The situation at the border was much worse than they'd imagined. The closer they got to the frontier, the more desolate the environment was.
Villages were emptied out and even a few cities too. They met more and more refugees on the way because, apparently, no one wanted to be around when the Northern frontier was finally breached.
The first thing that hit He Yuan once they got closer to the barrier that had been set up around the camp was the smell. It smelled like ash, blood and exposed inner flesh. A few sentries noticed them and directly broke down in tears.
"THEY'RE HERE!" He Yuan didn't know who shouted but that shout contained so many emotions, he felt his heart squeeze.
The Northern soldiers let down the barrier to let them in and He Yuan was met with the full force of their desolation. There were unkept looking soldiers running about. Although when the soldiers saw them, their shoulders sagged a little, like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders.
Some of them had the urge to cheer in happiness but they just couldn't muster up the energy to do so. They managed to smile but their smiles looked even more heartbreaking than their anguished expressions.
Some were transporting weapons, others were leading horses and some were giving out rations. It consisted of a small bowl of watery gruel and a tiny slice of dried meat.
He Yuan spotted some of them carrying the wounded to the infirmary and had to bite his lips hard to stop himself from throwing up. Some of the wounded soldiers had missing limbs and a few of them directly died on the way.
"Bleurgh!" Cao Luomei ran to the nearest post and began to throw up. This triggered the other attendants, they couldn't hold themselves back any longer and began to directly throw up where they stood.
Wu Hong lowered her head and He Yuan tasted blood from how hard he was biting his lips to hold himself back.
The soldiers from the Western frontier clenched their fists in anger. Seeing their brothers from the Northern frontier in such a state made their blood boil and they had the urge to rush up to the enemy camp and tear them apart.
Shang Wu's deputy general rushed out to greet them and the ladies were led to two large tents that had been set up at the rear of the camp whilst the two deputy generals and some high ranking soldiers went into the general's tent to discuss war tactics and the division of the rations.
It was evening so He Yuan spent the rest of the night in his tent and didn't bother to come out until the next day. Him and Cao Luomei had to spend three to six months at the frontier because Cao Luomei had to hand in the Cao family seal when some other Cao family farm settlements sent their produce to the camp.
They didn't get them on the way because the grains weren't fully mature for harvest yet.
After cleaning up in a secluded part of the camp with the help of Wu Hong, He Yuan returned to his tent. On the way, he ran into one of the military physicians that had accompanied the Western soldiers.
They were two of them, plus the one physician that was left at the Northern frontier, they were a total of three physicians that had to attend to thousands of soldiers. This number was clearly not enough.
"Second miss Cao," The white haired man called out, he seemed nervous but braced himself in the end and said, "I know this may sound very inappropriate but I noticed on the way here that you know a little bit of medicine."
He Yuan knew where this was going. Although it was indeed inappropriate for males and females to come in contact in these times but once there was an audience, the rules were quite lenient.
Since he was going to stay in the camp for some months. It was just as well that he used this period to practice more of his medicine skills by aiding the treatment of the soldiers. The situation was a win-win.
"You want me to help the physicians?" He Yuan asked.
The physician was about to nod when a shout came from the rear of the camp.
"WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!"
The place descended into chaos. It was currently morning and usually, both sides avoided skirmishes at the start of the day due to being high strung from defending their camps all night.
Who knew that the enemy would not only attack this morning but also maneuver a squad of soldiers to the rear of their own camp and attack from there. There was a reason the Northern frontier were hard to defend and that was because, they were open from all sides.
The Western deputy general had been planning on leading an attack on the enemy this very morning so although they had a lot of soldiers guarding the rear, a lot of their forces were concentrated at the front.
"TIGHTEN THE DEFENSES AT THE REAR!" Someone shouted and He Yuan knew that was his cue to get out of the way and get to safety. He remembered thinking that he would be safe as long as he remained at the rear of the camp.
How wrong he was. How very wrong he was.
In his alarm, he quickly dragged the physician with him and started running to the middle of the camp. He had no ideas about camp set ups but he felt that would be the safest spot at the moment.
