Chapter 77 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

Blood Spots On Mountain Road

The road Khac Do instructed led Tinh Yen's group through a land much more desolate than what they had passed before - there were no clear paths left, only the faint traces of wild animals and the occasional human footsteps were almost completely erased by wind and rain. The weather began to turn bad as soon as they crossed a high pass. Dark clouds quickly approached, bringing cold winds signaling that a heavy rain was about to fall.

"We need to find shelter before the rain comes." One of the soldiers said, his voice worried as he looked at the rapidly darkening sky.

Tinh Yen nodded, but her eyes still did not leave an unusual dark stain on a nearby rock - the blood was dry, not fresh but not too old, perhaps only a few days old. She knelt down to take a closer look, a feeling of nervousness rising in her heart.

"This could be the trace we're looking for." She said, her voice trembling slightly with emotion and worry. "This blood trail leads in that direction, the same direction as Khac Do village pointed out."

The whole group quickly followed the trail, despite the rain that began to pour down more and more heavily, blurring the remaining blood stains on the road. Ton Ba Nghi, with the sharp eyes of youth, was the one who discovered a few more signs — a torn piece of cloth stuck on a thorn bush, perhaps torn from armor while someone was trying to get through the bushes, and a little further, the footprints of two people, one large and one small, imprinted on the soft ground before the rain completely erased them.

"Doctor Do, look here." Ton Ba Nghi called out, kneeling down next to a flat rock, where there was another trail of blood, smaller but clear, accompanied by traces of something being dragged across the ground - perhaps a person no longer strong enough to walk on his own, and had to be helped or carried across this bumpy road.

Tinh Yen knelt down next to her, her fingers gently touching the dried blood, her heart was both more painful and more determined than ever. "If this is really your mark, it means you are much weaker than when you first left the battlefield." She said, her voice low with worry. "We need to go faster."

"But the rain..." A soldier reminded, looking up at the rapidly darkening sky, thunder and lightning began to flash in the distance.

Tinh Yen nodded, understanding the delicate balance between speed and safety that the group needed to maintain. She stood up, signaling everyone to continue walking as fast as possible before the rain really poured down, trying to take advantage of every remaining moment of the weather that allowed.

"An adult accompanying a child." Dinh Ba Kham once told her about the story of the surviving soldier - an old man and a child. This footprint matches that story, lighting up a ray of hope stronger than ever in Tinh Yen's heart.

But the rain became heavier and heavier, visibility was severely limited, forcing the group to find a small rock hole to take shelter, waiting until the weather was less harsh before they could continue to follow the trail. Sitting huddled in the narrow rock hole, the whole group silently listened to the sound of rain falling outside, each person carrying an indescribable impatience before this forced waiting period.

"I wish I could move on now." Tinh Yen said, her voice full of restlessness, her hands clutching the hem of her already soaked shirt.

"I understand how you feel." The older soldier replied, his voice low but firm. "But traveling in conditions like this, in the middle of dangerous and unfamiliar mountain terrain, it's easy to have an accident, or even lose the traces we have found. Sometimes, waiting is also a part of searching, no matter how difficult it is to accept."

Tinh Yen nodded, tried to suppress her impatience, closed her eyes and tried to find some calm amid the constant sound of falling rain. She thought of Thanh Phong, wondering if he, if indeed alive, was sheltering somewhere in this rain, protected and warm enough, and that thought made her heart ache even more.

To dispel the heavy wait, Ton Ba Nghi spoke softly to break the silence. "Doctor Do, what do you think, if you find Major General Thanh, what is the first thing you will do?"

Tinh Yen smiled slightly at that naive but sincere question, even though her heart was still filled with hundreds of worries. "I'll check the wound first." She replied, her voice containing a rare sense of humor and relief amid the stressful situation. "As a physician, that's always the first thing I think of, no matter who that person is."

The old soldier laughed softly, the atmosphere in the narrow stone cavity softened somewhat thanks to that rare moment of lightness. "I believe, he won't expect anything else from you, Doctor Do." he said. "I heard, he often teases that you value checking your pulse more than sweet confessions of love."

Tinh Yen blushed at that unexpected joke, but couldn't help but laugh lightly. That rare warm feeling was like a small fire warming the group in the middle of the cold rain, giving them mental strength to continue the arduous journey ahead.

Nearly an hour later, the rain began to gradually subside, leaving a thin mist covering the mountains and forests. The weak afternoon sunlight tried to penetrate the gray clouds still lingering in the sky. The whole group quickly left the cave and continued to search for traces even though they knew that the rain had erased most of what they had seen before.

Fortunately, Ton Ba Nghi was the one who discovered a new clue - a bronze button, carved with the image of a small crane, a typical decoration often found on the uniforms of high-ranking officers in the Dong Lam army, lying among the rotten leaves near a small stream.

"Here..." Tinh Yen took the button, her hands shaking when she recognized it. "This is the type of button issued exclusively to commanding officers of major general level and above. I have seen Thanh Phong wearing it on his official military uniform."

Her heart pounded with hope, but also with anxiety as she thought about how the button had fallen off—whether it was a sign of a difficult struggle, or simply natural wear and tear during the arduous journey he had endured.

"Which direction does this stream lead?" Tinh Yen asked, her voice urgent.

The old soldier examined the terrain for a moment, then pointed toward a range of low hills ahead. "If we follow this stream, we will get close to the area Khac Do has indicated, where there is a small village said to be harboring strange injured people."

The whole group sped up their steps. Even though everyone's body was tired after many days of arduous journey, their spirit was given new strength thanks to the clues they continuously found. When the sunset began to dye the western sky red, from the top of a low hill, Tinh Yen saw far away, in the middle of a small valley surrounded by forests, the simple thatched roofs of a small village, the thin smoke of kitchen smoke rising peacefully in the wild landscape of the mountains and forests - a sign of life, of hope, after many long days of searching in vain.

"We're here." Tinh Yen whispered, her voice choked with emotion, her eyes not leaving the small village that appeared before her like a lighthouse in the foggy sea of anxiety and hope interwoven throughout the long journey.

Ton Ba Nghi stood next to her, also looking towards the village with eyes that were both happy and cautious. "It's almost dark." He said. "Should we continue going down now, or wait until tomorrow morning to avoid causing misunderstandings by suddenly appearing in the middle of the night in an unfamiliar village?"

The older soldier nodded in agreement with that caution. "Villagers in border areas are often very wary of strangers, especially in times of war." he said. "If we suddenly appear at night, we will most likely be considered dangerous intruders, instead of people coming with good intentions."

Tinh Yen clearly understood that consideration, even though inside she was anxious to rush down immediately to confirm all the doubts, hopes and fears that had been tearing at her mind for the past few days. But she also knew that a hasty action could destroy everything they had tried to build, could cause the villagers to panic and hide all necessary information.

"Okay." She said, her voice reluctant but understanding the reason. "We will camp here tonight, keep a safe distance, and then early tomorrow morning we will enter the village as dignified as possible, carrying a white flag so that they can clearly see our good intentions from afar."

The whole group quickly set up a temporary camp among the dense trees, enough to shield them from the cold night wind, but Tinh Yen's sleep that night was more restless than ever, her mind kept looking towards the small village in the distance, which might be holding in its heart the answer to everything she had been searching for all those long days.