Watching Xiao Yingtao like this, Xing Zizhou felt a pang deep in his chest.

“Xiao Yingtao, I’m sorry. I…”

“Don’t move!” The moment Xing Zizhou raised his right hand, two different voices rang out simultaneously.

Xing Zizhou froze for a moment, then curved his lips faintly and obediently lowered his arm.

Xiao Yingtao opened Xing Zizhou’s robe and shifted aside to make room.

Feng Jiu’er pinched a silver needle between her fingers and inserted it into an acupoint on Xing Zizhou’s chest.

Even though she had grown accustomed to such scenes and had every confidence in Jiu’er’s needlework, watching like this, Xiao Yingtao still felt a twinge of anxiety.

“Don’t worry. The medicine is in him, and the wound has been cleaned. Just keep changing the cloth. There won’t be any major problems.” Feng Jiu’er said quietly, with gentle reassurance.

“Understood.” Xiao Yingtao nodded, and only then remembered there was something she seemed to have forgotten.

She removed the cloth from Xing Zizhou’s forehead, turned and submerged it in the basin for a moment, then wrung it out and lifted it.

“Qiao Mu, rest a while longer — there’s nothing for you to do here.” Feng Jiu’er’s voice sounded again in the tent.

“All right.” Qiao Mu nodded, got up and walked a few steps toward the inner area, then lay back down in her own spot.

After a period of needling and acupressure massage, combined with Xiao Yingtao’s steady rotation of cool cloths, Xing Zizhou’s complexion began to look somewhat better.

Throughout the entire process, he had not been willing to close his eyes. His gaze remained fixed on Xiao Yingtao without straying.

That deep and tender look seemed to hold countless unspoken words — yet he did not say a single one. He simply continued to look at her, quietly and without pause.

Once everything was tidied away, Feng Jiu’er felt Xing Zizhou’s forehead once more before rising to her feet.

“Miss Jiu’er.” Suddenly, a brother’s voice came from outside.

“What is it?” Feng Jiu’er asked quietly.

“Miss Jiu’er, one of the brothers has been coughing up blood. The physician says it doesn’t look good… Would you be willing to come take a look?” The brother’s voice reached them again.

“Go and change the water in the basin. Keep laying the cloth on his forehead, and make sure he drinks water from time to time, until his temperature returns to normal.”

Feng Jiu’er glanced down at Xiao Yingtao, left those words behind, and turned to leave.

“Jiu’er, I understand.” Xiao Yingtao looked at the departing figure and replied.

The words had barely left her lips when Feng Jiu’er had already disappeared from inside the tent.

“Where is that brother? Lead me there quickly.” Feng Jiu’er set down the tent curtain and looked at the brother waiting outside.

“Right away.” The brother nodded and immediately strode forward with large steps. “The brother took a sword to the chest. A physician has been watching over him the whole time.”

“We don’t know why, but he suddenly began coughing up blood. On top of that, I’m told the fever simply won’t break. I had no choice but to trouble you, Miss Jiu’er.”

“No need for such courtesies.” Though Feng Jiu’er’s legs were no more than two-thirds the length of the brother beside her, she still kept pace with him as they moved forward.

Before long, the two arrived outside a tent. The brother lifted the curtain, and Feng Jiu’er stepped briskly inside.

Two physicians were crowded around a man, treating him, while several others stood nearby.

“Miss Jiu’er.”

“Miss Jiu’er.”

The brothers spotted Feng Jiu’er and immediately turned back, calling out softly.

Feng Jiu’er nodded in acknowledgment and raised her hand.

“All of you, step outside. Too many people in here is not good for the patient.”

“Yes.” The brothers acknowledged in unison and filed out.

Aware that someone had entered, one of the physicians stood and turned to face Feng Jiu’er.

