Halfway up the mountain.
After Ye Zichen parted ways with the others, Venerate Spirit Treasure found a cave to avoid the wind, then brought the Great Sage, Xuan Ji, and the other patients safely inside.
Their current situation didn’t leave much room for optimism. The Great Sage, whose symptoms were the worst, was already showing signs of shock.
No matter what, they couldn’t let him fall into a coma. Whenever he fell unconscious, even briefly, the Hermit Emperor would do whatever it took to wake him up.
Venerate Spirit Treasure stood guard outside the cave. Although he understood the patients’ symptoms, he’d never been a healer. The only cure he knew was Worry-Alleviating Grass. As for how to slow their symptoms in the interim, he had no idea.
All he could do was maintain a barrier outside the cave to help keep it warm, as well as to prevent wandering beasts from ambushing the sick.
Speaking of beasts, it was strange. They hadn’t encountered any beasts on their way here, but suddenly, there were a whole bunch of them.
Furthermore, based on their expressions, it seemed they’d been chased out of their homes; all of them looked unwilling. But at the same time, they seemed terrified of something, so much so that they could only flee in search of a new habitat.
“If it takes any longer, they won’t be able to hold on.” The Hermit Emperor looked at his sprawled out patients and sighed despite himself. He’d been practicing medicine for so long, and considered himself quite adept at responding to all sorts of rare and complex illnesses.
Take the destruction of Xue Mo’s bloodline power; even then, he knew of a cure.
But now of all times, the Medical Saint felt as if his hands were tied.
He’d been tasked with remaining in the cave. Even though he didn’t know how to slow the patients’ symptoms, he could at least use various methods to awaken them when they slipped into unconsciousness.
Just as he sighed over their plight, a battered yet nimble figure appeared in the windy, icy world outside the cave.
The figure arrived quickly. In just a few breaths of time, he was outside the cave.
“You’re back!” Venerate Spirit Treasure had led this new arrival to the cave. When the Hermit Emperor glanced behind him and saw there were others present, he was a bit surprised.
“This is Worry-Alleviating Grass. Save them!”
This new arrival was none other than Gu Li. After Ye Zichen used himself as bait to lure away the giant bird, Gu Li had set aside all other concerns and rushed back to the others. On his way, he’d encountered quite a few beasts; it seemed that the Worry-Alleviating Grass was a tempting supplement to all the life forms of the snowy mountain. Upon smelling it, many beasts chose to attack him.
Who knew how many beasts he’d slaughtered to get here? That was why he looked so ragged and worn.
But although he had numerous injuries, both big and small, the grass in his pocket wasn’t damaged in the slightest.
He carefully took out the shimmering, crystalline grass. Although Venerate Spirit Treasure was surprised that Ye Zichen and Yang Jian weren’t with him, saving the sick came first. He asked no questions. Instead, he turned to the Hermit Emperor. “Save them first.”
“How do I use the Worry-Alleviating Grass?” The Hermit Emperor looked at it uncertainly.
Venerate Spirit Treasure simply took a stalk and shoved it into the Great Sage’s mouth. “Like this. Just feed it to them.”
Although this was an extremely simple cure, it was actually incomparably difficult to implement on the Great Sage and the others.
Those hit the hardest were no longer fully conscious, and even when the grass was placed into their mouths, it was difficult to get them to swallow.
It took over ten minutes before all of the patients had swallowed their antidotes.
When he saw that everyone had swallowed their share of antidote, Gu Li hurriedly said, “Right! Ye Zichen and Gu Li stayed behind to fend off two leaders of the vicious beasts so that I could return with the Worry-Alleviating Grass.”
“I’ll go there now,” said Venerate Spirit Treasure.
“I’ll go with you. You don’t know the exact location,” said Gu Li.
“No need. You just stay here. The beasts of the mountains aren’t so docile. Even when they wake up, they’re in a weakened state, and they need people to stay behind to protect them. I can sense the vicious beast leaders’ auras, so I should be able to discern their rough locations. Besides, in your current state…” Venerate Spirit Treasure glanced at Gu Li, who was covered in wounds from head to toe, and shook his head. “You’d best stay behind and tend to your wounds. Even if you come with me, you’ll just be a burden.”
Then, without another word, Venerate Spirit Treasure left the cave and disappeared into the blizzard.
It was just as Venerate Spirit Treasure said. Although Worry-Alleviating Grass was profoundly toxic, it had a miraculous effect on Thousand Lotus Flower poisoning.
Not long after the patients swallowed it, those whose symptoms had been the least severe, Xuan Ji and An Lu, regained consciousness. The Great Sage and Pu Jingwan’s symptoms were more serious, so they still weren’t quite awake, but the dark red lines on their arms were receding at a pace visible to the naked eye.
“An Lu!” Just as Gu Li was about to take some recovery medicine, An Lu woke up. He hugged her, so happy, he burst into tears.
He’d really been worried sick. Now that she was fully conscious, he could finally relax.
“Gu Li.” She gave him a radiant smile; she knew that while she was in a near comatose state, Gu Li must have been worried. When she saw his injuries, she knew how much he’d been through to help her recover.
She gently brushed away his tears, then held up and examined his wounded hand, repeatedly blowing on the wounds.
