Heaven's Laws - Lifestone - Chapter 17

She noticed something. It was almost instinctual. Sitting up in her chair, Huifen looked back at Chao. Nearly all of their energy gathering had been done as one for the last year. Feeling the slightest change in his circulation had become almost second nature to her, even from across the room.

Going over to him, she took a closer look, only to see a fresh green stem on their bed that he must have dragged in. It was out of place, so she went to brush it aside, when she pulled her hand back the moment she perceived it was far more than a broken off stem. Her perceptions quickly followed it to the floor.

The realization of what it was like a thunderclap had gone off inside of her head. With a wave of her qi her card jade and the array flags were thrown into her spatial ring. The next moment, Chao was in her arms, and she’d burst straight through the wall and out into the night.

She flew as fast as she could until she’d put some distance between her and the inn, then circled back toward a clearing she remembered from earlier in the day. There wasn’t enough time to find a truly safe spot, so she had to be ready for battle.

The clearing she found quickly. The fact that he hadn’t wakened was proof enough something was wrong. Worse. She felt his vitality weakening even as she was using nature’s bestow ability to fill him with health giving qi.

Huifen’s entire chest quaked almost like she was sobbing and vomiting at the same time, but not a sound slipped from her lips. Her heart pounded with genuine terror. The realization struck her that her Chao might soon leave her alone in this world.

She sat him down in a clearing as gently as she could. Her perceptions blasted her surroundings, daring the entire world to come if it dared.

Tears streamed down her face making it difficult to do what she needed. She frozen them with qi, then brushed the icy trails aside only for new ones to take their place. This won’t do. She was too distraught to rationally think of what course of action to take next. Her years of training came back to her in an instant.

Heart of ice began to churn inside her in a way it never had. Her nerves froze into frigid steel. One last blast of qi took care of her remaining tears. The beating of her heart calmed almost forcibly. She would crush it inside her own chest if it defied her in this moment of need.

She found the small hole on his arm as she continued to use Big Sister Ping’s vitality giving technique. Hers was far weaker than the Nature Sage’s, but she had plenty of qi to make up for her shortcomings.

Sage Ping had taken her through the process of how to decipher what poison was used many times. It was common for cultivators to move beyond what they considered mortal observation, to go straight to observing the victim’s internals with their perceptions and qi. This was a grave mistake. Some of the most telling ways to discern a type of poison wasn’t by how it affected a person’s meridians and qi flow, but the outward signs of how the body reacted to a poison’s presence.

She checked the coloring of the entrance wound, then his pulse. There was no swelling or discoloration. His heart rate had slowed considerably. She opened his eyelids, checking them both. There was slight yellowing, but they weren’t bloodshot. Then she checked his nails and fingertips, followed by his toes. The circulation was less than before because the slowing of his heart rate, but they still weren’t blue, so his blood wasn’t coagulating inside him.

She checked his ears, nose, and mouth. His tongue wasn’t discolored, but since the poison entered through his arm and wasn’t digested, it just added another complication—one less indicator of what this poison could be. Then she smelled his breath. She thought back to what they had for dinner. There was a minty smell from the herbs he commonly chewed after a meal. Everything was as it should be…

She seemed to freeze where she sat as she considered what she’d learned, and her next steps should be. If heart of ice wasn’t cycling so fiercely, she would’ve shuttered at what she now knew. It was a mostly traceless poison. Even the wound looked like the smallest scratch. If the vine hadn’t been there waiting for her to find, would she have even thought he was poison?

Now was not the time.

She tore off his shirt like it was thin paper. With her enhanced senses, even the little light the mooned provided was far more than she needed. She examined the skin of his neck and chest. Then the arm the vine had punctured. She found red spots starting to form near his armpit. Her first real clue.

Chao’s chest heaved, but his cough came out as a wheeze and lacked the strength of the motion.

Her heart of ice technique faltered.

Like tightening a fist, her cyclone of qi swept the deficiency away.

She then reinspected the wound, smelling it. There was nothing.

His breathing became more difficult with each passing minute.

A thought slipped in. There was nothing she could do.

Her perception plunged inside him to observe his qi flow and dantian. They seemed unhindered. The poison was simply causing his organs to slow. Were they going to fail? She watched them labor.

She chided herself. Was she just going to watch until they stopped all together?

Removing her perceptions, she returned to what Sage Ping had taught her and began to categorize all that she’d learned. The problem was, there were still many possibilities.

Then one of the last things Sage Ping had said before they left struck her. “Sometimes it’s not the presence of evidence but the lack of it that will help you best discern which poison was used.”

If she had known that what her friend was teaching her would be of used so soon…

Huifen had been listing the poisons in her mind the characteristics of what she’d observed. She needed to take it further and rule out all of the poisons that had other possible effects, no matter how rare.

She thanked the heavens for the blessings cultivation had on a person’s mind, for she quickly whittled down the number of possibilities to just a few.

To be safe, she did one more thorough investigation, starting at the beginning. Even as his cough came more frequently, she forced herself to follow the processes. As she leaned down to smell his breath, she’d placed her hand on his chest. Coughing gripped him as she did, when she realized it wasn’t coughing at all.

Sudden, infrequent muscle spasms. She quickly went through her mental list and ruled out a few more only to find she was left with one remaining possibility.

She wanted to scream, cry, and dance all at once, but she stopped herself and finished the process Sage Ping had taught her. Reaching the end, she was sure. She quickly found the antidote and placed the small bottle to his lips. A small pill fell into his mouth, and she pushed it down his throat with the precision of her qi. Water came next. All she could do was wait.

It was a few long minute before she noticed a difference. As soon as his breathing became less shallow, a sliver of hope slipped through, and her heart of ice technique crumbled.

Her tears were soaking his shirt in the next instant as she placed her ear to his chest. It wasn’t as much to hear as it was to just be sure he was still there and alive. With each beat, his heart grew stronger. Her perception entered inside him to confirm what her senses had just told her. They hadn’t lied her.

She then felt him release a deep sigh and his breath messed her hair.

Sitting up, she found him looking up at her. She half expected for him to tease her the moment he awoke, but she could see that he knew something was wrong.

“How do you feel?” She asked.

“Weak,” he replied, his eyes widening as he realized she’d been crying. “My Huifen. What, happened?”

She just looked down at him, shaking her head. Eventually she spoke. “You were poisoned, but its okay now. Big Sister Ping showed me enough that I was able to spot the poison and give you the antidote. You’re recovering already.”

“Then you saved my life,” he said, grabbing her hand that had been resting on his chest and holding it tightly.

“No, she saved you. I just followed directions.” She managed to smile.

She felt his qi cycle before he forced himself in a seated position. Before she could object, he’d embraced her.

They sat there for a long while without saying anything. It was only when another presence appeared above them that they scrambled to their feet.

Chao seemed to struggle, but he made it with her help.

They’d seen this demon before. Her hair was red as blood, and she let it blow wherever it wished. There seemed to be no life in the woman’s eyes as she slowly descended like a queen of death. The last time they’d seen this divine realm cultivator, she taken to the sky and cut down dozens of men and women Chao had convinced to flee from their battle against Emperor Sun. She was Billi, the psychotic pet of Syaoran.

They both took a battle formation, readying to disappear into a sphere of space. This wasn’t a fight they could win. Not even Quinyuan had a hope of trading a single blow with her.

Then the woman stopped in the air before them. Emotionless, she just stared at them and didn’t say a word. Then they looked down and saw the veiled woman in her grasp.

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The next chapter is tomorrow. Possibly two. I'm keeping these short for the sake of pacing and because there might still be a few surprises in store.

Cheers!