I Can Devour Spirits

Chapter 194: Debriding

After drinking this bowl of herbal medicine, Shen Ping originally just had a fever that wouldn’t recede, but now it was even worse, and within half an hour, his forehead became burning hot to the touch, clearly a more severe fever than before.

However, Duan Rong seemed to have anticipated this. He stayed by Shen Ping’s bedside, continually changing the acupuncture point techniques.

Moreover, every half hour, he fed Shen Ping a bowl of clear water.

Thus, the first half of the night, Shen Ping’s high fever fluctuated. Under Duan Rong’s acupuncture, Shen Ping almost didn’t lose consciousness and remained awake.

Twice during the night, Shen Ping’s high fever intermittently subsided. He even opened his eyes and glanced at Duan Rong, who was applying acupuncture, but he was too weak; his eyes were already out of focus and couldn’t see clearly.

After struggling for most of the night, the medicinal effects finally wore off, and Shen Ping’s body temperature stopped fluctuating like a rollercoaster.

Duan Rong applied acupuncture points for sleep, allowing Shen Ping to finally fall into a deep slumber.

Duan Rong had also endured the night’s ordeal and was already exhausted, but since the bed was occupied by Shen Ping, he could only make a bed on the floor with blankets.

Duan Rong only slept for two or three hours before getting up in the morning. He folded the blankets neatly and went to check on Shen Ping, who looked significantly better today.

Now Shen Ping’s body temperature was still slightly feverish, but much lower than yesterday. Duan Rong checked Shen Ping’s pulse, which seemed quite weak, but he knew it was due to the strong medicinal impact from last night, only a temporary condition.

Duan Rong noticed that the bowl of old ginseng soup brought by Hu Huanhuan yesterday was still on the table. Duan Rong mixed it with warm water and fed it to Shen Ping.

Yesterday, Shen Ping couldn’t take supplements because his body was too hot, unable to dispel the false fire, but last night his body was thoroughly washed by the strong medicinal effects. Now was the time for supplementation, so this bowl of old ginseng soup was just right.

In the morning, Xiao Zongting came by again. Seeing Shen Ping’s condition, which seemed better than yesterday, Xiao Zongting immediately praised Gu Suxiu’s exceptional medical skills.

Duan Rong listened on the side and merely touched his nose.

Before leaving, Xiao Zongting told Duan Rong, "The shopkeeper assigned the mid-year inventory work to me. I’m so busy these days, overwhelmed with work. Shen Ping is an old acquaintance of mine; please take good care of him for me."

"Elder Xiao, rest assured. Since you’ve entrusted me with something rare, I will certainly do my best." Duan Rong said earnestly.

Xiao Zongting nodded upon hearing this and then left.

Duan Rong watched Xiao Zongting leave, knowing that the mid-year inventory work was usually done by Zhou An in previous years. But this year Zhou An was beaten to death by Ruan Fengshan due to Ruan Jing’s affair, and the work was suddenly assigned to Xiao Zongting.

Duan Rong felt some concern. The inventory job, if one wanted to pocket some profit, could be a lucrative position, but if you’re too serious, it could offend others.

Given Xiao Zongting’s stubborn nature, assigning this job to him probably wouldn’t be a good thing.

Though concerned, this was something Duan Rong couldn’t interfere with.

By noon, Hu Huanhuan came again with a food box.

Seeing Shen Ping like that yesterday, she thought he might not make it, but today, looking at his noticeably calmer complexion, it was clear the illness had made some progress.

Moreover, the thin porridge she fed Shen Ping was mostly consumed. Hu Huanhuan lingered by Shen Ping’s bed for a long time before leaving.

However, Gu Suxiu didn’t come for a follow-up consultation; logically, he should come again.

Because in Gu Suxiu’s view, Shen Ping was already in a critical condition, near the end. Therefore, the prescriptions he wrote yesterday were all for calming and sedation, more akin to palliative care than actual treatment.

In the afternoon, Duan Rong prepared to change the external wound medicine for Shen Ping.

Yet once Duan Rong untied the bandage, he found several severely ulcerated wounds were already oozing pus...

Duan Rong’s expression immediately became very grim.

Such wounds, if left untreated, would be impossible to heal or improve... But if he were to treat...

With a worried expression, Duan Rong glanced at the sleeping Shen Ping.

However, he immediately decided it couldn’t be delayed, and must be dealt with immediately.

