35 Poisoned

They stumbled into the cave, a hand on the cave. Apparently not noticing Xuanmei and her very white tiny pet sheep as they had flattened themselves against the wall (A: Ah, is this the legendary 20/20 vision that nobody on any reading app has?)

The girl watched incrediously as the, now discernable, man stumbled into a deeper part of the cave. Curious, Xuanmei followed him as he eventually got tired of walking, crawling on his fours.

Finally reaching his destination, he reached out a hand, trying to grasp something. A young boy of about Xuanmei's age stumbled out, grasping the man's hand. After doing so, though, the man's sharp eyes glared around, stopping at a corner of the cave.

The young boy had white robes and slightly darker skin than snow, his features refined and his hair looking as smooth as silk. His wise eyes, after which landed on Xuanmei, narrowed.

The boy suddenly disappeared, only leaving traces of his motion, as a white blur at his previous position, and the position he was in now;

In the place he was eyeing, fist aimed right at where Xuanmei was before. Before he had reached the position, however, Xuanmei had already moved.

Jumping slightly higher than his fist, Xuanmei furrowed her eyebrows as she could, while in mid jump, see his eyes move like a non ticking clock that randomly jumped to 12 and stared right up at her.

He aimed a fist right her. This time, Xuanmei couldn't dodge as she grabbed the fist, trying to soften the impact on her internal organs, even though she would have a high probability of breaking the bones in her hand.

The fist landed as the impact spread, disjointing her wrists and slightly dislocating her elbow area, though it didn't move enough to paralyse her arm.

A numb feeling travelled through her arm, as she broke out in cold sweat, glaring at the peerless boy, whose features were so enchanting that girls would blush in shame, embarrassment, envy, astonishment and admonishment.

For some unknown reason, though, after being hit, she stopped caring about the pain and pointed out, "You're poisoned."

The boy raised an eyebrow, nodding apprehensively. "Maybe I am. Go on."

"Sealed heart meridian, two of the other eleven meridians excluding the heart meridian are poisoned." Xuanmei blurted out, continuing regardless of how puzzled she was, "Triple Warmer meridian is congested. It may cause... Pain or discomfort of the side of the head, ears, eyes and throat."

"You're panting very hard because your lung meridian is clogged up with toxins, and you have trouble breathing."

The boy narrowed his eyes. Xuanmei raised an eyebrow in expectation.

"Treatment."

... Are you expecting me to be a Saint and save a stranger?

"That'll be ten taels of silver for medication, thirty taels for my injuries, and twenty five taels. Though, you have to find the ingredients on your own."

Xuanmei stared down the boy, face full of seriousness as she laid down the terms and conditions in which she will then treat him.