When everyone finally found Ivy Shen, she was already unconscious. Beside her, Liam Willow was drenched in sweat, anxiously calling over and over, "Wife... wife..."
"What happened?" Adrian Night hurried over to ask. One look and he saw the blackness at the corners of Ivy's mouth—her little face was as pale as a sheet.
"I don't know. We... we just kept running and running, and then all these weird bugs started falling from the trees. I kept trying to swat them away with my robe, but suddenly this blood-red monster deer appeared behind us. Its whole body was crimson, and its eyes were terrifying. It charged straight at us, and my wife—my wife shoved me out of the way and took the hit herself." As he finished, Liam's face was full of guilt. It was all his fault, all because he couldn't fight, that she got hurt.
"Liam, are you hurt?" Colin Kerr rushed over, grabbing Liam's hand in worry.
"Let me... let me check her." Lucian Vane, looking just as pale as Ivy, weakly said to Caleb Miles.
Hearing that, Caleb Miles helped him over. Lucian slowly sat down beside Ivy, reached out to take her pulse, and his face instantly turned iron-blue. "She's been hit with a deadly poison."
"What? Deadly poison?" Everyone was shocked.
"Enough talking. We need to find somewhere to treat her right now, or she won't last an hour," Lucian urged.
At his words, Adrian Night scooped Ivy Shen into his arms. Caleb Miles supported Lucian Vane and led the way, while Liam Willow, still wracked with guilt, could barely walk and had to be helped along by Colin Kerr.
After a while, they finally found a mountain cave. Adrian quickly gathered branches and lit a small fire inside, instantly warming up the chilly cave. Lucian, looking weak, ordered, "Everyone out. Wait outside." The others glanced at him and Ivy, worry written all over their faces, but turned and left.
Now, the tiny cave was just the two of them. Lucian Vane fought down his own pain, gently touched Ivy's pale cheek, and promised, "Don't worry... I'll definitely save you, I swear!" With that, he grabbed a sword nearby and sliced a huge gash into his own hand. Blood poured out, and he pressed his hand to her mouth, forcing her to drink it. As he did, his face grew even paler.
"Drink... drink it and you'll get better." Raised on poisons since childhood, his blood was a universal antidote. But Poison Silver Consort's venom was so fierce, even his own insides felt like they were being torn apart. Luckily, he sealed off his chest with inner force in time—otherwise, if the poison spread through all his blood, he wouldn't be able to save her at all.
Minute by minute, Ivy's face slowly regained some color, but her lips were still black. Seeing this, Lucian checked her pulse again, then—without hesitation—cut a gash into her hand, reopened his own wound, and pressed their hands together to draw out the poison.
"Pfft—" The deadly poison in Ivy, plus Poison Silver Consort's toxin in Lucian, instantly made him cough up blood. His green serpent tail began to replace his human legs. He knew he couldn't hold out much longer, but the detox wasn't finished—if he stopped now, she'd still be in danger.
Gritting his teeth, he tore off strips of his clothes and used his last bit of strength to bind their hands tightly together. Once that was done, Lucian was already at his limit. Still, he managed a relieved smile. "It's fine... you'll be fine..." Then, using the very last of his strength, he coiled his green tail protectively around her. If any more venomous beasts came, let them bite him instead. After arranging everything, he finally collapsed beside her...
****Gratitude****
PS: You all are leaving so many enthusiastic comments, so here's a bonus chapter for today! Yiyi is so cute, right? Please keep loving and supporting Yiyi~ And our kind poison snake is just adorable! Are you all chewing on him yet?