Chapter 105: Found Yan Gui Xing
It must have been some kind of special connection between them, because even though Achi and the entire Fourth Legion had scoured every inch of the Frontier Star without a single lead on Yan Gui Xing, Mu Mu found him in just five days.
That day was a typical one for Mu Mu on the Frontier Star. Like the days before, he got up early, got ready, drank a tube of nutrient fluid, and set out with his small satchel of supplies. The weather on the Frontier Star had been terrible because of the war. The sky was a hazy gray, as if covered by a thick veil, with not a patch of blue in sight. Even the sun couldn’t pierce through, and the air was filled with a mix of dust, blood, and the smell of rotting flesh.
But for some reason, that day, the sun made a rare appearance. It wasn’t very bright or warm, just a few faint rays of light penetrating the haze, but those rays were enough to lift a person’s spirits and rekindle a spark of hope.
Mu Mu continued his search from where he had left off the day before. Around noon, a heavy, foul stench drifted to him in the wind. It was a smell Mu Mu had become all too familiar with—the smell of rotting flesh. It usually meant a human or Insectoid body, or a part of one, was nearby.
Mu Mu had grown up in a time of peace, and even though he had experienced a terrible accident in his youth, his brain’s defense mechanisms had blurred the memories of blood and bodies, leaving only a vague outline. So, he had never truly seen a dead person with his own eyes.
But on a battlefield, there was no shortage of bodies, and they were all in horrifying states. Human bodies were gruesome enough, but the Insectoids, with their scales and tentacles, were even worse. The first time Mu Mu saw a dead human and Insectoid, he was so terrified he collapsed onto the ground, his face ashen and his body shaking uncontrollably.
After what felt like a long time, he shakily crawled over, turned the body, and checked to see if it was Yan Gui Xing. If the face was too disfigured to identify, Mu Mu would look for the metal dog tag that Yan Gui Xing had told him about.
Yan Gui Xing had mentioned it in a message a month before they lost contact. They had been talking about Wangwang when Yan Gui Xing suddenly brought up how every soldier in the military wore a special six-centimeter-long metal tag with their name, date of birth, and unit information. He had even attached a photo of his own tag. Mu Mu hadn’t understood why they needed them, and Yan Gui Xing had replied that it was for identification. When Mu Mu asked when they needed to be identified, Yan Gui Xing didn’t respond, and their conversation ended there.
When Mu Mu later found one of the metal tags on a body and read the name, he finally understood what Yan Gui Xing had meant. Mu Mu’s abilities were limited, and he couldn’t bury the soldiers, so he took their tags to give to Achi for a proper burial.
After a few days, Mu Mu’s courage grew. Following the foul smell, he saw a leg sticking out from behind a dirt mound that was as tall as a person. The leg was charred black in some parts, with dark red flesh exposed and a hint of white. As he got closer, Mu Mu saw the leg was blown to bits. The black parts were burnt flesh and pants clinging to the skin, the dark red was the rotting flesh infested with maggots and flies, and the white part was the gruesome bone beneath the flesh.
The sight was so horrific that even Mu Mu, after all he had seen, still gasped in horror. He steadied himself and walked around the mound.
After rounding the mound, Mu Mu saw the man lying face-down. He was tall and thin, with not a single good spot on his body. His colorless upper body was submerged in a puddle of dirty mud, and it was impossible to tell if he was alive.
Mu Mu’s heart began to pound. He had a feeling that this person was his Gui Gui. His body trembled uncontrollably. He stiffly walked over and knelt beside the wounded man. To avoid hurting him, Mu Mu took two deep breaths to calm his shaking hands before gently rolling the man over.
He was met with a man’s face, pale and swollen from being submerged in the muddy water. His long black hair was wet and stuck to his face. Though he was so thin that his cheekbones jutted out, Mu Mu immediately recognized him. It was Yan Gui Xing!
He carefully leaned in, put his finger under Yan Gui Xing’s nose, and held his breath. There was a breath, a faint one, but a breath! Mu Mu, still nervous that he was mistaken, leaned down and put his ear to Yan Gui Xing’s chest. The weak thumping of a heartbeat filled his ears.
Yan Gui Xing was alive. He was gravely injured, but he was alive.
“Gui Gui,” Mu Mu said, his lips trembling. He wanted to hug Yan Gui Xing, but with all his injuries, he was afraid to even touch him. The worry he had felt when Yan Gui Xing left, the anxiety when he lost contact, the despair when he learned he was missing, and the utter breakdown he felt when he couldn’t find him, all poured out in a flood of tears.
Mu Mu sat beside Yan Gui Xing, tilted his head back, and sobbed. His cries echoed far. Achi would later say that they heard the crying from twenty kilometers away.
