The Incident Begins

The innkeeper hadn't found Jin Yue'e in the kitchen and was feeling distressed when he heard the voices of Li Wuya and Li Qilang. His face lit up immediately, and he waved them over.

"Li Wuya, come here quickly. The innkeeper has something to ask for your help."

Upon hearing this, Li Wuya's heart also leapt with joy. "What does the innkeeper need?" After all, there's always a reward for helping out, and at least there will be food!

The innkeeper kindly said, "Your Second Brother Niu got injured. Your mother went back to the garrison around noon, and she hasn't returned yet. You're good at bandaging wounds, right? Can you help treat Second Brother Niu's injury?"

The Jin family are mountain hunters, constantly roaming the Tian Mountains. They're skilled in hunting as well as gathering herbs. Over generations, members of the Jin family have gained some knowledge of herbal medicine.

Usually, when someone in the garrison has a headache, fever, or minor injuries, they first ask Li Wuya's mother for help. If she can't handle it, only then do they consider seeing a doctor.

Li Wuya has observed her mother treating wounds, so she's learned a few things. She helped bandage a fellow employee at the post station who had been injured in a fight.

The employee recovered without any issues afterwards, and he was fine within a few days. Her help even saved him from spending money on a doctor.

Li Wuya glanced at the innkeeper. It's quite stingy of him to make a little kid like her handle wounds just to save on medical expenses.

"Second Brother Niu got beaten?"

This sort of thing happens frequently at the post station. Some messengers have bad tempers and resort to violence when things don't go their way.

The innkeeper's expression soured as he thought about it. The recent heat has made these messengers irritable, and one of them lashed a whip at Second Brother Niu as soon as he entered the station.

Thinking of the bloodstains on Second Brother Niu's body, the innkeeper sighed internally. He couldn't afford to offend any of those people; it was just unfortunate for Second Brother Niu.

"Second Brother Niu is in a lot of pain. Let's go help him."

Li Wuya didn't move. Instead, she raised her right hand, forming a "four" with her fingers.

The innkeeper saw this and gritted his teeth. This little girl is so clever!

Every time he asks her to do something, she always demands something in return. She won't lift a finger without compensation.

In this post station, he's the one who holds power over all matters, and everyone tries to curry favour with him. Whenever he asks for assistance, everyone is eager to help. But this girl dares to ask him for something in return, without a trace of embarrassment.

"Alright, four dry bread pieces. You'll get them later." The innkeeper agreed, thinking about the medical expenses he'd save.

Li Wuya and Li Qilang's eyes lit up.

"Innkeeper, can you give them to us now? I'm extremely hungry. Don't worry, I won't delay treating Second Brother Niu's wound."

Seeing Li Wuya clutching her stomach, hunched over as if unable to stand, Li Qilang quickly followed suit, giving the innkeeper a pitiable look.

The innkeeper gave them a helpless glare. These two little rascals, are they afraid he won't keep his word?

Li Wuya blinked, implying that she'll feel relieved once she has the food.

The innkeeper hmphed twice and went to the kitchen. Soon, he returned with four dry bread pieces, which he handed to Li Wuya.

"Alright, can you come with me now?"

With the dry bread in hand, Li Wuya didn't waste time. She led Li Qilang behind the innkeeper to see Second Brother Niu.

Inside the dim room, Second Brother Niu lay on the kang (traditional heated brick bed), unconscious from the pain.

"Ah~"

Seeing the bloodstains on Second Brother Niu's back, Li Qilang screamed in shock.

Li Wuya's expression remained unchanged. She didn't consider this wound to be anything major. She instructed Li Qilang to sit beside Second Brother Niu and wait. Then, she calmly approached to treat the injuries.

The wound was quite extensive, and in some areas, sand and dirt had gotten into it, making cleaning it difficult. Before long, the water in the basin turned red.

The innkeeper stood by, silently watching. He marvelled at Li Wuya's skill.

This little girl from the Li family is remarkable. He finds this kind of wound quite terrifying, but she didn't even lift an eyelid. She doesn't seem like a child at all.

After about fifteen minutes, Li Wuya finished cleaning the wound and began applying ointment.

The innkeeper watched Li Wuya spread golden wound medicine onto Second Brother Niu's back and felt a pang of sympathy. This medicine was bought at a high price and is usually reserved for his personal use. He seldom uses it even when he injures himself.

"Li Wuya, be a little frugal with the medicine. Once it's used up, we won't have any left." This wasteful little girl.

"Innkeeper, I'm already being very careful." This stingy old man.

Before long, Li Wuya finished applying the ointment. She was about to close the lid of the medicine jar, but the innkeeper snatched it from her hand.

