(34) Poisoned

Wu LiJing followed the voice until she saw four figures in the distance, smiling at each other, seemingly happy and satisfied.

Wu QiaoHua was holding onto something and smiling towards Han YanLing. "I will definitely repay you in the future, no matter how hard it is!"

Han YanLing smiled and patted the girl's head. "Silly, there is no need for thanks."

Wu LiJing retracted her Stealth spell and quickly walked towards Wu QiaoHua, suddenly appearing before them.

"Who?!" Kang WangYong and Bai ZhiJun suddenly felt the presence of another person and drew their sword. Then they noticed who it was - Wu LiJing from the Moon Sect?

"Eldest Senior Sister?" Wu QiaoHua was shocked. What was she doing here?

Wu LiJing stepped closer to Wu QiaoHua as everyone became alert and watched carefully. Han YanLing took a half-step back unconsciously, her eyes widening slightly and body becoming tense.

Ignoring all others, Wu LiJing looked down at the flower in Wu QiaoHua's hands and unconsciously let out a sigh of relief. Then, breaking the silence, she spoke, "This…"

Wu QiaoHua noticed her cousin was staring at her hands and said with a bright smile, "YanLing got this magnolia for me! It can cure my poison!" There were tears in her eyes as she was filled with emotion once again.

Han YanLing managed to keep a smile as she watched Wu Lijing, but she was gripping her sweaty fists. Wu LiJing wouldn't fight them to get this flower, right? She glanced over to the two men with them and sighed in relief. No, even if Wu LiJing tried, it would be hard. She couldn't be that stupid.

Calmly, Han YanLing explained, "It wasn't just me. WangYong and Sir ZhiJun helped as well."

Wu LiJing felt a little emotional when she stared at Wu QiaoHua's hopeful smile and nodded. "I'm glad then," she said, her lips slightly lifting upwards. LiJing was happy for her cousin, but at the same time, she felt a bit of misery in her heart. She had wanted to give it to Wu QiaoHua to make up for their argument. But… looking at her expression, QiaoHua has probably forgotten about it already.

LiJing glanced at the young woman in green. At least this woman was willing to find this precious herb for QiaoHua. Although this weak woman is suspicious and unlikeable, at least her friendship with QiaoHua seems to be genuine. But she didn't think she needed to thank Han YanLing nor the people here because she already did most of the work by heavily injuring the python. If they weren't here, she was confident she would have been able to defeat the python by herself, even with only half of her injuries healed.

Wu LiJing only displayed a small nod towards them to show her slight thanks. It seems these people actually care about QiaoHua which she was grateful for.

Han YanLing smiled warmly and stepped up. "It's what I wanted to do since QiaoHua is a dear friend of mine. But it was odd." She tilted her head slightly, "I think someone had tried to kill the godly python before I arrived. It was injured so even if I was slightly wounded from fighting it, it wasn't too bad."

Wu LiJing raised an eyebrow and looked at Han YanLing's wrapped up arm with slight ridicule. She got wounded when the python was already half dead?

Just then, Wu LiJing felt a sharp pain coursing through her body and bit her lips slightly. She wasn't completely healed so her body was reminding her… She clenched her skirt and tried to distract herself from showing any signs that she was in pain.

"Eldest Senior Sister, why are you in the Blood Forest?" QiaoHua asked.

Wu LiJing's indifferent eyes softened and her gaze flickered for a moment when she glanced at the red flower. "I… I am on an errand for master. I saw you and just came to tell you to be careful."

Gasp! "Eldest Senior Sister! Your arm is bleeding!"

Wu LiJing's black cape which was covering her wounds was slightly lifted by the wind and the dried blood became visible.

Wu LiJing smiled. "It's not my blood. It's probably from the few beasts I encountered on my way here." QiaoHua nodded and glanced at the black cape that was once again covering LiJing's body. "Then, I should go and complete Master's mission." She nodded towards Kang WangYong and Bai ZhiJun respectfully.

Wu QiaoHua's eyebrows were furrowed but she nodded, and Wu LiJing left.

Han YanLing frowned. Was she imagining it, or did Wu LiJing look a little more pale than usual? She shook her head; it didn't matter. Either way, they were able to do what they came here to do. The sooner Wu LiJing left them alone, the better.

Once Wu LiJing walked far enough, a heavy cough escaped from her lips and after a moment, she spit out a liquid that tasted like iron. Wiping her lips, she looked at the black stain on her palm. She clenched her abdomen as she tried to steady her breathing.

