Chapter 2628: Gao Ming
Along the way, Xu Huo learned that the man's name was Gao Ming. He had been a surgeon before, and after his hometown was destroyed, he wandered with some fellow villagers. From a first-class resident, he became a second-class resident, then a third-class resident. Not long after cleaning sewers, his home was gone again. He was leading many people, many of whom were sick, and no city was willing to accept them, so they had to live in the wild.
Fortunately, this canyon area, due to pollution, was neither desirable to people nor to mutant animals. Relying on the knowledge he had picked up during his wandering days, he and the others settled nearby.
Soon they arrived at the place Gao Ming had mentioned. The situation was better than Xu Huo had expected. Simple wooden huts had been set up in the woods, surrounded by a fence. Some nearby land had been cultivated, and the vegetables planted were growing well.
"Doctor Gao is back!" An old man working at the entrance shouted when he saw Gao Ming, and then people came out of the wooden huts in twos and threes, gathering near the entrance to welcome him.
Gao Ming handed the backpack to a teenage boy. "These are all poisonous. Be careful when handling them."
"Leave it to me, Doctor Gao!" The boy said confidently, carrying the backpack.
Gao Ming smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You're almost an adult now. You'll be our pillar in the future. Always remember to be cautious. Caution is what keeps you alive."
The boy's smile faded, and he nodded seriously.
Then Gao Ming introduced Xu Huo and the Painting Woman. "Both are passing guests. They'll stay for one night and leave tomorrow."
"Aunt Pan, if you can't finish the vegetables you've picked, spare me a little first. You can come get some when my crops are ready." He said to the bespectacled old woman beside him.
The old woman touched the scar on her neck and said with a smile, "A little bit of vegetables is nothing. Just take them and eat. I can't finish them anyway, and I'm about to harvest the second batch."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony," Gao Ming said. "When I have some free time, I'll help you harvest."
The old woman nodded repeatedly.
Since Gao Ming was hosting guests, many people showed their sincerity, bringing some fresh vegetables, some dried game, and sour wine made from wild fruits.
Xu Huo hadn't seen real ordinary people in a long time.
After evolution, ordinary people in the districts had at least some benefits. Even in the more chaotic districts, to ensure a steady stream of players, they would try to improve the ordinary people's physiques, hoping they could give birth to stronger offspring.
The people in this village were almost all old, weak, sick, or disabled. There was no trace of them having taken any evolution agent. Similarly, they hadn't been eroded by genetic diseases. They were the most ordinary kind of people.
However, many of them had scars, and quite a few were in fatal spots. For example, Granny Pan, the scar on her neck covered half of it. Judging from the mark, the injury must have been very serious at the time. In an environment like Zone 039, it was a miracle she had been saved.
Xu Huo looked at Gao Ming again. He wasn't wearing any props, and his protective suit was just ordinary clothing smeared with medicine. The only difference between him and the others was that his physical fitness was better. He wasn't a player.
But this person's state was not only vastly different from the villagers, but even many players would pale in comparison. It was obvious at a glance that he was a person full of energy, vitality, and optimism.
"Sit down." Gao Ming came over with two cups made from wooden tubes. The surface of the swaying liquid reflected some faint colors, looking as if it hadn't been properly processed.
"The conditions are simple, but this water is drinkable. It's not poisonous and is very clean," he explained. "It won't have any adverse effects on the human body."
The other villagers drank the same water, and even the sour wine they brewed had a layer of sheen floating on its surface.
Gao Ming sat with them for a while before going to cook. Xu Huo went over to help, also taking out some ready-made vegetables to add to the meal.
Gao Ming was very happy to see this and didn't stand on ceremony. He directly asked if he could call a few children over to eat. "The children in the village, except for Xiao Hao, were all born during our wanderings. They're seven or eight years old and have never eaten anything from outside. Let them have a taste."
Xu Huo naturally didn't object. Gao Ming called the child who was playing near the wooden hut to go get them. The kid had been craving the food for a long time and ran off happily after agreeing. Soon, he came back with five companions of various sizes.
The teenager Xiao Hao was also called over. Three adults and seven children sat around the table, starting a meal that wasn't exactly sumptuous.
Gao Ming didn't eat much. With a gentle gaze, he left the food for the children.
After eating, the children helped clear the table, wash the dishes, and clean the house before leaving. Xiao Hao brought over the processed mutant plants and followed Gao Ming to grind them into medicine.
"...Its buds are only slightly poisonous. Taken orally, they can stimulate the heart to a certain extent. In an emergency, you can chew them to save a life. The roots and stems are highly toxic. They must be sifted three times before they can be used in small amounts as medicine..." Gao Ming explained as he worked, and soon the medicinal herbs were separated by toxicity level. Some had their juices collected, others had their crushed leaves gathered, and then they were placed on a large shelf in the room filled with all kinds of jars and bottles.
The jars and bottles on the shelf were a mix of new and old. Some finished medicines were already labeled with what diseases or emergencies they could treat, while most others were labeled as poisonous. Behind the shelf were two large baskets, filled with all sorts of medical books.
"Those were gifts from passing friends," Gao Ming said, seeing that Xu Huo seemed interested. "I've written down the source of every book. In the future, these books will be inherited by Xiao Hao. When Zone 039 is peaceful one day, they will be sent to the government for preservation, becoming a testament to our friendship with friends from other zones."
He seemed to have just said it casually, then went to put away his tools.
"Is he trying to ask you for medical books?" The Painting Woman's communicator appeared in front of Xu Huo.
Pushing her hand away, Xu Huo planned to find some suitable books to give as gifts. But at that moment, people suddenly arrived at the village entrance. Three players, one carrying a child, rushed straight to Gao Ming's place. "Doctor Gao, please take a look at the child!"
Gao Ming dropped what he was holding and ran out. The moment he saw the child, his expression changed slightly. He quickly took the child and carried him inside.
When the arriving players noticed an out-of-zone player inside the house, they paused for a moment, but quickly focused their attention on the unconscious child and Doctor Gao. One of them quickly explained the situation. "The child was hit in the heart by a blade fragment. We fed him a self-healing agent, but the kid's body adapted too quickly. The regrown muscle tissue trapped the blade inside. We can't pull it out or move it..."
Gao Ming quickly performed a basic examination, then pressed his palm against the scar on the child's chest. "The blade cut a blood vessel. The self-healing agent is useless. We need to operate immediately."
This was clearly not the first time. The player who had spoken quickly helped set up a makeshift operating tent. Through the tent, Xu Huo saw that Gao Ming didn't pick up any tools. He just held his palm suspended above the child's heart. As his fingers moved slightly, a new wound was cut into the child's chest by spatial power!