Chapter 631 - 629: Dizzy
Chapter 631: Chapter 629: Dizzy
"What was that sound?" Wu Qiao Ping glanced warily toward the cave entrance and whispered.
"Probably just the wind," An Zhijiang said after listening for a moment.
"It’s not a wild animal trying to get in, is it?" Wu Qiao Ping’s eyes darted around as she whispered to An Zhijiang.
Hearing Wu Qiao Ping’s words, An Zhijiang felt a shiver of fear. "It... it shouldn’t be. This cave Su Qing found is pretty well hidden."
"But what if?" Seeing An Zhijiang hesitate, Wu Qiao Ping grew displeased. "Why don’t we go check the entrance together?"
An Zhijiang thought for a moment and said, "Forget it. You’re a girl. I’ll go take a look by myself."
Wu Qiao Ping’s heart leaped with joy, but she quickly added, "O-Okay, then. Be careful. Just take a quick peek. If there is a wild animal outside, don’t let it spot you."
"Okay." An Zhijiang nodded. Suppressing his unease, he grabbed a stick and crept quietly toward the mouth of the cave.
At that moment, Su Qing, who had been sleeping in a corner of the cave, slowly opened her eyes. She watched Wu Qiao Ping sitting alone by the campfire, a faint smile playing on her lips.
’Here we go,’ she thought. ’The show’s about to start!’
Wu Qiao Ping watched An Zhijiang walk toward the entrance with the stick. She quickly glanced behind her, saw that her companions and the teachers were all sound asleep, and pursed her lips. Taking a deep breath, she hastily pulled a small, oil-paper packet from her pocket. She then tossed the powder from the packet into the campfire before quickly stuffing the empty packet back into her pocket.
Just as she finished, An Zhijiang returned with the stick. "There’s nothing outside," he said. "I listened for a bit. It’s just the wind picking up. It probably blew some branches to the ground."
"Oh, that’s good," Wu Qiao Ping said with a quick smile.
Wu Qiao Ping had schemed against her own sister three years ago. Her composure was much stronger than the average person’s, so naturally, An Zhijiang didn’t notice anything was amiss.
"Don’t worry, we’re fine," An Zhijiang told her. "This cave is so well-hidden, and Mr. Bai even sprinkled some powder at the entrance to mask our scent. Wild animals probably won’t be able to find us easily. We should be very safe here."
"That’s good." Wu Qiao Ping nodded. "Mr. Bai’s medical skills are excellent."
An Zhijiang had always held Bai Qingyuan in high esteem and aspired to become his student. Hearing Wu Qiao Ping’s praise, he smiled. "Mr. Bai’s medical skills are absolutely superb."
Wu Qiao Ping smiled and nodded, glancing discreetly at the campfire. ’The powder I threw in will take at least ten minutes to work,’ she thought. ’It should start giving off a scent soon. It won’t be strong, but it’ll be noticeable if you’re paying attention. I absolutely can’t let An Zhijiang detect it.’
With that in mind, Wu Qiao Ping grabbed two leftover pieces of wild boar meat from dinner, skewered them on sharpened sticks, and handed one to An Zhijiang. "We have to stay up for the first half of the night, and it’s getting chilly. Let’s roast something to eat."
"Sure." An Zhijiang, suspecting nothing, took the skewer of meat and began roasting it over the fire. Before long, the fragrant aroma of roasting meat drifted through the air, masking the scent of the powder.
Wu Qiao Ping and An Zhijiang chatted while they roasted the meat. Suddenly, An Zhijiang pressed his temples and frowned. "Why do I feel a little dizzy?"
"Huh?" Wu Qiao Ping put on a surprised expression. "Could it be because you didn’t sleep well last night?"
"Maybe." An Zhijiang didn’t think much of it. He rubbed his temples again and said, "I probably haven’t rested well these past few days. I’ve always had trouble sleeping in new places, and I’m really not used to being in the mountains."
"That makes sense. It’s not often we get a chance to come into the mountains like this. To be honest, this is my first time, too," Wu Qiao Ping said with a nod.
An Zhijiang smiled. "Right? I’ve come to the mountains to gather herbs before, but those were always day trips. I’ve never spent the night out here. This is actually my first time staying in the mountains for so long. It’s fine. I’ll probably get used to it after a few more trips."
"I’m sure you will," Wu Qiao Ping said with a smile.
As they talked, An Zhijiang felt even dizzier, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter. Wu Qiao Ping watched him, overjoyed. ’She had taken a preventative herb long before, so the powder had no effect on her. Still, she couldn’t let An Zhijiang figure that out.’ So, she also rubbed her temples and said in a puzzled tone, "Huh, that’s weird. Why do I feel a little dizzy, too?"
"What?" An Zhijiang was surprised. He fought through the discomfort to look at Wu Qiao Ping. "You feel dizzy, too?"
"Yeah." Wu Qiao Ping pretended to rub her temples. "It seems... it’s getting worse."
"Something’s not right! This is wrong!" An Zhijiang frowned. "Why would we both feel dizzy? Something must be wrong. No, I have to wake the others. Did we eat something bad for dinner? Could it be food poisoning?"
As he spoke, An Zhijiang staggered to his feet. He wanted to wake everyone up, or at least wake up Mr. Bai. In a situation like this, Mr. Bai would surely know what to do. He and Wu Qiao Ping were still too young and couldn’t yet prescribe medicine on their own.
Wu Qiao Ping didn’t stop An Zhijiang. She also wanted to see if the powder was effective on people who were already asleep.
An Zhijiang fought off the dizziness and stumbled over to Bai Qingyuan’s side, shaking him gently. "Mr. Bai, Mr. Bai."
However, Bai Qingyuan didn’t react at all.
Seeing this, An Zhijiang shook Bai Qingyuan with more force, and then shook Cao Zhengming, who was sleeping nearby.
"Mr. Bai, Dean Cao, wake up!"
But neither Bai Qingyuan nor Cao Zhengming responded. A surge of panic hit him. He quickly turned back to Wu Qiao Ping and said, "What do we do, Wu Qiao Ping? I can’t wake up Mr. Bai or the dean!"
While speaking, An Zhijiang started toward the other students to shake them awake. The situation was making him extremely panicked. However, after taking just two steps, the world began to spin. Before he could say another word, he collapsed to the ground with a THUD, unconscious.
"An Zhijiang, what’s wrong with you?" Wu Qiao Ping, pretending to be dizzy herself, hurried over and nudged An Zhijiang. He didn’t respond. Then, she nudged Bai Qingyuan and Cao Zhengming. They didn’t react either.
To be safe, Wu Qiao Ping put on a panicked tone and went around nudging everyone. Seeing that they were all deeply unconscious, she breathed a sigh of relief. She then stood up, faced the cave entrance, and said, "You can come out now."