The next few alleyways and healing are pretty much the same.

There are typically groups of people huddled around, most likely for safety. As I pass, I cover my face and keep moving. I heal them once I feel I am a good enough distance away. After I leave, a few of the people begin testing out their limbs in confusion, and then joy.

Some, who have recovered their sanity a bit, seem to be clear-eyed. Curious about the world around them.

None of them seem to have noticed me.

I do this, all while making my way over to Gong.

Since deep healing takes more time to complete, I am taking my time. Check-ins with Gong reveal she is still doing much of the same, though interestingly, I can see demi-humans coming up to her and thanking her for ‘teaching them a lesson’.

Gong says some comforting words and points in a direction somewhat close to the home base.

Maybe she already knows of a place they can go.

Looking back to where I am, I continue on.

As I head through the alleyways, about a quarter of the way to Gong, I see a strange sight.

Huddled up in pain is a yellow sashed, blonde-haired woman, looking to be a few years younger than myself. She is alone and clearly in an absurd amount of pain. Heavily breathing, with her clothes soaked in sweat.

She actually appears to be in more pain than most that I’ve seen around. Unfortunately, I have still seen others that looked like they were even more pain.

The difference with her is that this is the first time I might heal one of the gang members.

Being cautious and more aware of potential traps, I throw out a scanning pulse.

Nothing. Looks safe.

It looks like it really is actually just a woman that is in a lot of pain. A quick scan reveals that it appears to be the early stages of a nerve pain issue. STD related. Most likely from her line of business.

As I walk past, I don’t heal her at the same distance I did the others. I take it a bit farther. Once I feel I moved far enough, I start healing her. As with the others, she appears to be confused, but then excited. Crying and happiness ensue. Satisfied, I turn my scan away from her and back to a normal range.

After a bit more walking, I find other groups to continue the pattern.

All is silent.

However, after five minutes of this, just as I’m about to head out of a long straight alley, I feel someone running at the beginning of the alleyway.

Looking back, it’s the yellow sashed woman. Oh no. Her eyes widen and she yells out at me.

“You! Sir, please wait!”

Yep, time to go.

I sprint away, attempting to get away from her. She is close on my heels. I dip into a nearby hiding place, which successfully hides me away from her. She sprints past, but then realizes that she has lost me after she doubles back a few times.

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I can just overhear her as she yells outside my scanning range.

“Please! Help us, my friends are in so much pain! We need help!” She continues on like that for a while, before I can’t hear her anymore.

I extend my scan over to her to get a read on her position, as I sneak out. I manage to find a spot to camp out. I can see that she is running from one place to the other. After a while, she stops and just collapses in exhaustion.

She’s just sitting there, her head in her hands. This continues for a few minutes.

“What can I do? How can I just sit here while they are in so much pain and can’t even move?” She slowly gets to her feet and continues moving around.

As I move to head away from where she is… I stop in place.

Fuckin’ A.

I spread out my scan to see if anyone else in nearby. No one. It’s just a desperate woman. Supposedly.

Alright, how do I want to approach this? I need an excuse. I can’t just be healing people in the open.

Hmm… I could use the alchemist route.

Let me do a quick check to see if there is a fast-acting recipe that could heal her condition norm…. Yep, there it is. Looks like it’s pretty easy as well. Works even faster if it involves some acupressure action. Substitute some local ingredients as a substitute aaannnd it’s perfect. Let’s see if I can heal her friends.

Time to put on the act.

Heading out into the alley where she is currently looking, I approach from behind. What appears to be instinctually, she flips around in defense, but then relaxes when she sees it’s me. “Oh! I’m sorry for my disrespect, Senior!” she squeaks, her voice cracking.

“I’m no Senior, young lady. Just a junior alchemist, is all. Why were you chasing me, like you have been? You surprised me a bit.” She looks at me in confusion, seemingly not understanding.

Her eyes then squint, but then widen quickly. In the distance, I can feel one of the information kids hopping from building to building.

“I apologize for my ignorance, Seni- Sir. I had assumed that you healed me when I was down, as you had passed.”

“No, I was just walking along my way though. I heard from your spirited yelling that you had some friends who are in pain? Perhaps I can assist with this. My specialty in alchemy is towards healing, and I have a bit of knowledge in acupressure.”

She gulps, preparing herself, probably to pitch me.

“Oh, thank you for your openness, Sir. My friends are experiencing what feels like fire and shocks throughout their entire body. It is so painful that it is difficult to sleep and makes us paralyzed with pain. I had the same feeling earlier until you had passed.” Her eyes stare straight at me, both in expectation and inquiry.

I nod, in what I hope is a sagely way. “Okay, I think I have an idea then. From what I can see, you might have also been sweating profusely. Do some of these friends of yours experience the opposite? Where they can’t sweat, even in burning heat?”

“Uhh, I’m not s… Wait, I remember that a few of the girls were like that!”

She looks away for a little, before looking back with pleading eyes. Sigh.

“Alright, I have a little time. I have a treatment in mind that I believe may be effective. If you can take me to them and they are nearby, then I can see what I can do to help. I’ll need your people to provide ingredients, of course. Her head bobs like a woodpecker, as she moves in down the alleyway, walking ahead of me.

I can see one of the information kids is nearby and I wave them down. It’s the young demi-human boy. He seems surprised, but then quickly comes to me. Giving him a big copper, I ask him to pass information onto Gong, that ‘I’m alright and just helping one of the Yellow Sashes get healed with alchemy needs.’

He seems to freeze, but then nods quickly and runs on top of the buildings to get to her.

The yellow sash woman has a questioning look, but then continues.

We continue walking for a period, heading in the direction toward the street. It’s a bit quiet, so I start up a conversation with her.

“So, you had said you and your friends have been experiencing this pain? How long has this been going on for?”

She tightens her lips, her eyes watering slightly “One of my elder sisters, was one of the first to come down with it, a year ago. We thought it was a one-off thing, but it never went away, only getting worse and worse. Our leader transferred her to o… a safe place, but she still didn’t get any better. Anyone who gets it, seems to get it after laying with some men in the area. It affects everyone, even those with cultivation. Though, once you get to Foundation Establishment, it seems to not affect you as much. You can’t even tell if someone has it, unless you have a high enough cultivation to read them.”

Her teeth grits, “It’s been hurting us bad and not just physically. Many of our girls can’t even help with the non-bed activities, because the pain is so bad and it leads to paralysis in the later stages. Our alchemists are desperately trying to research a treatment to help, but the only known solutions are far beyond even our leaders ability to pay. I don’t know what we are going to do. Though, if you were able help us, like you helped me..?”

Ah, shit. I may have accidentally stepped into a big item.

Almost confirming my worries, I see quite a few women waiting on us. It appears they are in hiding ahead, potentially waiting to ambush me.

I can’t risk it this time.

I will not let what happened before happen again to me. This is sad to hear. But I’m leaving.

I tame all the insects below, even some big ones, making them come closer to the surface, following along in underground tunnels. There isn’t nearly enough, but it’s growing.

Time to get away.