Chapter 45: Fret

Translator: Letty / Editor: DarkGem / IceTea

“Wait for me here, I am going!” Jing nervously looked at Chang wheezing. She didn’t to want waste even a second; she wiped away her tears and ran south hastily.

And Chang continued to stay on the ground feeling the pain.

After Jing left, his body calmed from the state of convulsing in a few minutes. His breathing was still rapid, the blood taste in his throat didn’t go away at all and his breathing began to smell bad as well.

He took a quick glance at the dead bullfrog and murmured to himself sarcastically, “This is the third time I have asked him to come save me these days.”

The first time was in the sewer, where he lived through the fear of uncertainty and death. And this time, he became immobile and his skin was burnt off. In total, he succeeded four times and was endangered twice; this was how risky hunting was.

Although the acid burn made it difficult to breathe, he was feeling much better than last time – it was such a big frog! Moreover, he was safe for now as long as the smell of blood hadn’t attracted other predators. Therefore, even if he looked terrible with the crimson and charred skin, at least his mind was calm.

Chang even began to analyze the hunting experience these days.

Needless to say, hunting was challenging and meat storing was impossible. Even though he had all these improvements on his body, getting something was still difficult and risky. That was why Chang was thinking to reduce the times of going out for hunting.

And this time, the bullfrog was huge enough for them to eat for a while if they had proper preservation methods.

While Chang was planning all this, his breathing slowly calmed down. Although his shortness of breath was still pretty severe, he had recovered from the hypoxic state, letting his mind become clearer.

Upon the partial recovery of his respiratory function and mobility, Chang didn’t sit up immediately, the strong sense of weakness still existed. Thinking of this, he simply decided to lie on ground to wait for Qing Shui to come.

The spot was pretty close to the base, so Chang believed that they would come soon – and as expected, in 20 minutes, he saw that Jing had brought Qing Shui, Pang Zi, Lin and the young woman, who lived in the same dorm room and lost her parent not long ago.

With the help of Jing’s ability, they easily found Chang in the lush grass bush, and the latter struggled to sit up when he saw his companions come. He then revealed a confused look when he noticed the young woman.

“I didn’t know she is a doctor; I asked her to come for exchange of three packs of hardtacks.” Qing Shui turned to that young woman after he explained, “Dr. Huang, please forgive us for not being very helpful on your parent’s death…I hope you can take a look of my friend here.”

“Sure.” She still had the numb expression on her face like she was in the dorm; she nodded calmly and crouched down to Chang to examine his injury – she carefully smelled Chang’s breathing and examined the burn marks on his body. She said to Qing Shui, “His obvious symptom is water-electrolyte imbalance; it was caused by the acute kidney failure from the extensive burn.”

“Acute kidney failure? Is it a serious disease?” Qing Shui furrowed his brow when he heard the young woman’ diagnose. Although he was not a doctor, he knew the severity of acute kidney failure. It was a lethal disease, and it was also difficult to cure. Qing Shui was shocked by the information and had to asked again

“Is it possible that you can treat him?”

“From my medical knowledge, it was simply incurable without the right equipment and related medication.” The young woman was still examining, “But I don’t think you need to worry too much, because in theory, the symptom of water-electrolyte imbalance takes at least a few hours to appear even it is caused by acute kidney failure, but he is very special. Due to the evolution of human bodies now, the physiological mechanisms of human body might have changed. Therefore, he won’t die. Instead, I feel like his body is healing itself rapidly.”

The young woman spoke as she carefully peeled of a piece of charred skin off of Chang’s chest. She observed that piece of skin seriously and said, “The self-repair ability of his is strong, and those failing internal organs seem to be getting better overtime. Look at him; his breathing has become more stable compared to the first time I examined him, and the breathing odor is fading as well. These is evidence of improvement of his metabolic functions. Therefore, don’t worry. If things go well as I predict, he will recover soon.”

“That’s good…that’s good.” When Chang first heard to the diagnosis of acute kidney failure, his heart sunk and didn’t dare to say anything to interrupt, until the young woman concluded otherwise. He was relieved.

“Fortunately, they are just burn marks that make my appearance looks bad and are not life threatening.” As he was talking, Chang stroked his chin where the acid burns made red scars.

“You should not move before your breathing becomes smooth again.” The young woman pressed down Chang’s body so he laid back down and she stopped speaking.

After Chang felt a sense of security, all the thoughts in his mind refocused onto food. Although he was resting, his mouth didn’t stop.

“Mr. Li, did you see the bullfrog?”

“Yes, it is huge and judging by its appearance, it should be edible. Let me double check.” Qing Shui’s attention also redirected to somewhere else after confirming Chang’s safety. He talked while walking towards the bullfrog. He then took out some dried plant powder to cover the bloodiness.

After doing this, Qing Shui asked Pang Zi to come.

“Do you bring the stuff I asked you to take with you?”

“Here they are, I took all of them after I heard Jing saying there was tons of meat lying here.” Pang Zi threw an axe and a long knife on the ground. He also lifted up his t-shirt to take out the woven bags that was tucked between his waist and pants. Pang Zi’s voice had a sense of pity “There is too much meat and we are going to have to throw away a lot; such a waste…”

“It won’t be wasted, because I am going to find formalin.” Qing Shui pointed at the axe and knife on the ground. “You and Ling can help dissect the frog into big pieces, and then put those into the woven bags. If there is not enough space, then take the legs pieces, since they have more muscle on the legs and are easier to cook. Also, be careful when you are cutting it. There should be acid secretion glands, so don’t touch those spots. Jing and I are going to the hospital to get some formalin.”

“Got it,” Pang Zi and Lin nodded.

Finishing his words, Qing Shui returned to Chang and smiled at the young woman, “Dr. Huang, my friend is all yours, please.”

“No worries,” The young woman feebly nodded.

“You are going to the hospital for formalin?” Chang sat up from the ground.

“Yes, you can take a break now, I’ll be right back. And of course, in order to avoid danger, I have to take Jing with me.” Qing Shui looked at Jing, who had been sitting beside Chang the whole time. He grinned at her and squatted in front of her.

“Alright, it’s my turn to carry you today.”

Jing looked at Qing Shui, then looked at Chang’s crimson body. She swallowed her saliva and said, “Chang, wait for me.”

“I will, be careful.” Chang patted on her shoulder and gazed after their figures disappeared in the fog.

“You still have someone to fret about… I really envy you.” The young woman emotionlessly said.