Chapter 20

Over the past few days, Yi Yun had been fully engrossed in martial arts practice. Sometimes, due to his injured hands, he would wrap them in bandages.

Yi Yun often sneaked out of the house at midnight. It was fine for the first one or two times, but over time, Jiang Xiaorou naturally discovered it.

"Yun'er, what have you been doing these past few days? And what happened to your hands?"

After Yi Yun's mother passed away, Jiang Xiaorou took on the responsibility of a mother, taking care of Yi Yun with great attention to detail.

If Yi Yun made a mistake, Jiang Xiaorou wouldn't scold him. Instead, she would look at him with her bright black eyes until he admitted his fault.

Today was no different.

Yi Yun had intended to say that his injuries were from gathering herbs, but when he met Jiang Xiaorou's serious gaze, he found it hard to lie. After a moment of hesitation, he told the truth: "Sister Xiaorou, I've been practicing martial arts at night. The injuries on my hands are also from practicing."

Jiang Xiaorou was taken aback. Martial arts?

"Yun'er, who taught you martial arts?"

"I learned by stealth," Yi Yun said bluntly.

Jiang Xiaorou's face changed. Learning the tribe's martial arts by stealth could result in a severe beating if caught. Moreover, learning martial arts wasn't easy. Even if he couldn't eat good food and meat regularly, he at least needed to be well-fed. Yi Yun, who drank thin porridge and ate wild vegetables every day, would hardly have the strength to practice.

This could be fatal.

"Sister Xiaorou, do you believe me?"

Yi Yun grabbed Jiang Xiaorou's hand and looked into her eyes seriously.

Jiang Xiaorou was taken aback and nodded subconsciously.

"Yes, if you believe me, don't ask anymore. Sister Xiaorou, I will make sure you live a good life in the future!"

Yi Yun said seriously. Jiang Xiaorou was the first person he met in this strange world and the only one who truly cared for him with her life.

He would never forget this kindness. He not only wanted to change his own fate but also Jiang Xiaorou's.

Jiang Xiaorou looked at Yi Yun in a daze. She suddenly felt that her little brother had grown up. He was no longer the child he used to be. The words he spoke could no longer be dismissed as childish talk. He was truly setting this as his goal and working hard for it...

...

Eating simple meals every day, Yi Yun gradually got used to it, or rather, he had no choice but to get used to it.

The coarse grain porridge tasted terrible, and after his appetite increased, the thin porridge would be digested quickly. Without the herbs from the Lian family's medicinal mountain, Yi Yun wouldn't have been able to survive, let alone break through to the Qi Chang realm.

However, while the herbs could supplement his body's nutrients and energy, they couldn't replace food. The taste of the herbs was even worse than the coarse grain porridge.

Day after day, for a food lover like Yi Yun, it was a kind of torture. The only improvement in his life was the pickled vegetables made by Jiang Xiaorou.

It was truly pitiful. In the past, Yi Yun's life on Earth wasn't rich, but he at least had vegetables and meat. Now, in this strange world, he hadn't even tasted a shred of meat, and pickled vegetables were considered a delicacy.

However, it must be said that the pickled vegetables made by Jiang Xiaorou were indeed delicious. For the Lian family, pickled vegetables were a luxury because the village had no salt mines, and the salt they used was bought from larger tribes.

Most of the salt was supplied to the warrior training camp to preserve meat. The amount of salt that reached ordinary households was minimal, usually used to cook wild vegetable soup. Pickling vegetables was a luxurious way to eat.

After several more days, the herbs on the Lian family's medicinal mountain were almost depleted. Even with the guidance of the purple crystal, Yi Yun couldn't find decent herbs. The villagers had even dug up the young herb plants to meet the quota.

"The medicinal mountain has been over-harvested without considering future sustainability. It seems the Lian family tribe is preparing for a last stand, possibly even abandoning their ancestral home. All their hopes are now pinned on Lian Chengyu. Even if Lian Chengyu passes the Taia Divine Kingdom's warrior selection, only a few members of the warrior training camp will benefit. The ordinary people might be abandoned..."

