“What’s taking her so long!” Xing grunted, wiping the sweat dripping from her body.

Anxiety, Fright, Condemnation, all these raced through Xing’s mind watching as the child tossed and turned.

The tears flowed from her eyes each time she wailed out in the pain.

At times like this, Xing wished he’d been Ying’er. He would’ve diagnosed her on the spot and administered a cure in a matter of minutes, but he wasn’t, so he couldn’t even diagnose a cough.

As the sweat began to form around her chest, stomach and head. He dabbed it away and did that for fifteen more minutes before his hands began to feel the fatigue.

He swirled a smidgen of Qi, funneling into the meridians in his hands and legs, soothing the fatigue away and rejuvenating himself. “Alright, little one we’ll make sure you have you crawling around soon.”

A sudden bang on the door drew Xing’s attention. He scampered to the door. He pulled the door open slightly, peeking through the door. “Yes.” He said.

An old man with a cane stood at the door, eyes gaping as wide as a peacock’s tail. He smacked his lips, “I understand there’s a patient here?” The young man asked.

“There is,” Xing answered, opening the door. Behind the man was Xiao Ju standing and smiling as if she was about to earn the biggest payday of the week.

Xing walked back to his pouch which was on the table in the middle of the room. He pulled a silver nugget free, and then stomped his way back to the door.

He pushed the nugget into Ju’s hand and then ushered the old man. “Elder, What’s your name? my name is Zhao Xing” He said, closing the door.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Ju, trying her best to look around the corner, but there was nothing to see, especially at the angle at which the bed was located.

“I’m no Elder son, but you can call me Fa Qing.” Fa Qing said.

“Fa Qing? A pleasure to meet you!” Xing said boisterously.

The old man smiled and took another step into the room. “Tell me where is the patient, I understand it’s a child?”

“It is.” Xing said, cupping Fa Qing’s shoulder firmly, “But before you take a look at her. I will need you to make some choice words before we proceed.”

He sent a smidgen of Qi into the man’s shoulder, and sprayed his killing intent around the room.

Fa Qing turned to him, eyes laced in fright from Xing’s display of power and nodded slowly, agreeing without notice. “Now listen carefully, the child is my daughter, and if you choose not to help her. That, in itself, would be courting death. I, will also ensure that no one between heaven and earth would ever remember the name Fa Qing from Shaanxi, am I understood?” Xing said coldly.

“Clearer than ice Brother Xing.”

“Good.”

Xing watched as Fa Qing walked approached the bed. He could feel the trepidation of his heart beats, showing courage with each step he took.

He walked past the table with a pouch open, copper and silver stones scattered on the table.

Xing watched him pull back the veil on the bed, and saw the child. He dropped his sack which had all his equipment and released a loud gasp, making Xing appeared next to him in one step.

Fury ignited within him, the Qi within his Soul Dantian swirled like a thunder storm, flowing into his meridian like an exploding tempest. The Qi flowed into his hands, forming his signature technique. Iron Shredding Claws.

Xing slid his hands around his neck, positioned to rip his throat out. He flared his killing intent once more, sending the man to his knees. “Yes. She’s an Axsumite, but she’s also my daughter. I promise I won’t hurt you, but please HELP her!” He pleaded.

“I’ve already agreed,” Qing said shivering from the killing intent. “There’s no need for you to display your strength. I’m a humble physician I won’t sit and watch a little girl die because of her skin colour. As long as you pay me copper, silver or gold…I’ll take it even if you were a Parconian or Axsumite. I have three children and they need to be fed. So I understand your predicament. I promise I will do everything in my power to help your daughter!”

Xing’s hands thrummed with Qi, violently. He didn’t want to release it, but he had no choice.

He needed his daughter to be fine before he left. He needed to know she would live past his idiocy. “Swear on your children’s lives!” Xing barked.

