“You’re in a very bad state right now.” After hesitating for a long time, Sha Yi suddenly realized that at this moment, she had no idea what to say to him anymore. Even if she tried to make conversation, it felt utterly feeble.
The man lying weakly on the raft, however, immediately noticed her distress, though he didn’t voice it. For a brief moment, his expression turned bleak before quickly returning to normal.
She noticed the change in his demeanor but couldn’t find the words to comfort him.
Finally, he spoke slowly, “I know things are bad, but this has nothing to do with you. There’s no need for you to stay here.”
He was telling her to leave.
Perhaps, even before she stood outside the earthen kiln, he had already guessed that her nausea was due to pregnancy.
In matters like this, he seemed far more perceptive than Xi Yi—likely because he had once cared for his younger sister. Or perhaps, for someone as meticulous as him, noticing such a detail was effortless.
Yet she still couldn’t bring herself to leave.
Not for any particular reason, but because of his current situation and his injuries. Even if it were Xi Yi or Xi Gu in his place, neither of them would abandon him.
Thinking this, she shook her head firmly. “I can’t just ignore you because of these things.”
Hearing this, Sai Na smiled weakly, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes before fading. “Even if you stay here, you can’t help me.”
It was a harsh truth.
Even Tu Ge felt helpless. She knew nothing about medical treatment—how could she possibly help him?
Her refusal to leave, though framed as concern, was little more than self-deception.
Sai Na’s feelings for her had been clear since their time in the old cave settlement. From the very beginning, she had rejected him.
Despite his countless efforts—even resorting to force, betraying everyone—nothing had worked. He never got what he wanted.
From the moment of the volcanic eruption onward, he had stopped acting on his impulses toward her.
On the surface, it seemed he had given up. But now, she could still see traces of unwillingness and resignation in his eyes.
Yet at this moment, she couldn’t think of a single word to respond.
She simply couldn’t help him. She was powerless.
After a long silence, Tu Ge, who had been standing quietly behind her, finally couldn’t hold back. “How long do you two plan to keep this up?”
“Is there no other way to treat my injuries?” Before she could speak, the man on the raft asked bluntly. “Tell me the truth.”
“You want the truth?” Tu Ge took a few steps forward, frowning slightly. “You’re not afraid?”
“Just say what you have to say.” Sai Na chuckled indifferently, his expression calm. “Look at my wounds—do you think I haven’t seen worse? Whether I live or die, it doesn’t matter. If I can’t endure it, then it’s just my time. No need to worry.”
“You really don’t fear death. Fine, I’ll be direct.” Sighing, Tu Ge complied. “I don’t understand what’s happening with your condition. The wound is deep, but based on its location, it shouldn’t be this severe. Yet the bleeding won’t stop—you’ve seen it yourself.”
The man nodded faintly. “Yes, I’ve seen it.”
“Have you noticed that your condition fluctuates? One moment, you feel chest tightness and struggle to speak; the next, it’s just pain?” Tu Ge pointed at the wound on his chest, raising an eyebrow. “When the bleeding is heavy, you speak more easily. But when it slows, your speech becomes labored.”
“That does seem to be the case…” Sai Na’s expression remained composed, but seconds later, his face suddenly paled, followed by a violent coughing fit.
This time, something unexpected happened—the blood that should have gushed out with each cough suddenly stopped, as if frozen in place.
“This is exactly what I mean!” Tu Ge exclaimed, grabbing a clean animal hide to wipe away the initial blood. “Sha Yi, look! His bleeding has stopped—it’s bizarre!”
Following Tu Ge’s gesture, Sha Yi saw that the blood, which should have flowed with each cough, had completely ceased. It was as if the wound had been sealed from the inside—unnatural and unsettling.
Staring at this inexplicable phenomenon, Sha Yi was stunned. Only when Sai Na’s coughing subsided and his breathing steadied did the blood begin to flow again.
Horrified, she watched as Tu Ge frantically grabbed a pile of chewed grass stems from the side of the raft, pressing them against Sai Na’s wound—but to no avail.
Even her own mind was in chaos.
