Part 3, Chapter 9

Finding help

Ch 9

Xun sat at the desk reading the annotated books that the God of War had brought for her. Jianyu had come into the courtyard, kissed her once, and fallen into a deep sleep on their bed. She looked at him a little apprehensively, she could barely see his chest rise and fall. Unable to concentrate, Xun went outside to look at the stars. 

She had just started to relax when the door of the courtyard burst open and a man stumbled in. Xun felt her throat lock in panic as he stumbled towards her. It took long moments before she recognized him as the Lord of Storms. He looked terrible. Blood had splashed down one side of his face and robe and the bandage over the stump of his right wrist was streaked with grime and fluids that had seeped from the wound.

During the time she had been frozen the Lord of Storms had staggered close enough to grab her shoulder. “Poison,” he gasped. “Where is my brother?”

Xun staggered back as he fell against her. Unsure of what to do Xun dragged into the bedroom and laid him on the floor next to the bed. She shook Jianyu, trying to wake him, but her husband never flinched.

Xun tried to calm herself, desperately trying to recall everything Shun had talked about during her training in the Hall of Medicine. She checked the Lord of Storms for breathing and color, she tried to read his pulse, but it was no use. She would have to go for help. Her first instinct was to find a servant to summon the God of War, or to run for him herself, but she didn’t know who had tried to kill her husband’s brother and she knew if he was thrown back into the cells in this state he would die. Renping. Renping was closer with Shun than she was and was interested in medical things. Without more hesitation she ran.

Renping looked over the Lord of Storms, checking his pulse, his eyes, and inside his mouth. “It’s probably good you brought me instead of the God of War,” she said after a few minutes. “This is a weird poison. See how the whites of his eyes are a little green? And the roof of his mouth is bleeding, which is not a normal symptom of anything. If you try to treat this with straight magic in the normal way the poison will only work faster. I’ve heard of it before, but it’s so rare most believe it’s a myth. I only know about it because Shun was reading out loud from an obscure medical text she found holding up a table leg while she was cleaning.”

“Do we have time for backstory? Shouldn’t we be doing something?” Xun asked.

“It’s ok, this poison causes intense pain, but it doesn’t kill quickly. We have some time.”

Xun looked at her in horror, “We should stop the pain as fast as we can!”

Renping looked at her, “After what he did to Leng Zai? He can suffer a little. I won’t let him die. Hide him on the bed next to Leng Zai so he’s less easily noticed.”  The two girl pushed him onto the bed. “Ok, now we need to go to the kitchen.”