Seeing this, Li Wuya quickly suggested, "Innkeeper, Second Brother Niu's injury is quite severe. He'll need more ointment later. How about you let me hold onto the medicine?"

The innkeeper hmphed again. "He doesn't need more. Second Brother Niu is strong; he only needs this one application. Alright, that's enough. I have other matters to attend to. I'm leaving now." With that, he turned and left.

Watching the innkeeper walk away, Li Wuya shifted her gaze to Second Brother Niu. She saw the still-bleeding wound on his back and sighed inwardly.

If her healing ability were still intact, she could have easily healed this kind of injury within minutes.

Thinking of her ability, Li Wuya let out another sigh.

In her previous life, she was a post-apocalyptic powerhouse with both psychic abilities and advanced healing powers at the ninth level. Unfortunately, during a cosmic retrograde, she was struck and killed by lightning.

In this life, she was reborn and retained her psychic abilities and healing powers, but they were both reset to zero.

Fortunately, amidst the misfortune, although there were no energy crystals to enhance her powers this time, her psychic abilities could still be developed through meditation.

Though slow, after five years of effort, her psychic abilities had grown to the point where she could sense everything within a ten-meter radius.

As for her healing powers, they could be improved by absorbing medicinal herbs.

Medicinal herbs...

Apologies, five years had passed since her arrival, yet she hadn't absorbed any, to the point where her healing powers remained dormant.

After giving Second Brother Niu some water, Li Wuya left with Li Qilang.

"Mmm, delicious!"

Behind the inn, Li Wuya and Li Qilang sat side by side against the wall. Holding chipped porcelain bowls, they sipped water and nibbled on the dry bread, enjoying it with contentment.

"Burp~"

"Full!"

The dry bread at the inn was much more substantial than what they had at home. After finishing one piece, Li Qilang wore a satisfied smile and patted his little belly. "Sister Five, I want to work in the inn's kitchen too, so I can eat a full meal every day."

Li Wuya couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated. "Can't you aim a bit higher?"

Li Qilang looked puzzled. "Isn't that high enough? I'll get to eat my fill." He then revealed a longing and hopeful expression. "If I could have a few dry bread pieces with every meal in the future, I'd probably wake up from my dreams with a smile."

Observing the dry bread in her hand, Li Wuya contemplated the scene of eating such meals every day. Suddenly, she found the idea less appealing.

Li Wuya looked at her brother and spoke earnestly, "Qilang, we should have aspirations. In the future, we should aim to eat meat with every meal." She paused for a moment and added, "Not just meat, but all the delicious foods in the world."

Li Qilang's eyes gleamed with excitement, and his mouth watered. "Is there something tastier than meat?"

Hearing this, Li Wuya cast a pitying look at Li Qilang.

Poor child, he has grown up without having had many decent meals, to the point where he believes meat is the tastiest thing.

Meat...

In her previous life, she had eaten it so much she grew tired of it!

Grilled, braised, stewed, steamed, fried...

Images of various mouthwatering meat dishes flooded Li Wuya's mind, and her mouth began to water.

Alright, she shouldn't pity her brother anymore. In this life, she's eaten meat so infrequently that the combined portions wouldn't even amount to the size of a fist.

This life is really tough!

Li Wuya's eyes welled up with tears as she vented her frustrations by quickly finishing the dry bread. "Give the remaining two to Third Brother and Second Sister at home." She carefully stashed the two pieces of dry bread into her pocket.

With something in her stomach, Li Wuya regained her strength. She intended to take Li Qilang to the front yard and try their luck at obtaining some leftovers from the kitchen.

As they arrived at the entrance of the front yard, the sound of galloping horse hooves reached their ears.

"Wow, so many people are here!"

Li Qilang's eyes widened as he pointed in astonishment at the rolling dust cloud about a hundred meters away.

Li Wuya glanced over, estimated the number, and concluded that there were at least fifty to sixty individuals. They were all riding tall horses and dressed in large Chu Dynasty military uniforms.

While the sudden appearance of so many cavalrymen was indeed strange, she didn't pay it much attention. The Dilian Pass was only thirty li (around 15 kilometres) away, so shifts and troop movements were normal occurrences.

"Qilang, come on, let's go back to the rear yard."

With so many soldiers here, it's best to stay out of sight.

Li Wuya led Li Qilang towards the rear yard. As they walked and the group of riders came closer, her brows furrowed suddenly.

It seemed that these weren't just a single group; they were divided into two.

Though it was hard to make out from a distance, the ten or so riders at the forefront weren't dressed in military uniforms. They appeared to be fleeing from the cavalrymen pursuing them.

Oh no, trouble is brewing!