“Does it hurt?”
Gu Li shook his head.
Even though the wounds on his left fist were so deep, even the bones were visible, none of that mattered now that An Lu had woken up.
When she saw Gu Li’s wordless smile, An Lu’s heart ached.
After regaining consciousness, Xuan Ji sensed her own weakened state, then state cross-legged, recovering her divine power.
An Lu then cocked her head and looked around. After scanning the cave twice, she realized that someone was indeed missing.
“Why isn’t Big Brother Zichen here?”
“He…” Gu Li trailed off. Xuan Ji opened her eyes too. She’d only just realized that Yang Jian and Ye Zichen weren’t here.
When they left, although she’d been weak, Xuan Ji had still been clear-headed.
She knew that the three of them had left together!
That she’d regained consciousness meant they’d found the antidote. And yet, three of them had left, while only Gu Li returned. Venerate Spirit Treasure was no longer present, either.
“They got trapped on the way back, but you don’t have to worry. He’s the Emperor Star… he has enough good fortune to compete with the heavens, there’s no way something will happen to him.” Gu Li told the truth, unwilling to lie to An Lu.
“You’re saying Ye Zichen got trapped?” The Great Sage’s eyes suddenly popped open, and he attempted to crawl to his feet, but he was too weak, he failed to stabilize himself and fell back to the ground.
Even so, he struggled to bring himself before Gu Li, then wrapped his hands around Gu Li’s neck.
“Tell the truth. Was Ye Zichen trapped, or did you entrap him? Tell me the truth!” The Great Sage’s fiery eyes flashed with terrifying light. Even in his weakened state, his gaze was extremely intimidating.
He and Yang Jian were the same; he’d never trusted this demonic pipsqueak, this villain capable of any wicked deed imaginable.
It was only Ye Zichen who was kind enough to think well of anyone, no matter who they were or what they did. The Great Sage and Yang Jian hadn’t made trouble for Gu Li out of respect for Ye Zichen, yet now Gu Li was telling them that Ye Zichen was in trouble?”
“I did nothing to harm him, nor was there any need for me to do so. Yang Jian planned to stop two vicious beasts so we could return, but one of them was a giant bird, and it pursued the two of us relentlessly. Ye Zichen was worried about the situation here, so he chose to use himself as bait to lead the bird away. That meant that only I could return to deliver the antidote,” said Gu Li.
“Liar!” roared the Great Sage.
“I know what you think of me, but the facts are the facts. No matter what you say, I am not ashamed of my actions. I said I didn’t hurt them, so I don’t hurt them,” said Gu Li
“Great Sage, please stay calm.” The Hermit Emperor then stood between them. “He might very well be telling the truth. Also, Venerate Spirit Treasure has already left in search of Emperor Ye and Yang Jian. I expect they’ll be back before long.”
“That’s right, Big Brother Great Sage. Gu Li wouldn’t lie to you.” An Lu blinked at him.
“You’d best be telling the truth!” The Great Sage shot Gu Li a vicious glare. “If I discover that you’ve lied to me, well… Hmph!”
A full six hours passed.
Everyone fully regained consciousness, and Xuan Ji and the Great Sage got to work restoring their divine power. However, even after regaining consciousness, Pu Jingwan sat at the entrance to the cave as if she’d lost her soul. She looked as forlorn as Hong Kong’s Amah Rock as she stared into the mountains outside.
After regaining awareness, she learned that two vicious giant beasts had held up Ye Zichen. She’d been like this ever since. In her conversation with An Lu, she said that she had an ill premonition, and that a woman’s sixth sense was eerily accurate.
She was terrified that something would really happen to Ye Zichen, so she was working hard to suppress those thoughts.
But the more she repressed them, the greater the recoil.
The beasts were causing an increasingly huge ruckus as time went on, and they appeared at even greater frequency. If not for the fact that the Hermit Emperor and the others still present had presences powerful enough to intimidate the beasts, they might have attacked and occupied the cave a long time ago.
“These vicious beasts…” The Hermit Emperor looked outside and couldn’t help but mutter.
Gu Li looked outside too, then said, “The commotion they’re causing might have something to do with us.”
“With you?” The Hermit Emperor’s eyebrows shot up.
“The snow apes guarding the Thousand Lotus Flowers are likely the leaders of the mountains’ beasts. When he went to pluck the Worry-Alleviating Grass, the apes swarmed us. The two plants are likely their nourishment, but we destroyed them all! On our way back, the leader of the apes likely discovered this, and as a result, it’s completely furious. The smaller apes are likely acting like this out of fear of their leader’s might and fury,” said Gu Li.
“Thousand Lotus Flowers?” Pu Jingwan’s eyes lit up. “How many…?”
Gu Li thought back to the flower patch, then said, “Tens of thousands, probably!”
“That many? And you destroyed them all?”
Gu Li nodded. Pu Jingwan’s face instantly filled with heartrending pain, but before long, the thought of the lotuses could no longer distract her, and she returned to her former despondency, staring soullessly out into the endless blizzard.
Suddenly, two figures came into view through the entryway. When they looked closely, they saw that it was Venerate Spirit Treasure and Yang Jian. However, it was just the two of them. Ye Zichen was still missing.
