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The injured orcs of the small tribe seemed to have built their hut in a concealed and low manner to avoid detection. As Huo Duo'er entered, the space became even more cramped.
This giant orc could only sit down with his body hunched.
The female orc looked at her cub with concern, her gaze shifting to Yu Bai, but she dared not look at Huo Duo'er much.
"Can you really heal his shoulder injury?"
Yu Bai: "I have some confidence."
Orcs, who live by hunting, most commonly suffer from falls or bite wounds.
Yu Bai untied the cub's hemp robe. The cub, seeing him approach, appeared very relaxed, his eyes filled with curiosity.
Yu Bai's hemp robe was different in style from what the orcs wore.
Most orc robes had holes at the neck or arms, and tied around the waist with a hemp rope after putting it on. The bottom was not sewn, and without wearing shorts, it was very easy to expose oneself.
Some found this way of dressing troublesome and simply wrapped it around the waist and hips to cover the important parts. Huo Duo'er initially adopted this simple and crude way of dressing.
Yu Bai's hemp robe had sewn sleeves and pockets on both sides. The hemp robe he made for Huo Duo'er was of the same style.
The orcs did not know how to use the pockets and did not notice their existence or understand what they were.
He examined the shoulder of the cub and, considering the recent external injury, quickly made a judgment.
"This is a pulled shoulder."
The injury was similar to a subluxation of the radial head, but the cub's affected arm still had strength and could move relatively normally.
Huo Duo'er's thick eyebrows twitched slightly. He didn't understand but remained expressionless.
Compared to him, the injured male and female orcs had much more animated expressions.
"What shoulder?"
"Then can my cub's injury be treated?"
Yu Bai nodded gently.
Pulled shoulders often occur in young children. Although the cub in front of him did not look like a young child... orcs grow quickly and are generally tall. Seeing the cub's innocent and pure eyes, he was probably still a relatively young cub.
The tribe orcs were delighted but also skeptical.
They had privately prayed to the Fire God, but the god had not blessed the cub. Asking them to seek the priest would be as painful as asking for their lives.
"Are you a witch doctor?"
Yu Bai shook his head and explained, "I only learned some basics from an experienced... witch doctor."
After speaking, he stood on the side of the cub's injured shoulder, ready to help reset it.
Huo Duo'er glanced at the tribe couple and said, "Don't disturb Bai."
The orcs fell silent, all eyes fixed on Yu Bai.
Yu Bai, with a focused expression, pressed one hand above the cub's injured shoulder and held the elbow on the same side with the other hand.
He gently pulled first, and the cub did not resist. Then he slowly rotated the shoulder from front to back and downward.
The injured male orc frowned, but the questioning words were swallowed back upon meeting the giant orc's gaze. After a while, a crisp "click" sound came from the cub's shoulder. Yu Bai let go and said, "It's done."
He instructed the female orc, "Find a few smooth and clean wooden boards and hemp threads and bring them here."
Yu Bai had brought medicinal herbs as a precaution when going out, including those for his own consumption, for repelling mosquitoes and insects, and for treating external injuries, reducing inflammation, and swelling.
He took out the rhizome of oak from his pocket and asked the female orc to boil it into water and feed it to the cub. Then he had the cub bend the elbow and hang it at a 90-degree angle until fully recovered.
Yu Bai was usually shy and thin-skinned, but once he got down to business, he became completely absorbed, entering another realm.
After he finished treating the young cub’s injury, he looked up and met several pairs of eyes staring at him. His cheeks flushed, and he smiled shyly, saying, "It's all done now. Don't remove the splint; let it hang for a few days until the injury is fully healed before taking it off."
He tilted his head slightly, his eyes curved with a hint of pleading and encouragement.
Huo Duo'er placed his large hand on top of his head and gently ruffled his hair, pulling Yu Bai to sit in front of him.
Yu Bai plopped down onto Huo Duo'er's lap, his already warm face turning completely red.
Huo Duo'er acted as if he didn't notice, his sharp gaze sweeping over the orcs from the small tribe. "What do you plan to offer in exchange?"
The female orc stammered, while the injured male orc frowned. "What do you want?"
They only had some meat and cloth, which they feared would be of little value to the other party.
But the young sub-female orc had helped them, and they felt indebted, unable to sit still.
Yu Bai pointed to the corner of the eaves. "Can I have some of those things? Did you pick them nearby?"
The female orc replied, "Of course, these crying fruits have a very pungent taste. If you want to eat them, make sure to have plenty of water ready."
As for where they were gathered...
The male orc from the tribe signaled the female orc to stay silent. The young sub-female orc had some healing skills and had asked for the crying fruits, which might be something valuable.
Just as they were thinking this, Huo Duo'er spoke up. "Even if you don't tell us, it won't take long for me and Bai to find them."
The male orc from the tribe was taken aback, realizing he was right.
They had lived in this secluded spot for several years after leaving their tribe, hiding their tracks so well that no other orcs from the main tribe had discovered them.
The Giant tribe, known as the mountain gods, knew every plant and tree that grew in the mountains.
So the disabled male orc honestly revealed the location of the crying fruits, thinking it was better to leave a good impression than to create animosity.
Besides their family, several other orc families also needed Yu Bai's help with treatment.
—
Returning to the main city of the tribe would take some time. That night, Huo Duo'er stayed with Yu Bai. After eating a little in the morning, Yu Bai began examining the other orc families.
The male orcs living in seclusion here all had external injuries. Over time, especially in cold weather, their bones would ache, showing symptoms similar to rheumatoid arthritis.
If he had silver needles, Yu Bai could have followed his grandfather's method and performed acupuncture on these patients, but the current environment didn't allow for it.
He could only give some massages to the male orcs with old injuries and teach their female orcs the massage techniques. He also advised them to keep their living environment dry and warm, and to apply heat to the painful areas when necessary.
