“What’s going on?”
Jin Feng frowned at Xu Xiao.
“When I passed the main tent earlier, the physician said the Marquis coughed up some blood, then his whole body started burning up, and his breathing got faster…”
Xu Xiao said with a worried face, “The physician said it’s not looking good.”
Qing Huai was the Iron Forest Army’s morale. If he fell, the army’s spirit would collapse.
Ordering the soldiers to stay on the hill to chop trees, Jin Feng hurried down with Zhong Wu and Xu Xiao.
A crowd of soldiers surrounded the main tent. Seeing Jin Feng approach, they quickly cleared a path.
The army physician was treating Qing Huai’s wounds, with an unfamiliar old man standing nearby.
Because of Qing Huai, the Iron Forest Army respected Jin Feng, and no one dared call him by name directly.
But this unknown old man, spotting Jin Feng, asked with a sidelong glance, “You’re Jin Feng?”
Jin Feng’s principle was to return respect tenfold if given a foot. For instance, Qing Huai never acted superior, so Jin Feng willingly followed him to northern Shaanxi to fight the Dangxiang cavalry with full effort.
The old man’s haughty attitude and sharp tone irritated Jin Feng. Ignoring the question, he walked straight to the bed.
Being ignored stung the old man deeply. As General Fan’s aide for years, he was used to being revered everywhere.
To be snubbed by an unknown upstart infuriated him. Glaring and puffing his beard, he snapped, “Jin Feng, I’m speaking to you!”
Jin Feng still didn’t look at him, instead turning to Liu Qiong by Qing Huai’s bed. “Who’s this old man?”
“General, this is Zhao Yue, General Fan’s aide,” Liu Qiong replied.
“So, he’s with General Fan.”
Jin Feng nodded slightly, giving the old man a brief glance.
Old Zhao snorted, tilting his head high, already planning how to humiliate Jin Feng and curb his arrogance when he came to pay respects.
But after waiting with his neck craned, Jin Feng didn’t approach.
Turning, Zhao saw Jin Feng already at Qing Huai’s bedside, showing no intention of paying respects.
“Jin Feng, General Fan sent me to…”
Before he could finish, Jin Feng spun around, saying coldly, “Whatever it is, wait until I’ve seen the Marquis!”
Zhao’s words were cut off. He flung his sleeve angrily and stepped aside.
Jin Feng turned back, just as the physician lifted a cloth from a bucket to clean Qing Huai’s wound.
No wonder Qing Huai had a fever.
The bucket’s water, drawn from the river, hadn’t been changed in days, breeding countless bacteria.
Using such water to clean wounds was a recipe for infection and fever.
“You can’t clean the Marquis’s wounds with water.”
Seeing the cloth near the wound, Jin Feng stopped him.
“General, if not water, then what?” the physician asked, puzzled.
“There are tiny bugs in the water, invisible to us. If you clean the wound with it, those bugs will get inside the Marquis’s body, causing the wound to inflame, swell, and fester. Use strong liquor to clean it, the stronger the better. It kills those bugs.”
Jin Feng couldn’t explain bacteria, viruses, or alcohol, so he put it this way.
“Ridiculous. I’ve lived nearly a lifetime and never heard of invisible bugs in water,” Zhao scoffed. “Cleaning wounds with strong liquor causes unbearable pain. I think you’re trying to kill the Marquis!”
He then barked at the physician, “Do not use liquor on the Marquis’s wounds. If anything happens to him, I’ll report to General Fan, and you’ll answer for it!”
The physician had planned to follow Jin Feng’s advice and use liquor, but Zhao’s threat made him kneel with a thud, head down, too scared to speak.
Caught between two big shots, he couldn’t afford to offend either…
Zhao’s words gave Jin Feng pause.
Before falling unconscious, Qing Huai entrusted the Iron Forest Army to him, a trust that touched Jin Feng deeply.
But with Qing Huai still comatose and now feverish, no one could say if he’d pull through.
Ignorance was dangerous. If the physician followed Jin Feng’s advice and Qing Huai didn’t survive, it would be hard to explain.
Yet, not warning them would make Qing Huai’s chances even slimmer.
As Jin Feng hesitated, a faint voice came, “Listen to the gentleman…”
“Marquis, you’re awake!”
Liu Qiong, stationed by the bed, crouched in surprise.
“I said… everything follows the gentleman…”
“Yes!” Liu Qiong nodded quickly. “From now on, I’ll follow the gentleman’s orders in everything.”
“Gentleman… the Iron Forest Army… is yours…”
Qing Huai grabbed Jin Feng’s sleeve, speaking with difficulty.
“Marquis, focus on recovering. When you’re well, I’ll hand the Iron Forest Army back to you in good shape.”
Jin Feng crouched, gently patting Qing Huai’s shoulder.
“Master Zhao…”
Qing Huai turned to the old man. “I know General Fan sent you… to watch the gentleman… You can observe… but I don’t want you meddling in military affairs… or clashing with the gentleman… Otherwise… death…”
With that, Qing Huai slipped back into unconsciousness.
“Conditions here are too poor. Liu Qiong, prepare a carriage to take the Marquis back to Weizhou City. Find the best physician to treat him.”
Jin Feng stood and said.
Then he told the physician, “You go too. From now on, clean the Marquis’s wounds with strong liquor. Boil the cotton cloths for bandaging in water for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. Understood?”
“Yes!”
The physician kowtowed and agreed.
After sending Qing Huai and Liu Qiong’s carriage out of the camp, Jin Feng returned.
By now, dusk had settled. The soldiers sent to cut bamboo returned with a thousand stalks.
Zhong Wu took charge of the Iron Forest Army’s vanguard, five hundred men, each carrying a four- or five-metre bamboo stalk, heading into the riverbank in Clearwater Valley under cover of darkness.
As the vanguard left, another group of soldiers, carrying shovels and hoes, also entered the riverbank.
“What are they doing in the valley now? Planning a night raid on the Dangxiang camp?”
Zhao glared and asked, “With so few men, attacking their camp is suicide!”
“The Marquis said you’re not to meddle in military affairs!”
Jin Feng gave him a cold look. “I hope there won’t be a next time!”
Zhao’s hands trembled with anger but he didn’t dare defy further. Flinging his sleeve, he stormed back to his tent.
Secretly, he even hoped the Dangxiang would attack, to teach this overconfident youngster a lesson.
The next morning, at the crack of dawn, before Zhao had risen, dense drumbeats echoed outside.
His face turned ashen.
“The Dangxiang are really attacking again?!”
