Barron's face was extremely grim, knowing that Rait would not joke about such a matter. Could it be that the witch doctor had always treated illnesses this way?
"You all go back first. I will go and ask the witch doctor about this." He tightened his grip on the wooden bowl, demanding an explanation from the witch doctor!
Wente asked, "What about the sick female cubs? They can't drink this water anymore."
Barron's brows furrowed. This was indeed a troublesome matter. Only the witch doctor could treat them, and now the witch doctor was producing this kind of medicinal water. What was the difference between that and letting the female cubs recover on their own?
Hu Sha thought of someone and asked Rait, "Rait, doesn't Xin'er also understand medicine? Can she treat them?"
Rait replied, "I'm not sure. I'll go back and ask."
"Alas, if Xin'er can treat them, let Xin'er treat them." Hu Sha said this because she had long doubted the witch doctor's medical skills.
Her mother had suffered from a "liang bing" (cold illness), and the witch doctor could not cure her, which slowly weakened her body. Since then, she had been skeptical of the witch doctor's medical skills. She had never told anyone else. She was just a female, and the tribe members believed the witch doctor, not her.
Barron hesitated, "If we transfer the sick female cubs to Shu Xin for treatment, the witch doctor might object."
Hu Sha curved her lips into a mocking arc, not letting anyone see it, "Clan leader, are you saying they should wait to die if the witch doctor cannot cure them?"
"Hu Sha!" Barron frowned and looked at her.
Hu Sha pouted and stopped speaking.
Rait glanced at them and said, "I'll go back and ask. If Xin'er also cannot treat them, then it can only be left to the witch doctor."
Hearing this, Wente felt a sense of powerlessness. No one could treat them, so when the tribe members fell ill, even if they knew the water was undrinkable, they could only drink this.
"Brother, let's go back and ask Sister Shu Xin."
"Okay." The two returned.
After they left, Barron's face became even more somber. The three females who knew his temper knew he was truly angry. Lan Hua still didn't believe the witch doctor would do such a thing.
She asked, "Barron, could it be that Rait and the others made a mistake? Did the witch doctor add anything else?"
Barron looked up at her, then at the bowl in his hand, "I tasted a bit of everything. I can tell if it's the same!"
Hearing this, Lan Hua had nothing to say. A male's nose and taste buds would not lie.
Xing did not understand, "Why would the witch doctor do this?"
"That's something you'll have to ask her!" Barron crushed two bowls. The lye water flowed all over his hands, but it could not extinguish the anger burning within him. Instead, it grew fiercer.
...
Back in the cave, the two males recounted the events.
Rait asked, "Xin'er, can you treat liang bing?"
Liang bing is the common cold, Shu Xin Xin thought.
"I can try, but without herbs, the effect will be very slow."
Hearing that she could treat it, Rait showed joy. "Xin'er, can you help them?"
Shu Xin replied, "Yes, but does the witch doctor agree?"
"..."
Rait said, "Her medicinal water has problems. If the sick female cubs continue to drink it, they will not get better." Some might even die.
Shu Yue frowned and asked, "You don't want to let Sister go to the witch doctor's cave to treat them, do you?"
"My sister's treatment method is special. She cannot treat them with the witch doctor present."
"Then where should they be treated?" Rait asked.
Shu Xin analyzed the current situation: "I am not a witch doctor, and they do not believe in my medical skills. You can tell them that I will only treat those who are willing. If they are unwilling, then forget it."
She didn't want to court trouble with potential patient-doctor disputes for those who were unwilling.
Rait took her words to heart. "Okay, I'll go now."
"Wait, the patients are all in the witch doctor's cave. If you just go and ask, aren't you slapping the witch doctor in the face?" Shu Yue stopped him.
Rait thought about it and realized it was true. If he went rashly, wouldn't that mean the witch doctor was incompetent?
"Then what should we do?" He was a little annoyed. A small matter had become so complicated.
Shu Yue said, "Wait. Wait until the witch doctor herself says she can't treat them, and then let my sister take over."
"Based on your description, I guess some females or cubs will leave today. The witch doctor will not let them stay there indefinitely."
Wente thought Yue Yue made sense and asked, "After they leave, we'll go and ask?"
"Yes, if they dare to try, let my sister treat them. If they don't dare, then forget it. Whether they live or die is none of our business." Shu Yue was not cold-blooded, but she deeply understood the saying that meddling often leads to trouble, and she wouldn't do thankless tasks.
Rait understood.
Shu Xin asked at this moment, "Are there any empty caves? I want to gather all these sick people together because colds are contagious."
"Colds?"
"That's liang bing."
Rait said he would go and check the tribe.
As Shu Yue had predicted, before noon, these sick people were politely asked to return to their own caves by the witch doctor.
Rait stopped the families of a few severely ill cubs. The beastmen he stopped recognized him and knew that the person stopping them was the young clan leader.
Worried about their children, they just wanted to go back quickly, but they still respectfully asked, "Does the young clan leader have something to say?"
Rait replied, "My mate has medical skills. If you are willing to let my mate try to treat them, bring your child. I'll take a look at the child..."
The little beastman was about four or five years old. In his father's arms, his breathing was already very weak.
The beastmen who heard the purpose of his visit were surprised, and then hesitant. They had seen that beautiful female last night, but judging by the witch doctor's demeanor, it seemed the other party's medical skills were not good?
Although they came from a small tribe, they dared not take risks. Only the father of the most seriously ill cub said, "I'll go with you. As long as my child can be cured, I'll do anything!"
This father was shrouded in grief. How could he not know that his child might not survive this rainy season? Now that a glimmer of hope was placed before him, how could he give up?
"Da Ben," a beastman of the same tribe wanted to say something, but their children were also ill.
The other party was the young clan leader's mate, so she must be capable. The few of them exchanged glances and made a decision, "Okay, we'll all go with you, as long as our children can be cured."
...
Rait went out and brought back three severely ill cubs and their fathers.
They were settled in a small cave.
This cave had once been inhabited by an old beastman who had died before the rainy season, so the cave was temporarily vacant.
It was very damp inside, and the stone bed was newly cleaned, with only a piece of clean beast hide laid on it, provided by Shu Yue.
Shu Xin asked her to follow along, as she wanted to teach her acupuncture.
Shu Yue was a little confused, "Let me learn? Is it still possible for me to learn now?"
Shu Xin's expression was unyielding, "If you were still on Earth, it wouldn't matter if you learned or not, but here, learning an extra skill means an extra survival skill!"
Shu Yue was silent. Sister was right, having more skills was never a burden.
Shu Xin had already asked Wente to start a fire in the cave and boil a pot of hot water to wipe down the patients.
As soon as Rait arrived with the people, he had them place the children side by side on the stone bed. Fortunately, they were all children, and they fit on the bed.