One of the male orcs had been suffering from back pain for several days. Upon examination, Yu Bai found that the male orc's back was swollen in a honeycomb pattern, with hard nodules and white spots—clearly a large abscess.
He asked the female orc for a bone needle, soaked it in hot water, then roasted it over the fire. He pierced the skin, drained the pus, and applied some anti-inflammatory and swelling-reducing herbs.
It was spring, and the mountains were teeming with plants. Gathering herbs with heat-clearing and detoxifying properties wasn't too difficult.
Yu Bai took Huo Duo'er to gather some herbs nearby and handed them to the female orc, instructing her to boil them into a decoction for the male orc to drink daily.
Orcs often ate roasted meat, which easily caused internal heat. Yu Bai advised them to balance their diet with vegetables and pay attention to skin hygiene. Just treating these few families took up most of the day.
Yu Bai felt slightly drained, even a bit weak.
Huo Duo'er held him in his arms, his expression gradually turning cold.
He took his mate’s hand and said, "We'll head back soon."
Seeing his mate exhausted from treating these orcs, Huo Duo'er was unwilling to let him stay any longer.
The orcs who had received Yu Bai's kindness also felt too embarrassed to continue pestering him for treatment.
The female orcs packed the dried chili peppers carefully, wrapping them in linen and handing them to Huo Duo'er.
They added, "When the weeping fruits ripen this year, we will collect more. Feel free to come and take as much as you need."
The dried chili peppers contained many seeds, and Yu Bai wasn't in a hurry to collect them. He could try planting them.
He waved at the young orcs who were observing him and suddenly asked, "Why don't you live around the tribe?"
The male orcs' expressions changed, and the females lowered their heads one after another.
Finally, the disabled male orc who had first interacted with Yu Bai spoke up, "We don't want to go back."
They had initially lived in the main city of the tribe, as warriors recruited by the tribe.
But due to hunting and various other reasons, they had sustained injuries that would never heal.
To the main city, they were now useless and are almost as good as dead.
As for the male orcs who died outside, their mates either accepted reassignment, allowing other males to inherit their females. If the injured male orcs refused, they were expelled from the city.
These male orcs didn't want their mates to be inherited by others, which led to significant conflicts with the chief. In the end, they left with their mates and offspring.
Learning about these grievances, Yu Bai was speechless, suddenly feeling a sense of heaviness.
By midday, Huo Duo'er picked up Yu Bai and left.
It would take at least three days to return to the tribe from this place, but Huo Duo'er quickened his pace, moving through the mountains as if walking on flat ground.
Yu Bai drifted in and out of sleep. When he regained some energy, he realized they had already entered the hunting grounds of the tribe. The trees around them seemed to retreat rapidly, and the wind whistled past his ears as if it had taken on a tangible form.
Yu Bai was astonished. He noticed that the surrounding mountains, rivers, and vegetation seemed to merge with Huo Duo'er.
The plants made way for them, and even the soil beneath their feet seemed to propel Huo Duo'er forward.
Was this the ability of the giant tribe?
By nightfall, the sky was filled with stars, signaling the end of spring.
Huo Duo'er brought Yu Bai back to the main city of the tribe. The surroundings were pitch black, and the orcs in the city had already retired for the night.
Yu Bai groggily opened his eyes in Huo Duo'er's arms. He had been sleeping most of the journey, but now, late at night, he felt surprisingly alert.
The little wolf in the yard, hearing the commotion, became unusually enthusiastic and tried to pounce on Yu Bai.
Yu Bai played with it for a while, watching as Huo Duo'er lit a fire inside, fetched water from the river, and then began organizing the items they had collected. After that, he started preparing food.
Huo Duo'er cut several pieces of meat and bones, peeled half a basin of taro, chopped everything into chunks, and threw them into the pot to stew.
Yu Bai took out the scallions and garlic they had brought back, dug up some ginger, added salted beans, washed them all, and put them into the clay pot. With all the usual seasonings in place, the cooked food became increasingly fragrant.
Huo Duo'er looked at the scallion strips floating in the soup, and Yu Bai smiled, "Have you discovered their goodness now?"
"Hmm."
Huo Duo'er had initially disliked the smell of these plants, but now he had a whimsical thought.
Could it be that the stranger the smell of a plant, the more fragrant the food it produces when cooked?
He let the thought pass through his mind but didn't voice it.
Under the starry sky, Yu Bai and Huo Duo'er shared the entire pot of food, took turns bathing, and then retired to their room to rest.
Huo Duo'er had exerted his abilities for most of the day, and the excessive strain quickly led him to fall into a deep sleep with his mate.
As for Yu Bai, having slept for a long time during the day, he found himself wide awake at night.
He curled slightly toward Huo Duo'er's direction, allowing the other to hold him tightly without any gaps.
By the dim light of the fire, Yu Bai examined the orc, running his fingers over the prickly stubble on Huo Duo'er's chin. Driven by curiosity, he continued to touch the prominent Adam's apple.
He pressed himself close to the other, feeling his own Adam's apple and comparing the two.
Sensing the robust and vigorous body of Huo Duo'er, Yu Bai felt a sense of novelty. As he continued to explore, his wrist was suddenly grasped by a large hand.
Huo Duo'er's silver-gray orc eyes half-opened, and he instinctively pressed the slender wrist against Yu Bai's head, his hips pressing down.
With one hand, he kneaded the soft, undulating flesh, and in the next moment, he pushed aside the animal hide wrapped around his waist.
Huo Duo'er disliked wearing shorts while sleeping, as he found them restrictive.
In the stillness of the night, their breaths grew heavier.
...
Yu Bai shivered, his voice as faint as a mosquito's.
"Don't..."
His entire body went numb.
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