The process of treating the Chief took over an hour, and though Yuan was exhausted, he didn't stop and went on treating both elders.
He made mistakes here and there, but the potency of the grade-2 pills was enough to counteract the worst of his blunders. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Yuan wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back. The wounds were now clean, and the poison had almost been drawn out.
He knew it wasn't a perfect treatment, but it was the best he could do under the circumstances.
With a sigh of relief, Yuan made his way out of the room, his shoulder lowered from exhaustion. No one stopped him this time—he was free to move about as he wished. He had saved the three most important monkeys in the tribe, but he knew there were still many more who needed help.
A few minutes later, Jojo appeared at the entrance. He stood there for a moment, his eyes fixed on Yuan, but his growls were lost on Yuan's ears, bouncing off his mind without comprehension, though he understood what Jojo meant.
Yuan had already seen the number of injured monkeys in different parts of the cave, and Jojo wanted him to help them all, but Yuan knew his resources were limited. He had only a few more detoxification pills, and he knew they would never be enough.
After a brief moment of thought, Yuan took out a piece of paper and a pen from his storage bag. He quickly began sketching images of various herbs, herbs he knew could help with healing and detoxification. These were low level herbs that were easy to find within the valley, and while they wouldn't heal the injuries completely, they could provide relief and speed up the body's natural healing process.
When he finished drawing, he handed the pictures to Jojo, carefully explaining what he needed. It took a few attempts on describing what to do, but Jojo finally understood.
With a grunt, Jojo left with several long-eared monkeys to gather the herbs. Yuan, meanwhile, sat back and pondered what to do next as he rested. He wanted to help, but the monkeys couldn't understand his instructions. Jojo had always been able to understand Yuan because of how long they've together in the valley, but the others… they were different.
Suddenly, an idea struck Yuan. He turned to Red, who was lounging nearby, watching him curiously.
"Red," Yuan said, a spark of inspiration in his eyes, "can you help me explain this to them?"
Red, with his sharp intelligence, understood immediately. Using Universal Beast Language, Red began communicating Yuan's instructions to the long-eared monkeys. Yuan watched, dumbfounded, as the monkeys quickly set to work, bringing him a huge stone bowl and a small one. He had requested two large bowls, but he hadn't expected them to bring something so massive.
He couldn't help but laugh, though the situation was serious. The bowl was big enough for him to fit in, but Yuan had to make way with it. Yuan set the large one up as a furnace, carefully starting a fire beneath it, and began heating it.
When Jojo and the others returned, they were loaded with lots and lots of herbs—some he had asked for, others that were completely unexpected. Yuan sorted through them with the help of few monkeys, separating the useful ones. There were a total of eleven types of herbs, some of which were more potent than others.
He placed six kinds of herbs into the furnace. If someone saw what he was doing now, he would be shocked because Yuan was not refining the pill. Instead, he was cooking a soup with herbs used in making common-grade detoxification pills.
The remaining five types of herbs were thrown into the small bowl as he instructed the monkeys to turn them into a healing paste.
The soup was less potent than the pills, but it was distributed to the injured monkeys quickly. Yuan didn't have the time or resources to prepare individual treatments for each monkey, so the soup was the best option he could think of. It would help alleviate the poison and healing paste would speed up the healing process.
It was already midnight when Yuan finished treating all the monkeys.
As Yuan sat down, utterly exhausted, he took a breath of relief. Although he was exhausted to his very core, he felt very happy. Not only he had saved many, but he also learned a lot. He felt exhilarated.
Yuan didn't even know when but Jojo brought his matrass from the rubble and specifically cleaned a cave for him. Without a word, Yuan lay down, grateful for the kindness of his friend. Sleep took him almost instantly.
*****
The next morning, Yuan awoke feeling remarkably refreshed. His body was sore, but his mind was clear. After a quick breakfast of fruits, Yuan sat cross-legged on the stone floor and closed his eyes, ready to begin his cultivation.
It was a moment he had been waiting for—the first step toward becoming a true cultivator.