Right now, everyone’s nerves were stretched tight—two of their companions were unconscious in this already dangerous place.
“How’s our wife doing?” Liam Willow kept asking anxiously. He wanted to know if Lucian Vane had cured her yet, but Lucian looked even worse off—totally out cold and way more dangerous. And there wasn’t even a doctor here! What were they supposed to do?
“Don’t worry. I just checked with my inner force—she’s not in any immediate danger.” Caleb Miles stood up as he spoke, then shot a worried glance at Lucian Vane in the pool outside.
“Really? Is she really okay?” Liam Willow was so excited, but when he saw Caleb’s eyes, he followed his gaze outside.
At that moment, in the small pool, Adrian Night was channeling inner power into Lucian Vane. But after a while, all he felt was Lucian’s body getting hotter and hotter—the icy pool water was actually starting to warm up.
“Caleb, what about Lucian…” Liam Willow started to ask, but before he could finish, Caleb Miles walked to the cave entrance and yelled to Adrian Night, “Come up here! He’s way too poisoned—just using inner force won’t get the toxins out!”
Hearing that, Adrian Night opened his deep, dark eyes and glanced at him.
“Trust me, if you keep going like this, you’ll just wear yourself out and it won’t help him at all. Silver Consort could show up any minute. Don’t you think you should save your strength to deal with her?” Caleb Miles calmly tried to convince Adrian Night. He knew, after Lucian Vane blocked the poisoned needle for him, Adrian wouldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
“I’m fine, but his body’s getting hotter and hotter. I’m afraid…” During the inner force transfer, Adrian could clearly feel Lucian’s condition changing. If they kept delaying, Lucian’s life would be in real danger.
“Wife, you’re awake!” Liam Willow’s sudden joyful shout snapped the two outside back to reality.
“Leave him there for now—let’s check on her first.” Caleb Miles said, heading into the cave. Adrian Night propped Lucian Vane up by the pool and quickly followed.
“Ugh… my head feels like I got run over by a herd of demon donkeys…” Ivy Shen blinked awake, still totally out of it.
“Wife, you’re finally awake!” Seeing this, Liam Willow hugged her so hard he almost squeezed the life out of her, a rare smile breaking out on his face. But that smile stabbed Colin Kerr right in the heart.
“What’s wrong?” Ivy Shen could practically feel Liam Willow vibrating with excitement. She waved her arms, squished flat in his embrace, and deadpanned, “Dude, if you don’t let go, you’re gonna squish me to death! Is this a love hug or a murder attempt?”
“Ah!” Liam Willow quickly let go and gently laid her flat on the grass.
“You were poisoned, but Lucian Vane saved you.” Adrian Night explained simply, though no one knew just how shocked he’d been when he first entered the cave. Lucian’s pale face was right beside her, their hands pressed tightly together—even unconscious, his serpent tail was still wrapped protectively around her. Adrian had never imagined love could make Lucian sacrifice so much.
“A venomous snake saved me? What about him?” Ivy Shen looked around, not seeing Lucian Vane, and couldn’t help asking.
“He drew the poison out of you. Now, all the toxins are in his body.” Caleb Miles said.
“What?” Ivy Shen yelped, practically springing up to check, but her hand instantly screamed in pain. She looked down—someone had wrapped her palm in a white handkerchief, now speckled with blood. The pain stabbed right from her palm, and for a split second, she swore she could hear Lucian’s voice echoing in her head: ‘I’ll save you. I’ll save you…’ Okay, that was way more dramatic than any soap opera she’d watched.
Her heart did a full-on rollercoaster drop. She could almost picture Lucian playing the hero, swooping in to save her—cue the dramatic background music. Her chest squeezed tight, like someone had just announced a pop quiz.
A loud splash echoed from outside, snapping everyone in the cave out of it—they all rushed out at once.
“So hot… so hot…” Lucian Vane was totally submerged in the water, but his green serpent tail was tinged with red. His whole face was tomato-red, and he kept muttering, “So hot… so hot…”
“Lucian!” Adrian Night stepped forward to check on him, but the moment he touched Lucian’s skin, he was burned.
“Adrian!” Ivy Shen hurried to his side, opening his palm—his white skin was instantly scorched red. She turned, worried, to look at Lucian in the water. “Why is his body so hot?”
“Did you touch anything weird before?” Caleb Miles asked urgently.
“Huh? Weird stuff?” Ivy Shen was stumped by the question.
“How exactly did you get poisoned?”
“I ran into a deer that looked like it was made of blood—it rammed me, and then I blacked out.” Ivy Shen quickly recalled.
Hearing this, Caleb Miles frowned. He finally remembered Liam Willow mentioning a blood-colored monster earlier, but he hadn’t paid attention. Turns out, it really was that thing.
“Wait, do you know something? Do you know how to save him?” Ivy Shen caught Caleb’s look and started to guess.
“No wonder… no wonder…” Caleb Miles muttered to himself, then explained to everyone, “Lucian Vane is from a family of poison doctors, so his blood is basically an antidote. If it’s a normal poison, he can heal himself. But today he faced Silver Consort, who uses the most wicked poison in the martial world. Even though his blood can suppress it, he just gave Ivy his blood to draw out her poison, so all the toxins stored in her body flowed back into him. Now both poisons are stacked inside, and he’s already too weak to resist. Plus, that deer’s poison is pure yin…” At this point, Caleb didn’t know how to continue.
“Uh… and then? Is this the part where you tell me he’s doomed unless we find some miracle herb that only grows on the moon?” Ivy Shen’s heart was already breakdancing with anxiety.
“If I’m right, that blood-deer is an extremely yin, highly poisonous creature. Anyone who touches its fur gets poisoned to the bone—the toxin eats away at your heart’s blood, and at midnight, the pain is unbearable. After three days, you die from the agony.” Caleb Miles dropped this bombshell, leaving everyone in shock.
[Author’s meta note omitted, not part of the story.]
[Author’s meta note omitted, not part of the story.]