TSWPF -Chapter 88 Serious

He called out several times, but Li Qingling didn’t respond at all. Seeing this, Liu Zhimou grew even more anxious. He turned to wake Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan.

Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan blinked their eyes open groggily, their minds still foggy. They mumbled, “What’s wrong, Brother Zhimou?”

They had been utterly exhausted yesterday and just wanted a good, uninterrupted sleep.

“Xiao Ling is sick. You two get up and take care of her while I go find some herbs,” Liu Zhimou said anxiously. After speaking, he gently placed Li Qingling back down. “Take these cloth strips and apply them to her forehead to help bring down the fever.”

The moment Li Qingfeng and Liu Zhiyan heard this, they were instantly awake. They jumped up and hurried to Li Qingling’s side, feeling her forehead. It was scorching hot.

Li Qingfeng’s worry grew, and he said, “Brother Zhimou, I’ll go with you to find the herbs. The three of us can find them faster.”

At that moment, Dahe and Xiao Xi woke up as well. Xiao Xi immediately went to care for Li Qingling, while Dahe insisted on going to gather herbs too.

Liu Zhimou didn’t refuse and nodded. The three of them quickly stepped out of the cave, with A Bai following at A Huang’s signal. Its main purpose was to protect them.

The deep mountains were already fraught with danger, especially at night. One careless step could be fatal.

But Liu Zhimou, Li Qingfeng, and Dahe were too focused to think about that—they only wanted to quickly gather herbs that could reduce fever and brew them for Li Qingling.

Their luck was on their side; they found some fever-reducing herbs near the cave. The three quickly gathered a bundle and jogged back.

Once back, Liu Zhimou instructed Li Qingfeng to start brewing the medicine, while he hurried to Li Qingling’s side and asked Liu Zhiyan about her condition.

Liu Zhiyan’s face was full of worry. “It’s useless. Her temperature isn’t coming down at all.” Sister Xiao Ling’s body was so hot that he didn’t even dare to touch her.

Hearing this, Liu Zhimou’s heart sank further. He told Liu Zhiyan to take Li Qingning and Liu Zhirou away, to keep them out of harm’s way. The children were weak, and if they caught the illness, it would be bad.

“No… Sister!” Li Qingning twisted her small body, refusing to leave Li Qingling’s side.

Liu Zhiyan held her gently and coaxed her, “Ning Ning, be good. Sister is sick; we shouldn’t disturb her rest, okay?”

Li Qingning frowned, tilted her little head in thought, and finally nodded.

Seeing her nod, Liu Zhiyan exhaled in relief and led the two girls to the other side of the cave, sitting down and letting them lean against him to continue sleeping.

The two little ones were still exhausted and quickly fell asleep again.

Liu Zhimou turned back to see Liu Zhiyan had settled the two children and finally focused on Li Qingling.

He repeatedly pressed the cloth strips to her forehead, but her temperature was too high—the cloth dried almost immediately.

“Xiao Feng, is it ready?” he asked anxiously. If this continued, he feared she might suffer brain damage from the fever.

Li Qingfeng, also panicked, nodded and poured the brewed medicine into a bowl, ignoring the heat from the pot.

“Brother Zhimou, the medicine is ready.”

Liu Zhimou nodded, gently lifted Li Qingling, and tried to feed her with a spoon. But she couldn’t swallow at all—the medicine dribbled from her lips.

Seeing this, Liu Zhimou was desperate. He gritted his teeth, took the bowl from Li Qingfeng, drank a large mouthful himself, and then pressed her lips to administer the medicine.

Li Qingfeng’s mouth dropped open in an “O,” his eyes wide as he stared at Liu Zhimou.

Brother Zhimou… was he taking advantage of Sister?

Liu Zhimou got the medicine into Li Qingling’s mouth, and she was finally able to swallow. A sense of relief flooded him—this method worked.

Once she finished swallowing, he let go of her lips, intending to repeat the process, but he met Li Qingfeng’s wide-eyed stare.

He cleared his throat awkwardly, his voice low, telling Li Qingfeng to look away.

If she could swallow the medicine normally, he wouldn’t have used this method. Though they were engaged, he wouldn’t cross certain boundaries lightly.

“But…” Li Qingfeng started, but Liu Zhimou interrupted.

“She has no other way to take the medicine. This is the last resort,” he said seriously. “In this life, I will not fail her.”

With that, he ignored Li Qingfeng, drank another large sip himself, and continued feeding her mouth-to-mouth, slowly finishing the entire bowl of fever-reducing medicine.

He placed the bowl aside, let out a small sigh, and held her tightly, praying that the medicine would work.

The first time he came to Song Mountain, he had a fever too, and this medicine had worked. So he hoped it would help her as well.

But unlike him, it didn’t work for Li Qingling.

