Seeing how serious Hu Xiaotian's condition was, Huo Shengnan dared not delay. She immediately packed up their camp and lifted him onto Little Gray's back. He could not even sit steadily now, so she had to lay him face down across the horse and secure him with straps. Little Gray was a magnificent steed, but the mountain roads were difficult, and they had plenty of luggage besides. Huo Shengnan could not bear to add to the horse's burden. If their only mount collapsed from exhaustion, she would have to carry Hu Xiaotian on her back and continue on foot.
After locating the Big Dipper in the starry sky, Huo Shengnan led Little Gray in the opposite direction.
Hu Xiaotian lay across the horse's back. Although the right half of his body could not move, his brain remained unaffected, as nimble as ever. Gradually, he calmed down after his initial panic. Judging by his current symptoms, a stroke was unlikely. Something must have gone wrong while he was practicing the Formless Divine Skill. He had been too aggressive when trying to repair the wound in his right shoulder with inner breath, causing it to go awry and leak out of his body. Every body had its own defensive mechanisms. Instinctively, his dantian sea of qi had severed its connections with the surrounding meridians, and the opening at his wound had also sealed itself. As a result, a considerable amount of inner breath had become trapped in a section of his meridians. From his current condition, the problem most likely lay in the yin linking vessel. The blocked meridian had impaired movement on his right side, producing symptoms that looked much like a stroke.
To return to normal, he would have to reopen the blocked meridian. But before his inner breath could