"There it is."
Mar-Dule said after they had walked past a few tents.
Sol looked at the tent, and for so reason, he was starting to get nervous.
This nervousness was fueled by the negative thoughts he was having now that he was here.
What if Mar-Dule’s older sister simply didn’t want to play Dan Tao Mo?
What if she did agree, but he lost and wasn’t able to get the Hellfire Grass for Little Zeel?
Or worse, what if...
"What if she doesn’t have the Hellfire Grass?"
Sol spoke his thoughts aloud, and he suddenly stopped in his tracks; his body had tensed up. His stomach also began to churn, and he felt like he was going to be sick.
He felt disgusted with himself. He was busy having the ti of his life here when Little Zeel was back ho fighting to survive.
What if sothing went wrong and his Uncle Master had underestimated Little Zeel’s condition?
What if Little Zeel only had a small amount of ti left, and he needed to get the Hellfire Grass in this very instance?
Sol’s head started to race with bizarre and illogical thoughts.
First of all, Mar-Dule’s sister wasn’t the only person in the entire world that have or might know where the Hellfire Grass is. Secondly, Young-Hwa would have contacted him if Little Zeel’s condition had worsened.
However, Sol’s brain ignored the first point and reasoned that the second point didn’t happen because Young-Hwa didn’t want to worry him. But even then, that was a stupid reason.
"Sol, what do you an?"
Yoon-Jae stopped with Sol and turned to ask. Mar-Dule stopped and turned to look at him as well.
However, Sol couldn’t hear anything. His ears were drowned out by a ringing sound and the increased beating of his heart.
He was having a panic attack.
"SOL!"
Yoon-Jae noticed his odd behavior and imdiately reacted. He yelled as he clapped his hand in front of Sol’s face, which got Sol to look at him.
Yoon-Jae then placed his hands on his shoulders and said.
"Breathe, okay? You need to breathe."
This seed to have an effect as Sol’s tense shoulders relaxed under Yoon-jae’s firm but gentle grip. He then released a long exhale. Turns out he had stopped breathing so ti ago.
"Yoon-Jae..."
Tears well up in Sol’s eyes.
"...What if-"
Yoon-Jae lifted his hand to cover Sol’s mouth before he could finish.
"If Mar-Dule’s older sister doesn’t have the Hellfire Grass, then we can always ask his Father."
Mar-Dule was already next to Sol, and he nodded and said.
"That’s right, my Father is the one who procures the special herbs for us, so he should know where they’re grown."
Yoon-Jae then added.
"Also, if anything was wrong with Little Zeel, then Master would have contacted us by now."
"But-"
"If not, then I’ll contact him, Sol. So you don’t need to worry. You trust my Master, right? He’s not soone who would be afraid to be blunt when he needs to be. If Little Zeel were dying at this very mont and needed the Hellfire Grass, Master would have contacted us and let us know. No, he might even co personally with Little Zeel."
Having most of his worries shut down, and seeing Yoon-Jae’s serious expression, Sol cald down sowhat after a few minutes. He then wiped his eyes before he nodded and said.
"Okay, I’m sorry."
"Don’t apologize, you haven’t done anything wrong to apologize."
Yoon-Jae then patted Sol on the shoulder to comfort him.
"Ha-ha, that’s right, you really don’t need to be so worried!"
Mar-Dule laughed heartily before he slapped Sol’s back. It was his own way of comforting soone. However, this caused Sol to stumble forward, but luckily, Yoon-Jae reacted quickly to help him stabilize himself before he glared at Mar-Dule as if to ask if he was stupid.
"Oops, sorry about that."
Sol was only standing still, but it felt like he had just done several rounds of training for an entire day. His body felt a bit weak.
Sol activated his Innate Dharma, and the Wood Aether Energy in his body circulated. The fatigue imdiately started fading away.
"It’s okay, I’m alright now thanks to you guys."
Little Abdu had opened his eyes so ti ago, but seeing that Sol was fine, he closed them and went back to healing his injuries.
"You must be close to that pet beast of yours."
Mar-Dule said as the three continued towards the tent.
Sol nodded, and he replied.
"He’s like a brother to . I don’t rember a day when he wasn’t soone special to . Also... he’s the only one I have left after my village was destroyed. If I lose him too, I really don’t know what I’ll do."
