Chapter 64 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

The Fever Spreads Fast

Three days later, the number of fever cases in the refugee camp increased to more than fifty people, concentrated mainly in the southern area near the stream - where Tinh Yen had warned from the beginning. She stood in the middle of the temporary quarantine area that had just been hastily built by blocking off a corner of the camp with old mats, looking at the long row of sick people lying on the ground, her heart heavy with a painfully familiar feeling.

"Twelve new cases just last night." Ton Ba Nghi reported, his voice was less trembling than in the first days but still could not hide his worry. "Three of them were young children, their dehydration was quite severe."

Tinh Yen nodded, moving quickly between the rows of mats, examining each patient one by one, classifying the severity according to a system she had devised based on experience from last year's military camp epidemic with her master Lieu Nguyen - mild cases were given water to replenish electrolytes and monitored on the spot, cases of severe dehydration were given priority for intravenous fluids using a rudimentary but effective method that she had gradually improved over many years of medical practice, and cases showing signs of dangerous complications were immediately transferred to the ward. Special treatment in the city.

"The electrolyte replacement water is about to run out." Nhuoc Lan said, her voice tense, her hands still constantly mixing new batches in a large jar. "We still have enough salt, but we only have enough sugar for two more days if this rate doesn't slow down."

"I will find a way to ask for more from the city." Tinh Yen replied, even though in her heart she already knew the answer she would receive from the grain warehouse. She stood up, brushed the dust off her pillow, her eyes scanned the entire quarantine area - faces haggard due to fever, children crying weakly because they no longer had the strength to cry louder, mothers sitting next to their children with eyes both exhausted and panicked.

That scene was like a knife cutting into her memory, recalling every detail of the July epidemic at Lach Dua - Mrs. Khue worked non-stop for many days, Dang Thi Van lay barely alive on the hospital bed where all efforts to save her were in vain, and finally, her grandmother herself collapsed from exhaustion while trying to save the last patient. Tinh Yen clenched her jaw, trying to banish those memories to focus on the present, but they kept creeping back every time she saw a child trembling with fever.

Baby Tep, fortunately, has passed the most dangerous stage, her fever has completely subsided after three days of continuous care, although her body is still weak and needs more time to fully recover. The girl has now begun to chatter after Tinh Yen every time she passes by, as if she considers her the only support in a strange and scary world.

"Doctor Do!" An urgent voice rang out from the gate of the quarantine area. It was Dinh Ba Kham, his face full of tension as he ran over. "I just talked to Lord Chu about exporting more medicine, but he still refuses, saying that the current reserve is only enough to sustain the army in the event of a prolonged siege, and cannot allocate more to civilians."

"But if the epidemic spreads in the refugee camp, it won't stop there." Tinh Yen said, her voice harsher than usual because of pent-up fatigue and anxiety. "Soldiers also live near this area, and also share part of the water source. If an epidemic breaks out, both the military and civilians will suffer the same consequences. Withholding medicine at this time is not protection, but digging your own grave."

Dinh Ba Kham sighed and nodded in agreement. "I understand that, and I told him the same thing. But Lord Chu seems... to have an unshakable rigidity in this matter, as if he is following some order higher than that of Tran Bac Hau, even though I have no concrete evidence to confirm that."

That sentence made Tinh Yen pause for a moment. She remembered what Wei Khai Trach had said the day they first met - about the numbers on the papers not matching what he saw with his own eyes. A vague but persistent premonition began to form in her heart, although she did not dare to name it out loud.

"I will personally go to see Lord Tran Bac Hau and present the situation directly." Tinh Yen decided. "If the usual paperwork doesn't have enough weight, perhaps a direct voice from someone who is witnessing firsthand what is happening outside the refugee camp is needed."

In the afternoon, Tinh Yen was arranged to meet Ve Khai Trach while he was busy with defense work, only having a short time to present. She spoke quickly but fully, from the skyrocketing number of fever cases, to the risk of the epidemic spreading to the entire military base, to Chu Dac Hoanh's continuous refusal to release the stockpile of medicine.

