“AHHH!” the youth roared in pain as his eyes shot open. Even though he hastily circulated his Qi, the pain and iron-like grip on his neck did not loosen in the slightest. He couldn’t move his neck but felt that it was crushing his neck. Circulating Qi eased the pain but didn’t solve the problem. He raised his arm and bashed whatever was around his throat but it didn’t let go.

He could feel his throat getting crushed. He tried to pry open whatever was choking with his hands. It felt wet in his hands but the grip seemed to loosen. That’s when he heard a low growl and the force increased around his neck. Gasping for air and letting out low grunts, he staggered his way towards the river. The thing choking him felt massive and weighed heavily on his back.

When the lizard realized what the youth wanted to do, he tried to let go but the youth clamped down on its mouth and kept it stuck to his throat. The lizard thrashed around but to no avail. The youth grabbed onto the lizard and jumped into the gushing river.

The water surface broke and they went under with a splash. Once inside the river, the lizard let go frantically as the water went into its open mouth. It tried to close its mouth but soon found itself unable to do so. It looked towards the youth who was prying its jaws open with a murderous glare. Blood oozed out of the holes in his neck and got swept by the tide.

The lizard thrashed around wildly as bubbles came out from its mouth. The youth’s eyes eased as the water entered the lizard’s lungs. His strength lessened as the effects from blood loss and lack of oxygen finally took effect. His eyelids seemed to get heavier as the lizard thrashed less and less.

The lizard finally stopped moving as the youth let it go and its body rose upwards. With the last bit of his energy, the youth clumsily swam upwards and resurfaced. He gasped loudly and sucked in large breaths of air. His vision cleared but the weakness hadn’t subsided totally. He hauled himself onto shore and laid on the warm sand, panting.

He pressed his neck with his hands to stop the bleeding which seemed to have worked as only a small trickle of blood flowed out from the gaps in his fingers. He wanted to lay there but heard Jian Gong speaking in his mind, “You can’t stay like that. Stop the bleeding.”

The youth’s bones screamed for rest yet his mind screamed for life. His desire to live overrode his desire to rest as he stood up shakily. He took off the cloth belt around his waist and tightly tied it around his neck like a tourniquet. Now, he needed a way to permanently stop bleeding and he knew just the way.

He roamed around a bit as water dripped from his clothes like rain. He quickly but carefully gathered dry leaves and branches; just like before, he made a campfire.

As the fire crackled, he dug into his now loose robes and took out the leaf-wrapped jerkies which were now totally drenched. He did not have the time to lose heart as he quickly set the jerkies aside and brought out his dagger. Wiping the water off the blade, he placed it inside the flames.

As he waited, he unwrapped the meat jerkies and saw that they had become completely soggy. With a gloomy face, the youth bit on one of them and found that they had become quite mushy. He endured the pain and sighed. What was I expecting?

As he reflected on his life choices, the blade had become red hot in the fire. He untied the yellow cloth around his neck which made the blood flow down his neck. Picking up the red hot dagger, he pressed it against his wounds. A sizzling sound reached his ears.

He sucked in a cool breath of air, trying not to howl in pain. After repeating the process three more times, all his wounds were now cauterized. He let go of the dagger and sat down on the ground limply. This entire ordeal has sucked the energy out of him.

He bit into his mushy jerkies slowly as he tried to regain energy. As he chewed on the meat, his expression changed.

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“Hmm?” as though he realized something, his thoughts started leaking from his mouth, “Why the hell was I bleeding for so long? Doesn’t blood coagulate within 2 minutes or something…?”

He thought a bit more before looking to a side and saying, “Status, show my current condition.”

A blue screen popped up with some text in it.

[Status Effect: Injured, Exhausted, Weakened, Hemophilia]

When he read the last word, the jerky got stuck in his throat. After forcefully swallowing it, he muttered in disbelief, “How the fuck is hemophilia a status effect? Isn’t that an inherited disorder?”

“Hey man, in a world where there are cyclops rhinos, people throwing around blades of energy-” Jian Gong appeared in front of him, “-and creating sand out of the soil, I really don’t think it’s that far-fetched.”

“B-But, that’s changing the entire genetic feature of a human being!”

“Yeah,” Jian Gong laughed. “Even more interesting is that this isn’t a permanent status effect. The lizard you saw injected poison in your neck through its fangs. The poison is what causes hemophilia. So, as long as the poison is in your system, your blood won't coagulate.”

“Wait, the only type of Deviant Beast that matches the characteristics and can be found around these parts is the Blood-Leaking Soil Monitor. How is it ranked so low on the Danger List?” The youth had a hard time comprehending his current situation.

The Danger List was a ranking of Deviant Beasts based on how dangerous they were. Not mentioning the Deviant Beasts that haven’t been found, even within the 897,231 that have been found, the Blood-Leaking Soil Monitor is ranked at 896,987th place.

“Well, that’s because-” Jian Gong answered, “-according to your knowledge, as long as you can stop blood from leaking out, the lizard’s poison will lose effect with time.”

“T-That’s not how that works!” the youth retorted. “I remember reading it before; I must’ve had the exact same reaction I’m having now.”

“Well, if you want to dive into the semantics of the matter, you can do it later. I believe there are more pressing matters?” Jian Gong smiled with his lips pressed thin.

The youth sighed. Every sigh seemed to sap more and more energy from him. Honestly, hemophilia seemed to have a far worse effect than he was expecting. With the strengthened body of a cultivator, it would make sense that his blood would coagulate far quicker than the average time. Bleeding out for so long, only served to prove the strength of the poison.

He looked at the river with some regret. If only I could’ve gotten its poison sacs…

He looked around and bit into another meat jerky. The meat from the Deviant Beasts aided in recovering energy. Unlike before, his eyes were wide open as he scanned around for threats.

“Rest up; we need to head further upstream.” Jian Gong took a seat next to him. The youth looked at him as he silently took another bite.

The youth suddenly opened his mouth and said in a low voice, “I don’t think I can fight like this.”

“Of course not,” Jian Gong shook his head, “No matter what gifts you have, they mean nothing if you can’t utilize them. You lack battle experience. You have the smarts to catch enemies off-guard but is there anything else of note? Strip that away and you become a soft 15-year-old with a slightly stronger body.”

“I…” the youth bit his lips in frustration.

Ignoring him, Jian Gong continued, “I can assure you, this world is not so kind as to allow you to grow. You mess up, you die. You take the wrong step, you die. You are weaker, you die. You know this, you understand this, but you’ve never experienced this.”

“I…ugh, you may be right,” the youth ran a hand down his face.

“No, I am right. You forgot to keep an eye out and got what you deserved. Had the lizard not been overconfident, you might’ve been a dead man by now.”

“Okay, I acknowledge that it’s my stupidity. But what should I do to not die?”

“Well, that’s quite the redundant question, isn’t it?” Jian Gong smiled, his eyes curved into crescents.

“What are you talking about?”

“The answer is right in your question.”

“Wha-?”

“Just don’t die.”