“You must be Miss Jiu’er. I have heard that you are not only our new city lord, but also a physician of extraordinary skill. Please have a look…”

“The two of you may go out as well. Leave the medicine chest behind.” Having taken in the sight of the figure lying beneath the blankets, Feng Jiu’er immediately grew alert.

“Of course, of course.” The other physician rose as well, stepping aside to give her room. “This brother sustained an injury to the heart meridian. The fact that he has held on until now is already remarkable.”

“We are limited in our abilities, Miss Jiu’er. Please forgive our inadequacy.”

Feng Jiu’er paid them little mind and crouched down beside the injured brother.

“Escort both physicians out and have them help tend to the other brothers. I will do everything I can.”

“Yes, Miss Jiu’er.” A brother nodded, looked at the two physicians, and gestured. “Please, both of you, this way.”

The two physicians bowed in acknowledgment but still could not help glancing back one last time.

One of the physicians shook his head with a quiet sigh; the other did the same, and the two finally turned and left together.

Seeing the physicians like this, the brother’s heart was heavy as well.

But he understood clearly — as long as Miss Jiu’er was here, there was always a chance for things to turn around.

After escorting both physicians out, the brother lifted the curtain gently and made his way back inside the tent.

After a quick preliminary examination of the unconscious brother, Feng Jiu’er looked back.

“Help me prop him up.”

“Yes.” The brother immediately stepped over.

The brother sat down and supported the injured man upright.

Feng Jiu’er pressed both palms against the injured brother’s back, and a stream of inner energy flowed from her body into his.

The brother who was steadying the man watched Feng Jiu’er without blinking, his heart overwhelmed with a storm of feeling.

Their Miss Jiu’er truly treated every person as a brother — these were not mere words. No one could say how much inner energy a transfer like this consumed, and yet the injured brother was just one among many.

When Jian Yi entered, Feng Jiu’er’s face had already grown somewhat pale.

His thick brows drew together. He settled on the other side of the injured brother, pressed his large palm forward, and placed it firmly against the brother’s shoulder.

With Jian Yi’s inner energy to supplement her own, Feng Jiu’er gradually withdrew her force.

She steadied her breathing, then opened her eyes, drew out her needle case, and began inserting needles into the injured brother.

With Jian Yi’s inner energy flowing in on one side and Feng Jiu’er’s treatment on the other, the injured brother’s pale face slowly began to regain color.

After approximately a quarter of an hour, Feng Jiu’er withdrew the silver needles from the brother’s body.

“It’s done. Jian Yi, his condition is essentially stable.”

Hearing Feng Jiu’er’s words, Jian Yi withdrew his palm and sat cross-legged nearby to rest and recover.

The brother who had been supporting the injured man gently eased him back down onto the bedding spread across the ground.

“Miss Jiu’er, is there anything you need me to do?”

“Wait a moment.” Feng Jiu’er gave a brief reply and opened the medicine chest beside her.

She picked up one herb after another, bringing each to her nose, and before long had selected a packet of medicines. She turned and passed them to the brother waiting nearby.

“Go and decoct this. Bring it here when it’s ready.”

“Yes.” The brother accepted the medicine, turned at once, and left.

When Feng Jiu’er looked back, Jian Yi had already opened his eyes and was watching her.

“Jian Yi, undo his robe. I need to start cleaning the wound.”

“Understood.” Jian Yi nodded and, with a few quick movements, opened the brother’s garment.

Feng Jiu’er knelt before the injured man and dusted medicinal powder over his wound.

Disinfection, cleansing, suturing, applying medicine, bandaging — everything was completed in one fluid sequence.

Though it took less than a quarter of an hour, Feng Jiu’er achieved results that others could not have managed.

When the brother carried in the medicine, Feng Jiu’er and Jian Yi were once again channeling their inner energy into the injured man, one on each side to aid his recovery.

The brother could only stand to one side and wait. Feeling the steady, even breathing of the injured man, the corners of his lips curved upward without him even noticing.

Indeed — with Miss Jiu’er here, there was always a way for things to turn around.