Hometown

Leaving Luoyang, the land of our long-cherished wish, we headed for Ji Pass. Since the distance to Ji Pass is twice that from Yijue Pass to Luoyang, we made Zhi County, located in the middle, our midpoint.

Although cavalry were deployed to transport the wounded, Guan Yu’s main army in the center was mostly infantry, so their marching speed was inevitably slow.

On the other hand, the rear guard I led was composed of cavalry, so it was possible to engage in battle with the enemy and still arrive at Zhi County to join up with the main army.

As soon as I entered Zhi County, I immediately sought out Guan Yu.

“How is the Grand General’s condition?”

Guan Ping, who was looking after Guan Yu, shook his head dejectedly and said:

“His body is hot, and he hasn’t regained consciousness. As the General of the Guards instructed, we didn’t do any separate treatment, just wiped his body with boiled white cloth.”

Considering the gaze of other soldiers and officers, I replied to Guan Ping in a formal tone:

“You’ve worked hard. Then, the things I asked to be prepared?”

“We’ve gathered everything, but… will they really be of use? Wouldn’t it be better to call for a physician? We’ve inquired about one physician in Zhi County.”

“Unless he’s a disciple of the Three Divine Doctors of Jian’an, it’s better not to have one.”

Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing, Dong Feng.

In an era without even the concept of hygiene. Even in an era where treatment through acupuncture and supplementing with decoctions was everything, they were geniuses transcending their time who built systematic medical theories and even extended their hands to surgical procedures.

Unless it’s a physician inheriting the academic lineage of such people, it’s obvious they’ll only worsen the condition with ineffective folk remedies.

“He is a disciple of those Three Divine Doctors of Jian’an. He identified himself as Wei Zhen, disciple of Zhang Zhongjing.”

“What, you should have said that first! Quickly bring him here!”

Forgetting I was supposed to speak formally, I inadvertently shouted.

Wait, this really appears here? Why is such a noble person in this countryside?

“Anticipating this, I’ve actually already called for him. He’s the one who made the preparations you instructed, General of the Guards.”

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. As soon as Guan Ping finished speaking, the door of the room opened and a middle-aged scholar with a neat appearance came out.

“Ah, are you the noble lady who is Han’s General of the Guards?”

“That’s right. Are you Master Wei who studied under Divine Doctor Zhang?”

“Hmm, yes, but please don’t be too suspicious. I am not here by coincidence, but intentionally.”

“Intentionally?”

Don’t you think that’s more suspicious?

There aren’t many records remaining about Zhang Zhongjing in later generations so there are many doubts about whether he really held office in Wei, but having lived in this era and investigated about the Three Divine Doctors myself, I know he received an official position in Wei.

Despite my lingering suspicion, Wei Zhen smiled as if it was understandable and said:

“I am from the same hometown as the Grand General. My master didn’t leave any last words to be loyal to Wei, so why would I harm someone from my hometown?”

This was another unexpected statement.

In the present where concepts like national consciousness or civic consciousness haven’t even appeared yet, society was nothing more than an extension of local villages.

Even in modern times, regional ties are very important and don’t people share a bond with those from the same hometown? In this era when hometown consciousness was much stronger, sharing the same hometown was enough to become special acquaintances.

The reason I made the plan to escape through Hedong Commandery was also considering that it was Guan Yu’s hometown. Unconditional goodwill towards those from the same hometown. In the worst case, I had planned to shake off the Wei army even with the cooperation of the common people.

After removing my suspicion of Wei Zhen, he immediately brought up the measures I had ordered:

“General of the Guards, have you perhaps studied medicine? I heard Obo and Fan Ya are around Xuzhou, but the orders you gave seem to be following exactly the teachings of Master Hua Tuo.”

“Master Wei, do you know what I’m trying to do?”

“Aren’t you trying to suture? Cloth and thread boiled in hot water, and needles heated in fire to remove disease qi. From what I heard from my master, these were what Master Hua Tuo considered most important.”

Indeed, he had the insight and knowledge befitting a disciple of Zhang Zhongjing.

In an era where acupuncture and decoctions were everything, how many physicians would properly use the term suturing?

There was also a physician who performed surgery to scrape Guan Yu’s bones, so there may be skilled practitioners capable of performing surgery even without inheriting the academic lineage of the Three Divine Doctors, but they would be extremely rare.

To be honest, even this wasn’t entirely satisfactory. If I had my way, I wanted to properly disinfect as well. But conditions didn’t allow it.

Generally, using alcohol from liquor is common sense that anyone can think of, but if the alcohol content is too low, it’s as good as useless.

To have a proper disinfecting effect, the alcohol content needs to be at least 60 proof, but in an era where most alcohol is 3-4 proof cloudy rice wine due to grains being precious, finding such strong liquor was like picking stars from the sky.

