue with him. She took back the silver and pushed open the door to the medical hall.
Several injured people were inside, clutching their wounds and groaning in pain. The place was rather noisy.
A wooden table stood in the middle of the hall. Behind it sat a goateed old man of about seventy, bandaging the wound of a man in his forties.
Beside the old man stood a girl who looked thirteen or fourteen. She wore a white dress and had her hair tied into two buns. Her eyes were lively, and though her features were still a little childish, she was already a beauty.
The old man looked up and saw Shi Lan carrying someone inside. His expression changed slightly. He spoke quietly to the girl beside him, handed the bandaging over to her, then circled around the wooden table and came forward.
"What's wrong with the patient?" the old man asked as he led Shi Lan toward a simple wooden bed set nearby.
After helping Shi Feng lie down, Shi Lan replied, "He has a fever. It's been burning for a whole day."
The old man felt Shi Feng's pulse. As he examined it, the crease between his brows grew deeper and deeper.
After a long while, the old man withdrew his hand with a sigh and looked at Shi Lan. "Forgive me for speaking plainly, but you should prepare for the worst."
Shi Lan's expression changed. "Elder, what do you mean?"
"This man's internal organs are damaged, and his breastbone is shattered. He's being kept alive by some unknown energy. Unless you have the legendary panacea that can bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bare bones, even the gods couldn't save him." The old man shook his head.
Shi Lan was silent for a while, then said, "Elder, could you please help bring his fever down first?"
"I'll prescribe some medicine to clear the heat and see if it helps. If anything happens to him, please don't blame my medical hall."
"Of course." Shi Lan nodded.
The old man nodded slightly, then turned toward the girl standing by the wooden table. "Yue'er, come here."
The girl hurried over in a few quick steps. "Grandpa, what is it?"
"Rebandage this young fellow." The old man pointed at Shi Lan.
Shi Lan froze. She looked down at the bandage on her arm, now stained red with blood, and realized what he meant. She quickly thanked him.
The girl smiled at Shi Lan. "Come with me." Then she walked over to the wooden table.
Shi Lan followed her and sat down beside the table. The girl first went to the back room to fetch a basin of clean water, then began unwrapping the bandage on Shi Lan's arm.
Once all the bandages were removed, the girl caught sight of the hideous wound, deep enough to expose bone, and drew in a sharp breath. Seeing Shi Lan's calm expression, she asked in surprise, "Doesn't it hurt?"
"It hurts a lot," Shi Lan answered honestly.
"Then why don't you cry out?" the girl asked in astonishment as she began washing Shi Lan's wound.
Before you continue