Chương 62: Chapter 60 - Treating Tang Jin
Ao Wen and Feng Xi's hunt for medicinal ingredients had gone better than expected. The thunderstorm from a few days prior had helped several Thundercloud Plums to ripen. Townspeople rarely ventured this deep into the Thundercloud Forest, leaving many under-ripe plums on the trees in the vicinity of the Rage Queen's den. Even without braving the largest trees that still clung to their own clouds of storming lightning energy, Ao Wen and Feng Xi were able to harvest more than a dozen lush Thundercloud Plums brimming with lightning energy.
More importantly for Ao Wen, they had also managed to find an intact Threefoil Bloodleaf Fern growing in the shade of a Thundercloud Plum tree where the fern had been able to feed on the bodies of small creatures foolish enough to seek shelter under a Thundercloud tree during a storm. Years of repeated storms and an accumulation of the remains of small creatures had given the fern a rich bloody aura that would help to speed recovery and improve blood circulation through her injured body. It wouldn't mend her broken arm, but if she could extract its medicinal essence and grind it into a paste with the sap of one of the common Flameleaf Maple trees in the forest then she would at least be able to rid herself of the bruises that covered much of her body and eliminate the after-effects of the concussion.
Returning to camp, both young women were relieved to see that the smoky fire they left burning had its intended effect of discouraging wildlife from visiting their camp and disturbing Tang Jin who continued to slumber without signs of recovery. Ao Wen had no idea what they'd do if they'd returned to find something attacking Tang Jin or worse, that something had attacked him while they were gone. They'd had little choice but to leave him there alone but she'd carried anxiety about it the entire time they were away.
"So how does this work?" Feng Xi asked, genuinely curious about Ao Wen's new concocting skills. She'd only ever seen an alchemist concocting once before when she was much younger but it had felt magical and impressive at the time. Fatigue dragged at her but she tried to let herself feel enough enthusiasm for the process to help keep going just a little bit longer. "What do I need to help with next?"
Ao Wen looked at her haggard friend with a complicated gaze. She wanted nothing more than to say 'Next you sleep!' but she didn't know how much longer Tang Jin could persist. The sooner they provided him with the energy he needed, the sooner she could let Feng Xi take a much-needed rest. "Next I need you to extract the hearts and beast cores of the Blood Rage Cougar cubs. Since we have enough Thundercloud Plums, I'll use all six hearts and beast cores," Ao Wen said.
Feng Xi nodded, too exhausted after days without sleep to say anything more as she got to work. The excitement of her reunion had provided her with a surge of energy when they began their trek to find ingredients but that surge had faded within the first few hours replaced by a bone-weary fatigue that she struggled to resist. Pulling out a simple utility knife she began removing the bodies of the cubs from her borrowed cosmos bag one at a time, working slowly and carefully to cut out the bits of flesh and bone that would be essential in saving Tang Jin's life.
As Feng Xi worked, Ao Wen wasted no time in making her own preparations. While she came nowhere close to Teacher Xie's ability to shape earth and summon pillars of solid stone she was able to refine the shape of a wide stone into a shallow vessel that she could grind herbs in. Working slowly with a single hand, Ao Wen first broke down the Threefoil Bloodleaf Fern leaves, refining them with her familiar azure alchemy flames before mixing in the sap from the Flameleaf Maple tree and a handful of unburned moss from the bark of a Thundercloud Plum tree that would work as a stabilizing agent for the primitive elixir paste. Many of the proper alchemists in the Sacred Flame Celestial Temple would doubtless turn their nose up at such a crude elixir but as Ao Wen's adopted mother had taught her, a real alchemist made do with what they had. An inferior medicine was often better than no medicine at all. After applying enough of the elixir paste to her temple to relieve the lingering effects of her concussion she moved on to the base ingredients of the proper elixir she would be concocting for Tang Jin.
An hour later, Ao Wen and Feng Xi had managed to concoct a rich medicinal soup. The traveling cook pot they had used as an impromptu alchemy cauldron for the concoction had deformed slightly under the intense heat of Ao Wen's crimson alchemy flames and it probably wouldn't survive more than one or two more attempts to use it to concoct medicine but it hardly mattered. Saving Tang Jin came first, if they sacrificed a pot for that, it could be said to have met a worthy end.
"Help me hold him steady," Ao Wen said, gingerly holding the deformed pot full of thick medicinal soup. "I don't have a funnel to work with so I'm going to have to pour directly into his mouth. He may shake or convulse once he starts swallowing this down, the reaction won't be gentle," she warned. "Make sure his head doesn't jerk or I'll spill and some of the soup will be wasted. The more of this we can make him swallow, the better his odds are." Once Feng Xi had a firm grip on Tang Jin's head, Ao Wen lifted the pot and held it gently to Tang Jin's lips. The soup itself roiled and bubbled even though it had long been removed from heat. An aura of seething rage and crackling energy emanated from the pot mixing with the rich vitality of the hearts of the Blood Rage Cougar cubs. Supplementary ingredients of Luminous Dragonfly wings and ground Spike Shrub Berries gave the concoction a mysterious air that did little to improve the cloying meaty aroma of the soup, much less its pungent taste. Thankfully, Tang Jin wasn't awake to be subjected to either. "Good luck little friend," Ao Wen said, tipping up the pot and beginning to pour.
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JustJae
JustJae Celebrating the end of January with a mini-mass release! Today, 7 chapters instead of 2. Thank you everyone for the Power Stonesm the comments, the reviews and all the support. Please, if you’re enjoying the story so far, help us grow by sharing with your friends, it really does help!
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