After Being Stranded in the Wilderness, I Became the Bride of the Giant Tribe - 16

 

| GB | It Doesn't Hurt | 16

The surrounding orcs fell silent the moment they saw the giant behind the sub-female.

They had heard rumors that Yu Bai had saved the gravely injured giant, and ever since Huo Duo’er woke up, the news had spread, though many orcs had never seen him in person.

Now that they were witnessing it with their own eyes, they saw this giant was towering and full of power and clearly not someone to provoke.

They dared not start any conflict with him. All eyes turned to the priest, unsure how he would handle the situation.

After all, this giant was obviously backing up the sub-female.

Priest Mien had been openly contradicted by an orc and not just any orc, but a small and seemingly insignificant sub-female. His expression turned very unpleasant.

He struck his bone staff on the ground, signaling the surrounding orcs to quiet down.

Narrowing his eyes, his voice carried a threatening weight: "No one but the Fire God can save him."

Yu Bai's voice wasn’t loud, nor did it carry any aggression, yet all the orcs heard his response clearly.

"I still want to take a look at A’Xin’s condition."

He added, “A’Xin is an adult orc. He can decide for himself whether he wants me to examine him, can’t he?”

After speaking, Yu Bai didn’t look at any of the other orcs, instead, he tilted his head slightly and exchanged a glance with Huo Duo'er.

His expression showed a hint of doubt, as if silently asking:

According to common orc customs, does an orc have the right to choose medical treatment of their own will?

Huo Duo'er nodded.

Inside the wooden hut, A’Xin lay burning with fever on the bed. He seemed to understand the conversation, and looked at A’Yi, who was clinging to his arm, crying.

After a moment’s thought, A’Xin gritted his teeth and rasped out in a hoarse voice, “I want Bai to treat me.”

He hugged A’Yi tighter and wiped the little beast cub’s tear-streaked face.

He was afraid too, afraid he wouldn’t pass the Fire God's trial and lose his leg. Without a leg, it’d be hard to move around, let alone be able to care for A’Yi.

A’Xin turned his pleading gaze toward the source of the voice and called out, “Priest! I want Bai to look at my leg!”

He shouted several times before the orcs surrounding the hut slowly parted, revealing Yu Bai’s thin, frail figure.

Huo Duo'er said, “Bai, go on in.”

That sentence was like a signal, no orc tried to stop him anymore.

Yu Bai entered the hut smoothly with Oak Fern. He nodded slightly at the priest.

The priest had a pair of long, curved antlers that looked dangerously sharp. His gaze, when it fell on Yu Bai, was sharp and full of judgment.

Yu Bai was still young and hadn’t experienced much hardship. Normally, if someone stared at him like that, he would’ve already shown fear.

But today, standing behind him was Huo Duo’er, a giant strong enough to move mountains, with someone solidly backing him. What was there to be afraid of?

Yu Bai stayed calm and began by examining A’Xin’s leg and wounds.

His injuries weren’t healing as fast as Huo Duo'er’s, but the wounds had already begun to scab over. The splints securing the leg were sturdy. Yu Bai tested them gently, checking carefully, and found no signs of re-fracture.

He asked, “Where have you been the past few days?”

A’Xin answered truthfully.

“I didn’t go far, just walked around nearby. But three days ago, before I went into the mountains, I hunted a wild chicken for A’Yi…”

Yu Bai interrupted, “Did you get caught in the rain?”

A’Xin nodded uncomfortably and sniffled through his blocked nose. “Yeah, I did.”

Yu Bai asked him to stick out his tongue.

It had been raining for days, and the temperature had dropped. Winter had just started, and the weather was already quite cold.

Although A’Xin had a fever, he was still conscious, with a stuffy nose and a runny one too, symptoms that suggested the condition wasn’t as bad as it looked.

Yu Bai said, “That explains it. You’ve caught a chill—a common cold and fever. And your leg’s been exposed to the cold, which is why it’s hurting. Even after it heals, you’ll need to keep it warm at all times. Don’t let it get cold again.”

Off to the side, A’Luo rubbed their hands together. “So A’Xin’s going to be okay?”

Yu Bai replied, “So far, there’s no sign of anything serious. The priority now is to bring the fever down.”

He had collected a basketful of herbs last time and dried them under the sun. He was originally planning to trade them with the priest for animal hides, but the deal didn’t go through. 

Now, it was the perfect time to put them to use and brew a medicinal decoction for A’Xin to drink.

“Huo Duo’er,” Yu Bai turned around and called out softly, “can I trouble you to head back and bring over the herbs I dried and stored a while ago?”

The nearby orcs perked up their ears or the horns on their foreheads twitched. For a moment, no one made a sound.

This little sub-female really had some nerve, he actually ordered a giant to run errands for him. What if the giant...

Huo Duo’er said, “Alright.”

He agreed without hesitation. His cold, ash-gray beast eyes swept across the surrounding crowd, as if silently warning them not to scare Yu Bai.

The orcs: “……”

Priest Mien let out a cold snort.

In the end, Huo Duo’er’s gaze settled on the slight curve at the corner of Yu Bai’s lips.

Even though the young sub-female’s hair covered most of his brows and eyes, one could easily imagine those dark, glistening eyes must also be curved, like delicate crescent moons.

“Bai, I’ll be back soon.”

After Huo Duo’er left to fetch the herbs, Yu Bai prepared to help A’Xin reduce his fever first.

