Chapter 10: Farewell

As we ran frantically, the sounds behind us grew closer and closer—until we suddenly realized we had reached the edge of the Giantwood Forest.

"Run! Once we're out of the forest, we'll be safe!" Xiaohan gasped.

Sure enough, the moment we crossed the forest's boundary, we found ourselves back in familiar woods and grasslands. The swarm of spiders didn't pursue us further; they only bared their fangs and let out a few hisses before finally dispersing.

All four of us collapsed onto the soft grass, panting heavily.

The feeling of the cool night breeze, the star-filled sky, the sound of chirping insects, and the presence of close friends—it was good to be alive.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked, grateful that we had survived.

"I'm fine," Lu Xi responded.

"Me too," Zhang Yi added.

But Xiaohan remained silent.

"Xiaohan, what's wrong?" Zhang Yi's voice was filled with urgency.

Lu Xi and I quickly turned to check on her. Beads of sweat covered her face, and she was grimacing in pain. When Zhang Yi helped her sit up, he noticed a wound on her shoulder. Blood was seeping from it, tinged with a faint green hue.

"It's my fault! It's all my fault!" Zhang Yi's voice trembled as he realized what had happened—when Xiaohan had thrown herself at him to save him, she had been bitten by the spider. Judging by the wound, she had been poisoned.

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Zhang Yi held her in his arms, his face full of panic as he looked to Lu Xi and me for answers.

"It's alright," Xiaohan said weakly. "Just bandage the wound for now. My home isn't far from here. My grandfather will know how to save me."

She was visibly growing weaker, her body drenched in cold sweat.

Without hesitation, Zhang Yi tore a strip of cloth from his clothing and began wrapping Xiaohan's wound. Meanwhile, Lu Xi and I hurriedly fashioned a crude torch and lit it.

In the flickering firelight, we saw that Xiaohan's face had turned deathly pale. Zhang Yi's eyes were filled with guilt and anxiety. I offered to carry Xiaohan on my back, but he refused. He insisted on carrying her himself.

Following Xiaohan's directions, we walked for nearly an hour before finally seeing a small house at the foot of the mountain—her home.

"Is anyone home? Grandfather Pan, are you there?" I knocked on the wooden gate.

A moment later, a light flickered on inside the house, and we heard footsteps approaching. The door opened to reveal an elderly man. His skin was dark and weathered, his hair sparse, but his frame was sturdy. There was a calm and kind expression on his face.

"Grandfather Pan, Xiaohan has been bitten by a venomous spider! Please, you have to save her!" I pleaded.

Grandfather Pan's eyes widened in alarm. Seeing Zhang Yi carrying Xiaohan on his back, he immediately stepped aside and guided us into the house, helping Zhang Yi carefully lay her onto the bed.

By now, Xiaohan had lost consciousness. Her face was no longer just pale—it was beginning to darken.

Grandfather Pan inspected her wound, then took her pulse. His expression grew grave, as though deep in thought.

"Grandfather, how is she?" Zhang Yi's voice was on the verge of breaking.

"Calm down," Grandfather Pan reassured him, patting his shoulder. "The venom of the Giantwood Forest spiders is no small matter. If it had only affected the skin, it would be easier to treat. But the poison has already spread into her bloodstream."

He paused before continuing, "However, this poison is not incurable. There is a way to counteract it using poison against poison. The antidote requires three ingredients—bat guano, maggot eggs, and scorpion tails."

"Where do we find them?" I asked urgently. "We'll go right now!"

"They're not particularly rare, but they're difficult to gather in a short time. I fear Xiaohan may not have that long," Grandfather Pan admitted. He then took a deep breath, as if making a decision. "For now, the only immediate solution is this—I will go into the Giantwood Forest."

"The Giantwood Forest?! We barely escaped from there!" I was stunned.

"Everything in nature has a counterbalance. The spiders' venom is deadly, but there is a certain plant in the Giantwood Forest that can suppress its effects. It normally hides underground but attacks when living creatures pass by. We call it the Man-Eating Flower. It bears a bright red fruit. The fruit won't cure the poison entirely, but it will slow its effects, giving us more time."

"A Man-Eating Flower? A red fruit?" A sudden realization struck me. "Grandfather, you don't need to go! We already have some!"

I remembered the encounter with the Man-Eating Flower earlier in the forest. Zhang Yi had even plucked two of its fruits, planning to sell them in Baiqi City.

Zhang Yi immediately opened his bag and handed the fruits to Grandfather Pan. The moment he saw them, his expression eased, and we all let out a sigh of relief.

"Yes, this is it. I'll give Xiaohan one right away. This should suppress the poison for at least half a month, buying us enough time to find the antidote."

"Give her both! I don't want them—I just want her to be okay!" Zhang Yi pleaded.

"That won't be necessary. One is enough. If we still can't cure her in half a month, we can give her the second one, but by then, it will only delay the poison for seven more days," Grandfather Pan explained.

He helped Xiaohan sit up and carefully fed her the fruit.

We watched anxiously, hoping she would wake up immediately. Seeing her lying there, lifeless, when she had been so full of energy just hours ago, made my chest tighten.

"Don't worry," Grandfather Pan said, reading our expressions. "She'll be fine, but she won't wake up until morning. Now, tell me exactly what happened."

Since Lu Xi wasn't talkative and Zhang Yi was too distressed, I recounted everything—the encounter with Xiaohan, our trek into the Giantwood Forest, the battle against the spiders. When I mentioned that the orc leader Huyong had kidnapped Xiaohan, I noticed a flicker of emotion in Grandfather Pan's eyes.

"So, that's the situation," I concluded, exhausted.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? I'll make you something," Grandfather Pan said.

Before long, he brought out a large pot of steaming noodles. Lu Xi and I devoured our portions, but Zhang Yi barely touched his, too preoccupied with Xiaohan's condition. No matter how we tried to convince him to eat, he refused.

"You said you're from the Border Village?" Grandfather Pan asked after we finished eating. "Why did you leave the village?"

I hesitated. I had promised the village chief to keep the cat demon incident a secret. But considering Grandfather Pan's knowledge and experience, he might actually have valuable insight. In the end, I decided to tell him about our encounter with the Nine-Lives Cat Demon.

Surprisingly, as he listened, Grandfather Pan's frown deepened, especially when I mentioned that the cat demon might be a sign of the demon race's return.

"Grandfather Pan, have you heard of the Seer?" I asked suddenly, recalling Old Man Yu's words.

"You mean Blind Mei?"

"What… who?" I was confused.

"Mei the Blind, the man people call the Seer. Why do you ask?" Grandfather Pan replied calmly.

"I heard he once predicted the return of the demon race, with the first sign being the reappearance of creatures like the cat demon. Is it true?"

"It is," Grandfather Pan admitted. "Do you believe that cat demon was the omen of their return?"

I hesitated before nodding.

"Maybe," Grandfather Pan muttered, his voice heavy. "I hope not."

He then stood up with a sigh. I had more questions, but he simply told us to rest. Exhausted from everything that had happened, I quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, as I stepped outside, the sky was clear and the air crisp. If not for all the recent chaos, this would have been a perfect day.

"Where's Grandfather Pan? Has Xiaohan woken up?" I asked when I saw Zhang Yi and Lu Xi whispering.

"She's awake, but still weak. Grandfather Pan is taking care of her," Lu Xi said.

Zhang Yi hesitated before finally speaking.

"I want to leave."