Fangsu’s relapses again

Saddling Tian, Fangsu leapt on with ease before kicking Tian's side to urge him to move forward towards the venue where Sim Siu and Ang Siu waited for her, "Your horse is so pretty!" Sim Siu's eyes brightened at Fangsu who was dressed in her old clothing that didn't fit her anymore, "Wah! Skinny Duck, you are suited to wear out settlement's clothing! Is there anywhere that is tight?" Complimenting how Fangsu suited the clothing because of her unique features.

Fangsu pulled at the fabric surrounding her chest, "It's a bit tight around the chest area," She honestly stated as she decided to unbutton the coat, leaving it open. Sim Siu had a blank face knowing that she had less endowed compared to Fangsu.

Fangsu approached Ang Siu staring at the eagle that was perched on his shoulder. The glossy sheen off the feather indicates that it had a healthy life, "You want to touch?" Ang Siu made the eagle perch on his leather covered forearm.

Fangsu smiled as she gently patted the eagle's feather, "How old is the eagle?" feeling the softness of the feather underneath her fingers. Ang Siu answered with a number twelve with his fingers.

Sim Siu felt jealous as her brother was taking Skinny Duck's attention more than her. Sim Siu stealthy shoved herself in between the two taking a spot next to Fangsu, whispering, "How old are you?" Fangsu's short stature and young face did not match her calm nature.

Fangsu sweated as she used her fingers to make sure she was using the right number, "18 just this month," Hearing her own horrible pronunciation made her want to hide. Covering her face with the plans of her hands she could only cower in embarrassment. Sim Siu, however, adored Fangsu's cute gestures trying to converse with her but the sudden realisation hit that Fangsu was older than her by two years. But before Sim Siu could tell Fangsu that she was older than her, the sound of the gong rang loudly causing a tidal wave of people who were participating to rush away from the starting line.

Both Sim Siu and Ang Siu rushed ahead while Fangsu followed behind, carrying the bow that Ang Siu had given her. The grip of the bow felt snug against her hand while the bow length wasn't too long. The string was adjusted to be loosened so that it was easier for Fangsu to pull at the bowstring. Sim Siu and Ang Siu had already caught some prey; Sim Siu with two rabbits and Ang Siu with fox and three rabbits, "Looks like I won't be catching anything," Fangsu stared at the open field to only see nothing.

Wanting to get a bird's eye view of Fangsu went into a nearby mountain with Tian effortlessly scaling the rocky pathway with ease. From the mountaintop, Fangsu waved at Sim Siu and Ang Siu who were at the base of the mountain. However, frightened expressions were etched on their faces as they screamed at Fangsu. A low growl was directed at Fangsu who could only stay still, exhaling a breath. Fangsu slowly turned to the predator that was behind her, a demonic wolf, a lone one. Befriending a wild wolf was simply not possible so Fangsu maintained eye contact with the wolf. However, two arrows who shed past Fangsu straight at the wolf, embedding themselves into the skin of the wolf. In pain, the wolf snarled at Fangsu while pouncing which only caused Tian to be spooked. As Tian was panicking at the moment,accidentally knocking Fangsu off the mountain.

Fangsu continued to fall off the mountainous height as a sinking feeling erupted from inside her stomach, it was something she hated. Falling from such a high height honestly frightened Fangsu who thought that she would be ready to embrace the eternal slumber, death. Knowing that she only had so much time to live but the realisation hit her that she didn't want to go. She wanted to live. Waving her hands, summoning Bai Xue, the familiar white scales and fluffy pale peach mane gave comfort to Fangsu but released a breath of relief as she was no longer falling to her pummeling death if it wasn't for Bai Xue, "Hurry Bai Xue!" Bao Xue easily climbed the mountain as Fangsu gripped on on the fluffy mane to keep herself steady.

Tian was cornered near the edge of the cliff as the demonic wolf swiped its claws at the terrified Tian. Taking an arrow from her quiver, loading it in position on the bow and with a deep breath aimed at the Demonic Wolf, however, Fangsu's first shot missed only grazing at the fur of the Demonic Wolf. Seeing that trying to use a bow wouldn't be the best option since she never used it before. Fangsu propped herself up on her feet on Bai Xue's back, "Bai Xue! Throw me at the Demonic Wolf!" Unsheathing her dagger and readying herself. Bai Xue used its hind legs to buck Fangsu off as hard as possible causing Fangsu to fly in the air momentarily.