From what she remembered, the grass stems Tu Ge used were the same ones that had treated Xi Yi’s spear wound. They should have been effective for stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation. Yet now, against this unnatural injury, they were useless.
Tu Ge was baffled, and so was she.
After a long silence, Sha Yi suddenly felt a surge of fear—could Ye Li have coated the spear tip with some kind of poison?
But uncertainty held her back from acting rashly. In the end, she could only fix her gaze on the basin of bloodied water nearby.
She had noticed it when she first entered—it was likely the water Tu Ge had used to clean Sai Na’s wound.
But now, it looked different. Instead of the deep red she had seen earlier, the water had taken on a strange purplish-black hue.
Purplish-black?
This had to be some rare toxin—perhaps something they had never encountered before!
The thought struck her like lightning. Instinctively, she rushed to the raft, pushing aside the grass stems Tu Ge was pressing against the wound.
Without the covering, fresh blood spilled freely from Sai Na’s injury, leaving stark, gruesome trails.
Tu Ge, confused by her actions, tried to reapply the grass stems, but she stopped him. Frustrated, he snapped, “Sha Yi, why won’t you let me stop the bleeding? If this continues, he’ll die! Even if the grass isn’t working, at least let me try!”
“Tu Ge, look!” Sha Yi cut him off, pointing at the newly spilled blood. “Does this blood look normal to you?”
“Of course it’s normal!” Glancing at the bright red liquid, Tu Ge grew even more agitated.
“Then look at the water in that basin—that’s the blood you wiped off earlier, right?” She gestured urgently at the purplish-black water.
Tu Ge took one look and gasped. “What’s going on? It was normal before—is he poisoned?”
“I don’t know if it’s poison!” Sha Yi shook her head quickly. “But I know your grass stems won’t work now. Try direct pressure instead!”
“Direct pressure?” Tu Ge looked lost. “How?”
“Hold him up—preferably sit him up.”
Without another word, she turned to rummage through her modern clothes by the bathtub.
This had to be Ye Li’s doing.
She had underestimated him!
While they thought they held all the advantages, Ye Li must have had his own precautions. He might even have known about the connection between Ka Sang, Ka Pa, and their group.
Yet he had given no indication.
Perhaps he had planned this all along, confident in his scheme—just like the spear now lodged in Sai Na’s body. Ye Li must have been certain of this leverage.
If it was indeed poison, they would have to demand the antidote from him. And Ye Li would undoubtedly use this to negotiate.
Originally, they had held the upper hand.
After all, Ka Pa had already joined their side. Even if they cooperated, only Ka Sang remained with Ye Li’s group. As the “shaman,” Ka Sang was already difficult to deal with, and with her own rhetoric, Ye Li had no choice but to tread carefully.
Exchanging Ye Lai should have been in their favor.
But now, everything had changed.
To save Sai Na, they would have to yield to Ye Li’s demands, putting them at a disadvantage. Even if Ye Li demanded they hand over Ye Lai first, they couldn’t refuse.
Because Sai Na’s condition couldn’t wait. The human body had only so much blood—if this continued, he would surely bleed to death.
Of course, it was possible Ye Li had intended this for Ka Pa, but in the end, Sai Na had taken the blow instead.
She couldn’t judge whether his actions were wise or reckless. But this time, luck wouldn’t save them.
Come to think of it, ever since she met Sai Na, he had always been injured—and each time, the wounds were severe. It was as if he were destined to bleed out one day.
Hastily gathering some soft fabric from her old clothes, Sha Yi used a bone knife to cut them into wide strips. By the time she returned to the raft, Tu Ge had already propped up the weakened man.
Without hesitation, she bent down, ignoring her own discomfort, and began wrapping the strips tightly around the wound.
Sai Na remained silent, letting her work without protest. Even when she pulled the fabric taut enough to make her own breath hitch, he didn’t flinch. He simply watched her quietly.
Layer after layer, she bound the wound, each time tightening it to the point of suffocation. Yet the man endured it all without complaint.
Then, suddenly, he grabbed her wrist. “If I die… will you remember me?”
Startled, Sha Yi tried to pull away, but he held firm.