This was the first ti since Little Abdu that Sol was talking about his ho and what had happened.
Mar-Dule and Yoon-Jae kind of understand why Sol had that panic attack just now.
When you’re that close to soone and they’re slowly dying from a disease, anyone would be distraught every waking second they’re alive. Always thinking that one day they might never be able to see them again. But being placed in a position where you could save that close relative, lover, or friend who’s slowly dying, the kind of emotions and pressure that person would feel transcends the re feeling of despair. It was beyond what words could describe.
The three soon reached the tent. It wasn’t the largest tent in the tribe, but it wasn’t small by any ans.
The flaps at the entrance were down, but just as they reached, a girl opened them and stepped out.
"Oh? You little brat, what are you doing back here?"
The girl said when he saw Mar-Dule.
"Are these your friends? Why did you bring them here?"
Sol looked at this girl.
She was a little bit older, around seventeen or eighteen.
The hood of her protective robe was down, showing off her really long, dark-brown braided hair.
If Sol wasn’t so focused on the Hellfire Grass, he would have thoughts of how beautiful this girl was. However, he imdiately stepped forward and cupped his fists.
He wasn’t sure how to be polite while asking for sothing in the Barbarian Race’s culture, so he just defaulted to how the cultivators in Jianghu showed sincerity.
"Senior sister, my na is Sol. I hope you’ll be able to trade one of your Hellfire Grasses. I don’t have sothing of equal value to it, but in the future, if you need sothing from , I’ll do anything you request! Even... Even if you request that I compensate you using my body!"
Sol bowed at a ninety-degree angle as he yelled this.
The girl looked at Sol, a bit taken aback by his words, but then an amused smile appeared on her lips.
"You will repay with your body? Cheeky brat, you’re really confident in your looks if you’re offering that right off the bat."
"I..."
Sol didn’t know what to say to that. He rely said that last part to show how desperate he was. He didn’t an it in a literal sense.
However, Mar-Dule hurriedly lifted Sol from his bowed position and explained.
"No, Sol, this isn’t my older sister who has the Hellfire Grass. She’s my thirtieth-older sister, Mar-El."
Sol, hearing this, blushed a bit.
"Oh, I’m sorry."
Mar-El smiled.
"Don’t be. But I’m just regretful I don’t have this Hellfire Grass on . It’s a sha."
Sol turned even redder when he saw how Mar-El was looking at him.
"Ah, I ant the Deep Autumn Flower."
Sol said, trying to change the topic.
"Oh, the Deep Autumn Flower? Then you want big sis."
"What’s happening out here? And who’s the one saying those indecent things?"
The sweet voice of a girl ca from the tent before the flaps were lifted.
Sol and Yoon-Jae’s gaze fell on the open flaps, and a girl who looked to be the sa age as them was standing there.
Long flowing black hair and a pair of blue eyes that seed like they could enchant anyone. Even a God disenchanted to desire.
Her blue pupils were a contrast with her smooth, light-brown skin; however, it was this contrast that gave her a unique aura. As if she were one of a kind.
However, even though these were the first features that stood out when soone looked at her, they were by no ans her best features. Her best features were her softly sculpted face, which gave her a cute appearance, and her curved eyebrows that contrasted with her cute appearance to give her a fierce look.
She looked cute but fierce at the sa ti.
Also, her white dress, despite it being unusual since they were in the desert, added to her overall charm.
Yoon-Jae had to do a double-take when he saw her, since this was the first ti he had seen a person so captivating; aside from himself, of course.
anwhile, Sol’s reaction was to recall his mother.
This was sothing he instinctively did whenever he saw a girl who looked especially beautiful. He would compare them to his mom.
And the result of comparing this girl and his mother was that this girl wasn’t that far off in terms of looks.
This imdiately gave Sol a favorable impression of her.
However, the only one to react and think differently from these two was Mar-Dule.
"Huh?! Wha-What the hell are you wearing?!"
Mar-Dule looked at his sister’s attire, completely floored.
***
I think the worst way to lose soone you love is watching them slowly die. But what’s even worse is knowing there is a way to help them, but being powerless despite knowing. Your only option is to leave it up to soone else who knows, while being relegated to a position that’s helping but not really helping.
I think cancer is a bitch.
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