Mu Mu didn’t dare to cry for too long. Yan Gui Xing was critically injured, breathing more out than in, and his wounds had started to rot. There was no time to waste. It was lucky that Mu Mu found him so early; otherwise, by the time Achi found him, Yan Gui Xing would have been little more than a pile of bones.
But how to get Yan Gui Xing back was another problem. He tried to carry him on his back like before, but Yan Gui Xing was heavy in his near-death state. Mu Mu struggled to get him on his back but couldn’t even stand up, let alone walk.
He couldn’t carry him, and he couldn’t lift him. And he definitely couldn’t drag him. Yan Gui Xing was covered in wounds. In some places, a simple touch would cause his flesh to fall off. The ground was uneven, so dragging him back would scrape off half his skin.
Mu Mu couldn’t think of a solution. He decided to first treat Yan Gui Xing’s wounds and then figure out a way to get him home.
He didn’t have much in his small satchel besides nutrient fluids and a small blanket he used for sitting. He only had a little bit of hemostatic powder, hydrogen peroxide, and a couple of bandages. Two rolls of bandages were nowhere near enough, so he had to prioritize bandaging his worst wounds, starting with his right leg and upper body.
When the hydrogen peroxide was poured onto his bone, the unconscious Yan Gui Xing convulsed, the veins in his neck bulging, and a cry of extreme pain escaped his throat.
Mu Mu’s heart ached, and he wanted to cry again. He sniffled, and though he didn’t know if Yan Gui Xing could hear him, he mumbled in a muffled voice, “Hang in there, Gui Gui, the pain will be gone soon. The wounds have bugs in them. If I don’t disinfect them, you’ll lose your leg.”
He quickly poured most of the bottle of hydrogen peroxide onto Yan Gui Xing’s wounded leg and then rapidly wrapped it with a bandage.
After treating the wounds, Mu Mu worried that Yan Gui Xing was hungry. He had probably been lying there for days without eating. He placed Yan Gui Xing’s head on his lap and pulled out a tube of nutrient fluid from his satchel. He tore open a small hole and held it in his hand, using his left hand to pinch Yan Gui Xing’s gaunt cheeks to open his mouth, which was filled with wounds, and then put the tube in his mouth.
Mu Mu squeezed the fluid out very slowly, afraid Yan Gui Xing would choke. Fortunately, even though Yan Gui Xing was unconscious, he could still swallow on his own, so Mu Mu’s worries didn’t come true. It took half an hour to finish the small tube of nutrient fluid.
Next, Mu Mu had to transport Yan Gui Xing back to his temporary home. He felt the blanket in his satchel, pulled it out, and saw the gray velvet blanket in his hands. An idea suddenly dawned on him.
He wrapped Yan Gui Xing in the blanket, then took off his own jacket to wrap his exposed legs and feet, creating a makeshift stretcher. Then, he grabbed the blanket and started dragging him back.
Mu Mu walked and rested, making slow progress until nightfall when he finally got Yan Gui Xing back to his small rented house. He struggled to lift him onto the bed and then went to heat up some water. While he waited for the water, Mu Mu reviewed the video on treating external wounds that Xiaoting had downloaded for him.
He brought all the necessary supplies to the bed. When the kettle whistled, he quickly took it off the heat, poured the hot water into a basin, added a bit of cold water, and carried the large basin back to the bedroom.
Mu Mu first unwrapped the blanket and jacket. Then, he took out the sterilized scissors from a sealed bag and cut away Yan Gui Xing’s torn clothes. He followed the instructions to remove the clothes that were stuck to his wounds. He soaked a cotton ball in the warm water and used it to clean Yan Gui Xing’s body. This process was even more difficult than removing his clothes.
Yan Gui Xing had been lying in the wild for an unknown amount of time. He was filthy, his wounds filled with dirt and sand. It took three basins of hot water and five large bags of sterile cotton to clean him and reveal his original skin color. It was a good thing that Xiaoting had packed so much for Mu Mu, or it wouldn’t have been enough.
Once Yan Gui Xing was clean, his injuries looked even more grotesque and terrifying. His once strong body had shrunk significantly. His ribs were clearly visible, his stomach was sunken, and his limbs were gaunt. There was no trace of his former self. His left arm was fractured, and his upper body was covered in scrapes. A wound on his back stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip, with flesh exposed. The injury on his right leg revealed the stark white bone beneath.
Mu Mu’s eyes were red, and they became watery. He roughly wiped his face with his sleeve and continued to clean Yan Gui Xing’s wounds. This part was the most difficult for Mu Mu. He had to cut away the rotting flesh and the maggots, apply hemostatic powder to the new wounds, and then bandage them. Even in his unconscious state, Yan Gui Xing writhed from the torture of having his flesh cut away, and sounds of painful, dying screams escaped his throat.
[Author’s Note]: As for why Yan So-and-so is in this state but isn’t dead… ahem, it’s all for the sake of the plot. Let’s not worry about whether it’s logical or not.
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