Yi Yun felt a sense of melancholy. This was the survival rule in the Great Wasteland: limited resources, the strong occupying more, and the weak being eliminated.

As the medicinal mountain's value decreased, the Lian family tribe's leadership no longer paid attention to it. All their focus was on refining the Wasteland Bones.

The Wasteland Bones were the top priority. The Lian family tribe had bet everything on them, pinning all their hopes on them.

Lian Chengyu was also risking his life. His ambition, his aspirations, everything was staked on this!

Refining the Wasteland Bones would take at least sixty days!

On the tenth day of refining, some issues arose.

Some of the villagers responsible for refining the Wasteland Bones fell ill. They initially had coughs and fevers, which quickly turned into vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes, and lethargy, symptoms similar to typhoid.

In the small tribes of the Great Wasteland, warriors were generally fine due to their strong physical condition and resistance. However, for the poor, any illness was serious.

Due to their weak bodies and poor resistance, and the fact that the tribe's only doctor served the leadership, the medical conditions for the poor were terrible. Even a common cold could be fatal.

When Yi Yun heard this news, he found it strange.

Typhoid sounded like a common cold, but it was actually a bacterial infection. Yi Yun didn't know if the typhoid in this world was the same as on Earth, but the sudden outbreak among so many people confirmed it was an infectious disease.

However, Yi Yun was puzzled. Infectious diseases usually spread through water and air. The villagers refining the Wasteland Bones were always around the large cauldrons, where the temperature was very high!

Continuous high temperatures and extreme dryness made it difficult for most bacteria to survive. If there was an outbreak, it should have started with others first. Why did only these few people fall ill?

Could it be a type of bacteria that spreads more easily in dry conditions?

Thinking about this, Yi Yun's expression darkened. Perhaps, these villagers weren't just sick!

With four or five people suddenly falling ill, the Lian family tribe's members, especially those also responsible for refining the Wasteland Bones, were panicked.

They were worried they might catch this strange illness.

Living was painful, but no one wanted to die.

Fortunately, this time, the Lian family tribe's leadership didn't ignore the situation. The chief stepped in to calm the people and distributed a red pill to each sick villager.

The pill was the size of a longan, red as blood. According to the chief, it was made from very precious herbs and was very valuable.

The chief instructed the sick to take the pill with warm water, and they would recover. Indeed, those who were on the brink of death improved the first day, felt refreshed after a night's sleep, and by the second evening, they were back to normal.

By the third day, they were even more energetic than before.

Not only that, the chief also gave each sick villager a palm-sized piece of pickled meat. This was a great blessing for those who hadn't seen meat in months.

The poor cherished this piece of pickled meat, eating only a little at a time, sometimes sharing it with their children or spouses.

The news of the Lian family tribe giving pills and pickled meat to the sick spread quickly.

The suffering people were grateful to the tribe and worked even harder on refining the Wasteland Bones. Some even wished they could fall ill to receive the pill and the pickled meat.

When Yi Yun heard this news, he frowned.

A pill that could cure the illness and make one look radiant?

Yi Yun wasn't an expert in medicine, but he knew that drugs with miraculous effects, which stimulated the spirit, often had strong side effects.

For example, stimulants, drugs, and various banned substances that enhance human potential.

Especially when the Lian family tribe's leadership claimed the pills were made from precious herbs, Yi Yun didn't believe it at all.

When did the Lian family tribe become so generous? Even if they wanted to be generous, they would need such precious herbs, which, according to Yi Yun, the Lian family tribe's leadership was also poor. They were only slightly better off than the poor, and all their limited resources were used on Lian Chengyu. How could they give herbs to the poor?

The next day, the Lian family tribe distributed some herbal dregs. These dregs were the leftovers from Lian Chengyu's body washing and were given to those refining the Wasteland Bones to use for their own body washing, claiming it would strengthen their bodies. Those who received the dregs were naturally grateful.