Duan Rong picked a Willow Leaf Saber from the knife pouch at his waist.

This Flying Saber was small and sharp, quite suitable for use as a surgical knife. Duan Rong intended to scrape away the rotten flesh from the ulcerated, pus-filled wounds.

However, this process would undoubtedly be very painful, and he didn’t know if Shen Ping could endure it.

Duan Rong’s divine sense suddenly expanded outward, penetrating Shen Ping’s wounds, providing a clearer view than even an X-ray, showing the three-dimensional cross-section of Shen Ping’s wounds before Duan Rong’s eyes.

Duan Rong began to use the knife, systematically scraping away the pus-filled rotten flesh...

With one cut from Duan Rong, Shen Ping groaned painfully...

After a couple more cuts, the intense pain actually woke Shen Ping up, and drowsy Shen Ping even thought he was back in the cell, where Jie Daohan continued to inflict torture on him, demanding confessions...

But when he opened his eyes, he saw a stranger boy scraping his wounds.

Duan Rong glanced at the sweating Shen Ping and said, "I know it hurts! The wound has rotten; it won’t heal unless scraped!"

Shen Ping seemed to understand Duan Rong’s words and groaned, then closed his eyes, silently enduring, no longer struggling...

Duan Rong finished scraping all the pus-filled wounds on Shen Ping’s body, and due to the pain, Shen Ping’s entire body was still subtly trembling...

Duan Rong reapplied the medicine to him, bandaged the wounds, and then wiped the sweat from Shen Ping’s forehead with a towel.

At night, Duan Rong prepared a second dose of medicine for Shen Ping.

The previous night’s situation replayed once again, but Shen Ping’s condition was evidently much better. During acupuncture, Shen Ping frequently opened his eyes to look at Duan Rong, although his head was still heavy, his eyes often dull, apparently a bit feverishly confused.

When the medicinal effects wore off, Duan Rong again applied sleeping acupuncture and let Shen Ping sleep.

Duan Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead, his expression full of fatigue, having greatly exhausted himself in the past two days to treat Shen Ping.

Duan Rong again slept on the floor for a few hours, and when he got up in the morning, he found that Shen Ping’s fever had finally gone down. Duan Rong finally breathed a sigh of relief; with the fever gone, everything seemed manageable.

At noon, when Hu Huanhuan came to feed Shen Ping porridge, Shen Ping finally opened his eyes to look at her, which made Hu Huanhuan very cheerful indeed?

However, having experienced continuous high fevers, just recovering from one, Shen Ping’s body was still very weak, even breathing felt exhausting, and it took him a long time to swallow each mouthful of thin porridge. The glance he gave Hu Huanhuan seemed to have used up all the remaining energy in his body.

This time, the small bowl of thin porridge was actually all consumed by Shen Ping, though it took more than half an hour, swallowing with difficulty.

Hu Huanhuan’s mood was evidently very good when she left.

Duan Rong said, "Chief Hu, tomorrow you can feed him some chicken soup, with ginseng slices and angelica when boiling."

Upon hearing this, Hu Huanhuan’s eyes immediately lit up. This is a restorative broth to drink. "Is he getting better?"

Duan Rong saw Hu Huanhuan’s excitement and smiled, "Not necessarily. However, it probably doesn’t pose much of a problem."

Although Duan Rong didn’t finalize his words, seeing everything progressing positively, she originally thought that even if Shen Ping could get better, it would likely take some time, but unexpectedly, within just two days, the fever had subsided.

Hu Huanhuan said, "Thanks to Mr. Duan’s meticulous care, he could recover. Mr. Duan, anything you’d like to eat? I can make and bring it tomorrow."

Duan Rong said, "That lion’s head was quite good. Why, were those dishes personally made by Chief Hu?"

Duan Rong had thought they were made by the chefs at Huaying Building.

Hu Huanhuan gave Duan Rong a scowl, saying, "Why, isn’t it fitting? I have quite a bit of culinary skill."

Duan Rong laughed, "Not at all. I just didn’t expect Chief Hu to be skilled both in the halls and in the kitchen?"

Seeing Duan Rong starting to jest again, Hu Huanhuan snorted coldly through her nose, saying, "Mr. Duan, Huanhuan will return tomorrow."

Saying this, she turned around and walked away with the food box.

Duan Rong watched Hu Huanhuan’s back, thinking that leaving such a good woman like her was truly not only foolish but also somewhat broken in the head.