"Um..."
The old woman seemed to know how to take care of people. She took a rough bowl from the side, poured some clean water into it, and helped Gu Shi Yi sit up to take a sip of water. That mouthful of lukewarm water was like sweet rain falling in the desert; Gu Shi Yi's throat was moistened, and she suddenly felt a surge of energy,
"I... where am I?"
The old woman gently stuffed a wad of cloth behind her head, propping it up a little, and then replied,
"We are at the Dragon-Tiger Escort Agency. You rolled down from the mountain and our Sixth Master found you, he saved you..."
She paused and then added with an embarrassed look on her face,
"You are a young lady, aren't you... The men in front didn't realize it, and let Liu Er and the others take care of you for two days. It turned out... once we reached the town, a doctor was called to take your pulse, and he revealed that you are a woman..."
As she spoke, she carefully observed Gu Shi Yi's expression to see whether she had taken in the information and continued,
"...The Sixth Master then asked me to take care of you, miss... you know, although Liu Er and the others took care of you for two days, they... they didn't dare to do anything improper. Before, when we were traveling in the mountains, without a doctor and medicine, they just fed you some coagulant medicine in a rush. You... you... due to the urgency of the situation, I hope you won't mind, miss?"
In these times, people still valued reputation and propriety. This lady in front of her, although not young and called 'miss', was likely married, and it was unknown why she had fallen from such a high slope.
It was also because of Sixth Master's kind heart; seeing someone injured so badly, he felt pity and had Liu Er and the others rescue her onto the vehicle. Liu Er and his men didn't look closely, and last night, they even shared a bed with her in a dormitory arrangement. If her husband's family learned of this, she would likely not escape being divorced. Think about it... this situation got so messy, trying to save someone but end up damaging her reputation instead. Because of this, the Sixth Master gave Liu Er and the others a severe beating,
"You blockheads, when saving someone, did you not even distinguish between a man and a woman!"
Liu Er and the others also cried out their injustice,
"Sixth Master, please look, how in the world does she resemble a woman? Besides... if we truly stripped her to check clearly, wouldn't her chastity be completely gone then?"
This person had internal injuries, and their escort team only had common trauma medicine; they had no accompanying doctor and didn't dare to move her recklessly. They simply carried her onto the cart, and last night, they had only placed her on the bunk to sleep without doing anything else!
Sixth Master also felt helpless, but since they had already rescued her, it wouldn't be right to just leave her by the roadside. They could only make room in a compartmented horse carriage and called an old cook to take care of the injured.
The old woman, when speaking of these matters to Gu Shi Yi, was quite worried that because of the issues regarding her reputation she might seek death. Wasn't that supposed to save someone, but instead harm them?
Seeing that Gu Shi Yi didn't speak but just looked down at her own chest, she quickly said,
"Do not worry, miss. Since you fell from the mountain and spat blood from your mouth, they were afraid you had internal injuries and dared not move you. They only bandaged the wound on your shoulder. Because the doctor upfront needed to feel your bones, I had to undo your clothes..."
Gu Shi Yi wasn't concerned about that at all; she was looking at the clay figure on her chest. Seeing that the oilcloth pouch was properly hanging there, she was relieved, blinked her eyes, and after a long while realized the implication of the old woman's words,
"Oh... Old Lady, you misunderstood; I... don't worry, I... I won't overthink it!"
What's there to overthink? Life is the most important. Besides, having been with the Old Taoist Priest, what hadn't she seen? She'd witnessed live scenes not just once or twice. If she really cared about that, she should have gouged out her eyes and hanged herself with a belt long ago!
The old woman, seeing that Gu Shi Yi was so open-minded, naturally breathed a sigh of relief,
"That's good! That's good! Reputation is not as important as life! It's good that the miss thinks so openly!"
Since Gu Shi Yi had such severe internal injuries and lacked energy, after speaking with the old woman for a while, she fell into a deep sleep again.
Gu Shi Yi slept and woke, and woke and slept for three days. Fortunately, the doctor they had called was quite skilled. By the fourth day, Gu Shi Yi's sleeping time gradually reduced, and she spent more time awake. As she talked more with the old woman, she learned that her surname was also Gu. Old Lady Gu exclaimed joyfully,
"We are actually of the same surname; eight hundred years ago, we were one family!"
Of course, Gu Shi Yi went along with the conversation, affectionately calling her 'aunt'. Old Lady Gu smiled and said,
"Oh good! In our family, we have a bunch of boys and only two girls, but unfortunately, they both had ill fates. One died of illness not long after her marriage, and the other died giving birth..."