Chapter 153: Difficult Labor

"Oh, my dear sister, how many times have you actually seen that girl? How could you possibly tell what kind of person she is? We have lived in the same courtyard with that girl for half a year; if anyone knows what she's truly like, no one knows better than we do. Let me tell you, she is an absolute little demon. You haven't seen that uncanny, eerie vibe of hers—oh, my goodness, it is simply terrifying. The things she says are things even grown adults would never think to utter."

The moment Xu saw that Gu Xiulan was hesitating, she grew terrified that Xiulan might let Lady Li's heart soften, and so she deliberately began to badmouth Jiaoyan. "My dear sister, do you remember? That time your Xueyan almost got licked by a bear? How could it possibly be such a coincidence? That bear had been raised at home and was always utterly docile. Why on earth did it suddenly turn wild just because Xueyan wanted to play with it? And why did that bear stop dead in its tracks the moment Jiaoyan reached out and blocked its path? A bear is nothing but a beast—why would it obey her like that?"

"If you ask me, what the Daoist nun said is entirely right. That girl Jiaoyan is a monster, a vixen, which is why she's able to order that bear around. Haven't you noticed? Despite being such a tiny child, everyone in the village, young and old alike, dotes on her. All summer long, countless people have been sending things to their house, especially giving that girl fine things—all sorts of fruits and pastries, you name it. If she weren't a vixen enchanting people, which family would send her gifts for no reason at all?"

As Xu spoke, she rolled her eyes in disdain. *That wretched girl Jiaoyan goes out of her way to oppose me at every turn. Let's see how you get out of this one now!*

Lady Li had already been harboring suspicions, and today, after hearing the words of Old Woman Hu, compounded by Xu's fanning of the flames, she was now completely convinced that Jiaoyan was a monster. "Xiulan, you don't need to say another word. There is definitely something deeply strange about this girl; she doesn't behave like a normal child at all. Alright, since we've already found the root of the trouble, we won't stay in the county town any longer. We must hurry back and figure out a way to break this curse, so that Fifth Brother's condition stops lingering without any sign of improvement. The sooner we settle this and get rid of that freakish thing making trouble, the better. Who knows, Fifth Brother's marriage might even still have a chance of recovery."

Having made up her decision, Lady Li immediately sought out Xu and hired a carriage returning to Shaokou Town. Climbing aboard, they set off for home without delay. Xiulan tried once more to persuade her mother, but unfortunately, Lady Li refused to listen to another word. With no other choice, Xiulan could only urge Lady Li to think things over carefully once she got home and make sure she didn't do anything rash that she would regret later.

As Lady Li escorted Xu back, the carriage was packed with other passengers from the vicinity of the town, so the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law spoke no more of the matter. Instead, each sat quietly, plotting in her own heart how best to deal with the evil spirit upon their return.

Meanwhile, back at the Miao residence, Jiaoyan was helping Miao Wenxuan sort medicinal herbs when she suddenly sneezed. "Master, the scent of these herbs is so pungent," Jiaoyan said, rubbing her nose.

"Indeed," Miao Wenxuan said with a smile, continuing to place herbs into a ceramic jar. "Most of these medicinal materials belong to the aromatic category that opens the orifices, and the majority of them have intensely potent odors. Look, these herbs cannot be stored directly in wooden boxes or cloth bags; they must be wrapped securely and placed inside sealed ceramic jars. That way, the fragrance won't easily dissipate, and the medicinal efficacy will last much longer."

Jiaoyan nodded. The storage of traditional Chinese medicine was a science in its own right. It required careful allocation based on the properties of each herb, and many ingredients came with very specific requirements. Traditional Chinese medicine was profound and vast; it was truly a subject that would take her a lifetime to master.

Just as the master and apprentice were talking, two men rushed in from outside, looking frantic. "Is Master Miao at home? Quickly, I beg of you, please save a life! My wife is in labor, but the child won't come, and it looks like she's failing fast. Master Miao, please come and take a look!"

The man's voice, tinged with deep despair, echoed into the courtyard. Hearing it, Miao Wenxuan stepped out of the room in a few quick strides. "What did you say? What on earth is going on?"

"I'm from Willow Tree Gulch," one of the young men said, dropping straight to his knees and kowtowing to Miao Wenxuan the moment he saw her. "My wife is having a baby. The labor pains started last night, and she still hasn't delivered. We called a midwife, but she said the baby is in a breech position and cannot be born normally. My wife has already passed out once. If she still can't deliver, I'm afraid both mother and child will lose their lives. Master Miao, I'm begging you, please come and take a look!"

"Get up quickly, I'll go take a look right now," Miao Wenxuan motioned for the man to rise, then turned back into the room to fetch her medical box along with some essential supplies. "Jiaoyan, come along, let's go take a look." By now, Miao Wenxuan had grown accustomed to bringing her little shadow wherever she went; with Jiaoyan acting as her assistant, many things became much simpler.

Jiaoyan had also overheard the man's words just moments before. After a brief moment of thought, she simply shouldered her own medical box and walked out. This medical box had been specially crafted for her by Gu Chengyi, and it was primarily filled with various surgical tools. Jiaoyan didn't know why she felt such an urge to bring these things along, but she had a strong hunch that they might come in handy.

The master and apprentice stepped outside the front gate, where a horse-drawn carriage was waiting. Miao Wenxuan led Jiaoyan aboard, and the carriage immediately set off at a gallop toward Willow Tree Gulch.