As he ran, he realized that Cao Luomei had somehow ended up in the tent of the genius doctor and was currently guiding him out.
Fuck! He ran forward and hefted the man on his shoulders with one hand, pushing Cao Luomei forward with the palm of that same hand. "Move, Now!"
The girl nodded dazedly and began running forward. That was when the rain of arrows came in.
"SHIT!" He Yuan cursed out loud as he increased his speed. He seemed to have forgotten that he was still holding the military physician and guiding him through the camp.
Wu Hong was running right beside him and one of Cao Luomei's personal attendants was running in front with her mistress. The other attendant was nowhere to be found.
He also spotted the guards from the Cao family running towards them.
When they got to the middle of the camp, He Yuan dumped the genius doctor on the ground in order to catch his breath.
"Sec.. Miss C-Cao." A voice came amidst the noisy camp and the little group turned around.
And then their eyes widened in horror.
As they were running, one of their soldiers had been hit in the arm by an arrow. This caused his sword to fly out of his hand with immense force and slice the military physician, splitting the white haired man in half at his midriff.
He Yuan watched in horror as the light died in the old man's eyes and then,
He threw up. Cao Luomei threw up. Wu Hong threw up. Cao Luomei's personal attendant fainted and the genius doctor slipped back into coma.
After the crisis was averted that day, He Yuan spent most of his time in the infirmary, it was more of a tent full of wounded soldiers. With the amount of blood and gore he came in contact with everyday, he developed anorexia and began to survive solely on hunger relieving pills and water.
He was glad that he had exchanged for a lot of them when he had the chance.
The deputy general of the Northern frontier and sneaked into the enemy camp with a squad of soldiers with the aim of searching for Shang Wu. He Yuan knew they would be successful in about two months or so.
Hopefully, they would still be alive by then.
As He Yuan was bandaging up a soldier with a missing limb, the genius doctor walked into the tent. Once the man got better, he had joined in treating the soldiers as a way of showing his thanks.
The only problem was that he had been sending He Yuan suggestive signals on the low. He Yuan ignored him though. He did not like the man at all.
"Cao Yuemei I-"
"Miss Cao to you," He Yuan cut him off quickly. "We're not even acquaintances so it's very inappropriate to call out my name."
Jiang He, the genius doctor, sighed. "I haven't gotten the chance to thank you properly. For leading the bandits away in the forest and for helping me on the day of the attack."
"Say thank you," He Yuan deadpanned.
Jiang He froze. "Thank you?"
He Yuan nodded. "Good, I accept your thanks, now can you stop pestering me?"
Jiang He smiled helplessly. This miss Cao was truly a strange character. Ladies always blushed at the slightest attention he gave them and even the other miss Cao had been a blushing mess when he showed her his thanks.
This Cao Yuemei, on the other hand, was extremely uptight. He usually didn't like women like this but there was just something about her that drew him in. His heart had been moved.
Cao Luomei walked in then. After the attack, she'd also decided to help out in the infirmary. She had zero idea about medicine but could act like an assistant so it was good.
He Yuan had to admit that he was a little proud of the way she'd managed to compose herself these past weeks. She even stopped paying attention to Jiang He.
"First miss Cao," Jiang He greeted and Cao Luomei smiled at him in return.
She avoided He Yuan's eyes and went straight to grab some medicine supplies before walking out. He Yuan raised his brows but he had gotten used to the girl's strange behaviour these past weeks.
He turned to the genius doctor. "Mr Jiang, there are a lot of wounded soldiers, do you plan on staring at me forever whilst they bleed to their deaths?"
"Of course not," Jiang He said with a charming smile and got to work.
Two months passed and He Yuan was a lot more proficient with his needles. He was in the middle of sewing up a deep gash at the side of a soldier when loud cheers erupted outside.
The cheers didn't sound cheerful but he couldn't think of a better word to describe it. It sounded like the soldiers letting out their grief and anguish through screams.
He began to wonder what was going on as he bandaged the soldier. Once he stepped outside the tent, he raised his brows.
Shang Wu had been found.
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