Struggling was pointless, and she didn’t know how to respond. Worse, she feared that resisting might push him toward some irreversible decision—especially given his critical condition.
Her silence only made him more desperate. His grip tightened. “Do you still hate me? For everything I did before?”
To say she didn’t hate him would be a lie. There had been times she resented him. But now, she held no grudge against him.
Yet putting those feelings into words was difficult.
Some things, though past, could never return to how they were. Broken trust always left scars—even if you claimed to move on, even if you forced yourself to forget.
Faced with his question, Sha Yi found herself speechless.
“I see.” When she still didn’t answer, the man on the raft smiled faintly and let go of her wrist. Turning his face away, he muttered, “With Ye Li… do what you must. Don’t compromise because of me. It’s not worth it.”
Glancing at the bloody marks left on her wrist, Sha Yi felt a pang of sorrow.
Sai Na had once been a proud man.
Long ago, he had been confident in winning her over. But after repeated failures, he must have sensed how different she was from other women.
That was why, during their journey to the new cave settlement, he had been shrouded in gloom.
This mood had lingered until the end of the rainy season. Then, with Ga Luo’s interference, he had snapped—betraying everyone and scheming against Xi Yi.
But Xi Yi had survived against all odds. Despite Sai Na’s meticulous planning, he had ultimately failed.
From that moment on, he had lost any chance of reconciliation with her.
She had hated him—yet couldn’t bring herself to truly despise him. He wasn’t inherently evil, just different. His mind worked in ways others couldn’t fathom, but that wasn’t his fault.
The real mistake had been their meeting—and the fact that they belonged to different eras. Those two things had led him astray.
But all that was in the past now.
There was no point revisiting old wounds. Sai Na wasn’t a bad person at heart. If not for these tangled emotions, he would have been their strongest ally.
At the very least, she had seen how he treated his companions from the start.
Otherwise, after so many upheavals, why would they still follow him so loyally?
Only genuine care could forge unbreakable bonds.
Now, it seemed he had accepted the severity of his injuries—and her indifference. Combined with whatever shadows lingered from his childhood, his will to live was fading fast.
She understood his thoughts, but this resignation didn’t suit him.
She didn’t want him to give up—yet she also didn’t want to give him false hope.
After a long silence, Sha Yi sighed. “I don’t hate you. What happened is in the past. Who hasn’t made mistakes?”
As soon as the words were spoken, he turned his head almost immediately, looking at her with disbelief. After a long pause, he finally said, “Are you serious?”
“If you believe it, it’s true. If you don’t, it’s false.”
Her words were deliberately ambiguous. Ultimately, she left the choice to him, trusting that his intelligence would allow him to understand her thoughts.
Lowering her eyelids slightly, Sha Yi said no more and instead focused on carefully adjusting the layers of bandages she had just wrapped around him.
Sena’s condition was indeed still precarious. The bleeding had to be stopped first, and soon, she would need to negotiate terms with Yeli as quickly as possible—otherwise, he might truly die.
Lost in thought, she reached for the remaining bandages beside her, intending to continue wrapping. Unexpectedly, he grabbed her hand again.
The action was sudden, catching her off guard. Instinctively, she raised her head to look at him.
Yet, a soft smile curved his lips as he gently uttered two syllables: “I believe.”
“If you believe me, then you must also believe in yourself.” Withdrawing her hand subtly, Sha Yi also smiled. “Think about it—you’ve survived so many injuries before. This time, it’s just a bone spear. You won’t die. Don’t worry.”
“I believe everything you say, so I’m not worried.” Even though he noticed her action, he nodded, his pale face filled with a smile. “And you—none of you need to worry about me either.”
From inexplicable melancholy to restored ease, the atmosphere between them had indeed taken a strange turn, but fortunately, it had settled back to normal.
However, Tuge at the rear of the raft couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out, “You two still have the leisure to chat here? One of you is half-dead and practically ready for burial, while the other has no solution yet still speaks with such conviction. Have you even considered the severity of the situation?”
“Tuge!” Sha Yi glared at the old man, who seemed oblivious to the gravity of the moment, her temper flaring. “No one will think you’re mute if you stay quiet. Did your healed eyes suddenly make you think you can fly? Will you die if you don’t say these things? Can’t you focus more on the wound problem? What was the point of Garlo risking his life to save you?”