As Fangsu began to fall, landing on the back of the Demonic Wolf. It tried to get Fangsu off its back to no avail and decided to jump on its back to crush Fangsu with its weight but before the wolf could crush her. Swiftly readjusting herself so that she sat at the stomach of the demonic wolf who tried to bite at her. However, two arrows flew at the eye of the wolf effectively blinding it which luckily saved Fangsu's hands from being ripped off. Swinging the dagger high in the air, Fangsu stabbed the dagger at the heart of the wolf, twisting it. Without warning a familiar thudding of pain as her ears began ringing, slowly her vision began to blur as a sudden onslaught of pain waved over Fangsu's body.

Two beings fell from the ground; a middle ranked demonic wolf lying dead on the ground with a petite figure lying on top of the Demonic Wolf's body, motionless. Sim Siu and Ang Siu hurriedly climbed the mountain only to see the horrifying scene that laid before them. Sim Siu quickly scrambled to Fangsu's motionless body gently shaking her to wake her up while Ang Siu tied a white rope on the leg of his eagle before sending off his eagle to call for help, "Skinny Duck! Wake up! Wake up!" Sim Siu's lips quiver as her heart drops at the sight of Fangsu's motionless body, "Open your eyes! Please! I beg you to wake up!" Tears began pouring from her eyes at her own ability to help Fangsu. Ang Siu silently patted Sim Siu, reassuring her before propping Fangsu upright only to feel that her body was insanely hot to the touch.

Fangsu partly opened only to see the blurred outline of Sim Siu and Ang Siu, "I'm okay," The control over her eyelids were slowly snapping away from her body causing her to struggle to stay awake, but to no avail she was completely out.

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Ang Siu stared at the Qilin that stood next to the black horse, gently nudging it to follow him before it disappeared leaving no evidence of its presence. Sim Su collected the corpse of the Demonic Wolf to carry with them otherwise someone would claim it for themselves and take credit Fangsu's own efforts. As they climbed down the mountain, mounting their horse to get back to the village. Ang Siu immediately carried Fangsu to the settlement only to be met with his father and few members of the settlement to settle the ceremony in the place of Skinny Duck and his absence from the ceremony.

Carrying Skinny Duck to the settlement's healer who was his grandmother, "Grandmother, can you help Sim Siu's friend?" Settling Skinny Duck on the woollen bedding that was on the floor. The old woman smiled as she took the small hand of Skinny Duck in her own hands, checking her pulse. It was erratic to say the least from a condition which she could not just identify from just the pulse. The girl's hair was unnatural; ash grey which could only be from extreme or severe trauma from birth.

Despite the unusual conditions the girl had fainted from the old woman's hands glowed up unnaturally as spirits gathered in the tent to aid her. However, before the old woman could use her spiritual powers to diagnose the girl, standing protectively in front of the girl were four spirits, "Elder, this girl is afflicted with the Unending Suffering illness," Only one of the four spirit could communicate with her as the language effortlessly flowed from her lips.

The elderly woman was unsurprised by this as such an illness was such a rarity that if she had been a healer for the majority of her life have never encountered anyone with the illness. Gently caressing the face of the young girl, it was unfortunate that such a young girl had to suffer so much pain, "I ask that you will care for a master for a time being," The old woman could only sit on the sidelines as one of the spirits materialised a physical body holding a small paper package in between her hand before she handed it to the man sitting in the room before returning back to her spiritual form.

Ang Siu gave the paper package to his grandmother, unravelling the wrapping to find a white powdery substance that had an awfully strong medicinal smell, "To be taking such a strong medication means that this girl is at the end of progression of her illness," Receiving the cup of water from her grandson she gently lifted the head of the young girl, pouring the powder in her mouth before washing it down with water. She sighed as she received a basin of water with a cloth which she used to place on the girl's forehead, "But, for now she just needs some rest," The grandma returned to another section of the tent, preparing for the amount of people that would soon visit her to receive medical attention.