The young man turned his face to Xing. The fright that Xing saw in his eyes was enough. He released his Qi, releasing his grip on his throat. The man dropped to his knees and began heaving for wind profusely. “Swear it!”

“I swear it on my children’s lives!” He snapped, through heaved breaths.

The coldness that Xing held within his eyes dissipated into a smile. The hand that was once around his neck, now tapped on Fa Qing’s right shoulder, encouraging him.

He even dusted off a few dust specks that had gathered around his knees. “Please…do your best,” Xing said.

Fa Qing give a nervous smile, which made Xing feel slightly uncomfortable. He knew his methods weren’t admirable.

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Threatening a physician, but what else could he do? The child was an Axsumite.

If news of her existence reached the wrong person, which in this case was everyone. He’d be chased to a bitter grave…and that wasn’t something he’d ever allowed. Not in the slightest, He thought.

The physician placed his sack on the table and pulled vials, pouches, dead leaves, tree barks and other varieties of herbs he couldn’t recognise.

Xing walked up to the bed, sat on the side and began wiping away more beads of sweat from the child’s chest. The physician finally picked up whatever vials he needed and walked on over, steps lighter than a feather.

Fa Qing touched the child’s head, furrowing his brow curiously. He then touched under her arms, chest, thighs then heel. “What are you looking for?” Xing asked.

“Ensuring her temperature is the same around her body.”

“Does it matter?”

“It does. I need to figure out what type of cold she has. The various temperatures mean it could attack anything within her body. If her feet were cold, it’ll attack her thighs, if her chest was cold, it’ll attack her heart. It varies distinctively. ”

“You figured what’s wrong?” Xing asked.

“Not yet.”

The Physician continued checking the child’s physician for a further two minutes, whilst Xing dabbed the sweat away. The more the child groaned from the pain, the more agitated he got.

Five minutes passed and Qing Furrowed his brows once more. Xing eyed him and watched as his frightened features diminished. “Anything?” Xing asked.

“Yes, it’s nothing serious just yellowsting fever.”

“Yellowsting fever?! That's fatal! What do you mean it's nothing serious!” Xing snarled heart smothered in fright within his stomach.

“Yes. It’s fatal, but only for adults. She is too small for the virus to do its worst. Plus, we caught it before it could truly wean the strength away.”

“Wean her strength away?”

“Yes, Yellowsting fever might not kill her because of the lack of nutrients it needs to grow. But it can affect her muscles, making her weaker than normal. Tell me, were you travelling along a river?”

“Yes. I've been following the river from Longyan to Shaanxi.”

“I see. That’s the problem. Yellow Tiger Mosquitoes are known to be around Longyan, not so much Shaanxi.”

“Yellow Tiger Mosquitoes?” Xing asked incredulously.

“Yes, yellowsting fever comes from Yellow Tiger Mosquitoes.”

Xing turned to his left, looking at the child, watching her fret herself up as Physician Qing dripped a purple liquid into her mouth. She shrieked after the third drip, then wailed even harder, moving her mouth which only made Xing shiver from the nose.

He’d never heard her wail like this before, but with all the mental training he’d done over the years. The sound of a wailing child made him feel insignificantly helpless.

A feeling he despised!

“What are you giving her?”Xing asked coolly, trying to keep his aggression under check

“Taspis.” Fa Qing answered, shaking the purple vial in his hand. Like I’m supposed to know what ‘Taspis’ is, Xing, grunted to himself. “What’s Taspis?”

“Is a gernleaf drip.”

“Drip?

“It’s the nutrients found in a gernleaf. Highly effective against mosquito bites. It particularly neutralises the yellowsting fever, at the base level. I used a few drops because she doesn’t need a lot. However, you’re going to have to feed it to her for a while.”

“Awhile?”

“Yes, at least one month.”

“What? A month? She’s barely surviving now, look at her!”

“Yes, She’s in pain now. Her body’s aching all over, but that’s going to be the case for a month. You need to treat her to the Taspis every day.

