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n“Y-Yes, sir,” I could only stutter as he walked away, deep into the white palace lined with sparkling jewels and towering pillars of quartz.

nOnce again, clearly, something was up with this reality I’m in… and slowly, I felt like I was piecing things together.

nIf nobody can see my skills and judge from his reaction… nobody can see his skills, then only people with a status can see this magic?

nOr maybe they need a connection with a god? A connection with a higher power? Reaching some kind of enlightenment that lets them know the truth of this world?

nThe deeper the hole went, the more my mind began to spin.

n…𝑂𝚟𝐋xt.𝐂𝑂𝐦

nAn entire day had passed, and half of the army returned to our camp, only to find half of our medics slaughtered and the remaining soldiers left to defend themselves completely dead.

n“EVERYONE SPREAD OUT!” A new captain in command shouted, who was also the only one riding on a horse as of now.

nWe all followed his orders, walking through our desolate camp, not even in flames now, but just the remains of charcoal and burnt flesh.

nAll of the medics came running out of their tent, covered in blood, tears streaming down their faces, but as soon as they approached us, they collapsed from exhaustion.

nThey probably hadn’t got any sleep the entire time we were away, especially when the thought of something threatening was always lurking behind, above, or around you.

nSuddenly, as I turned to look inside the medical tent, a pair of soft white hands grasped my cheeks, pulling me closer to an inspecting face.

n“Good. You’re still alive. I didn’t want the first person I saved to immediately die upon going to war,”

nIt was the same woman from before who had taken care of me after I was completely knocked out by Lu Bu and also healed the same wound from before.

n“But… you’re bleeding?” She muttered, letting go of my cheeks and spinning me around to see blood slowly trickling from the same shoulder wound, but instead of spreading to my chest, it had torn open on my back. “Why didn’t you receive medical attention?”

n“Everything was full of people who were near death. This isn’t too bad, so I took care of it myself,” I shrugged, but the medic wasn’t having any of it, immediately dragging me into the tent and sitting me down on the same cot as before.

nAs she took off my shirt, she saw the sloppy bandage work and the wasted medicine spread across my upper back.

n“Well, at least you applied for some medicine. That’s all that really matters,” She sighed, slowly unraveling the bandages and seeing the actual wound. “But it seems you need to take better care of yourself because now it will take double the time it took for you to heal your previous wound,”

n“It took me only a few days, though,”

n“Well, now you have to wait probably a week. Just be thankful the battle for the town is over otherwise, you would have been completely useless,”

n“Yeah… I guess,” I sighed before jolting upwards as she pressed something cold deep into the wound, and I felt her fingers literally wriggle inside my back.

nIt was a disgusting feeling, like maggots were slowly moving inside of me, but as soon as she pulled her fingers out, the slight pain did feel much better than before.

n“What the hell was that?” I shivered with disgust.

n“Something to disinfect the wound inside. You applied a surface-level amount, and you’ve been walking around for a day or two. So it was either that, or I stuck a hot knife in there to disinfect it,” She rolled her eyes.

nShe tightly bandaged my wound despite my little groans of pain, and she seemed pretty angry with me, yet didn’t say much in response.

nOnce we had finished, we exited the tent, only to see the rest of our supplies being packaged up to be carried back to the town.

nWe no longer needed this base as we now had a probably infinite amount of supplies within the walls of that rich trading town.

nLu Bu clearly wanted to turn it into a city because it already had something of a rich capital. It honestly just needed a little boost of manpower.

nWith the help of the emperor that could definitely be done, but was this it? Was this the entire objective of this raid?

n“Are we heading home now?” The medic asked, following behind me as we made our way back to the town not even a few miles away.

n“I don’t know yet. Was this objective of why we came here?” I asked, and the woman didn’t see me as suspicious as before, allowing her to burst out laughing, slightly tearing up.

n“Yes, that was the objective. We only wanted this place for its extreme convenience on both sides, and a true expansion outward into the Mongolian territory,”

nAs her laugh trailed off, she slowly wiped the tears from her eyes and flicked them at me.

n“Then, where are you going? Back home?”

n“Yes. I’m from a small village on the outskirts of the Han Dynasty. We live a slow and peaceful life there, and if you would like to join me back, then I wouldn’t mind,” She lightly smiled, but as she reached out her hand, I just looked at it.

n“Unfortunately, I still have other things to do,” I smiled back.

nShe was, fortunately, understanding, just smiling before reaching into her pocket and taking out something smooth and shiny.

n“This is a charm my family gave me. It will keep you safe, and by the time we hopefully see each other again, I expect to treat you. Otherwise, do not come to me, alright?”

n“What if I’m dead?” I lightly chuckled, taking the smooth tiny beetle charm and stuffing it into my armor.

n“Well, at least I’ll have hope that you reach some kind of nirvana. I will pray for you everyday so please stay safe,”

nYou have received the Charm of Madam Han

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