Willow Tree Gulch was roughly twenty li away from Green Mountain Village. The carriage traveled at a brisk pace, arriving in less than three quarters of an hour. It stopped outside a courtyard on the eastern edge of the village of Willow Tree Gulch. Before they even stepped into the yard, the piercing screams of a woman echoed from inside. Just hearing the sound was enough to tell that the agony had pushed her past her limits.

Climbing down from the carriage, the master and apprentice hurried into the courtyard and made a straight dash for the room from which the cries were emanating. Pushing the door open, they saw a woman lying on the heated brick kang, drenched in sweat as she thrashed and shrieked continuously. Several other women stood around her, running in frantic circles, completely helpless.

Miao Wenxuan stepped forward immediately to examine the parturient woman. "The fetal position is completely wrong; there is no way she can deliver naturally. When she fell pregnant, why didn't anyone have her checked earlier? What kind of utter madness is this?" Miao Wenxuan fumed with anger. It was glaringly obvious that the baby was improperly positioned. Had someone examined her earlier, it might have been possible to correct the position through certain maneuvers. Now, however, her amniotic sac had already ruptured, leaving no time and no alternative.

"Master, is there truly no way?" Jiaoyan asked softly, watching the woman's agonizing torment.

"Her labor is obstructed by a transverse lie; one of the baby's hands has already prolapsed, and the shoulder is deeply wedged in the pelvic inlet. It cannot be born," Miao Wenxuan shook her head. Even for her, this situation presented no good solution.

"Can't we try massaging her abdomen, or find a way to push the baby's hand back inside and adjust the fetal position?" Jiaoyan's knowledge of obstetrics was somewhat limited, but she remembered very well that this condition was extremely perilous. Once umbilical cord prolapse or uterine rupture occurred, both the mother and the child would face mortal danger.

Miao Wenxuan shook her head. "It's far too late. If they had come for me when the contractions first started, I might have had a way. Now, my hands are tied." She was no deity; she could not cure every single affliction under the sun.

Jiaoyan looked at the suffering woman on the kang, then glanced at the village midwife standing nearby, who was incessantly shaking her head and muttering, "There's no way, there's no way at all."

Jiaoyan closed her eyes to think for a moment, then opened them and looked down at the medical box she had brought. "Master, I have a way. You must help me." She had decided to perform a Cesarean section on the woman. Although she had not been an obstetrician in her past life, she still retained basic medical common sense. At this point, there was no time to hesitate—as long as she could deliver the baby safely, anything was worth a try.

Miao Wenxuan looked at Jiaoyan in astonishment. "You have a way?" Although she knew her little apprentice possessed unusual insight, what possible method could work in a crisis like this?

"Master, help me administer the anesthesia, and I will perform the procedure," Jiaoyan nodded with utmost solemnity. Then, turning her head toward the few people gathered in the room, she said, "Let us step outside first. I have something important to discuss with you all."

The village midwife and the parturient woman's mother-in-law were completely at their wits' end. Hearing that Jiaoyan wished to discuss something, they followed her out of the room. Outside, they met the woman's husband, and Jiaoyan gathered them together. "Your wife is in extreme danger right now. If anything goes wrong, it will be two lives lost. My master has a method that can at least save the child, and if all goes well, both mother and child will survive."

Before Jiaoyan could even finish her sentence, the man dropped to his knees. "Whatever method you have, as long as you can save my wife and child!"

The mother-in-law nodded vigorously as well. "Yes, as long as you can save my daughter-in-law, anything is fine!"

"Very well, then my master and I will do our utmost. But you must promise us that while we are delivering the baby, no one is to enter that room. You may only come in when I give you the word." Jiaoyan was terrified that one of them might suddenly burst in and ruin the surgery at a critical moment.

The people before her nodded eagerly in frantic agreement. Jiaoyan then instructed them to boil hot water and prepare various supplies. Since hot water was already boiling in the cauldron, saving them the trouble, Jiaoyan took out her complete set of instruments and boiled them thoroughly in the rolling water.

Next, Jiaoyan retrieved a bar of soap and meticulously scrubbed her hands all the way up to her elbows. Surgical gloves were nonexistent here, so she would simply have to make do, but the scrubbing had to be done with absolute thoroughness.

By the time she finished washing her hands, the anesthesia Miao Wenxuan had administered had taken effect. To ensure the numbing effect was complete, Miao Wenxuan applied several additional acupuncture needles to strategic points on the woman's body.

Lacking medical alcohol, Jiaoyan had to make do with a strong liquor she had specially brought along to disinfect the woman's abdomen. Without waiting for Miao Wenxuan to react, Jiaoyan picked up the scalpel and made a clean incision, roughly three inches long, across the parturient woman's lower abdomen. Despite the anesthesia, the woman felt a dull ache, causing her to flutter her eyes open briefly before slipping back into unconsciousness.

Jiaoyan's movements were exceptionally crisp and practiced. Within a remarkably short span of time, she successfully extracted the infant and handed it over to Miao Wenxuan. The baby was somewhat weak and did not cry initially, but after Miao Wenxuan gently tapped the soles of its tiny feet, the infant finally let out a crisp, healthy wail.

Outside the room, upon hearing the newborn's cry, the father and grandmother wept tears of sheer joy. "Mother, the baby is born! The baby is born!" The man cried, tears streaming down his face in his agitation. "How is the child's mother?" he asked, making a move to rush inside.

"Son, stop! Didn't they just tell us not to go in? We cannot enter," the mother-in-law said, reaching out to grab his arm and hold him back.

The man halted his steps, pacing back and forth anxiously outside the door. "My wife, please, you must be alright. You must not let anything happen to you..."