Chapter 134: Village Chief’s Granddaughter (1)
In front of both the village chief’s house and Gara’s home, a crowd of villagers had gathered. Word had spread quickly about the worsening condition of the chief’s granddaughter.
"For months now, Rima’s only survived thanks to the miss healer’s water," one villager explained to Wina, the newcomer. "But it can’t cure her. It only keeps the poison from spreading."
"Didn’t the chief ever take her to a county healer?" Wina asked.
"He spent everything on treatment for his son and daughter-in-law. They still died in the end. When Rima was contaminated too, he no longer had enough to bring her to the county. He bought medicine from a town healer a few times, but... it never worked."
Healer in the county was expensive, too expensive. That was why the village couldn’t hire a healer of their own. They could only rely on a newbie Liner who happened to have healing ability to keep the clinic running.
Wina looked toward the chief’s door with a heavy heart. To lose his children and now his granddaughter... no old man should have to carry that burden alone.
Down the road, Narin appeared, trailed by Mohan and Kian.
"The miss healer’s here!"
"Chief, Rima can be saved!"
"Make way, make way!"
The sorrowful faces of the villagers lit up with hope. They quickly cleared a path.
Narin, followed by Kian and Mohan, went straight into Rima’s room. She knew the way. She’d been there often before.
Inside, Hari was struggling to hold down his granddaughter’s convulsing body. The little girl was frighteningly thin, her face pale, lips blue, white foam bubbling from her mouth, with dark bruises showing beneath her skin.
"Wipe the foam from her mouth first," Narin ordered, covering her nose.
Mohan and Kian exchanged a look, barely stopping themselves from shaking their heads at her behavior.
Before, Narin used to hide her arrogant demeanor, but ever since her clash with Gara, she had begun showing her true face.
Hari obeyed Narin without complaint. He didn’t care how rude she was, so long as she saved his granddaughter.
Narin sat beside the child and extended her hand toward Rima’s mouth. "Open it."
Hari struggled to restrain Rima’s spasms. He couldn’t get her mouth open.
Mohan and Kian finally stepped in to hold her down while Hari pried her mouth apart.
Water streamed from Narin’s hand directly into Rima’s mouth.
Moments later, the seizures eased. Hari, Mohan, and Kian all let out a breath at the same time.
Narin dusted her hands off, as if brushing away dirt. "It’s done," she said, smug.
"Thank you, miss healer." Tears welled in Hari’s aged eyes.
Narin didn’t reply, only gave a proud little smile. Now her plan could proceed. If she played it right, she could push the chief into forcing Gara to kneel before her.
"Chief, we’ll be going now. Call for us if you need anything," Mohan said. Kian gave a brief nod behind him.
"Thank you, thank you," Hari said over and over in gratitude.
Then, he adjusted his granddaughter’s pillow and blanket. But when he looked down at her face, his chest clenched. Her eyes had rolled back, showing only whites.
This was no good sign. He checked her breathing. It was faint, almost gone.
"Miss healer! Please—my granddaughter!" Hari cried out, desperate, hoping she hadn’t gone too far yet.
Fortunately, Narin was still lingering near the front door. She, along with Mohan, Kian, and a handful of villagers standing nearby, all heard Hari’s desperate cry.
Narin snorted but stepped back inside, followed by Mohan, Kian, and the others.
The moment she entered the room, her expression shifted. Rima no longer looked merely pitiful. She looked terrifying, as if teetering on the very edge of death.
Narin tried again, giving the girl her water, but nothing changed. Rima’s frail body was utterly drained of strength.
"Please, save my granddaughter, miss healer!" Hari cried, his voice raw. The scene mirrored the final moments of his son and daughter-in-law before they passed.
"Just let her live a little longer," he begged. "I’ve finally gathered enough coins to take her to a county healer." The old man dropped to his knees.
After selling his house and borrowing from others, he had finally scraped together enough money. He had planned to leave for the county within days.
But fate had struck cruelly before he could carry out that plan.
Narin frowned. She had known, even before arriving in this village, that Rima’s condition was beyond saving.
She didn’t even understand how the girl had survived this long. Deep down, Narin knew her water alone couldn’t save her.
She raised her hand. "There’s no hope left."
"What?! No! Please—save her!" Hari wailed, his grief shattering what little strength he had left.
The villagers joined in, pleading with Narin not to give up.
"I’m no god," Narin snapped, flicking her hand dismissively. "Her condition was already beyond saving. Only a county healer could have helped her. Don’t blame me. You’re the one who failed to give your granddaughter the proper treatment."
Her words cut deeper than a blade, but Hari had no defense. He had always blamed himself for not taking Rima to the county sooner, and now hearing it from another only twisted the guilt further into his heart.
Meanwhile, in the house next door, Gara was finishing a new batch of anti-toxin pills. Unlike before, this batch was made separate from his anesthetics.
He wanted these pills ready for when he finally reached the river’s contamination source or if the source was gone, for cleansing the remaining waterways.
He crafted several grades of effectiveness, with the strongest version infused with his own water.
After days of experiments, Gara had learned something remarkable. Rea’s influence enhanced the potency of the pills in a way similar to his own water.
By combining all three—Rea’s chewed venaleaf, his water, and the herb itself—the final result reached its peak potential.
And really, venaleaf chewed by Rea wasn’t that disgusting. Back in his old world, there had been coffee beans fermented in the stomachs of civet cats. Compared to that, leaves touched only by the mouth were hardly worth fussing over.
Still, Gara wished for another method. He couldn’t mass-produce anti-toxins if every batch depended on Rea and her children.
He wanted Alrove Shop to welcome a new product.
...