"Wan Shidi, wake up quickly..."
Zhou Ruoxi lay beside the unconscious Wan Yunting. She had just felt his carotid artery pulsing weakly, proving he was still alive.
He had been severely injured by Ma Sai before, and then he jumped off such a high valley cliff. Fortunately, he and Zhou Ruoxi had fallen into the hot spring pool. Otherwise, if they had missed and landed on the banks of the pool, they would have surely died.
However, Wan Yunting's injuries were very serious, and he was currently in a coma. No matter how much Zhou Ruoxi called out to him, she couldn't wake him up.
For a moment, Zhou Ruoxi fell into a panic. She looked around at the darkness, unable to see anything, and didn't know what the surrounding environment was like.
Fortunately, it wasn't cold here. Due to the hot spring pool, the temperature at the bottom of the entire valley remained around a normal twenty-five degrees Celsius. Especially near the pool, one could feel a warm, comfortable heat.
"Wan Shidi, you must not die..."
Looking vaguely at the multiple wounds on Wan Yunting's body and his weak breathing, Zhou Ruoxi's pretty face was filled with anxiety, yet she was helpless.
Because they had jumped down without bringing anything with them, and it was not yet dawn, Zhou Ruoxi didn't know the surrounding environment. Therefore, she had no way to treat Wan Yunting's wounds. She could only pull him out of the water and lay him on the grass by the bank. Feeling Wan Yunting's weakness, Zhou Ruoxi cried, sitting beside him helplessly, unable to do anything but watch over Wan Yunting.
Time passed slowly, and soon the sky gradually brightened, the light snow stopped, and day replaced night, illuminating the entire land.
From the trees and grass at the bottom of the valley, the chirping of various small birds could be heard. One could even see a few pheasants, as well as squirrels and rabbits, hopping and scurrying on the opposite bank of the hot spring pool, as if welcoming the arrival of two humans in their paradise.
And on the bank of the pool, Wan Yunting's face was ashen, his body covered in wounds of various sizes, looking very serious. He was still in a coma.
Zhou Ruoxi, sitting beside him, was still holding Wan Yunting's right hand. Suddenly, she was startled awake and opened her eyes, realizing that it was already dawn.
Zhou Ruoxi quickly looked at Wan Yunting lying beside her. His right hand still felt warm. Zhou Ruoxi quickly felt his pulse again. It was still faintly beating, but very weak, indicating that his injuries were not optimistic.
"Wan Shidi, wake up..."
Zhou Ruoxi endured her own pain and moved closer to Wan Yunting. Her beautiful eyes, full of worry, looked at Wan Yunting's pale, bloodless face. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his brows were furrowed, his expression full of pain, as if he were having a nightmare.
"So hot..."
Seeing this, Zhou Ruoxi touched his forehead and realized that Wan Yunting had a high fever. His forehead was very hot, which was caused by his internal injuries and excessive bleeding from external wounds, leading to his fever and unconsciousness.
"What should I do..."
This made Zhou Ruoxi anxious. She quickly looked around but couldn't find anything, making her heart extremely worried, unsure of what to do.
Calm down, Zhou Ruoxi, calm down first. Don't panic, there must be a way to save Wan Shidi...
Enduring the pain of her own injuries, Zhou Ruoxi stood up. She tried hard to calm herself and not panic, her beautiful eyes scanning the lush grass and vegetation around her, looking for any medicinal herbs that could help him.
"Carduus crispus..."
Suddenly, Zhou Ruoxi saw several plants of Carduus crispus growing in the grass ahead. This was a plant belonging to the Asteraceae family, genus Cirsium, with functions of stopping bleeding, dispelling stasis, and reducing swelling.
It looked similar to wild chrysanthemum, but there were slight differences. Its small flowers were red or purple, with pale brown pappus. The pappus bristles were feather-like, with many layers. Its leaves and flowers could be used as medicine, as could its roots.
Zhou Ruoxi was very excited to find Carduus crispus. Disregarding her own injuries, she quickly went over and squatted on the ground, collecting many leaves of Carduus crispus. Then, she stood up and prepared to return to Wan Yunting to bandage his wounds.
"Ah..."
As a result, the next second, Zhou Ruoxi suddenly cried out in surprise, finding a dark green snake, as thick as her wrist, slowly swimming towards Wan Yunting. It even crawled onto his chest. Its long, wriggling body coiled on Wan Yunting's chest. This strange dark green color and its glowing green eyes gave a peculiar feeling. It flicked its tongue, probing Wan Yunting's face a few times.
