Shu Yue carefully withdrew the needles, counted them to ensure none were missing, and then had the person beside her help the witch doctor put his clothes back on.
She couldn't be blamed for thinking the worst; if someone secretly took even one, it would be lost forever.
The others hadn't really considered this. Yi Yi had indeed thought about stealing needles, but being frightened, she had completely forgotten about it.
"Sister, here are the needles."
"Put them away," Shu Xin said, tossing the box to her.
Shu Yue caught it and opened the box, placing the needles in one by one, her eyes following Shu Xin's movements.
Shu Xin faced the bloody, mangled wounds of the beastmen with no change in her expression, as if they were merely superficial.
The tablet was on, providing light for the injured in half the cave. Hu Sha stood with Shu Xin, holding the tablet to help with illumination.
It was their first time working together, and they were quite in sync.
Shu Xin used a scalpel to cut away the rotten flesh from the wounds, then scooped bone powder from a wooden jar and sprinkled it over each one. This was considered sufficient treatment.
Given the limited conditions and the fact that beast hides were not breathable, it was better not to bandage the wounds. With the bone powder of the ferocious beast and the beastmen's own regenerative abilities, they would heal in a night or two.
Most of these beastmen had been bitten and sent over after losing their fighting ability. A very small number had their legs bitten off. The male whose leg was severed, suppressing his grief, intended to bite off the remaining part of his leg completely, but Shu Xin stopped him.
"Don't bite. Let me see if I can reattach it."
Her words stunned the beastmen. Hu Sha asked in surprise, "Can severed legs be reattached?"
"It depends on the condition of the severed leg. If it's not too severe, it can be reattached."
Hu Sha suddenly thought of something, and her gaze towards Shu Xin became complex.
The beastman with the severed leg shed tears of excitement. How wonderful it would be if his leg could be saved!
"Please, I beg you, you must help me reattach it!" The beastman looked directly at the beautiful female before him, his eyes holding not only the admiration a male had for a female but also a barely perceptible plea.
Shu Xin had seen such gazes too many times. Other doctors would more or less feel compassion for their patients, experiencing sympathy, reluctance, and pity. These emotions, brought into the operating room, would affect their surgical performance, becoming an uncertain factor in the success rate of the surgery.
She did not have these. Perhaps it was her naturally cool disposition; every surgery was like operating on a mannequin in a classroom. Her surgical success rate reached ninety percent, making her a legendary figure in the industry.
"Ugh!" Shu Yue unseasonably covered her mouth and moved away from the area. The smell of blood was too strong, making her nauseous.
Hu Sha said to her worriedly, "Yue Yue, stand further away. If you can't smell it, you won't feel sick."
Shu Yue nodded and stood far away, but it was to no avail. The smell of blood permeated the entire cave; one would have to go outside to escape it.
She could only endure.
She had originally wanted to watch how Shu Xin treated the wounds, but her physiology wouldn't allow it. She retreated further into the cave, where the smell was less pungent.
"Are you... are you okay?"
Shu Yue turned to see Jiao Jiao.
She shook her head indifferently, "I'm fine."
Jiao Jiao's expression was a bit awkward. She hadn't given up on Wen Te. They had had an unpleasant encounter the last time they met, and after more than half a month without seeing each other, she assumed the other person wouldn't mind anymore.
She wanted to say something caring, but the words wouldn't come out. She resorted to making small talk, "Your sister is so amazing."
Shu Yue didn't humble herself. "Yes, my sister is very amazing."
"..." A moment of silence. Jiao Jiao nervously fiddled with her fingers, struggling to think of what to say.
"Shu Yue, can you also treat illnesses?"
"I can't."
Jiao Jiao was surprised. "I saw you giving the witch doctor acupuncture. You can't?"
Shu Yue replied, "I can only do acupuncture; I can't do anything else." In fact, she couldn't even do acupuncture, but there was no need to explain too much to Jiao Jiao.
"Oh." Again, there was nothing more to say.
When the nausea subsided, Shu Yue, ignoring Jiao Jiao who was still struggling to find a topic of conversation, found a stone in the cave to sit and rest.
Up ahead, Shu Xin was applying splints to the beastman with the severed leg, using firewood from the fire. The conditions were limited, so she used whatever was available.
Injured beastmen were continuously carried in. The front of the cave was occupied by patients. Shu Xin moved from one injured person to another, stopping bleeding. When the hemostatic grass ran out, she used silver needles to stop the bleeding. This task could only be handled by her alone.
Hu Sha switched the tablet from her left hand to her right, then back to her left, her arm becoming numb until Lan Hua took over.
Hu Sha freed her hands and sat down next to Xing to rest, looking at the still busy figure with a complex expression.
"Xing, Xin'er is much more capable than I thought."
"Yes, Xin'er is truly amazing!" Xing nodded in agreement, his eyes not only showing care for the younger generation but also a hint of admiration. It was truly not easy for a young female to achieve this!
The gazes of most people in the cave were fixed on the busy Shu Xin. The females were awestruck, the males were grateful, and some even felt admiration...
They wanted to ask her to rest, but seeing the continuous stream of injured tribesmen entering, they couldn't bring themselves to say it.
Saving lives was more important.
The males were the tribe's guarantee for surviving the beast tide; they couldn't be delayed.
Among the crowd, the females whispered amongst themselves, "Shu Xin is so amazing. If the witch doctor were treating them, he would have rested by now, and the treatment wouldn't be as good as Shu Xin's. Look, the wounds that have been treated are no longer bleeding."
"Yes, that needle is truly magical. You just stick it into the body, and the blood slowly stops flowing. It's even better than hemostatic grass!"
A female cub looked at Shu Xin with admiration. "Mother, I want to learn acupuncture too. Will Sister Shu Xin teach me?"
The cub's mother listened and held no hope. "Probably not. You're too clumsy; you won't be able to learn it."
"Oh." The little female lowered her head in disappointment. Yes, she was too clumsy.
The conversation between mother and daughter was a small interlude, quickly drowned out by the chatter of others.
After an unknown amount of time spent in the cave, Hu Mao excitedly ran in shouting, "Good news! Leite and Wen Te have bitten the ferocious beast to death!"
The tribesmen were stunned for a moment before erupting into joyous cheers. "God of Beasts protect us! Leite and Wen Te are our tribe's strongest warriors!" They had actually bitten the ferocious beast to death!
They were both excited and proud. Without the ferocious beast, the pressure on the beastmen was greatly reduced.
Light streamed in from outside the cave; it was dawn.
Shu Xin, who had been busy for five or six hours, lifted her head and stretched her neck. Her back was particularly sore.
Lan Hua said with concern, "Xin'er, rest for a while."
"Okay." Shu Xin didn't push herself. Hu Sha offered her the stone she had been sitting on.
"Xin'er, sit here."
"Thank you." Shu Xin walked to where Hu Sha had been sitting and sat down.
Shu Yue walked over from behind. She had mostly adapted to the smell of blood.
She walked towards Shu Xin's position. "Sister, are you tired? Your complexion isn't very good."
Her face was pale, with dark circles under her eyes. She hadn't slept all night and had been busy all night; her complexion could only be so-so!
Lan Hua said, "Xin'er is exhausted. She worked all night and is just resting now."