Arknights' Lock of Heaven

Upon hearing this, Anton's heart tightened, thinking that Victor had finally seen something unspeakable. Just as he was about to offer his comfort, Victor, whom he was supporting, spoke up excitedly.

"Smoke from cooking fires! That's smoke from cooking fires!!!"

Victor strained and tried to run down the hill, but Anton stopped him, because his body and mind were already very weak after the long journey and the great joy and sorrow.

"They're still alive! They're still alive!"

Anton struggled to pull the excited Victor back, then looked up.

Ah, indeed, wisps of smoke rise from the snow-covered villages.

"Calm down! Victor, calm down!" He suppressed his excitement and quickly reassured him, "We can go over slowly. You're too weak to run."

“Ah, yes,” Victor turned to look at him, his lips, which had been frozen stiff, managed to move upward with difficulty, revealing an ugly smile. “It’s alright, it’s alright, Anton, you really didn’t lie to me.”

"Miss Frostnova, the princess of the Yeti, truly worthy of being the daughter of a patriot!"

“You’re not lying to me, she really is that powerful,” Victor looked up at the village and the few figures that quickly passed by after spotting them.

"Miss Frostnova, you are truly a hero to the Infected..."

His voice grew softer and softer, as if all the strength in his body had been drained away in an instant, and he slumped against Anton.

"Victor? Victor!" Anton saw this and quickly hugged him, reaching for his neck.

Fortunately, still alive.

Meanwhile, Froststar arrived with her team from the other side.

???

what?

That line, 'Miss Frostnova, you are truly a hero to the Infected…'

Did I do something?

Why did this person praise me after seeing me come over, and then suddenly faint?

"Uncle Anton, who is this?" With a face full of question marks, she could only look at this familiar person.

"There's no time to explain, let's get him back to the village first!" Anton didn't have time for catching up; a life was at stake. He carried Victor on his back and ran towards the village.

Froststar didn't hesitate either, leaving the others to continue keeping watch while she went directly to find Xia Yu.

After all, it seems there are no doctors in the village, so the only reliable person right now is probably this consultant.

Well, although Frostnova, who has been by Kal'tsit's side for a long time, often heard the former belittle Xia Yu's 'medical skills', being able to hold a position in the medical department and participate in drug research means that she must know a thing or two, right?

368. Medicine? No, witchcraft!

“It’s nothing serious,” Xia Yu pretended to take Victor’s pulse, then looked up at the anxious villagers around her after a couple of seconds and said, “It’s just malnutrition, exhaustion, and over-excitement. Get some rest. There’s not much here, so I’ll use some of my family’s secret recipe to tide you over.”

"Then when the Orville arrives, we can go up there and recuperate properly."

"This... Doctor, thank you so much," Matic said, quickly grasping Xia Yu's hand in front of the villagers. "We don't know what we would do without Chief Victor."

"Yeah, without the village chief, how are we supposed to survive..."

"Doctor, doctor, what medicine do you need? Should I go up the mountain to look for it?"

“No need, where are we going to find him in the dead of winter?” Xia Yu shook her head upon hearing this, then took out a water bottle from her backpack. “He was just weak and fainted because of the shock. Luckily, I have some tonics here, which can help him recover.”

"As for what happens afterward, the professional doctors on the Orville will take good care of him."

Actually, there was no tonic in the water cup; it was just that Xia Yu had a habit of bringing some meat broth from the Rhodes Island cafeteria every time she set off.

However, just like his mystical medical skills, it doesn't matter if there are no tonics; if I say it's a tonic, it immediately becomes a tonic.

Forget about tonics, even if you just rub some mud off your body, knead it into a ball, and call it a "leg-stretching and eye-glaring pill," it will actually work.

Of course, this is just an example; he wouldn't actually get any mud on his body.

"Look, the tonic is in the bottle. Give him a couple of sips first. After he wakes up, he can come to me for a bowl every time he eats," she said, picking up an unlimited-capacity water glass and pouring it into his mouth.

Seeing this, Matic opened his mouth to stop them. How could they force-feed something to an unconscious person like that? Although he wasn't a doctor, he at least had this much common sense!

But before he could even speak, he saw Victor, who was lying on the bed, gulp it all down.

His words of protest instantly stuck in his throat.

"What is this?" After taking a few sips, Xia Yu turned around and saw his dumbfounded look, and asked in bewilderment.

"It's nothing, your medical skills are superb."

"Oh, thank you. It's a genuine traditional Chinese medicine doctor, passed down through generations."

"..." Frostnova, who was standing to the side, opened her mouth when she saw this, but then found herself speechless.

Because Victor's face, which had been deathly pale just moments before, had visibly regained its rosy hue.

"This," Matic said sincerely upon seeing this, "Doctor, you are truly a miracle worker."

“It’s all family tradition,” Xia Yu waved her hand. “Everyone, go about your business. Just leave one or two people to take care of the patient. Too many people will make the room stuffy and bad for his condition. Don’t worry, he will get better.”

Upon hearing this, Matic quickly shooed the villagers away.

Meanwhile, Frostnova fell into a long silence.

Dr. Kal'tsit... said that this miraculous healing skill is quack medicine? ???

