Chapter 56: Potent Antibiotics

Living captives could be exchanged for 5 silver coins.

Corpses were only worth five copper coins...

The four of them worked together, tied the young man up, threw him on the cart hidden in the corner, and dragged everything back to the outpost.

"Blue clothes... Are you from a shelter?!" the young man yelled, but no one replied.

With a horrified expression on his face, the young man watched himself being rolled past the concrete wall and sent to the side of the granary.

Finally, the cart stopped.

Ample Time and Old White lifted the reindeer together and threw it on the table in front of Tomato Eggs.

"Hey, how much is this?”

"12 silver coins."

After counting the coins and then slapping them on the table, Tomato Eggs drew out his machete and started to chop a large piece of meat.

The muffled sounds of machete through flesh before thumping on the chopping board terrified the young man.

I never heard about people wearing blue clothes eating humans!

"Administrator? You just came here just in time, we were just about to bring him to you!"

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where did you find him?"

"I ran into him while hunting. This guy shot me with an arrow, but missed."

"I see."

Counting 5 silver coins from his pocket and handing them to Ample Time, Chu Guang signaled him to untie the prisoner.

Although Ample Time didn't think it was safe, he wasn't very worried after thinking about how strong the administrator was. He quickly made his way over to the cart with Gale.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, the young man struggled more intensely. But when he saw the person next to them, he was stunned.

"Chu Guang?" He spoke in the language of this world.

"Mhm, it's me." Chu Guang smiled and reached out to him to give him a hand. He continued, "I'm sorry that they did this to you."

Ample Time didn’t actually catch a stranger. Instead, he took Yu Hu, the second son of the Yu Family who lived across from him in Baker Street, captive!

Yu Hu stretched his wrist which was red from struggling as he glanced nervously at the people wearing blue coats around him. He eventually asked in a low voice, “Are they all your men?”

Having not seen Chu Guang for a while, he thought that the stranger had already died outside. He didn’t expect to see Chu Guang again, much less in such a strange place. Just the day before, he was persuading his younger sister to stop guarding the outsider’s shack. There was also dust building on his door back on Baker Street...

"Yes, they are my companions,” Chu Guang replied.

Yu Hu couldn’t help but ask warily, "What are they doing standing around?”

"Eating popcorn."

Yu Hu was confused. "Popcorn? What is that?"

Chu Guang sighed and muttered, "It's not important, you can just ignore them. Speaking of which, why are you here? Where are your father and big brother?"

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Chu Guang recalled that they would act in groups whenever they went out scavenging or hunting.

Yu Hu's expression darkened, and he spoke in a low voice, "During the hunt a few days ago, my father was shot by a marauder. My eldest brother was bitten by a hyena they raised as he tried to save my father. After we escaped, my father survived, but my elder brother suffered an injury due to the hyena’s bite. His wound has been badly infected, and he’s still running a high fever. He can’t even get up from bed! Winter is coming, but I don’t know if he can survive it."

Hyenas, vultures and jackals... Those were the three wasteland animals that didn’t pick their food.

It was especially true concerning the most common hyena in Clearspring City. When it couldn't find prey, it would often eat carrion. When they were extremely hungry, they would even attack Crunchers, so their fangs were usually full of bacteria.

If one was bitten by a mutant hyena, it was easy to get infected if the wound was not treated in time. In serious cases, one’s life might even be threatened.

After listening to what Yu Hu said, Chu Guang frowned.

The Yu family didn't treat him badly when he first arrived on Baker Street. Although they did not take special care of him, their daughter always helped him look after his house and prevented the Wang Family from stealing anything.

"Bring your eldest brother over, maybe I can heal him."

Yu Hu was dazed. He eventually gasped, "Really?!"

Chu Guang nodded. "Mhm, go, bring him here."

Yu Hu looked moved and suddenly lowered his head. "Sorry, you are so kind, but we were always worried that you were a bad person before."

The corners of Chu Guang’s eyes twitched and he mumbled, “It's okay, it's natural to be vigilant..."

He wasn't a good person in the first place.

"Hmm, there's something else... I have to apologize to you."

"What is it?"

Yu Hu blushed and hesitated for a long time. He eventually scratched the back of his head and whispered, "You once planted shofar potatoes before your house... I didn't think it would grow, so I dug them up and ate them."

"..."

What?! You’re the asshole who ate my potato!

Well... It was just a potato. It wasn’t a big deal...

Chu Guang’s expression didn’t change and he replied simply, "It's okay, maybe there was a problem with my method of planting them."

Yu Hu nodded immediately. "Mhm Mhm, you really won't be able to grow something like that! After I dug them out, two pieces were already rotten. If you want to grow shofar potatoes, cutting them into pieces is not enough. You have to let it germinate, and one piece has to have at least two buds. Then, you need to smear the incision with plant ash before burying it. It will mature in a month or two after that.”

Chu Guang looked at him in shock. "You know how to grow them?"

The young man smiled honestly and scratched the back of his head. "This is nothing, everyone knows a little bit about planting. However, it is usually my mother, sister-in-law, and Xiaoyu who grow them."

Chu Guang happily replied, "Okay, when Spring starts next year, I will find something for you to do. Let's leave it aside for now, go back and bring your elder brother."

Hearing what Chu Guang said, the young man remembered that his elder brother was still lying in bed sick, so he nodded and said quickly, "Okay, I’ll go now!"

...

The Wetland Park was about three kilometers away from Baker Street. After exiting the park, one had to pass a concrete ruins with plans scattered all around. If one wanted to avoid the more dangerous areas, they would have to take a two kilometer detour.

