Chapter 41

Ye Chuqi had collected a heap of strange odds and ends, including some powder that could calm Magic Beasts. As the rampaging beast passed by, she had scattered the powder over it, along with some Calming Sleep powder she had made herself for self-defense. Use a little more of it, and it could serve as a sleeping drug. She had not held back.

"How long until it takes effect?" Ye Chuqi was not sure. She had made it with materials from this world, and this was a brand-new experiment. She had no idea how well it would work on a beast so enormous.

San San hummed. "It already has."

"Huh?"

"The High-Rank Magic Beast came to its senses. Once it realized where it was, it left immediately instead of continuing to chase that person."

So the powder that had worked was the locally made one for calming a Magic Beast's frenzy. It had nothing to do with the powder she had made herself.

"Your powder worked too, I think. You probably didn't use enough, or it needs to be purer. The beast's size and resistance to drugs matter too. It ran off quickly, but its steps were sluggish, and its eyes looked unfocused. So the powder must have had an effect, just not an obvious one."

"Oh," Ye Chuqi said, her interest fading. She did not know how to solve the purity problem. After all, she had no Alchemy Furnace. She had watched Xiya make potions, but Xiya purified ingredients through purely physical and chemical methods, nothing like the mysterious refining methods of the Cultivation World.

Ye Chuqi still had her Divine Sense, and it had not been restricted much. Using it to distinguish ingredients while refining medicine would certainly be like giving a tiger wings, but she would still need Spiritual Power to achieve the final result. The equipment was another major difference. Could she dare hope that Master Beverly would make her an Alchemy Furnace?

Well, a person had to have dreams.

Once she was sure there was no immediate danger nearby, Ye Chuqi left her space and returned to the soft ground of the Lost Forest, carpeted with dead twigs and rotting leaves. Alongside the smell of decaying earth and the fresh scent of trees, a faint trace of blood lingered in the air. It must have been left by that person and had not yet dispersed.

Ye Chuqi frowned. "San San, how is that person?"

San San was silent for a moment. "He passed out. He didn't get far before he ran out of strength and collapsed. He's still alive for now. He's off the route we planned to take. It isn't far, but he's entered another High-Rank Magic Beast's territory. Going in after him could be dangerous."

A High-Rank Magic Beast might ignore one half-dead human lying in its territory, but add someone lively and on her feet, and it might take offense. Wandering around its turf would be like waltzing across its face: a pure provocation.

"Qi Qi, do you want to save him?"

"Let's take a look. If I can save him without too much trouble, I will. If I can't, we can still run." She had little confidence in her ability to save him, but she had plenty of confidence in her ability to run.

"Then let's go have a look!"

Ye Chuqi had not expected the person lying unconscious deep in the Lost Forest to be a boy who looked even younger than she was. His youthful face was smeared with wounds, blood, and dirt. His black clothes were soaked through with blood, and he lay on the ground barely breathing. If Ye Chuqi left him there, he would not last long enough for another Magic Beast to finish him off.

Ye Chuqi moved to check for internal injuries, but the boy's eyes snapped open the instant she approached. His hand shot up and seized her wrist so fast that even she failed to react. She had to admit she had let her guard down.

A wolfish ferocity flashed in his pale gray eyes. As he stared at Ye Chuqi, there was nothing frail about him, nothing to suggest he was a dying patient. He looked ready to spring up and tear her to pieces.

Ye Chuqi smiled, twisted her hand free, and caught his wrist instead. With a slight squeeze to his pulse point, the boy, already at the end of his strength, lost what little power he had left. All he could do was glare at her more fiercely, a pitiful picture of bravado.

"If you don't want to die, stay still."

The boy looked badly hurt, but most of his injuries were external. He had lost too much blood and exhausted himself; his internal injuries were not that serious.

Ye Chuqi gripped his chin and poured a vial of Healing Potion down his throat. Sister Xiya's Healing Potion restored energy and replenished blood, with remarkable results. Ye Chuqi was strong and knew exactly how to apply that strength. The boy had no chance to struggle.

Once the Healing Potion went down, the boy stared straight ahead.

Xiya made several kinds of Healing Potion. The red one Ye Chuqi had first drunk could ease her pain, while the blue one could help her body repair itself. The blue potion had a side effect, though: anyone who drank it would soon fall asleep, with no hope of resisting.

What Ye Chuqi had given the boy was purely for replenishing blood. Now was no time for him to fall asleep; she might as well not save him at all! Unless she planned to carry him as she ran. As for his external injuries, she had plenty of medicinal powder. She quickly sprinkled it over his larger wounds and bandaged them.

By the time she finished, the boy's lips were still pale. His gaze remained fierce, but the hostility in it had faded.

"We can't stay here. Can you walk?"

The boy pressed his lips together and struggled to sit up.

"Tch." Ye Chuqi reached out to help, but he dodged her hand. "Take it easy. The medicine I just put on you is expensive, and it took me long enough to bandage you up. If you tear the wounds open again, I'll have to redo everything."

The boy froze. He looked at the arm he had just strained. A ring of red had already spread across the white bandage and was slowly growing wider.

Ye Chuqi suddenly understood and laughed. "I saved you out of kindness, but I shouldn't have to lose money over it, right? You know where we are and how precious these medicines are. Forget repaying me for saving your life, but remember to pay for the medicine."

The boy's face, now a patchwork of medicine Ye Chuqi had smeared all over it, seemed to freeze.

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