I didn't think much of it before, since I hadn't witnessed it with my own eyes, and Dr. Kal'tsit's medical skills are recognized as top-notch on Rhodes Island, but... what I'm seeing now... could Dr. Kal'tsit have done it?

Could a seriously ill patient recover so quickly, even if placed in a ward on Rhode Island?

Although Xia Yu's medical consultation process was like metaphysics, completely different from the modern medical technology he had seen and learned on Rhodes Island, it was really useful!

Froststar hadn't studied for long and didn't understand much, but she was deeply impressed!

As for Dr. Kal'tsit constantly pointing her finger at Xia Yu Consultant and saying he wasn't good enough, and even giving him a bunch of books to study... is this what they call rivals among colleagues?

But why did Xia Yu, the consultant, accept everything when confronted directly? Why didn't she refute a single word?

I was secretly pleased with myself when I first saw it, as Dr. Kal'tsit had remarked that the consultant's medical knowledge was inferior to mine, given that I had only studied it for a few months...

Looking back now... ugh, the way the consultant didn't talk back when he was being scolded... Could they be...? Could this be...?

"What's wrong?" Xia Yu asked, puzzled, as she stood up from the bedside and saw Xia Yu's absent-minded expression. "Do you think there's something wrong with my diagnosis?"

“No, no, no,” Frostnova instinctively denied upon hearing this, “How could I possibly question your medical skills, Consultant?”

"Then why is your expression so strange?" Xia Yu was completely confused. "I thought I had made a mistake in my diagnosis."

Hearing this, Froststar thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, "Advisor Xia Yu, could I, um, I mean, could I learn medicine from you?"

"Uh, why do you want to learn from me?" Xia Yu was stunned when she heard this. "Isn't learning from Kal'tsit a good idea?"

“But, how should I put it, although Dr. Kal'tsit is highly skilled, it’s not the kind of medical skill I want to learn,” Frostnova hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and said frankly, “I am ultimately a warrior, and I can’t stay by the operating table forever. Traditional medical skills are not suitable for me. Like you, well, how should I put it, simple and quick, you can diagnose a condition just by touching the wrist.”

"Then the medical skills that can also make various emergency medicines, I think are more suitable for me. On the battlefield, such medical skills are more useful."

Xia Yu looked at the serious Shuang Xing with a wry smile. No, she had really been fooled by her.

To be honest, I don't know any medical skills. I rely entirely on talking nonsense and brute force to create miracles. Who can learn that?

“Don’t you often see Kal’tsit criticizing my medical skills when you’re with her?” he said, half-laughing and half-crying. “Actually, my so-called ‘medical skills’ aren’t that good at all.”

“But…” Frostnova hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, “In that situation just now, even Dr. Kal'tsit couldn’t have done something as effective as you, could she?”

“And what Dr. Kal'tsit said,” she paused, “wasn’t you angry? She’s such a good doctor, and she was belittled like that… and she even made you study my textbooks…”

Hearing this, Xia Yu's lips twitched.

This is truly a huge misunderstanding. Perhaps in Frostnova's eyes, Kal'tsit was being sarcastic towards her, but Xia Yu actually knew that she genuinely wanted her to study medicine properly.

Well, different perspectives bring different feelings. What I thought was nothing at first turned into something sarcastic in Frostnova's eyes because Xia Yu showed off her 'medical skills' here.

It's not that Xia Yu doesn't want to learn, but people's time is limited, and there are so many other things to learn. Medical skills have a very low priority compared to other things.

Of course, Kal'tsit was also at fault. If her mouth hadn't been so sharp-tongued and left such a bad impression on Frostnova, Frostnova's thoughts wouldn't have turned out this way so smoothly.

“Well, you might have misunderstood something,” Xia Yu sighed upon hearing this. “Kal’tsit wasn’t trying to belittle me or anything; she genuinely wanted me to study hard.”

“But…” Frostnova pursed her lips and glanced at Victor, who was lying on the bed. He had just looked critically ill, but now his face was rosy and his breathing was steady.

She hesitated, but everything was understood without being said.

With your miraculous medical skills, why would you need to start learning from scratch like me?

"Well, you should just listen to her," Xia Yu sighed. "This isn't some proper medical skill; nobody can learn it."

Hearing this, Frostnova paused for two seconds, thinking about what the advisor had done in the Grand Knights Territory last night, and then...

Thinking about Dr. Kal'tsit, her medical skills probably weren't exactly professional.

"It's good that you've figured it out," Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief, then went out with Shuangxing and saw Matic standing at the door looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Is there a problem?"

"Um, doctor, um..." He stammered for a while, then gritted his teeth amidst Xia Yu and Shuangxing's increasingly puzzled expressions, and asked, "Can we really go with you?"

"Didn't you explain things clearly to them last night?" Hearing this, Xia Yu turned to look at Shuang Xing.

“I did tell them,” Frostnova said, equally confused. “I told them a lot about Rhodes Island, and about the Orville. I also told Thomas and the others about the camp that the old fogey set up…”

“No, of course Miss Frostnova said so,” Matic quickly said upon hearing this, “but… I’m not quite sure. I’ve never had a good thing happen to me in my life. I just… I just… can’t quite believe it.”