The poison was finally acting up.

Her vision became blurry and her heart was beating against her chest like a desperate drum as she stumbled with her back hunched. The pain in her arm felt like a small burn earlier, but now it has spread to her abdomen like a blunt axe crushing her insides, with her muscles contracting and her chi trying to get rid of the foreign toxin. Her hands were shaking and her thoughts were in disarray, her breathing getting heavier as the pain intensified.

The poison was spreading. Unexpectedly, it's already found its place inside her abdomen, above her core. She had tried her best using one day to halt the spreading of the poison after eating the Poison Stopping Pill to control it before she exited the forest to dispose of it, since she could not get rid of it completely. But this poison was more deadly than she thought.

Multiple thoughts entered her mind as she tried to recall any information about this poison. Since she only read about the Godly Maple Python, in the end, she didn't know what kind of poison had entered her body.

Before she felt her body completely weaken, the image of the red magnolia appeared in her mind and she smiled. Well… even if she couldn't give it directly, at least Wu QiaoHua was able to receive the flower in the end. As her steps weakened, so did her legs and she collapsed forwards as she closed her eyes, with her flesh feeling the coolness of the red grass underneath.

…

"Ugh…"

Wu LiJing groaned when she awoke and felt a drop of water hit her cheek. She blinked. Her body was shaking and was out of any warmth as her hair and robes were drenched with water. The sky was crying, and its tears were heavy to bear as she dragged herself to find shelter for the night. It seems the poison has slightly calmed down. Did it act up because she used chi? She frowned - that would be a problem.

With the Stealth Spell, she managed to safely find an empty cave without trouble and was able to build a fire even if it was hard due to the constant rain that was slowly getting heavier. Wu LiJing took off her outer robes and burned them since they were practically unwearable with the stains of dried blood and with parts of the edges and sleeves ripped.

Her brows furrowed and she clenched her abdomen as she took a deep breath. It seems her hypothesis was correct. She merely used the Stealth Spell, yet the poison was already starting to act up, though she's only feeling a slight uncomfortable pain. The sweat that formed on her forehead slid down as she checked up on her wounds. She sighed. Some of them were infected.

For example, the area on her right arm, where the two poisonous spikes pierced into, were turning a darker color. They were the smaller spikes that were only as big as a finger, so she couldn't avoid them in time as she was occupied with dodging the bigger ones.

She also had a slight headache and her forehead felt hot, meaning she has a small fever. She took time to properly treat her wounds as the medicines and clean cloths she always carried with her appeared in front of her. She hissed slightly when she separated her inner robe from her broken skin. Afterwards, Wu LiJing meditated, circulating her inner energy around her body to heal the rest of her internal injuries and tame the poison.

Bai ZhiJun has been trying to find Han YanLing and the rest when they were separated due to an unexpected attack from a bear beast. This beast had a special skill, which was to create a fog that could confuse its prey. By the time Bai ZhiJun realized, he was separated from everyone else. Now it is raining heavily and the safest option is to find shelter. When he noticed a cave, he quietly flew over and peeked inside first. He tried to use his chi to scout the area and deemed it safe. But then he felt the presence of another human. Who? He cautiously stepped forwards and saw the flicker of a flame. This person wasn't moving.

"Excuse me?" When he walked closer, he noticed a young lady, unconscious and pale. She was dressed in very light, black inner robes, and he quickly looked away. Wait… He glanced at her face once and turned around with furrowed brows. What was she doing here? And her condition… he glanced at the ground in front of her and saw the bloody cloths laying in a bunch. Then he observed her wrapped arms and legs. How did she get injured so badly? Wait, was she alive? He hesitated and wondered whether he should stay or leave. Honestly, he didn't have a very good impression of her and did not want to be involved.

"Who?!" Wu LiJing woke up before he could reach a decision and she summoned her silver sword with a flash, suddenly appearing closer to him. She lowered her sword once she realized who it was. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a cold tone, befitting of the cold atmosphere in the cave.

He noticed her chapped and pale lips as well as her slightly moist eyes that reflected the dimming fire as her body slightly shivered even with the warmth next to her. He showed a courteous smile and gracefully saluted. "I apologize if I have interrupted Miss Wu's nap. I just came to hide from rain as I was separated from the rest."

"You guys haven't left?"

