Zhe Huo laid Luo Qinghan back upon the bed, then left the room to ask for a kettle of hot water from the innkeeper. A cloth was soaked into the water and then wrung out. The boy’s short, messy hair was swept off his forehead. She watched as a sheen of sweat beaded upon that fair, flawless skin. Gently, she rubbed his forehead clean, even as the cold sweat continued to emerge.
His pointed little ears, always twitching about this way and that, now lay limp and lifeless atop his hair. She reached over and stroked them, her heart broken, and whispered, “Don’t be frightened, Qinghan. It’ll all be over soon.”
Soon, Mingtian returned with a doctor, equipped to perform a house call. It seemed that some intimidation had been necessary to secure his co-operation, because the old man was white-faced when he arrived, as though Mingtian had scared him half to death. Zhe Huo plied all sorts of niceties upon the doctor, which seemed to improve his mood somewhat.
However, when he walked up to the bed, and saw the adorable little child lying there, two furry, pointed ears protruding from his head, and a big, bushy white tail dangling over the side of the bed… the doctor went right back to being pale as a sheet. “He’s a… this is a fox demon…”
“He may be a fox demon, but he’s also a little boy!” Gu Mingtian hollered, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “A child lies sick and dying, here. Will you stand by and do nothing?”
“Please, doctor.” Zhe Huo’s voice was strained. “Have mercy on this child. Please treat my boy Qinghan!”
Caught by this two-pronged assault, the old doctor stepped forward hesitantly, and began to examine the boy. Some moments later, he set down the boy’s hand, his expression grim.
“The little fox has indeed been poisoned, but I can’t identify the toxin,” he admitted, confounded. “Going by the symptoms, it seems to be a short-duration tranquilizer. Even after waking, the boy will have difficulty moving for a while. In Tiancheng, there are many specialists in this field—you should bring him to see one.”
Zhe Huo felt her heart tightening. “Go to Tiancheng? Can we make it in time?”
“By the looks of it, the poison has yet to seep all the way into his marrow. If you depart immediately, you should be able to make it in time. It’s just that I don’t know if the effects are life-threatening. I recommend taking him to Tiancheng as quickly as possible.”
These words put Zhe Huo into a high panic. Earlier today, Qinghan had just been holding her hand… hugging her tight… putting on his tricks as usual… The thought of this sweet child’s life suddenly being stolen away, for some reason it set Zhe Huo’s heart racing painfully. She whirled around, picking the boy up in her arms, then snatching up their bags as well. “I’m going now!”
Mingtian didn’t waste any time on pleasantries. Without delay, he hailed a pegasus carriage to Tiancheng for her. A direct flight would get her there sooner.
Zhe Huo was moved almost to tears by his consideration. If not for the pressing urgency of the situation, she would have made sure to do something for him in return. However, she couldn’t afford to spare the time just at the moment, so the best she could do was exchange some personal details with him, and hope to meet again in the future.
The pegasus carriage which Mingtian had hired was a peculiar thing: There was no driver; one only had to speak their destination to the white horse drawing the carriage, which would nod haughtily in response. Upon boarding the carriage, a wisp of cloud descended. The horse stepped onto the cloud, and the carriage gradually began to rise up into the sky.
Inside the carriage, Luo Qinghan, still being cradled in Zhe Huo’s arms, suddenly moved his ears ever so slightly. He moaned in pain, his nose wrinkling, his breath hot. His head turned this way and that, as though searching for something.
Zhe Huo leaned in anxiously, and whispered, “Qinghan? Qinghan, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Qinghan abruptly buried his furry little head against her neck—and upon her soft, fair skin… he bit down hard.