Ve Khai Trach listened in silence, his face becoming more and more gloomy. "I will personally order the warehouse to be released today." He said, his voice decisive. "We can't let this matter drag on any longer, even if it means going against Lord Chu's wishes."

"Thank you sir." Tinh Yen bowed her head, but before leaving, she hesitated for a moment and then decided to say what was on her mind. "Sir, I would like to ask you something somewhat sudden. Do you know how long Lord Chu has held the position of Food Director at Nghinh Phong, and who recommended him for this position?"

Ve Khai Trach looked at her for a long moment, his eyes shining with a hint of both surprise and appreciation at the sharpness of the question. "An interesting question." He spoke slowly. "Master Zhou took office here about three years ago, personally appointed by the Household Ministry after the old Director of Pay requested to retire due to his old age. I confess, I have never paid too much attention to his background, because the job of managing the treasury is not within my direct military scope."

"Household Ministry." Tinh Yen repeated, those two words were like hammering a nail into the puzzle that was gradually forming in her head.

"What are you thinking about?" Ve Khai Trach asked, his sharp eyes looking straight at her.

Tinh Yen considered for a moment, then decided not to hide it. "I'm afraid, my lord, that Lord Chu's unusual delay and rigidity in distributing relief food may not simply be due to the careful personality of a storekeeper. I witnessed something similar many years ago, in my hometown, and the result of it was an epidemic that claimed many lives, including my own."

Ve Khai Trach was silent for a long time, his eyes distant as if recalling something. "I will have someone secretly investigate more about Lord Chu." He said finally. "But right now, the top priority is still maintaining the defense line and preventing the epidemic from spreading. If there is indeed something wrong, we will not let it continue to cause harm another day."

An emergency warehouse release order was issued that evening, and a significant amount of medicine and sugar and salt were delivered to the military medical station, enough for Tinh Yen and the medical team to breathe a sigh of relief in the next few days. But while supervising the counting of the medicine she had just received, Tinh Yen couldn't help but notice a small but suspicious detail - on some medicine boxes, the layer of dust was much thicker than on other boxes, as if they had been stored in a hidden corner for a long time, not just recently warehoused as the official report said.

She didn't say anything at that moment, just quietly memorized that detail in her mind, along with an increasingly clearer premonition that, behind Chu Dac Hoanh's rigid bureaucratic appearance, something much greater than ordinary negligence might be hiding - something that could be directly related to the name she and her companions had sworn to never forget: Can Ba Thong.

Before leaving the warehouse, she lingered to ask the young warehouse manager one more question, trying to keep her voice natural as if she was just curious. "Those medicine boxes covered in thick dust, do you know when they were warehoused?"

The warehouse manager frowned and quickly flipped through the notebook in his hand. "According to the books, it was just imported half a month ago, in the same batch as the rest." He replied, but his own voice was also a bit hesitant, as if he also realized something was wrong but didn't dare say it directly. "Perhaps it's because that corner of the warehouse is more humid and dust accumulates faster than other places, Doctor Do."

Tinh Yen nodded, not asking further questions, but in her heart, that explanation was like a thin piece of cloth trying to cover up an already obvious crack. She thanked the warehouse manager and left, walking slowly between the rows of silent warehouses under the sunset, her mind reeling with a series of unanswered questions.

On the way back to the military medical station, she stopped by the quarantine area to check on baby Tep one last time of the day. The little girl was able to sit up, her eyes were no longer as dull as the first days. When she saw Tinh Yen, she immediately held out her tiny hands and babbled out the name "Ms. Yen" - a name she came up with after a few days of being with her. That small moment, amidst so many worries, was like a rare warm spark that warmed Tinh Yen's tired heart.

"I'm here." She replied, hugging the baby for a moment, feeling the child's heartbeat become regular again. At least, in the midst of an entire citadel that was shaking due to war and hidden plots that had not yet been revealed, this was a small battle that she had won.

That night, when the oil lamp in the military medical tent gradually faded, Tinh Yen still sat awake, flipping through the pages of the Bach Thao Chan Sutra under the flickering light, not to search for a new remedy, but to find some peace in the familiar handwriting of his master, before entering a new day full of other battles, both on the battlefield and in the darkness of plots yet to be revealed.