"There are a few herbs Miss YanLing wishes to collect." His tone was polite.

Her indifferent eyes were on his body. "You should've left since you have someone who cannot cultivate among your group."

"We can protect her."

She scoffed and then went to sit down to meditate as she stared at the fire. "You can stay here, just don't bother me." The sounds of the rain from outside made it plain obvious it was not going to let down anytime soon. She didn't like this Jade Gentleman, however, she wasn't heartless. Then she closed her eyes.

The gentleman simply sat down with a small smile and made his own fire as he collected wood, leaving a good amount of space between them.

After a while, she awoke from pain and let out a bated breath. She had to stabilize her powers again. It's not as bad as before but it was still painful as she struggled to control the new poison in her body. Why was it acting up again? It keeps refusing to be tamed. When she was done circulating her chi, she breathed out and opened her eyes, noticing that he was staring at her. She frowned and felt uncomfortable. "Why are you staring?"

"You're injured," he stated the obvious.

She raised an eyebrow and went back to meditating, ignoring him.

"You're quite strong. The only way for you to be injured is if you went against a strong beast like… a python for example." When he whispered the last part, he suddenly felt that it was an unbelievable connection. He stared at her again in surprise. Was she really the one who tried to kill that godly python from before they arrived? There were obvious signs of a fight when they arrived and feared the flower may have already been taken. Luckily, it wasn't. Whoever fought it must have had to escape after getting injured heavily since the python was badly hurt.

She opened her eyes and glared at him. "Mind your own business," she said with a callous tone.

The cave was filled with silence as she went back to meditating. His usual smile vanished as his thoughts ran. Did she really fight the python before they got there? Or was she trying to destroy the herb before they reached it instead? But then why would she risk her life for that? It would be smarter to let it be guarded by the godly python.

His first impression of her was that she was an indifferent woman, cold-hearted and uncaring. But she was also strong.

But does this mean that she actually cares about her cousin unlike the rumors? Many years ago, after the Sect Competition, she showed her powers and became more well-known, establishing herself as someone who would be at the top. He had to admit, even he was impressed. However, it also became known that she was no longer engaged with the direct disciple from the Bright Venus Sect, and that it was due to his change of feelings towards her younger cousin. Han YanLing also suspects Wu LiJing due to plausible intent should Wu LiJing have done it. He never cared to think it might not be true…

Bai ZhiJun stared at her pale complexion. It seems she wasn't simply injured. Her powers are in turmoil as well… He finally sighed as his thoughts came to a halt. He was going to leave the next morning anyway. He should mind his own business like she said. He closed his eyes and meditated.

It took a whole day before the rain stopped. When Bai ZhiJun woke up to leave, he noticed he was barely able to feel the breath of another person, which wasn't possible when there were two people in the cave. He turned back and quickly walked over towards her, who was slumped on the ground. There was blood on her lips and blood on the floor next to her.

He hesitated as he looked at his hand and at her. Just as he was about to grab her shoulder and prop her up, his hand was suddenly held by another thinner and slimmer hand. He shivered and quickly retracted his hand as his gentle eyebrows frowned.

"I said to mind your own business," she spoke in the cold tone that she had been using with him as her eyes glared at him.

Bai ZhiJun put his hands behind his back and nodded with a smile as he observed her clear dark eyes. "Then, I shall leave Miss Wu to herself." He saluted and turned around. She stared at his back until he was gone.

Wu LiJing sighed and wiped her lips. It wasn't a good idea to let others find out she was poisoned. This poison was some real trouble. She has to quickly return to the Divine Emerald Sect and find a way to cure it. Even with all of the reading of five years, she has not heard of such a poison. Luckily, there were still many books she could look into.

She was actually experimenting last night, which wasn't the best idea but she had to figure out how this poison works first before she leaves this place. It was impossible not to use chi and she experimented on using different amounts of chi to estimate how much she could use without the poison becoming a nuisance. She has already tamed it and since it has only started to spread, it will only act up when she releases chi for long periods or uses a powerful move that requires a huge amount of energy.

She sighed and noticed she hadn't thrown the bloody cloths on the ground to the fire yet. Once she cleaned after herself, she took out a new pair of lavender robes and changed.

Like her master said - it was better to recuperate than to exhaust oneself or it would halt one's growth and become even more annoying than if one waited for their injuries to heal. Therefore, Wu LiJing was currently riding a carriage and sleeping inside as she traveled to her destination.