Drowsily, Wu Yue furrowed her brow. 'What's with this hospital? How is a patient supposed to rest with all this racket?'
The burning pain in her throat made her irritable. She had been on an IV drip for two days with no signs of improvement. 'Aren't IVs supposed to work fast?'
She struggled to open her mouth, a hoarse, mosquito-like whisper escaping her lips. "Water..."
But the surrounding clamor instantly swallowed her pained groan, leaving her without a single response.
There were clearly many people talking around her, yet not a single one paid any mind to her, the patient.
She moved her eyes, forcing them open. She looked toward the source of the noise, hoping to get a nurse's attention for a glass of water.
But... the sight that met her eyes made her freeze instantly...
Before her was not the clean, comfortable hospital room she expected, but a small, dim, and cramped cave. The cave walls showed signs of having been worked, but they were still rough and uneven.
She was lying in what seemed to be the deepest part of the cave. Beneath her was not a soft bed, but a thin layer of dry grass. More dry grass was scattered sparsely over her body—her only covering.
'No wonder I felt a chill all over, on top of my sore throat.'
The cave entrance was only a few steps away, a testament to how small the space was.
The clamor she'd been hearing was coming from outside.
A group of men and women with messy, tangled hair and nothing but grass vines tied around their waists were shouting at one another. In the heat of the argument, one of them even lifted a leg...
Wu Yue silently turned her head away. 'Holy crap... They're going commando. Where's the decency?'
A cave... grass vines... naked bodies...
'Surely the heavens aren't this "kind" to me!'
Her head instantly started to buzz, and with a loll of her head, she fainted again.
In the instant before she lost consciousness, only one thought remained in her mind: 'This has to be a dream...'
The next time she awoke, she found herself draped over a bony back.
A man was carrying her on his back. Though he was gaunt, his steps were surprisingly steady.
The dryness and pain in her throat had subsided considerably; she must have been given water while she was unconscious.
"Excuse me... Ugh!"
She had forced her mouth open, about to ask where she was, when a sharp pain suddenly shot through her head as if it were being pierced by a thousand needles.
The intense agony made her cry out in a pained groan, making her wish she could just crack her own head open.
The man carrying her seemed to sense that something was wrong. He quickly turned and set her on the ground, then ran in a panic toward the front of the group. "Clan Leader, Yue is having an attack again!"
Hearing the man's words, a tall, middle-aged man at the very front of the group stopped. His coarse brows knitted together, his face a mask of impatience. "Is this ever going to end..."
He grumbled under his breath as he walked over to Wu Yue, who was rolling on the ground.
Seeing Wu Yue twitching in agony on the ground, the burly man frowned at the gaunt tribesman. "Pick her up and keep moving. We can't afford to be delayed for too long. We need to get back to the tribe as soon as possible."
The gaunt man flinched, nodding repeatedly. He then bent down, hoisted the struggling, crying Wu Yue onto his shoulder, and hurried to catch up with the group ahead.
But Wu Yue, slung over his shoulder, gradually grew quiet...
"DING! System binding successful!"
A mechanical voice rang out in Wu Yue's mind, but having already fainted from the pain, she didn't hear it.