The howling of savages echoed from afar.
Judging from the direction and distance of the sound, the cave they were in was safe. It must be said that although Anderson was poisoned, his choice of escape route was very reasonable, and Petru successfully led the savage in another direction.
Qingmu gathered some branches and went into the cave to start a fire. Anderson's condition seemed to have improved; he had learned Qingmu and Su Huilan's identities and their names.
"Thank you!" he said.
Su Huilan said, "You'd better not speak. Alice will help you change your dressing in a bit."
Anderson gave a bitter smile, "I know my own body. I'm deeply poisoned, and without the antidote, there's no way I can survive. You take Alice and go; don't worry about me!"
"No, Anderson! No!" Alice cried, looking at Su Huilan. " Professor Su, he won't die, you said he won't die, right?! Please, you must save him!"
Su Huilan knew that Anderson was right. The medication she used could only slow down the spread of the poison and prevent acute organ failure caused by poisoning, but the damage to the nervous system and internal organs had not stopped. If he did not receive more effective treatment, he would not survive for more than 24 hours.
She was considering how to tell Alice the truth tactfully when Qingmu said, "Don't worry, he'll be saved. We won't abandon anyone on this island."
Su Huilan looked at him in surprise, wondering why he would say such a thing. Was it just a white lie to comfort Alice? But that didn't seem to fit Qingmu's character.
Alice's eyes lit up, and wiping away tears, she said, "You mean, not leaving anyone behind? Including... including..." She suddenly realized her request was a bit excessive, lowered her head, and her voice trailed off, "... including Mrs. Larry...?"
Qingmu nodded and said, "Of course, as long as she's alive, we won't abandon her."
Alice looked at Qingmu gratefully. Mrs. Larry's situation had been weighing heavily on her mind. The lady might still be alive, but she was powerless to save her, forced to flee for her own survival. She had considered rescuing Mrs. Larry more than once, but reason told her it was futile, and Mrs. Larry would never want her to do so. If Alice left the island alive, she would live the rest of her life in pain and self-reproach. Now, Qingmu's words gave her hope; her pain and pressure were finally shared, and she felt much lighter.
"Thank you, thank you, sir, you are such a kind person!" she said.
Anderson looked at Qingmu with gratitude as well, but his eyes revealed that he was simply grateful and did not have any hope of surviving. He took Qingmu's words as a consolation to Alice.
The howling of savages continued from the distant mountains and forests, sounding even farther away, but their numbers seemed to be increasing. This inevitably made everyone uneasy, wondering just how many savages were on the island.
Su Huilan realized that Qingmu wasn't just talking casually; she knew he had made up his mind. Once this seemingly lazy and unkempt guy made a decision, no one could change it.
"What's your idea?" Su Huilan asked.
Her question was clearly about Anderson's injury: no medicine, the camp was thousands of miles away, and most importantly, they were still trapped on the island, not knowing when they could leave.
"You just said he was poisoned by the arrow poison tree. I know about the arrow poison tree. I heard people in Southern Yunnan talk about it. There's a small grass called red-backed bamboo that can counteract the poison of the arrow poison tree."
Qingmu recalled that in Mangdian, the Medicine Granny's dream was filled with all sorts of herbs, and she even transformed into the image of the Medicine Buddha. Such hypnotic techniques were indeed very impressive, but unfortunately, she encountered Qingmu. At that time, the Medicine Granny even fantasized about taking Qingmu as her disciple, and in her dream, she displayed many precious medicinal materials, such as Gastrodia elata, Dendrobium nobile, and Ganoderma lucidum, among which were red-backed bamboo and arrow poison wood.
Su Huilan, of course, was unaware of Qingmu's experience. She said, "The poison Anderson ingested was similar to that of the arrow poison tree, but it's not necessarily the same. Arrow poison trees are mainly distributed in the low-altitude rainforests of South Asia and South America. I observed the vegetation on this island, and the plant distribution is very different from that on the mainland. Many plants are unique to this place; I've never seen them before, nor have I read about them in books. It's highly unlikely that something like the red-backed bamboo exists here."
Qingmu said, "I don't understand biology and chemistry, but I know the principle of one thing counteracting another. Generally, for a highly poisonous substance, there must be something nearby that counteracts it. The red-backed bamboo in Mangdian grows around the poison tree. No matter what kind of poison the savages use, as long as we find the plant from which they extract the poison, we will definitely find an antidote nearby."
Su Huilan said, "Your analysis makes sense, but things like red-backed bamboo are generally unfamiliar to most people, except for local elders and herb gatherers. Even if we knew what kind of poison the island's savages used, how would we distinguish the antidote from among the hundreds of plants around us?"
Qingmu said, "We certainly don't know, but they definitely do."
"Them?" Su Huilan knew, of course, that Qingmu was referring to the savages on the island, but why would the savages tell you? Moreover, they couldn't communicate, and it was impossible to even capture one for interrogation. The only way was to guide the subconscious to search for relevant memories through dreams, but the existence of the spiritual energy field on the island made those savages immune to hypnosis.
How can one enter a dream state without hypnosis?
Qingmu lit a cigarette and hissed as he smoked. Everyone else stared at him, as if searching for hope in the white smoke billowing from his mouth.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out from the distant mountains and forests, followed by a series of gunshots.
Alice was startled.
Su Huilan explained, "They're our people." Then, with a hint of worry, she muttered to herself, "They've exchanged fire?"
She wasn't worried about Petru because he was slippery and had survived being hunted for years; a few savages shouldn't be able to do anything to him. But if it wasn't guerrilla warfare using a sniper rifle, but close combat with the savages, even with automatic weapons, it was hard to say there wouldn't be danger.
After the gunfire, the savage's howling stopped, probably because he was frightened by the powerful firepower of the automatic rifle.
Qingmu said to Su Huilan, "You stay and take care of them." Then he threw his half-smoked cigarette on the ground. " Boss Coal, come with me!"
Where to go?
"Go help Petru, and while you're at it, bring back a couple of live savages!"