Seeing this, Zhou Ruoxi was so scared that the Carduus crispus leaves she had collected fell to the ground. Looking at this unknown snake coiled on Wan Yunting's chest, Zhou Ruoxi, who had always been afraid of reptiles, felt her hair stand on end. Her pretty face turned pale, and her beautiful eyes were filled with panic. She quickly looked around, found a long stick, and nervously approached, poking the snake coiled on Wan Yunting's chest with the end of the stick, urging it: "Go away..."
The dark green snake raised its head, its green eyes glaring angrily at Zhou Ruoxi holding the wooden stick. It opened its mouth, flicked its tongue, and made a faint hissing sound. No matter how much she poked it with the wooden stick, the dark green snake did not leave Wan Yunting's chest.
It seemed that this strange dark green snake sensed a similar aura from Wan Yunting. This might have something to do with Wan Yunting drinking the blood of a large snake in the cave in Ling Mountain before.
Suddenly, the dark green snake opened its mouth and bit down fiercely on Wan Yunting's neck.
"No..."
Zhou Ruoxi screamed in alarm. Disregarding her fear, she dropped the wooden stick and lunged forward, grabbing the snake's body and violently throwing it away.
However, she found that the snake was biting Wan Yunting's neck very tightly. Zhou Ruoxi's pretty face was filled with panic. After pulling a few more times, she finally used the wooden stick to pry the snake off. The snake's mouth released Wan Yunting's neck, and it was thrown into the grass by Zhou Ruoxi.
"Ugh..."
At this, Wan Yunting's expression contorted. Two clear teeth marks appeared on his neck, and blood beads emerged.
"Wan Shidi..."
Zhou Ruoxi quickly sat beside Wan Yunting, frantically examining the bite marks on his neck. Her heart was filled with panic and self-reproach, and tears began to flow. She choked back sobs and blamed herself, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't take good care of you..."
Wan Yunting's head was lifted by her and placed on her lap. She watched as his expression slowly relaxed, but he remained unconscious.
Zhou Ruoxi sobbed silently for a long time, her tears continuously falling onto Wan Yunting's pale, bloodless face. She felt extremely guilty. Wan Shidi was already covered in wounds, and she had failed to look after him properly, letting that snake, which might have been venomous, bite him. If anything had happened to Wan Yunting, Zhou Ruoxi would have felt guilty and remorseful for the rest of her life.
However, after a while, Zhou Ruoxi noticed that although Wan Yunting was still very weak, he showed no adverse signs after being bitten by the snake. Zhou Ruoxi finally breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the snake should have been non-venomous.
But she did not know that the dark green snake had released a kind of toxin when it bit Wan Yunting, which did not harm Wan Yunting's body. Instead, it stimulated a certain blood element within him, igniting the green internal energy in Wan Yunting's dantian and self-healing.
Seeing this, Zhou Ruoxi carefully placed Wan Yunting's head back down on the soft grass. She then turned around to pick up the Carduus crispus leaves she had collected earlier from the ground and began to prepare to treat Wan Yunting's external wounds.
However, these fresh Carduus crispus leaves needed to be crushed into juice and applied to the wounds to be effective. Zhou Ruoxi glanced at Wan Yunting lying beside her, then put the Carduus crispus leaves into her mouth and began to chew them. She then started to remove Wan Yunting's clothes.
He had many wounds: on his right arm, his left forearm, his right chest, and his left thigh. His back also had wounds, all inflicted by Ma Sai's hooked sharp blade, but the wounds were not deep.
In addition to these wounds, there were other minor injuries, such as scratches from branches when he leaped from the cliff into the valley last night.
Zhou Ruoxi chewed the Carduus crispus leaves while blushing as she removed Wan Yunting's clothes. Soon, she took off his Taoist robe. However, Wan Yunting was still wearing a shirt, a close-fitting t-shirt, pants, and long johns underneath.
There was no choice; the temperature here was too cold, so he naturally wore a lot of clothing. However, for her to easily treat his wounds, Zhou Ruoxi stripped him down to only his long johns and close-fitting t-shirt.
Fortunately, the temperature at the bottom of the valley was very warm, so it didn't feel cold. It even felt warm near the hot spring pool.