Ang Siu, on the other hand, remained beside Skinny Duck's side to accomodate for any need that she would need; occasionally rehydrating her with water, changing the cloth on her forehead, wiping the sweat from her forehead from perspiration and adjusted her on the bedding to make it as comfortable as possible for her. The tent was then filled with participants, thus, requiring Ang Siu to move Skinny Duck from the area so that other patients could be attended to by the assistants of his grandmother. As he was walking through the settlement, pondering on which tent that Skinny Duck was residing in as he didn't want to make people question her innocence if he were to take her to his tent so he took her to his sister's tent which luckily she was present within the tent.

Sim Siu hurriedly looked at Skinny Duck, checking for any possible injuries that could have bypassed their grandmother's eagle eyes, "Don't worry, Skinny Duck doesn't have any wounds," Using his cheek to check on Skinny Duck's temperature it had returned to a more normal temperature, "She just need some rest so I will leave her with you," Gently placing Skinny Duck on the huge bedding that his sister used before leaving the tent where Sim Siu carefully nurtured Fangsu's ailing health with various herbal concoctions that she had received from her grandmother.

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Ang Siu exited the tent to find that people organising the event were rallying the hunted animals. He had no interest in pointless competition let alone anything in the world but after today he found that his world had begun to become more interesting from a little duck that came to his home settlement. Before the first meeting between the little duck and himself he was on an errand to retrieve his sister whip.

Riding on his long time mount, Dang, who was a red female mare who is a descendant from the legendary mountain horse which has never been captured. With a shiny reddish coat and boundless amount of endurance and strength, Dang has always allowed Ang Siu to ride for copious amounts of time especially for travelling. Like the saying, 'To be without a horse is akin to being a bird without wings,' Freedom was the best feeling in the world as the wind was welcoming him. His other animal companion, a golden eagle who had accompanied him from since young. Hui was its name.

On the journey returning back to the settlement, Ang Siu had dealt with many sketchy men that were within the territory of the settlement, men who had a tattoo of a horned viper. It was quite unusual for a mercenary group to be within the plains as there were only nomadic settlements that would go through the plains. Nomadic settlements such as his own home settlement don't typically interact with people from the city region to be able to provoke anyone of any importance. Shrugging off the thought, Ang Siu continued on to the path of settlement as the servants quickly greeted him. Surrounding them were many horses and transport modes which Ang Siu did not recognise himself and a servant explained that the ceremony was today. Ang Siu quietly swore at himself as he was late for the ceremony. Handing the reins that held Dang to a servant to take care of, Ang Siu, himself quickly rushed to the venue where the ceremony took place.

As he walked to the opening venue where loud noises and music serenaded loudly through the plains. An unfamiliar womanly figure dressed in white donning a blank white mask crossed his path, with unnatural hair colour and eye colour that no human would possess. Ang Siu thought the unfamiliar figure was a vengeful spirit as he sent Hui to attack the woman, however, the woman dodged last minute. Hui could only grab the mask which was given to Ang Siu, however, it broke in half revealing the woman's face. A round face with a lightly olive skin tone with naturally thick eyebrows that expressed anger towards him, greyish eyelashes that brightened her grey eyes, a cute button nose that resembled that of a bunny and pink pouty petal like lips. Completely like a doll was what Ang Siu. Despite the beautiful features of the woman, Ang Siu deemed the girl a threat.

The woman continued on her way to the venue where the ceremony was taking place which Ang Siu quickly followed behind about to attempt to send Hui to attack the girl again, however, the woman handed a sword whip in his younger sister's hand before seating herself back next to his father. Ang Siu was terribly embarrassed having mistaken the woman as a threat but decided to apologise to the woman later after the ceremony. Seating himself at the very back of the seating arrangements, Ang Siu began to arrange for his apology toward the woman. Honesty, Ang Siu did not have much experience with women as he tended to be travelling with his uncle for the later part of his life which was meant for him to settle down.

After Sim Siu's performance ended, she introduced him to her newfounded friend before the woman turned her palm upwards, "I want my mask that you broke," holding it out in front of him as he politely handed back her broken mask while also handing her some candy trying to apologize, "Thank you," Fangsu returned the offered candy with a smile of her own to show her gratitude. Her small lips curved into a sweet smile that dazzled Ang Siu who immediately turned away.