Chapter 80 — The Medicine Bearer Through the Chaos

On the Way Back

Three days later, when Thanh Phong's fever had completely subsided and the wound began to show clear signs of healing thanks to Tinh Yen's dedicated care, the group decided to return to Nghinh Phong. A simple stretcher was urgently built by Go Say villagers using sturdy bamboo stalks, enough to carry Thanh Phong through the arduous journey ahead without further affecting the wound that is still in the recovery stage.

"I can still walk on my own." Thanh Phong spoke, his voice much stronger than the first day he woke up, although still weak, trying to sit up from the stretcher in an attempt to prove himself familiar.

"You will lie still on the stretcher until I give permission." Tinh Yen replied, her voice stern and uncompromising, gently pressing his shoulder back to the lying position. "The wound in your side hasn't healed completely yet. If you move too hard too soon, it could make all the healing efforts over the past few days meaningless."

Thanh Phong laughed softly, although the pain made that smile slightly grimace. "I forgot, she always has the final say in everything related to health." He said, his eyes filled with affection even though his voice still carried a familiar hint of teasing. "Okay, I will obediently obey, just because that's what you asked for."

Before leaving the village, Tinh Yen came to thank Tam Ro and the people who had taken care of Thanh Phong over the past few days, left a portion of precious medicine for the small village as a sincere thank you, and also gave Tam Ro some basic first aid methods that could be useful for the village in the future.

"I don't know how to thank you enough." Tinh Yen said, bowing deeply before the old man who had become an unforgettable benefactor in her life.

"No need to thank me, miss." Tam Ro replied, waved his hand, and looked kindly at Thanh Phong who was being carefully placed on a stretcher. "The medicine profession between me and you, in the end, is just trying to keep a little light in the darkest days of life. You save your people, I save people lost in my village, it's all just fulfilling the morality of a person who knows how to use his hands to help people."

Those simple but profound words left Tinh Yen forever engraved in her heart, like a new lesson added to her long journey of learning and growing up since the day she left Lach Dua.

The group set out to return to Nghinh Phong following a different, safer route thanks to additional instructions from Tam Ro, avoiding most of the areas at risk of encountering the armies of both sides. Along the way, Tinh Yen took the opportunity to tell Thanh Phong everything that happened at Nghinh Phong during the time he was missing - the discovery of the secret medicine vault, the notebook with the stylized lotus symbol, and the escape of Chu Dac Hoanh.

When hearing about the piece of leather found in his own armor, Thanh Phong frowned, trying to recall his vague memories. "I remember." He spoke slowly. "A few days before the battle, I caught a strange scout lurking near the North gate area, not wearing the usual Northern Dich outfit. He resisted fiercely, I was forced to kill him during the fight, but before he died, he tried to stuff something into the lining of my armor. I thought it was just a meaningless act while dying, but I didn't expect it to be such an important piece of leather."

"Maybe he wanted to leave behind evidence, a final protest before dying at the hands of the very people who used him." Tinh Yen speculated, her voice thoughtful. "We may never know for sure his true motives, but that piece of skin could now be the vital key to uncovering the entire plot."

The return journey lasted four days, much slower than the departure due to being careful with Thanh Phong's health condition, but fortunately did not encounter any major obstacles thanks to careful instructions from Tam Ro and the tacit respect that Tinh Yen's white flag had built up with both sides in the previous days.

When the group finally saw the Nghinh Phong citadel wall appear in the distance, a cheer rang out from the watchtower, quickly spreading throughout the city. Ve Khai Trach personally went to the city gate to welcome the returning group, and when he saw his son alive, even though still weak on the stretcher, the father, who had always maintained the calm and tough look of a general, finally could not hold back, rare tears rolling down his weathered face.

"My son..." He said, his voice choked, kneeling next to the stretcher, holding Thanh Phong's hand tightly.

"I'm sorry for making you worry, dad." Thanh Phong said, his voice was weak but full of emotion.

"No, you don't need to apologize for surviving and doing exactly what a soldier and a person should do." Ve Khai Trach replied, squeezing his son's hand. "I'm just glad you're back."

Tinh Yen stood silently looking at that emotional reunion scene, her heart filled with an indescribable happiness, mixed with relief after many days of extreme stress. Nhuoc Lan and Ngan Ba Thuyen also ran to her, hugging her in unspeakable joy, while little Tep weaved through the crowd, hugging her leg tightly as if he never wanted to let go.

"I told you, never give up hope." Ngan Ba Thuyen spoke, his voice trembling with emotion, his old eyes filled with rare tears. "I have lived long enough to know that there are miracles that exist in the midst of this chaos, if only people are brave enough to look for them."

Dinh Ba Kham also squeezed in, his face relaxing in a rare smile amid days of constant tension. "Doctor Do, you have done something that our entire camp did not dare to believe was possible." He said, patting her shoulder in a respectful gesture. "I will always remember this courage."

The whole crowd surrounded the returning group, laughter mixed with cries of joy, creating a rare warm scene amidst the ruins still scattered throughout Nghinh Phong citadel - a small ray of light but enough to dispel some of the darkness that has covered this place for the past few days.

That same evening, after Thanh Phong was taken to the special treatment area for continued monitoring, Tinh Yen presented the piece of leather to Ve Khai Trach and everything she had discovered during the past journey. He examined carefully, his face becoming more and more serious as the evidence was gradually being completely pieced together.

"This will be the decisive proof, along with the notebook that was sent to the capital before." He said, his voice filled with determination. "I will have someone prepare an additional detailed copy, enclosing a full report on all developments, ensuring that Truong Princess Nhuoc Tran and Lord Kinh Ba Van have everything necessary to bring Can Ba Thong to justice, although the road ahead will certainly be long and many thorns await all of us."

That night, after everything had temporarily stabilized, Tinh Yen sat beside Thanh Phong's hospital bed, a small oil lamp radiating warm light onto his peacefully sleeping face. She looked at the small flame swaying in the night wind through the crack in the door, suddenly remembering the light in Mrs. Khue's small house in Lach Dua years ago, the oil lamp at the front-line military camp when she was a young student, and now, this small light, in the middle of a citadel that had just experienced so much pain but still stood strong.

She gently placed her hand on the half piece of white jade in her handbag, silently promising to master Lieu Nguyen and Mrs. Khue that the road ahead, no matter how many thorns there are, she and her companions will never stop, until the light of justice finally shines on every darkest corner of this chaotic time, and that small light, no matter how fragile, will never go out.

Thanh Phong slightly turned over in his sleep, his hand unconsciously reached out to hold her hand, and Tinh Yen left it like that, not withdrawing her hand, just quietly sitting and guarding him for the rest of the night. Outside the small window, rare stars had begun to peek through the fading clouds after many days of constant rain and wind, as a sign that, although the road ahead - the war with the North Dich, the struggle to expose Can Ba Thong, and countless other challenges still awaited - the darkest storm may have begun to gradually recede behind them, giving way to a new ray of hope that was slowly dawning on the horizon ahead.