Zijin

There was only a half-trained doctor aboard, but there were plenty of medicines and basic medical supplies. They could only seek emergency help from an online medical consultation platform back home, hoping to save the native.

Though skeptical, the online doctor who took Su Ming's case dutifully got to work.

"Patient's sex, age and weight," the online doctor asked.

"Female, age-"

A closer look showed that White Bone actually looked very young, but she had previously said she was born twenty-seven years ago.

The discrepancy was still within an acceptable range, but when Su Ming had flipped through "Undead Studies Explained: From Beginner to Burial," he had seen an article titled "On Becoming a Necromancer with No Modeling Experience." It had been published 122 years ago and signed Li.

So it was really hard to say.

"Maybe eighteen, and I'd guess forty-four kilograms. Definitely under forty-five," Su Ming said.

"A young woman, thin and frail. What are her current vitals, and what medicines do you have?" the online doctor asked.

"Pulse 105, temperature 38.8, blood oxygen 93%. We have most of the standard medicines."

"Any history of drug allergies?"

"None."

After hearing him out, the online doctor told Su Ming to administer a glucocorticoid injection, give her Azvudine, and promptly carry out every reagent test he could.

Su Ming had already figured out a way to give her medicine. He had found that although White Bone was unconscious, he could rouse her with a little effort. If he then put a tablet in her mouth and gave her water, she would swallow it with a gulp.

Then she would weakly roll her eyes at him and go back to sleep.

Su Ming could barely resist trying it one more time, because she looked so pretty rolling her eyes-he would never normally get to see Miss White Bone like that.

But the intravenous injection was a little troublesome. Preparing the solution was easy; actually giving the injection was a struggle.

Suddenly, Su Ming thought of something and cast Psionic Vision on himself. With the help of his X-ray vision, he managed to insert the needle into a vein on the back of White Bone's hand. Only after he finished did he remember that he had forgotten to disinfect the spot with iodine-he made up for it with a cotton swab.

In the end, the online doctor gave him a series of treatment plans, repeatedly stressing that they were only recommendations and needed to be reviewed and carried out by a qualified doctor.

Su Ming assured the doctor they would be, then took out a syringe, prepared the antibiotics and antiviral drugs the doctor had prescribed, and began giving White Bone skin tests.

Even though he had plenty of experience with them on Earth, Su Ming still took seven or eight tries, leaving a string of red marks on the girl's delicate skin before he succeeded.

After more than an hour, Su Ming finally finished. He watched the medicine fall drop by drop in the IV drip and felt a wave of exhaustion.

He went and sat down by White Bone's bed, took a magic crystal from his pocket, and cast the Body Detection Spell. He had asked the girl to make the crystal; otherwise, he had no way to use the water-element spell.

A blue glow enveloped the girl, revealing large patches of color inside White Bone's body. They were still a bewildering, alarming array, but Su Ming was delighted to find that they had indeed diminished somewhat since his first examination a few hours ago.

Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief. There was still a long way to go, but at least the situation had stabilized for now.

He followed the doctor's instructions, working to bring down White Bone's fever, monitoring the patient's condition, and changing the IV solution.

When he had a moment, he controlled Little Spiky Head to make a trip to the sanatorium director's home and ransack the place. Afterward, he had Miao Xin merge with Little Spiky Head and ordered her to hide in the nearby mountain woods.

A while later, Miao Xin sent word back that the task was complete.

Su Ming took a look. She had hidden herself reasonably well, inside a grass-covered culvert on the mountain.

He organized the medication records while preparing and changing the drugs for injection. As dawn approached, Su Ming measured White Bone's vitals again, then returned to the online consultation.

"Her heart rate is 103 now, temperature 37.2, blood oxygen 95%, respiration 22, and blood pressure 105 over 70."

"There's some improvement. Don't be impatient. You can't see the battle against the viruses inside the human body," the online doctor reassured him.

"No, I can," Su Ming said. "The total amount has dropped by about twenty percent compared to before."

"...Then continue administering the medication."

"Okay."

White Bone woke up that afternoon. She told Su Ming she was a little hungry, and she looked much more energetic.

After the girl's temperature came down, her hair and clothes were covered in sweat. Su Ming wiped her dry with a towel, then brought her his own pajamas to change into.

Su Ming took stock. There were two cups of instant noodles left, and he had animated one of them for use as material. After the spell was dispelled, it looked unchanged, but Su Ming wasn't sure whether it was safe to eat.

He had only eaten a few ham sausages the night before, and he was quite hungry too.

He prepared the cup of noodles he hadn't animated, added a ham sausage, and brought it to White Bone.

The girl still looked listless, and she didn't seem very interested when she saw the instant noodles. But once she started eating, her appetite was surprisingly good. Forkful after forkful, she ate all the noodles and ham.

Resigned, Su Ming drank the remaining broth.

After eating, White Bone didn't go straight back to sleep. She sat propped up in bed, examining the indwelling needle in the back of her hand and the IV drip.

She weakly waved her hand, watching the little air bubbles rise in the IV tube.

"Hey, don't move that hand around," Su Ming hurriedly stopped her. "It'll be a problem if it leaks. I had a hard enough time getting the needle in."

"So you poked the other holes in the back of my hand too?" White Bone asked.

"It was my first time giving an injection. Sorry."

Now that she was awake, White Bone didn't roll her eyes at Su Ming, much to his regret.

The scholar reached out and cast several Body Detection Spells, then was astonished by what they revealed.

"How did you do it? I thought I was going to die!" Her eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands. "Heavens, all the viruses have been suppressed!"

"Keep quiet and rest." Su Ming gave a slight sigh. "I haven't slept at all, so please don't make noise and let me get some sleep. Also, don't celebrate too soon. You're still critically ill, and there are a few nasty ones left inside you."

"No, this is very, very good!" White Bone's excitement showed plainly. "I've suffered terribly because of the defects in this body. In the end, I had no choice but to seal it away. I never imagined the day would come when I could escape this predicament!"

"I told you, I haven't cured you yet," Su Ming said irritably. "And lie down and keep still. You're on an IV!"

White Bone leaned back against the hospital bed, fiddling with the buttons on her pajamas with the hand that didn't have a needle in it.

"My real name is Zijin," she said suddenly.

"Then should I call you Zijin?" Su Ming replied absently. He didn't really care about her actual name. It was like chatting online on Earth-who didn't have a bunch of alternate identities? "Anyway, you weren't born twenty-seven years ago, were you?"

"A great many things did happen before I acquired the White Bone Fortress," the girl admitted.