Shuxin checked her tongue and said casually, "You know better than anyone if ash water can cure illnesses."
The witch doctor paused, his expression unreadable.
"I'm going to start the acupuncture. Chief Rayte, please step outside."
As long as the witch doctor didn't interfere, he could watch from the side.
The chief and Rayte left without hesitation to wait outside.
No one stopped the witch doctor. He immediately walked towards the bed. Shuxin said coldly, "Witch doctor, please stay at least two meters away from me, or wait outside with them."
The witch doctor glared, "You!"
"Witch doctor, my eyesight isn't good. If someone blocks my view, I can't guarantee where the needle will go."
Hearing this, the witch doctor, no matter how unwilling, dared not approach. Yiyi was in her hands now, and she was afraid.
"Shuxin, if you dare to harm Yiyi, I won't forgive you!" she warned.
Shuxin remained expressionless. She really wanted to withdraw her needles and leave, but decided to save face for Rayte and the chief.
She removed Yiyi's top and inserted the needles in the dim light. The patient only slightly furrowed her brow, while the witch doctor watching from the side was in agony.
She kept saying, "Gently! Gently!"
Shuxin was annoyed and simply chose to passively block her out.
The witch doctor stared intently at the acupuncture points, as if trying to memorize them and find a pattern.
Shuxin noticed this, her red lips curving slightly, but she didn't take it seriously. If acupuncture could be learned just by watching, she would gladly give her title of genius to the witch doctor!
Twenty minutes later, Shuxin withdrew the needles.
The witch doctor anxiously asked, "How is it? Has the fever subsided?"
Shuxin shook her head, "It won't be that fast. I'll come back tomorrow to administer acupuncture again. Don't feed her ash water anymore, or the consequences will be your own."
With that, she picked up her silver needle case and left with Rayte.
The chief had not left. He walked into the cave to check Yiyi's complexion. Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but he felt Yiyi's complexion had become much more rosy.
He cleared his throat, unable to keep his gaze fixed on the little female, "Witch doctor, listen to Xin'er. Don't give her that water anymore."
"It's getting late. You should rest early. I'm leaving." Baron said, walking away with his hands behind his back.
The witch doctor was left sitting on the edge of the bed, gazing at her sleeping daughter in silence.
Suddenly, a gust of night wind blew into the cave. The witch doctor came back to his senses, got up, and lowered the beast skin curtain, blocking out the wind and the boundless night.
...
The next day, Shuxin went to give Yiyi acupuncture. Yiyi's complexion was good today, and her fever had subsided. When she heard that Shuxin had treated her, she felt a complex mix of emotions.
Reluctance was dominant, but she was smart enough not to show it.
The witch doctor looked at her improving daughter. Although she still didn't give Shuxin a good look, she didn't stare fixedly like she had last night.
After another session of acupuncture, Yiyi on the bed didn't say a word of thanks. Of course, Shuxin didn't care. She picked up her needle case and left.
As she passed the witch doctor, she noticed her complexion was a bit poor. Fearing she had caught a cold, Shuxin didn't remind her and left directly.
The rainy season was halfway through. Although the rain hadn't stopped, its intensity gradually decreased. The sky brightened, and more and more tribesmen came out to move about.
In previous years, at this time, the tribe's stored water would reach knee-high. This year, it hadn't even reached one centimeter, all thanks to the drainage ditches.
Tribesmen no longer had to go to the river to clean their prey; they could do it in the drainage ditches. Of course, the water in the drainage ditches didn't flow. If it weren't for the continuous rain, the water would have long since become foul.
Rayte accompanied his mate for acupuncture, then went out with Went to forage. When they returned, their bellies were full.
In the afternoon, they either wove baskets or accompanied their mates for a nap. Life was very comfortable.
Meanwhile, the Tieda tribe, without drainage ditches, would have been submerged if not for their higher elevation.
Miao Xiaocui sat cross-legged on the stone bed, barefoot. She was surrounded by female cubs, filling the two-meter-wide, three-meter-long stone bed to the brim.
There were at least three such stone beds in the cave, each packed with females, both old and young.
Suddenly, the smell of urine wafted into her nostrils. The next second, she heard a female scold, "Which little cub peed on the bed?!"
A little female cub's face turned bright red, "S-sorry, Grandma."
When the scolding female saw it was a cub a little over two years old, she couldn't continue scolding. The cub was too young, and it was understandable.
Miao Xiaocui felt disgusted. Before the rainy season, this had been her bed, and now it was covered in everything...
From initial anger and annoyance, she had become almost numb.
There was no other way. The rain was too heavy, and the beast skin tents were submerged. The chief had ordered everyone to crowd into the caves.
Rocks blocked the cave entrance. In the first few days of the rainy season, water wouldn't enter, but later it would. Now, the water in the cave was at least a dozen centimeters deep. Their beast skin shoes were soaked in mud. When they went out, most of them were barefoot because the beast skin shoes were stuck in the mud by the water and impossible to walk in.
During the rainy season, let alone intimacy, even finding a moment of solitude was impossible.
All the females stayed put during the rainy season, and she was the only one constantly moving from one sleeping spot to another.
The chief of the Tieda tribe, Laoshan, was desperately extracting information from her mind.
Miao Xiaocui was miserable. Fortunately, despite being rained on so many times, she hadn't fallen ill.
Splash...
An unusual sound of water echoed in the cave. Without turning around, she knew someone was peeing by the bed. The others were unaffected, continuing their lively chatter.
Or rather, they were used to it. Females couldn't fly, so if they needed to relieve themselves, they had to be carried by beastmen, and they even had to be held while peeing, because the water outside was deeper, and females couldn't squat, so they had to stand...
During the rainy season, food was scarce, and the males had to go out hunting. For minor issues like relieving themselves, they solved them themselves if they could.
The small stone beds seemed like isolated islands, trapping them all. Half of the females from the Uda tribe were crammed here, while the other half were squeezed into the witch doctor's cave.
The air was murky, and indescribable odors filled the cave. They couldn't distinguish morning from afternoon, only day from night.
Miao Xiaocui felt like a green bird thrown into a dung heap, with injured wings. She ate, drank, and relieved herself on the bed. Under everyone's gaze, she no longer knew what shame was; she just wanted to survive.
Suddenly, there was movement outside the cave, and a trace of fragrance wafted in. The females' chatter stopped, and they looked hopefully towards the cave entrance.
A leopard beast with wings carried roasted meat into the cave. A female on a stone bed excitedly stood up, straddled the leopard beast's back, and went out for some fresh air and roasted meat.
The other females envied them and swallowed their saliva. Only the females of winged beasts could eat a full meal of meat every day. They sometimes couldn't even get a palm-sized piece of roasted meat in a day.
Following them in was Yin Xiao. Miao Xiaocui's listless eyes lit up when she saw Yin Xiao.
Without a word, she was taken outside by Yin Xiao. It was drizzling outside, but the air was exceptionally fresh!