He looked down at the little beast cub by his feet, whose eyes were red from crying, and gently comforted him, “Your father will be okay. Don’t cry.”

A’Luo asked, “Bai, what should we do?”

Just as Yu Bai was about to get up and prepare, A’Luo quickly said, “Whatever you need, I’ll get it.”

Yu Bai replied, “Boil a pot of hot water first, and bring a few clean pieces of linen cloth.”

Those were things readily available, and A’Luo brought them over swiftly.

Yu Bai had A’Luo soak the cloth in the hot water and use it to wipe down A’Xin’s chest, back, and joints, especially the limbs. Then he removed the old cloth wrapped around A’Xin’s injured leg.

He took out several clean new cloths, applied crushed Oak Fern onto them, and carefully rewrapped the leg, finishing by securing the splint again.

Yu Bai’s movements were neither rushed nor slow—calm and methodical. The orcs watching outside had never seen a treatment like this before, and found it all quite novel.

When Huo Duo’er brought the herbs back, Yu Bai selected three common fever-reducing ones and took them to the hearth to brew into a medicinal decoction.

Boiling the medicine took time. Most of the orcs watching for entertainment gradually dispersed, and even the priest left with a dark expression.

The few who remained were nearby residents. While doing chores, they occasionally peeked inside out of curiosity.

Once the medicine was ready, Yu Bai let it cool slightly before bringing it over to A’Xin, urging him to drink it while it was still warm.

Though usually quite stoic, A’Xin couldn’t help but grimace from the bitterness of the herbal decoction.

Yu Bai said gently, “Bitter medicine works best. I’ll leave the herbs here, brew a dose every morning and evening, preferably after eating. Get plenty of rest and keep warm these next few days.”

Not long after drinking the medicine, A’Xin began to sweat.

Lying there, groggy and half-asleep, he reached out to touch his beast cub’s forehead, then craned his neck and called out hoarsely, “Bai, my body’s feeling a lot lighter now!”

By this time, Yu Bai was starting to feel a little sleepy. Seeing the signs of improvement in A’Xin’s condition, he finally left the hut and headed back with Huo Duo’er.

On the way back, Yu Bai was a bit dazed, nearly stepping into a pit.

Huo Duo’er bent down, one hand holding the basket of herbs, the other spreading his palm to gently steady the back of the sub-female’s head and straighten him up.

“Bai?”

Yu Bai perked up and chuckled, “I’m just really sleepy.”

Huo Duo’er, however, looked a little worried he might be overworking himself.

In the days that followed, A’Xin’s fever subsided, and his leg recovered quite a bit.

One day, A’Luo came by holding A’Yi in her arms. Yu Bai was in the yard, digging up a vegetable patch, planning to enrich the soil so he could grow something come spring.

Hearing the commotion, he worried that Huo Duo’er might block the entire doorway again, so he quickly shoved the wooden hoe into his hands.

“Help me turn over this patch of dirt.”

The hoe, which felt decently sturdy in Yu Bai’s hands, looked like a toy when held by Huo Duo’er.

Yu Bai pressed his lips together to stifle a laugh, then quickly ran over to open the door.

A’Luo paused in surprise when he saw the sub-female with a little bun tied on top of his head. “Bai?”

He spoke as he set A’Yi down.

The chubby little beast cub carried a basket of eggs, lifting his short arms to hand it to Yu Bai.

Yu Bai blinked. “What’s this?”

A’Luo smiled. “A’Xin can walk now. He wanted to give you something to show his thanks, so he asked A Yi to bring you some eggs.”

The cub’s eyes sparkled. When he saw Yu Bai hesitating to take the basket, he simply bent down, grabbed a wild egg, and stubbornly tried to shove it into Yu Bai’s palm.

Yu Bai: “…”

He reached out and gently patted the little beast cub’s soft horn tip. “Alright, then I’ll accept it. Thanks for going to the trouble.”

A’Yi ran back to hide behind A’Luo, then looked up at Yu Bai’s face, his round little face suddenly flushed red.

—

As the cold weather lingered longer, Yu Bai rarely accompanied Huo Duo’er on trips to distant places anymore.

Huo Duo’er often went hunting near the foot of the mountain during the day, while Yu Bai would gather vegetables and fruits before and around midday.

One morning, Yu Bai caught a slight chill. When the sun came out in the afternoon, he took his medicine and sat in a chair, trying to warm up while dozing in the sunlight.

However, no matter how much the sun shone, it couldn’t warm him up. Yu Bai felt cold, as though he were light and floating in the air.

Then, it seemed like he was suddenly surrounded by a massive, blazing furnace.

He struggled to open his heavy eyelids, and to his surprise, he found himself actually suspended in mid-air.

Huo Duo’er was carrying him horizontally, his strong, solid arm supporting his backside and waist securely.

His heart skipped a beat. As his fingers lightly scratched the back of Huo Duo’er’s neck,

“Let me down, I can walk…” Yu Bai murmured.

Huo Duo’er felt an itch at his neck.

The sub-female’s fingertips were warm, soft, and small. When he scratched him, it didn’t hurt at all; it felt more like something gently brushing against him.

Huo Duo’er’s breath quickened. He actually wished Yu Bai would grab onto him harder, rather than this light, uncertain touch.

He tightened his palm, pressing Yu Bai a bit more firmly into his chest. Suddenly, the waistband of his cloak around his hips twitched.

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