108: Don't Eat Me

Don't Eat Me

After making sure that no more strange creatures were lurking around, we went around and checked everyone's injuries. Fortunately, all of them were minor—it appeared that whatever the invisible thing was, it wasn't interested in us as its prey. The sudden attack was likely due to the inconvenient timing of the breeze that startled it into flight.2

Even Guo Lingling's condition was better than I thought. She was lucky enough to not have hit the tree trunk with her spine, so it only left her a swollen shoulder. Another disciple was helping her with the sprain, and I darted a glance over. Nothing looked too serious from as far as I could tell.

She caught my glance, however, and her eyes went wide. "Leave me alone!" she suddenly screamed at me, startling the disciple next to her.

I blinked. All eyes around us flew our way, and I was wondering what new trick Guo Lingling was trying to play when she continued, "Stop! Please! Don't eat me!"

"…"

Did that creature scare her out of her mind?

"Lingling …" The disciple next to her, who I recognized then as her friend Wang Meng, spoke. "It's alright, it's me—"

"Get away from me!" Guo Lingling screamed once more. "Don't come any closer!"

The rest of the group, now realizing what was going on, exchanged looks between each other. There was an obvious contempt in their eyes. "She's scared so easily," someone mumbled. "I'm glad we are not at the Jade Temple right now. It'd be such a shame for other sects to see our disciples like this."

I found that remark a bit satisfying, though I still got up from where I was sitting and moved towards Guo Lingling—despite my pique at her barbed comments, hallucination was a serious issue that had to be taken care of, and unluckily, I was probably the only person that would be able to help her right now.

She inched back at my approach and wailed a few more intelligible words. I ignored her. "I have something that can help," I said to Wang Meng and fetched a small vial from my sack. "This is an essence made from herbs and roots that can calm her senses."

Wang Meng looked at me somewhat suspiciously. "She's calm enough," she said. "Just … a little confused."

I managed a patient smile. "She was likely overstimulated by trying too hard to see that creature in front of her, and is seeing visions now instead—" basically, Guo Lingling went a little mad, though I didn't say that out loud, "—she needs something that can clear her head and bring her back to reality."

Wang Meng looked me up and down again. "Will you drink it first?" she asked.

I was just about to pass the vial to her when my hand froze in the air. She didn't think I was going to poison Guo Lingling, did she?

"No, I won't drink it first," I said and pulled my hand back. "If you don't trust me, feel free to either let her keep screaming like this, or tell everyone else that we have to return early to Mount Hua because of it." I placed the vial back into my sack. "And by the way, this essence is for sniffing, not drinking."

My reaction surprised myself a little. During my five years of training, I had always made myself remember that medicine shouldn't discriminate, and I never turned down a request no matter who came to me for help. That was the reason why I had tolerated Chu Xi and Zhong Yilan for so long despite how they treated me. But at this moment, I felt no guilt taking back what I was offering because of Wang Meng's distrust. I didn't owe her or Guo Lingling anything, and I didn't need to lower myself just to help them.

Maybe this was something new that I had finally learned after all this time.

Wen Shiyin glanced my way as I turned around to walk away. I wondered which of us she would criticize for the lack of team spirit, though she didn't comment on that. "We'll have to end this trip short then, Wang Meng," she said instead. "We can't drag Guo Lingling with us like this. If no one else here can help her, we'll need to take her back to a master."

The looks from the rest of the group turned from contempt to annoyance. No one wanted the trip to end this way. A few stabbing glances landed behind me, and I didn't need to look back to know what Wang Meng's expression was like right now.

"Yun Qing-er is good at medicine." Li Yuxian's voice came. "You can trust her, Wang Meng. Chu Xi and Zhong Yilan both got potions from her regularly …"

I almost tripped at his words. Considering what ended up happening between those two and me … was he trying to help or to make things worse?

"And not everyone here holds such petty grudges against others." Qi Lian spoke next. "What can Senior Yun get out of hurting Guo Lingling?"

"Especially if she does it so blatantly in front of all the rest of us," someone else chuckled.

I halted in my tracks and turned around. Wang Meng was looking at me, biting her lips. "S-Senior Yun …" she said at last. "I … I apologize. I was just too worried about Lingling … Would you please help her?"

"Do you still want me to sniff it myself first?" I asked. "Scent can sometimes be just as potent as consuming the liquid itself."

Wang Meng glimpsed back at the group before lowering her head. "I trust you. I'm sorry … I shouldn't have said that earlier."

I doubted that she was actually sorry, though I suppose being pressured to say it was good enough. I tossed her the vial and watched her offer it to the still wide-eyed Guo Lingling. "Let her breathe in naturally until she falls asleep," I said. "She'll wake up within half an hour afresh."

~ ~

When Guo Lingling woke up half an hour later, clarity was fully back in her eyes. Wang Meng whispered in her ears for a little while, and the two of them darted strange glances at me, though there were no more bitter remarks out loud. Wen Shiyin checked again that everyone was in good shape to continue, and the group moved on into the depth of the forest.

"I'm glad you thought of the light spell earlier," she said to me as she held out the demon tracker again, slowing down to walk by my side. "We might not have been able to get away from the creature so easily without it."

"You are the one who summoned it," I smiled. That was the beauty of team effort. "It'll probably take me a few more years to learn an advanced spell like that."

Something seemed to have flashed across Wen Shiyin's face. "It's not an advanced spell, actually … Just an unusual one that a lot of people don't find useful, so most masters don't teach it." She paused for a moment, then added almost quietly, "I learned it from Xie Lun … many years ago."

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