Chapter 354: First Encounter with Refugees (3k)
“Is the blue ribbon on your shoulder… from an Ærs soldier?”
As Su Jiu was looking, Yuko’s voice suddenly sounded from behind her, and her figure immediately appeared beside Su Jiu. With a smile, her Yamato Nadeshiko-like face showed a serious expression.
Hearing Yuko’s words, Su Jiu noticed the blue ribbon tied to the man’s shoulder. Although it was dirty, a insignia was faintly visible on the ribbon, the mark of a seabird.
She had seen some videos, and this seabird symbolized the same thing as the Gugu Bird, symbolizing peace and freedom.
“Yes, friend from afar, can you give us some antibiotics?”
Upon hearing this, the man’s body trembled slightly. After observing the Eastern faces of Su Jiu and the others, he nodded, clasped his hands together, and pleaded.
“No! We are an international organization and do not participate in the treatment of soldiers from your two countries. Please go elsewhere.”
Before Yuko could reply, Liu Gang’s rough voice sounded along with footsteps. He also placed his hands on the railing, his voice sounding particularly resolute.
Lowering his head in disappointment, the middle-aged man looked at Yuko again, only to find that Yuko also remained silent, clearly agreeing with her words. Finally, his gaze fell on Su Jiu, who seemed the most approachable, and he clasped his hands again, pleading, “Miss from the East, we don’t need healing potions, just some antibiotics… We need…”
Su Jiu looked at his hopeful face, knowing that the man wanted to take the medicine back to save his comrades, but… she glanced at the crowd surrounding them. Before she could speak, Yuko whispered to her, “We cannot participate in the war.”
“I’m sorry, we are only responsible for the treatment of refugees. I hope you understand this. We are also helpless in the face of the war in Ærs, but this is… a regulation.”
Nodding lightly, Su Jiu immediately refused the man. She was not a hot-headed youth and naturally understood the crux of the matter.
Giving medicine would be participating in the war!
They were here to help civilians, not soldiers.
Moreover, with so many eyes watching, if there were any spies from the Yela Army hidden among them, their eleven people could easily become a handle for some people due to an unintentional action, thus being unable to smoothly pass through the thirty-kilometer war zone.
“Alas—”
Upon hearing Su Jiu’s words, the middle-aged man grabbed his hair forcefully, wanting to vent something, but finally slowly released his hand. After a moment, he sighed, raised his head, and showed a bitter smile. He clasped his hands and bowed, “Thank you all for being willing to help our citizens. My comrades are still waiting for me to return. I must be going.”
With that, he turned and left, his figure looking somewhat dejected, but his back was straight again. He had to find a priest or a foreign ship willing to sell medicine as soon as possible, and he didn’t have time to linger here.
While everyone was stunned, Yuko turned her head and also looked at the crowd behind her. She tied her scattered hair into a ponytail and then announced loudly, “Everyone, let’s move the food and medicine down first. Local supporters will arrive soon. We can only pass through the war zone smoothly with the registered trucks they provide.”
“Yes! (Okay!)”
Amidst sparse responses, the people on the scene began to move. Although they were all priests, they also possessed strength, so moving these ordinary people’s supplies was quite simple. In a short while, they began to move in an orderly manner.
Due to being in a wheelchair, Su Jiu did not do any work. She let Bernice push her across the one-meter-wide steel ladder attached to the ship, and soon they arrived among the crowd.
“Push me over there to take a look. I feel like some of them are quite seriously injured… How could this happen?”
Gently tapping Bernice’s hand, Su Jiu’s gaze swept across the crowd, finally landing on the refugees. Her brows immediately knit tightly. She could feel the weak aura of some people.
This weakness was not caused by hunger but by… a bloody weakness.
“Gulu gulu…”
As Bernice pushed the wheelchair closer, Su Jiu’s gaze also passed over the passers-by. The first people she saw were a woman wrapped in a green “Big Mouth Monkey” quilt. Beside her was a middle-aged man wearing a yellow construction helmet. His face was also dusty, but unlike the soldier before him, his face revealed a hint of numbness.
Su Jiu asked softly, “Do you need help?”
As if noticing Su Jiu’s approach, the middle-aged man slowly raised his head and looked at her pristine white doctor’s robe. His pupils widened slightly. After about ten seconds, a “Dong!” sound was heard.
“Reverend, please save my wife! She was hit by stray bullets from the engagement. If she isn’t treated quickly, she will die soon.” The man kowtowed, then tightly hugged the wheels of the wheelchair, his face flushed as he pleaded.
He knew only the person in front of him could save his wife. If the opportunity were missed, it would truly be missed.
“Bernice, open that quilt, remove the bullet for her, heal the wound with healing arts, and bandage it.” Su Jiu tapped Bernice’s small hand and, under the middle-aged man’s confused gaze, handed Bernice a bundle of gauze and alcohol.
A bullet wound?
