Chapter 875

Chapter 875: Chapter 873 Spreading Poison and Stubborn Will

“I think we should go to the nearby outpost first,” said Yang, her voice shaking slightly. “Even if they can’t help... if they can at least identify what’s wrong with us... I think that sort of information is invaluable... oh I wish Xuena was here... she’d know exactly how to fix us...”

Xiang nodded, “I’m fine with that. It really isn’t too far out of the way even in the worst case. Kat is that good with you? Er... you two?” Xiang corrected his wording when he saw Kat raise a pointed eyebrow and tilt her head slightly further towards Lily.

Kat nodded of course. This seemed to be quite serious and if the cultivators thought the best place to get themselves looked at was the nearest settlement, Kat was willing to go along with it. Lily was in agreement as well, though for her, it was partially an interesting in seeing what the diagnosis would be. Lily assumed that if there was a doctor or just a knowledgeable local at the way station, then she would be able to listen in. Her magic wasn’t really working out just yet, perhaps taking in medical information would be a good way to assist.

With everyone on the same page, Xiang put away the map and brought out some food for everyone. Lily was the only one who didn’t have rations, even Kat partook in some, feeling slightly hungry for perhaps the first time since her transformation. Apparently intense combat combined with days fighting off poison was enough for even Kat to start to feel some semblance of hunger. Lily enjoyed her strips of snake meat immensely. Still quite pleased with the taste despite the time that had passed. Everyone else... well... it wasn’t a good meal.

Kat had the best reaction. Simply eating the biscuits and jerky without complaint. It wasn’t a great meal, but Kat didn’t have any issues with it either. The cultivators though... they were not so lucky. Whether it was the side effects from the poison, or just the fact they were unwell and could still smell the swamp, Xiang and Yang found it quite hard to keep the food down. Xiang was retching for about half a minute after every bite, but managed to keep it all down. Yang didn’t even manage that. The biscuits seemed to get stuck in her throat and she was forced to cough them up. If not for the jerky, Yang would have needed to go without food.

After the disastrous lunch for half the party, everyone wanted to just get away. The saying ‘My kingdom for a sandwich’ seemed remarkably apt for the sick half of the group. So everyone got ready to move. Lily insisted on staying with Kat and ended up squished into Kat’s boobs with some help of Kat’s sash. Kat was pleasantly surprised to find she could summon a second copy after a bit of effort. It took a chunk of her demonic energy, but it WORKED. Which though surprising was quite welcome.

Xiang and Yang on the other hand wanted to run. They were sick of being dead weight for Kat to lug around. ‘Efficiency’ or ‘safety’ or perhaps ‘understandable in this situation’ were not ideas compatible with the cultivator mindset. Not dying from poison was one thing, but their pride wouldn’t allow Kat to carry them across a bit of standard road as long as they could stand in some manner.

.....

So off they trot. Before long though Kat had to move off to the side of the road. Apparently whatever demonic tricks help reduce the impact of her strength doesn’t work properly when she’s carrying perhaps a tonne of snake head. This meant that every step of Kat’s caused a small crater in the ground, cracking the dry dirt. Later, the more normal dirt would simply be compacted but the results were clear. With Kat unwilling to damage the road, she moved off after not even five minutes.

The rest of the journey continued with Kat finding nothing wrong with how Lily was being ‘carried’ Lily enjoying the situation immensely, though it was really dawning on her just how much her lust and sexual thoughts seemed to dim in her Memphis form. Probably didn’t have the right hormones for it. On the other side of things, Xiang and Yang were not having a good time at all.

The sun seemed to have doubled in strength, and despite Yang’s affinity for solar energy and her cultivation technique revolving around it on top of that... Yang was actually worse off. For the first time since her childhood the sun seemed like something other than a wonderful source of light and power. It beat down on her like an oven, making her feel like she was being cooked from the inside, instead of the usual energising light that felt like downing an energy drink. The contrast what elevated the irritation for Yang. Even if, in truth, her cultivation gave her some extra protection unlike Xiang... she just wasn’t used to the idea.

So she was the one who collapsed first, after only forty-five minutes of running. Perhaps this might not seem too strange for the average human, but Yang was a cultivator, the idea she couldn’t handle a bit of running was ridiculous. Xiang wasn’t doing too much better, but with a bit more experience dealing with hot sun he knew to keep drinking water as he ran and was able to stubbornly remain on his feet.

Kat stopped with only a slight issue. Momentum was a much bigger problem when you had a snake head to carry after all. Kat had to slow down carefully and do a slow loop to make sure she didn’t end up too far away. Kat felt it was slightly lucky she wasn’t running at full speed at the moment. She was limited by the two cultivators so testing just how much speed she could get while on solid ground would have to weight... or perhaps...? “Xiang? Is she alright?” asked Kat.

Xiang was standing next to Yang where she’d collapsed. Yang had been moving at speed so when she felt, she’d rolled a few times before stopping face up on the road. Yang was sweating profusely and her eyes were open but unseeing. Instead of being bloodshot, it was more accurate to say they were poisonshot. Her eyes carried thing lines of purple and Kat couldn’t help but bite her lips. When Xiang saw the same thing he whipped his head around to Kat, “What do my eyes look like?” he asked as he pulled down his eyelid.

Kat was no eye doctor, so she couldn’t really say much. Despite that, it was quite easy to see the same thin purple lines, though they were much fainter on Xiang. “You’ve got them as well... though... maybe about a third of the thickness and paler by a good deal,” said Kat.

Xiang muttered a few curses under his breath, “Eternal hells. That can’t be good. I do not want to think about what this might be doing to our eyes... hopefully it’s mostly cosmetic...” Xiang didn’t believe it, and neither did Kat. Lily mewled softly hoping it would provide some comfort. Xiang just sighed and jumped up into the snake head dropping Yang off under the tongue before jumping down.

“Um...” Kat said, pausing to think carefully about her next words. She’d already seen how stubborn the pair could be. “Is it really a good idea to leave Yang there by herself? Maybe you should watch her?” Now, what Kat really meant was ‘why the fuck aren’t you resting as well Yang just passed out!’ but Kat was sure that phrasing it in that way would just have Xiang brushing her off.

To her credit, Xiang stopped and thought about the idea for a while. She could see him turning it over in his head a few times. The easy out, the chance for rest. The perfect excuse for simply riding the rest of the way with Kat. It was all there. He bit his lip as his pride warred against his desire for rest. Kat’s heart dropped as she saw him shake his head. “No thank you. We know that the tongue will prevent Yang from moving much. She’ll be safe up there without me,”

Kat tried not to let the disappointment show as she asked for confirmation in an attempt to tip the scales, “Are you sure? While the motion might not be an issue if the inside of the mouth is poisonous it might cause more issues for Yang. Perhaps watching to make sure she doesn’t get worse would be good?”

Kat wasn’t the least bit surprise when Xiang shook his head again, “I don’t know anything about medicine. She’ll be no better off with my watching. Even if she turned purple,” a brief flash of Sue went through Kat’s mind and she tried not to let the amusing image of a purple Yang staring confused at a very purple Sue tempt her into laughing at Xiang. “I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’m better off here on the ground,”

Best

Kat sighed and nodded. It was time to get back to running. At least with mostly solid footing she didn’t need to be hyperattentive anymore.