After delivering the medicinal herbs to TanTan, ShuangAi made her way toward the small cabin in the woods where she had left the unconscious wounded man.
It's been more than a day. He should have woken up by now...
She pushed open the door and stepped inside.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from behind and grabbed her. Before she could react, an arm locked around her shoulders while another hand pressed a sharp piece of wood against her neck.
"Who are you?"
A man's voice sounded behind her. It was weak and hoarse, but there was a cold, intimidating edge to it.
ShuangAi tried to remain calm, although the nervousness in her voice was difficult to hide.
"...I'm ShuangAi. I'm not the one who hurt you. I'm the person who rescued you from the river..."
The man noticed the medicinal herbs she had brought with her. After a moment, he slowly released her.
ShuangAi turned around and finally got a good look at him.
The man was struggling to remain standing. His body was clearly still weak, yet his eyes remained alert, watching her cautiously.
He looks like a wounded wolf, ShuangAi thought.
A few minutes later, the man began to lose his balance. He had used too much strength trying to move before his body was ready. He would have collapsed if ShuangAi hadn't rushed forward to help him back onto the bed.
"You shouldn't be moving around so much! Your body is still too weak!" she scolded.
The man continued watching her, his expression showing that he was still struggling to decide whether he could trust her.
Slowly, he opened his mouth.
"Where... am... I?"
ShuangAi was relieved that he seemed willing to speak to her now.
"You're in the western woods of BaoZhi Town. I found you floating unconscious in the river, so I brought you here."
"Bao... Zhi... Town...?"
The man repeated the name as if he had never heard of the place before.
"Yes, BaoZhi Town."
ShuangAi noticed his unfamiliar expression. Perhaps he came from somewhere far away?
The clothes he had been wearing when she found him looked like ordinary commoner clothing, although their patterns were slightly different from those commonly worn in this area. She suspected he might have come from a remote town in the north.
Wanting to confirm her guess, she asked,
"Where are you from?"
"I..."
The man stopped. He seemed to be searching his mind for an answer, but nothing came.
Seeing his reaction, ShuangAi suddenly remembered HuaMuTan's condition.
Could he have lost his memory too?
A sense of concern crept into her heart.
"Do you remember your name?"
The man pressed both palms against his head. He struggled desperately to recall something, but the effort only seemed to bring him more pain.
"...I... I don't know... Ugh..."
ShuangAi's fear had come true. The man really had lost his memory.
Perhaps something terrible had happened to him, leaving him so badly injured and shocked that he could no longer remember who he was.
She sat beside him and gently stroked his back, trying to comfort him like a child.
"Shh... It's all right. It's all right. You don't have to remember anything right now. Why don't I change your bandage first? After that, you can get some rest."
The man gazed at her but said nothing.
He seemed to have finally given up resisting her presence and allowed her to do as she pleased.
ShuangAi carefully removed the old bandage and examined his wound. It was still open, but at least it had stopped bleeding.
"The wound isn't bleeding anymore. It's healing," she explained.
The man gave no response. He simply continued watching her.
"Now, I'll apply some fresh medicine. It might sting a little."
ShuangAi poured the herbal medicine over the wound.
It must have hurt quite badly, but the man endured it without making a sound. ShuangAi glanced up to check his reaction, only to find their eyes meeting.
For some reason, she suddenly felt shy.
It was strange. She had treated countless patients before, yet she had never felt this way around any of them.
Perhaps it was because this man kept staring at her so intensely without saying a word.
ShuangAi quickly looked away and concentrated on dressing the wound.
Once she had finished securing the bandage, she stood up.
"Ehem... You should rest now. I'll prepare some medicine for you to drink later."
The man lowered his gaze to examine the newly wrapped bandage. It had been neatly and professionally secured, clearly showing that ShuangAi knew exactly what she was doing.
Just as she was about to leave the room, he finally spoke.
"...Thank you."
Those two simple words were enough to make ShuangAi feel pleased.
She smiled at him.
"Just get some rest. I'll be outside preparing your medicine."
The man looked momentarily stunned by her smile.
But ShuangAi didn't notice. She had already walked out of the room.
Left alone in the cabin, the man sank back into deep thought.
Who was he?
What had happened to him?
And why was he wounded so badly?
Suddenly, fragments of memories flashed through his mind.
A young man being killed while desperately urging him to keep running.
Another man thrusting a sword into his body.
A fierce-looking figure with a thick beard and heavy eyebrows, his expression filled with cruelty.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember who that man was.
Nor could he remember his own identity.
More flashes followed. Soldiers fighting, the chaos of a battlefield, and the sounds of weapons clashing.
The harder he tried to recall those memories, the more violently his head began to ache.
His body was still too weak to endure the strain.
Finally, he closed his eyes and decided to rest for a while.
At least one thing was clear.
For now, he was safe.
Outside the cabin, ShuangAi was preparing the medicine while lost in her own thoughts.
"Judging from his injuries, he was clearly stabbed by something sharp, perhaps a knife or a sword. But why?"
She spoke quietly to herself.
There was a possibility that the man was a bad person, perhaps someone being hunted by his enemies. His reaction when she first entered the room had certainly been alarming.
Could he be a killer?
Yet, somehow, ShuangAi's instincts told her otherwise.
She recalled the man's eyes when he had looked at her.
"His eyes may look fierce, but they're honest. They don't look like the eyes of a wicked man."
ShuangAi trusted her instincts. After treating so many patients, she believed she had become quite good at judging whether someone had malicious intentions.
"Well, whoever he is, my responsibility is to heal him."
She continued preparing the medicine, then paused as another thought crossed her mind.
"Besides... his amnesia might actually give me an opportunity."
A faint smile appeared on her face.
"If I can find a way to help him recover his memories, perhaps I can also find a way to help MuTanCie..."