Chapter 33 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

The Oath of Indifference to Me

In the middle of the night, a strange noise came from the prisoner's detention area, causing Tinh Yen to wake up from her restless sleep. She quickly put on her coat and ran towards the small tent where Bac Nhi was recuperating, her heart pounding because of a bad premonition.

When she arrived, she saw two soldiers standing in front of the tent door, one of them was the soldier with a scar on his face who had blocked her way a few days ago, holding a dagger, his eyes bloodshot from alcohol and unrelenting anger.

"Stop!" Tinh Yen shouted loudly, rushing to block the tent door, standing between the soldier and Bac Nhi cowering in the corner, her eyes filled with fear.

"Get out of the way, medicine lady." The soldier growled, his breath reeking of alcohol. "I just want to give this enemy a little taste of what his accomplices did to my brother."

"If you harm a wounded prisoner of war, you are not only violating military law, but you are also turning yourself into something you hate!" Tinh Yen replied, her voice not shaking in fear even though her heart was pounding. "I can't let you do that."

"Who do you think you are to stop me?" The soldier took a step forward, dagger in hand.

Just as tension reached its peak, urgent footsteps rang out from behind, along with a familiar, majestic voice. "Put the knife down now!" Thanh Phong appeared, followed by a few patrolling soldiers, his eyes were as cold as ice when he saw the situation before him.

The soldier paused, realizing the seriousness of the situation when facing the deputy general, slowly lowered the knife, his face gradually changing from anger to panic when realizing the consequences that could happen to him.

"Deputy General, I... I just..." The soldier stammered, not knowing how to explain.

"Arrested, sent to detention in a disciplinary camp, awaiting trial according to martial law." Thanh Phong ordered decisively, his voice uncompromising. "Attempting to kill a wounded and defenseless prisoner of war is unacceptable behavior in our military, regardless of the reason."

Two patrolling soldiers escorted the drunk soldier away, leaving Tinh Yen standing there, his whole body still shaking from the stress he had just experienced. Thanh Phong stepped forward, placed his hand on her shoulder, his voice softened and filled with worry.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry for not appointing enough people to guard more strictly." He said.

"I'm fine." Tinh Yen replied, taking a deep breath to calm down. "But if you're a little late..."

She didn't finish her sentence, just turned back to look inside the tent, where Bac Nhi was still cowering in the corner, her whole body trembling because she had just experienced a near-death moment. She walked in, knelt down next to him, trying to reassure him with gentle gestures even though the language was different.

"It's okay, it's okay." She said, even though she knew he didn't fully understand the meaning, he could only feel it through her tone and eyes.

The interpreter was called immediately afterward, translating what Bac Nhi wanted to say, his voice still shaking. "He said, he thought he would die tonight, just like what people say about prisoners captured in the South. He asked, why did you risk your life to stand in front of a knife for a stranger, an enemy, like that?"

Tinh Yen looked at Bac Nhi, choosing each word carefully before responding, letting the interpreter translate. "Tell him, I'm not standing there because of who he is. I'm standing there because he's a wounded person who needs to be protected, and that's the oath I've taken since the day I started learning medicine — save people first, ask about their identity later. That oath has no exceptions, no matter where the person in front of me comes from."

After listening to the translation, Bac Nhi was silent for a long time. His eyes looked at Tinh Yen with deep gratitude mixed with surprise, as if he had never thought such a principle could truly exist in a time of chaos and hatred.

The next morning, Ky Ba Nghiem convened an emergency meeting between commanding officers and the senior biomedical team to discuss better protection of the prisoner detention area. Lu Bat, although initially somewhat hesitant about taking care of prisoners of war, now voiced strong support after hearing reports about last night's incident.

"Even though I also had relatives who lost their lives at the hands of the Northern Empire, I understand that military law is military law, and that discipline in the barracks cannot be broken just because of personal feelings." Lu Bat said, his voice was low but decisive. "From now on, the prisoner detention area will be more strictly guarded by soldiers, no one will be allowed to enter without orders."