Startled by her sudden outburst, Tuge hastily raised his bloodstained hands in surrender. “Fine, I won’t say anything more… but… why do you have so many scolding words for me? Did Garlo tell you all this?”
His foolishness resurfaced, and Tuge’s intelligence plummeted back to its usual level.
“Don’t say another word. Just think carefully—have you ever encountered this kind of strange toxin before?”
“Are you sure it’s a toxin?”
“What else could it be?” Sha Yi was tempted to slap him. “When Xi Yi was stabbed by Garlo’s bone spear back then, was it like this?”
“Well, no…” Tuge frowned, troubled. “Let me think carefully. His condition is indeed strange. Aside from being the opposite of the usual symptoms, there’s also this persistent bleeding that doesn’t seem entirely caused by the wound itself…”
Bleeding not caused by the wound?
That reminded her. The tip of the bone spear wasn’t particularly large—only slightly bigger than an arrowhead. Though his wound was deep, there was no reason the bleeding wouldn’t stop even now. Moreover, while the blood continued to flow, it did so slowly. Strangely, during his violent coughing fits later, the bleeding would cease. It all pointed to poison.
She had experienced something similar before—back in that terrifying forest, when the blood-sucking vines had pierced her waist. At the time, the bleeding wouldn’t stop either. Even after Xi Yi tore strips of hide to bind her waist tightly, the pain was excruciating, yet the blood still flowed.
Back then, aside from the initial pain when pierced, she soon grew numb, even losing sensation in her legs and feet. It wasn’t until Xi Yi ventured deep into the forest in the middle of the night and returned with some unknown herb that the problem was resolved.
Could it be that Sena was poisoned with the same thing?
But that didn’t quite make sense, because at the time, she hadn’t experienced bleeding cessation during violent movements, nor had her blood turned purplish-black.
Still, she couldn’t be entirely sure. Her wounds back then, though numerous, had been tiny. Perhaps that was why the symptoms differed.
Unable to suppress her doubts, Sha Yi tugged at the quietly lying man. “Sena, does your wound hurt?”
“It hurt a lot when it was first stabbed, but after a while, the pain faded.” Shaking his head, the man remained calm. “It was because the pain subsided that I had the strength to lead Yeli through the forest with Kapa.”
“Then… while you were moving around, did your legs or feet ever feel unresponsive?”
“That did happen, but only briefly before it got better again.” After a moment of thought, he asked, “Have you… seen this kind of poison before?”
“Do you remember when we were at the old settlement cave? There was one time Xi Yi and I didn’t return for a whole night, and when we came back, it was already the next evening?”
“Of course I remember.” Sighing, Sena said slowly, “That time, not just Xigu and the others—even I searched for you all day. When I saw you return safely, I didn’t say anything.”
She had intended to continue, but Sena’s sudden words felt abrupt, leaving her momentarily at a loss. After a long silence, she forced herself to pick up the thread again.
“Back then, I went into that dense forest and got tangled in those blood-sucking vines. The bleeding wouldn’t stop—just like your situation now. Of course, there are differences. I don’t know if the plant that cured that poison would work for yours. If it could, we might ask Xi Yi—”
“I know about that plant.” Cutting her off, Sena nodded. “But in this area—at least in the places I’ve been before—I’ve never seen it. The place we used to live in is long gone. Do you really think, aside from asking Yeli for it, we’d have any chance of finding it now?”
“That is a problem. I should have thought of it earlier.” Frowning, Sha Yi sighed, momentarily at a loss.
Yet, not long after she fell silent, Tuge, who had been quiet until now, suddenly spoke up again. “Hey, hey, you two—listen to me!”
“Go ahead.” Signaling for him to speak, Sha Yi didn’t stop the eccentric old man.
“Here’s what I think.” Scratching his head, Tuge pointed at the lying man. “Look at him—covered in wounds. Aside from this bone spear injury, many of his other wounds haven’t healed either. From what I can see, some are still smeared with herbal paste, right?”
“Yes.” Sena nodded.
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