Even liquor supplied to the imperial court probably doesn’t have 60 proof. It’s not impossible to make if pure ethanol is obtained through distillation, but where would we get the time and materials for that?

Though regrettable, boiling in hot water was the best option.

“Have you done this before?”

“I haven’t done it myself, but I’ve seen it many times. I’ve learned needlework, and I can quickly imitate anything that involves using the body.”

Watching videos counts as seeing it anyway.

And as I felt when doing the Tan Ji with Cao Pi, this body has unrivaled learning ability in physical activities.

It’s not complex internal suturing, this much is certainly doable.

“Very well. I will assist the procedure by wiping the Grand General’s blood with cleanly boiled white cloth, and prepare decoctions to help recover lost blood and vitality.”

“I’ll be counting on you.”

Wei Zhen and I divided our roles, and with resolute hearts, stepped into the room where Guan Yu was lying.

§

After meeting Wei Zhen in Zhi County and finishing Guan Yu’s emergency treatment, we had to leave immediately. This was because we received reports that not only were Wei pursuit troops catching up again, but even Jian Yong in Bingzhou was showing movement.

I knew that rest was needed rather than moving considering Guan Yu’s condition, but there was no choice. We could only properly rest after crossing Ji Pass at least.

“But since the Grand General has regained consciousness, shouldn’t we be able to set our minds at ease now? The Grand General is a great man of the world, so he’ll quickly shake off these wounds and regain his strength.”

“Yes. Master Wei also said he would come along, and doesn’t he have the medicinal ingredients for the decoction?”

Although Guan Yu had regained consciousness, it was still too early to feel at ease.

‘The fever isn’t subsiding. He may have already developed a secondary infection.’

With not even basic antibiotics existing now, there’s nothing more we can do if a secondary infection has set in. All we can do is pray that Wei Zhen’s decoction is effective.

Carrying anxiety about Guan Yu, we arrived at Ji Pass while blocking the pursuit troops.

Wei Yan and Ma Dai kept their promise and were waiting for us with Ji Pass wide open.

It seems they didn’t think Ji Pass, which is north of Luoyang and also has Wei territory across from it, would become a battlefield, as the defenses weren’t very solid. As they said, Ji Pass didn’t seem very suitable for defense.

Unlike other passes designed to be defended from any direction with gate walls installed on both front and back, Ji Pass was unidirectional. It had a structure where pursuing Wei troops could also climb up the walls using the same stairs.

“We’ll have to abandon Ji Pass.”

There was no need to rely on a pass like Ji Pass anyway. I had personally disrupted the Wei pursuit troops several times already.

Even Sima Yi seemed satisfied with having dealt a fatal blow to Guan Yu, as he didn’t recklessly send pursuit troops beyond Ji Pass where the terrain narrows and a war of attrition is impossible.

It would have been nice if Xiahou Shang had been forcibly sent as a pursuit force like how Zhang He was sent in the original history, that’s a bit regrettable.

Confirming that no more pursuit troops were following, I caught up with Guan Yu’s main army along with Wei Yan and Ma Dai who were the advance party.

Before meeting Guan Yu, I first met and talked with Wei Zhen. Wei Zhen spoke with a troubled expression:

“The prognosis is not good.”

“I see, as expected…”

“Originally, decoctions are meant to replenish energy and boost recovery, but giving the Grand General decoctions now is like pouring a bucket of water on dry fields. The vitality in his body is far too low.”

At sixty years old, which is old even by modern standards. Moreover, unlike his father or Liu Bei, Guan Yu had always carried large and small injuries.

He even underwent major surgery to scrape his bones, so while his body may look healthy covered in muscle on the outside, the inside was not so.

It seems the decoctions weren’t of much help in a state where his self-healing ability had significantly decreased.

“The suturing itself was successful. The bleeding has completely stopped. However, that’s only a temporary measure. The fundamental problem still remains.”

“Would he be able to recover if we took time to rest in one place?”

Wei Zhen closed his mouth for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

“I don’t know. If it were my master, he might have found some other way, but with my shallow learning, I cannot guarantee that I can restore the Grand General. But I will do my best to find a way.”

Leaving words of encouragement, I parted from Wei Zhen and approached Guan Yu. His face had always had a reddish tinge, but unlike his usual healthy appearance, now it was closer to a dark red. It seemed as if he was barely clinging to what little life remained.

“Grand General.”

At my call, Guan Yu struggled to lift his eyelids.

“…It’s Ran.”

“Yes, Grand General, please hold on a little longer. We’ll soon be at Wenhui County. A little further from there is Xie County. If we can reach there, support will come from Guanzhong as well, so you’ll be able to rest and recover.”

“…Xie County…? Xie County…”

Strength momentarily returned to Guan Yu’s voice.

“A nostalgic name…”

Xie County, Hedong Commandery.

Guan Yu softly murmured the name of his hometown where he was born.