Tinh Yen sat in the meeting, feeling both relieved and touched by that unexpected support. She realized, no matter how controversial the path she chose, there were still people willing to stand on the right side, even if it went against their own personal feelings.

After the meeting, when Tinh Yen returned to examine Bac Nhi, she noticed that his wound was healing much better than expected, perhaps partly because his spirit was more stable after the terrible night. He pointed to the Hundred Herbs Chan Sutra she always carried with her, signaling that he was curious to know what it was.

"This is the medical book my master left behind." She said, even though she knew he didn't understand everything, she just opened a few pages to show him the herbal illustrations. Bac Nhi pointed to a plant in the picture, said something in her native language with a rare expression of excitement, and through the interpreter, Tinh Yen learned that plant also grew commonly in the grasslands of his hometown, and was used by the people there to treat skin wounds in a completely different way than what the Bach Thao Chan Sutra recorded.

That small moment of exchange, between two people from opposite sides of the battle line, made Tinh Yen suddenly realize something new - that medical technology, whether in the South or the North, whether in the hands of Dong Lam or Bac Dich people, always aims for the same goal: preserving human life, regardless of the boundaries people draw to separate each other.

That afternoon, Tinh Yen sat down with Thanh Phong on the bank of a familiar stream, telling him about the conversation through interpreter with Bac Nhi, about the herb that grew in common in both seemingly strange lands. Thanh Phong listened attentively, his eyes more thoughtful than usual.

"I have been fighting the Bac Dich since I was eighteen." He spoke slowly, as if recalling a long journey. "During those years, I never thought that they also had shepherd children, small families waiting for their children to return, just like my soldiers. I only saw them as a mass of homogeneous enemies, without faces, without their own stories."

"Perhaps that is also a way for soldiers to maintain the necessary decisiveness on the battlefield." Tinh Yen said, understanding some of the burden in what he had just confessed. "But I think, if everyone had the opportunity to see the real face of the person on the other side of the battle line, perhaps the war would hardly last so long."

Thanh Phong nodded, was silent for a long time, then turned to look at her with thoughtful eyes. "You know, sometimes I wonder, if this war really ends, if people like Bac Nhi and my soldiers can sit together, share a cup of tea, and tell each other about the herbs that grow in their homeland, instead of pointing swords and spears at each other."

"I also hope that day comes." Tinh Yen replied softly, her eyes looking far away towards the mountain range dividing the two lands. "But before that day comes, perhaps the only thing I can do is keep my oath, even if it's just a small spark in the middle of a long, dark night."

The two sat quietly together for a long time, not saying anything, just letting the gurgling stream fill the silence between them, a silence that was not awkward but filled with mutual understanding, which had been built over many months of sharing the burdens of a chaotic time.

A few days later, the drunk soldier was brought to trial before the barracks disciplinary board. Tinh Yen was invited to testify and fully recount the events that night. Standing before the council, she had no intention of taking revenge or making the punishment more severe, just presenting the truth as objectively as possible.

"I understand that he acted out of grief and anger over the loss of a loved one." She spoke before the council, her voice calm. "I do not ask the council for mercy, but I also hope the council considers the circumstances, so that the punishment is enough of a deterrent, while not completely extinguishing a person who can still serve the country in other ways."

That suggestion surprised many people in the council, including Lu Bat, who had prepared himself for a harsher accusation. In the end, the soldier was demoted and sentenced to heavy labor for three months instead of being imprisoned for a long time as allowed by military law, thanks in part to Tinh Yen's tolerant testimony before the council.

When leaving the courtroom, the soldier came to see her, bowed his head low, and his voice was choked. "I'm sorry about that night. I didn't expect you to ask me to lighten my punishment, after everything I did."

"I don't ask for leniency because you deserve it, but because I believe everyone has a chance to correct their mistakes." Tinh Yen replied, her eyes sincere. "Hope you'll use that opportunity for the better."

The soldier nodded, did not say anything more, just quietly turned away, carrying in his heart a lesson that he would probably never forget for the rest of his life, about the tolerance of a young medicine woman whom he had almost harmed just because of a rash moment of unresolved anger.