However, Yu Hu actually came back carrying his elder brother in less than two hours.

Chu Guang asked Teng Teng to lay a piece of fur on the wooden table before getting Yu Hu to lay his brother, Yu Xiong, on it.

The once mighty eldest brother of the Yu Family was extremely pale at the moment. He looked like he was about to die!

Most of the scavengers on Baker Street were malnourished. Coupled with the lack of effective medical help, it was fortunate enough that they didn't contract any diseases. But if they did, and if their immunity system couldn't handle it, most of them would end up in a grave.

Chu Guang glanced at the man's wound briefly and judged that it was a bacterial infection based on the color of the suppurative wound. He quickly took out the antibiotic he received back then and started to treat the wound.

"Is it useful to use plant ash?" Yu Hu asked nervously.

"Depending on the situation, the high-temperature calcined plant ash is fine."

Calcined plant ash primarily contained potassium salt of alkaline properties, which had a good bactericidal effect.

Although its effect was a little worse than that of alcohol, it was a good substitute when there was no high-purity alcohol, especially in the wild.

Of course, they had to use plant ash calcined at high temperatures.

If they made use of regular plant ash, no one would know if it was carrying tetanus bacillus. Using it might just send the patient to heaven right away.

About five minutes passed.

Yu Xiong's complexion obviously improved a lot. His frown smoothed out, and he also stopped sweating.

Chu Guang noted it all down silently. It was not bad for pre-war technology, the antibiotics he received were pretty good.

Standing next to him, Yu Hu was relieved. When he saw that his elder brother's condition improved, he held his elder brother's hand and yelled excitedly with tears in his eyes, "Yu Xiong, how are you feeling now?"

"Little Hu? Where is this..." Noting Chu Guang standing next to him, Yu Xiong, who woke up in a daze, had a look of surprise on his pale face. "... Chu Guang?"

"It's me."

"You haven’t..."

Chu Guang mumbled quickly, "I’m still alive, but I probably won't go back."

Yu Xiong was dazed. Looking at the people in blue clothes around him, he understood the situation, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Congratulations, it looks like you have found your companions."

"Mhm, I just found them recently," Chu Guang said with a faint smile, "Thank you for looking after me before."

"Don't say that; we didn't do anything, but you saved my life... That capsule, it should be very expensive, right?" Yu Xiong said apologetically.

The strange pill that seemed to be made out of a plastic-like material was a treasure that only Boulder Town should possess. He heard legends of medicine like it but never seen it for himself.

In fact, even in Boulder Town, it was not something that everyone could afford.

Chu Guang said casually, "Don't worry, it's nothing. I'll give you another one later. If you feel feverish, you can take it. If you don't feel feverish, you can save it for the future."

Chu Guang would remember anyone who treated him well, even if they simply helped him a little when he was down.

Besides, though the pill was precious to them, it was just a reward that popped out of nowhere when Chu Guang opened a loot box.

Hearing that Chu Guang wanted to give him medicine again, Yu Xiong shook his head and sighed, "You saved my life, how can I accept such a valuable thing?"

Chu Guang didn't want to dwell on the issue, so he stuffed the aluminum foil that had been divided into small pieces into Yu Hu’s hand. "Keep it for your brother. If he has a fever again, make him take it. Don't make my efforts to save your brother go to waste."

Yu Hu hesitated, but glanced at the injury on his elder brother's leg before nodding.

"Thank you... I will definitely repay you! When I bring him back, I’ll come back and work for you every day!”

"No need. You are now the backbone of your family. You are the only one who can hunt. If you work for me, who will feed your family? If you really want to repay me, try to survive this winter, and then we will discuss some form of work agreement next spring."

Seeing that Chu Guang insisted on delaying the matter, the two of them did not refuse. A grateful look filled their eyes and it was clear that they would be back to repay him the moment winter passed.

Old White, who was watching the cutscene on the side, pulled Ample Time and asked in a low voice, "What are they talking about?"

Ample Time stroked his chin and thought for a second, "I don't know either, but I can roughly guess it."

"Tell me!" Night Ten urged on the side.

"Okay, then I'll just roughly explain my guess, though it's not necessarily true... The young man we brought back went out hunting in order to feed his family, but was captured. The administrator recognized him and asked him to bring his family member who was seriously ill over and cured him with the shelter’s medicine. They seem very moved and should be trying to establish a friendly relationship with us and will probably establish diplomatic relations next.”

Old White was stunned for a second before he asked again, "How will they establish diplomatic relations?"

Before Ample Time could speak, Night Ten patted him on the shoulder, and said with a crafty smile, "You are really stupid, how do indigenous people establish diplomatic relations? Of course through marriage! The chief will marry his daughter into our shelter. That's how people usually do it."

"Damn... then doesn't it mean that our administrator needs to sacrifice a lot?!" Gale coughed slightly.

"Don't listen to Night Ten's nonsense, although this possibility cannot be ruled out, I am more optimistic about him forming a couple with the Weapon Shop owner." Ample Time nodded.

"I agree with Gale. You two should start reflecting on your strange way of thinking!” Teng Teng's eyes sparkled, and she whispered excitedly.

"Why does he have to form a couple with the Weapon Shop owner? Can't it be with the young man who wants to repay him?"

"Ha! You have exposed yourself. You

fujoshi

!"

"How serious do you think this game really is?!”

"..."

Chu Guang, who had been overhearing their conversation, couldn't listen anymore. He walked away and pretended he didn’t hear anything.

Speaking of which... The income of a tailor in the current version seems a little too excessive! I should nerf it next season.