She must have been accidentally hit by stray bullets. In this all-out war between humans, guns and ammunition had returned to people’s sight because the energy shields of advanced stage warriors, who were the backbone, could not withstand many bullets. Therefore, bullets were the cheapest means of killing.
“She’s so young… Please excuse me, Miss.”
The middle-aged man looked at Bernice, who was walking towards his wife, and wanted to say something, but then he thought that in his own country, there were soldiers who participated in the war at fifteen or sixteen years old, so he didn’t say anything more, only watching anxiously.
Perhaps this young girl was also around that age…
But she was so clean, like an angel from heaven.
Glancing at the latter, Su Jiu naturally knew what he was thinking and chuckled, “Don’t worry, her medical skills are more than enough to treat a common bullet wound.”
“Thank you, Sir…” The middle-aged man slowly released Su Jiu’s tire and watched Bernice’s operation nervously.
While the two were communicating, Bernice approached the woman. Smelling the stench, her delicate nose wrinkled, and then she reached out and lifted the quilt.
Her gaze swept over the source of the stench, which was the woman’s thigh. Looking up at the woman’s blood-filled abdominal cavity, her expression slightly froze. It had been simply bandaged, but…
“She… seems to have been shot three times.”
“Three times?”
Upon hearing this result, Su Jiu’s eyes involuntarily lowered. Could stray bullets really hit someone three times? Taking a deep breath, she told herself not to speculate maliciously about what was happening.
It might just be an accident.
Not minding the woman’s filth, Bernice’s hand glowed with a pair of blue little butterflies, and with the other hand, she used her fingernails to cut through the bandages and carefully begin to remove the bullets. As for surgical knives, fingernails were the best surgical knives and hemostatic forceps, which was why she didn’t wear plastic gloves.
The middle-aged man watched Bernice’s actions. From initial worry to surprise, he saw the external qi at the fingertips!
Could this child in a black dress actually be a Battle General?!
“Ding ding…”
Bernice’s methods were quick. Within five minutes, she stood up, dropping the bloody bullets in her hand. After all, as a seasoned priest with half-King level strength now, her healing speed was naturally unmatched.
“Stretch out your hand, I’ll wash it for you.”
Moving her gaze from the woman’s face, whose complexion was gradually becoming rosy, Su Jiu looked at Bernice’s blood-stained little hands and chuckled. As the latter complied, she snapped her fingers.
A piece of ice floated in the air, slowly transforming into a stream of warm water that washed Bernice’s little hands—Shaping Technique.
“She’s really saved?”
The man watched his wife appear to be truly saved. After a moment of daze, his face suddenly broke out in immense joy. Disregarding any semblance of dignity, he repeatedly kowtowed to the two of them, “Thank you both, Reverend ladies, thank you both, Reverend ladies…”
“No need. We are priests from the International Red Cross, and we are here to treat refugees.”
Su Jiu used her external qi to help him up, raised the Red Cross ribbon on her arm, then swept her gaze over the refugees who were more or less injured, and then her fingertips glowed with a touch of emerald green.
“Is that Spring Bloom Technique? Has a Battle General-level priest arrived?”
As drops of blood-like leaves fluttered down, the refugees huddled in the corner also looked over, their faces showing disbelief—a priest had actually come to treat them? The nearest large hospital was quite far from here.
After a moment of astonishment, they all clasped their hands together and thanked Su Jiu with local gestures.
“Are you a priest from the Red Cross? There’s a child here, her leg was blown off, and she seems to be not doing well.”
Hearing Su Jiu’s words, the male protagonist was stunned for a moment, as if he had thought of something. He quickly straightened up and pointed to another “refugee point,” looking like he was going to lead Su Jiu there.
“Bernice, let’s go take a look.”
Raising her eyebrows, Su Jiu had Bernice push the wheelchair over there. However, the surroundings were filled with onlookers who had been attracted by the commotion, making it even more crowded. Su Jiu had to use her external qi to push through the crowd like parting water, creating an opening that allowed passage.
Seeing this, Bernice quickly pushed Su Jiu forward. Affected by Su Jiu’s push, the crowd began to move, and they lost their interest in spectating. However, as the wheelchair moved, Su Jiu spotted a familiar figure, or rather, his familiar shiny bald head…
It was her fellow priest—Liu Gang.
Liu Gang did not notice Su Jiu. His figure turned into a small alley, appearing quite familiar with the layout. He quickly disappeared from Su Jiu’s sight.
Su Jiu and Bernice arrived at another “refugee point,” where they were met with an even stronger smell of blood. Looking through the gaps in the crowd.
“Scram! I don’t need your medicine.”
A girl of thirteen or fourteen years old was protecting something like a lioness. Her shoulder also seemed to be injured, but the smell of blood was not coming from her.
Opposite her was a middle-aged woman dressed decently. The latter shook a tube of green potion in her hand and said with a smile, “Your sister won’t live past today anyway, right? Come with me, and this healing potion and a box of bread will be yours.”