Three days—three whole days—her fever wouldn’t break. It kept fluctuating, never improving.

“Brother Zhimou, her temperature is rising again. What should we do?” Li Qingfeng felt her fever again on her forehead and urgently called Liu Zhimou, who was still brewing more medicine.

Tears streamed down uncontrollably. At this rate, Sister might really die.

Liu Zhimou’s hands trembled. The scalding medicine spilled on his hands, but he didn’t feel any pain. He carried the bowl and sat by Li Qingling’s side.

Seeing her flushed, feverish face, he closed his eyes slowly, brought the bowl to his lips, took a large sip, and fed her again.

The tears he had been holding back fell freely, landing on her eyes, making her eyelids flutter slightly.

But in his grief, he didn’t notice.

After finishing the medicine, he held her tightly, then let go, whispering hoarsely, “Xiao Feng, you take care of Sister here. I’ll go find more herbs.” Though the herbs weren’t extremely effective, they were better than nothing.

At least after taking them, her temperature might drop a little.

Li Qingfeng wiped his tears and asked why Liu Zhimou didn’t take Sister to see a doctor. Maybe a doctor could cure her.

Liu Zhimou touched Li Qingling’s burning face and choked back tears. “If I could take her, I would have already. How could I wait until now?” He looked at Li Qingfeng, forced a bitter smile, “Even if there were no doctors in town, with the Southern Yan army here, we can’t leave. One step out is a death sentence.”

Moreover, the Southern Yan soldiers were cruel. If they were caught, it would be torture worse than death. Considering all this, he could only use herbs to prolong her recovery and couldn’t risk leaving.

Hearing this, Li Qingfeng’s heart sank into despair. Could it be that Sister would abandon them like Father and Mother?

He didn’t want to lose Sister after losing their parents!

“Sister, wake up. Open your eyes and look at me, okay?” Li Qingfeng couldn’t hold back anymore. He rushed into Li Qingling’s arms, crying loudly.

Since her illness, he had been trying to stay strong, suppressing his emotions. Now he could not.

“Don’t… cry…” Li Qingling painfully opened her heavy eyes and slowly spoke two words. Saying them seemed to drain all her strength, and she closed her eyes again.

“Xiao Ling…” Liu Zhimou, seeing her open her eyes but then close them again, felt as if his heart had fallen into an icy pit, shivering.

He trembled, slowly reaching under her nose to check if she was still breathing.

Li Qingling opened her eyes again and saw this scene. If she had the strength, she would have smiled.

But she was too weak, unable to speak, let alone laugh.

“Sister…” Li Qingfeng’s eyes were wide, tears streaming down. “Sister, don’t leave us.” She had always been his spiritual support; without her, what would he do?

Li Qingling pulled the corners of her mouth into a weak smile and softly nodded.

She had thought her body, strengthened by spiritual water, was resilient, but suddenly fell seriously ill, frightening them all.

Though she had been drowsy and unable to open her eyes these past days, she knew they were worried.

“Water…” she wanted to drink some spiritual water to see if it would help.

Hearing this, Li Qingfeng quickly got up and ran to fetch water.

“I… I’m sorry for worrying you,” Li Qingling looked at Liu Zhimou. Seeing his haggard face and bloodshot eyes, she felt guilty.

She knew that these past days, he hadn’t rested, holding her, feeding her medicine, and applying cloths.

Liu Zhimou looked at her and gently said, “If you feel sorry for me, then get better quickly.” He couldn’t bear seeing her in such danger.

“Okay…”

“Sister, here’s water.” Li Qingfeng brought a bowl of water over. Li Qingling raised her hand to pretend to take it, and as her fingers touched the water, she dropped a few drops of spiritual water in. The moment she did, Li Qingfeng moved the bowl. “I’ll hold it and give it to you.”

Liu Zhimou helped Li Qingling sit up, leaning against him, while Li Qingfeng fed her water.

After drinking, she closed her eyes again before speaking. She had just forced herself to drink and now relaxed, slipping back into sleep.

“Sister…” Li Qingfeng cried out in panic.

Liu Zhimou gently put her down. “She’s tired and has fallen asleep again.” Seeing her wake once, he felt slightly less fearful. “You watch over her; I’ll go find more herbs.”

Seeing Li Qingfeng nod, Liu Zhimou hurried out, taking A Huang with him.

In the past few days, they had picked all the nearby fever-reducing herbs. This time, he needed to go farther.

He let A Huang lead, scouting for any humans or wild animals. If none were found, he would continue.

After a short distance, A Huang looked back at him and snorted twice.

Liu Zhimou tensed. A Huang looked at him again, then dashed off.

Liu Zhimou parted the grass and saw a person lying on the ground with a basket of scattered herbs beside them. His heart stirred as he stepped closer to the person.