Xing’s shoulder slumped at the words ‘ every day. He turned to the physician, whose posture wasn’t upright as well. Qing turned to Xing, eyes hesitant but warm. “I guarantee, once a month passes, she will be OK.”

“Will she also stop sweating? She’s been sweating like a waterfall.”

“Not yet, but after four days she should be fine, so allow her to drink lots of water.

“That’s not what I want to hear Fa Qing!”

“But it’s what going to happen. She has to sweat out the yellowsting fever as well. The taspis isn’t enough!” He said firmly.

Xing eyed Qing, whose face was still laced in fright, yet his voice still held a resolve, something that made Xing wary. No…he wouldn’t do anything, or he knows I’d kill him right on the spot!

“When will this Taspis start working?”

“Three days.”

“Why three days?”

“Yellowsting fever has to work through her body. It’s not something that you can just pick from a tree like a piece of fruit.” He said firmly, with a hint of condensation.

Xing turned to him eyes gapped, recognising that tone, his face changed from concern to agitation, as if Bo Ying was using that same tone with him, a tone he hated.

Fa Qing saw the agitation and then smiled nervously. “As a martial artist, it took you a while to gain access to your meridians correct?”

“Yes…I had to train extensively to open my Core and Mind Dantians.”

“Right, Taspis works similarly to your Qi cultivation. Once your Qi moves through your meridians, you get stronger right? That’s what the Taspis will do instead of strengthening, it’ll eradicate the yellowsting fever as best as it can. However, as she is a child it will take three days to flow through her body, once that’s completed, she would then sweat the yellowsting fever out.”

Xing ground his teeth, feeling as though he was just lectured by Ying’er, which always made him feel small. He nodded after a moment, understanding what Qing said.

“Also,” Qing said firmly. “I advise against channelling your Qi into her. I know you want to spread the Tapis faster that way, but if you do it, you will only end up shattering her Soul Dantian. I don’t know anything about Axsumite physiology, but based on what I just checked, they are just like us.”

“Of course, she is,” Xing said firmly. He rose from the bed, walking toward the table. He dipped a loose cloth into the bowl of water. “Is there another way to speed up the process without using my Qi?”

“There isn’t”

“Is there anything else I should know?” Xing asked.

“Yes, she needs rest, I suggest you stay within Shaanxi for two weeks or the cold weather might nullify the taspis.”

“You want me to stay here for two weeks?”

“Brother Xing, she needs you to stay and keep her warm. Living on the road is a cold, hard life and as a father. I assume you would do what’s best for her…yes?”

“Yes.” He answered.

Fa Qing nodded and began wrapping the child in a quilt. “Keep her warm, and allow her to sweat. Her sweating is her body fighting the yellowsting fever, alright?”

“I understand.”

Fa Qing heaved a long sigh and rolled his neck. He dabbed the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and turned to the table. He began packing up his things. “Is that it?” Xing asked.

“For now, I will come tomorrow to check on her, is that ok with you?”

“And what’s the price for your visit”

“Three copper coins.”

“Pricey.”

“If it’s too much for you, I can come another day. Bu—“

“Enough, no need to say what could happen.

Xing snatched up three copper coins, tossing them at him. The old man caught them one by one and picked up the cane that was propped up against the table.

Fa Qing didn’t say anything to Xing, he just crept his way towards the door, opening and shutting it with a thud, leaving Xing alone with the child.

The moment he left, Xing began to think of how much he’d spent on privacy and now with the child’s life hanging in the balance he had to consider his options.

Shaanxi wasn’t a bad city, nor was it a great one, but the overall problem with the child staying here is the discovery of her existence…existence of her being of Axsum birth.

Xing pushed himself up, feeling his knees groan from the stiffness. He then sat right next to her watching as she lay there to rest for the first time in hours. “We have a lot to decide on don’t we?” He asked the child. “…You don’t have to worry, I’ll figure it out.”