Because he was too good at talking, Guangda lost his autograph.
But despite the regret, he still felt happy.
After all, that little sword immortal from Evernight Marquis had ridden his… his friend's star-skiff.
Under his escort, the group quickly arrived at Liuyun Ferry.
"Liang Mu, I… I have to see him!" Banxia murmured softly. It was clear she had deep feelings for that short-life species man.
But soon, some negative emotions surged into her mind. The girl shook her head, feeling some kind of change happening in her body, and a faint pain came from her chest.
Bailu glanced at Banxia and frowned, concerned. "Banxia, the signs of your mara-struck condition are getting more obvious. I still have some calming medicine in my gourd. Do you want to drink some before we go?"
Knowing her current state well, Banxia shook her head and refused Bailu's kindness. "Thank you, Lord Bailu… but we can't delay any longer."
She knew her endurance had already reached its limit. Even if she took Bailu's medicine, it wouldn't help.
The Dragon Lady's medical skills were indeed superb. She could even suppress and delay the outbreak of the mara-struck condition, but at most it was only suppression and delay.
For Xianzhou people, the mara-struck condition was a natural process of growth, just like how ordinary short-life species would go through aging.
The Dragon Lady could push this point back, but the critical threshold was there. It wouldn't change because of her medicine.
"Speaking of which, Liuyun Ferry is just a dock," Stelle suddenly said. "Since that guy is seriously ill, why isn't he lying in a clinic instead of coming here?"
Banxia shook her head. "I told him to hide here. Before, I couldn't let the Medicine King's Secret find him."
"Now, I can't let the fanatics of the Medicine King's Secret find him either. So I had no choice but to have him hide in the containers at Liuyun Ferry."
"Then why would the Medicine King's Secret know about him?", March asked.
"Because I promised Liang Mu I would bring him an elixir of immortality. I wanted him to become like me, a Xianzhou person."
"Oh, this kid's motives aren't pure," Nero blinked twice and said. "Treating an illness is one thing, now it's turned into chasing immortality."
"And even if you want immortality, you picked the wrong direction from the start. The Medicine King's Secret lures people into falling into the mara-struck condition, not granting immortality."
"If you're looking for eternal life, going to them is worse than scraping off a piece of the Ambrosial Arbor's bark and soaking it in water to drink."
Hearing Nero's words, Banxia froze in place. A look of thought and realization appeared deep in her eyes.
At this moment, Nero turned back to Bailu again. "See, I told you we should open schools. Compulsory education is really necessary."
Hearing the word "school," Bailu's tail swished uneasily. "Go ahead and open it, I'm not going!"
"Mm, mm, you're not going."
Nero responded perfunctorily, then turned back to Banxia. "Speaking of which, one of the unforgivable ten evils under Xianzhou law, and you still dared to touch it…"
Banxia was silent for a moment. She didn't respond to Nero, just continued speaking on her own.
"At that time, I didn't understand the inside story of the Medicine King's Secret. I only knew that within the Alchemy Commission, some people were recreating ancient prescriptions."
"But just like you said, what those people were doing wasn't a blessing of immortality at all, it couldn't even be considered a crude imitation."
"Those madmen only treat short-life species as materials for medicine, as expendable experimental subjects. The time left for me was very little, only the final ingredient remained."
"Oh. So it's still an attempted crime." Nero nodded.
Banxia gave Nero a bitter smile, then looked at Bailu. "Lord Bailu, you remember our deal, right?"
"You help me escape the Alchemy Commission, I'll help you save someone," Bailu said.
"Mm." Banxia tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Thank you, Lord Bailu. The place we agreed on is over there. Let's go."
After saying that, Banxia led everyone to a container. However, there was no one inside.
The empty container felt like a heavy hammer smashing down on Banxia. She staggered back two steps and raised her hand to hold her forehead.
"H-how could this be… where did he go? We agreed to meet here… my head hurts so much, how could this…"
Seeing that Banxia's condition was off, Bailu immediately said, "Banxia, don't move. Rest here for a bit first!"
"But… he's not here, we still have to find him…" Banxia said unwillingly and in panic.
Bailu frowned, a bit worried. Then out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to notice something. She suddenly turned her head and saw Nero beside her rolling up his sleeves.
Being very familiar with Nero, she of course knew what this meant.
Thinking about how Nero sometimes sparred with Yanqing and the Cloud Knights, leaving handprints with every slap when he hit them, Bailu didn't dare imagine what would happen if that slap landed on Banxia's face.
Looking at Banxia's increasingly unstable and chaotic state, to prevent her from being slapped to death, Bailu could only muster her authority.
With a serious voice that even carried a hint of dragon might, she shouted, "Medical staff! Calm down! Listen to the doctor's instructions!"
Under this shout that seemed to carry dragon might, Banxia's wavering figure suddenly froze, as if she had abruptly woken from a nightmare.
Although her condition was still not good, her eyes looked clearer than before.
March and Stelle glanced at Bailu with strange expressions. This Dragon Lady seemed unexpectedly imposing.
Stelle and March exchanged a look. Taking care of someone like Banxia should be left to professionals, so the two of them turned and left to see if they could find Liang Mu nearby.
Nero stayed behind. If Banxia couldn't hold on, at the moment she fell into the mara-struck state, Nero could subdue her immediately, to avoid causing harm to Bailu.
After Banxia's condition stabilized a little, Bailu immediately took out ointment and medicine and began trying to relieve her current symptoms.
Banxia, on the other hand, stared straight ahead with her eyes open, as if she had fallen into memories.
Like someone delirious and talking in their sleep, she murmured, "That day, all the patients were lying down, but I saw him constantly drawing a forest. I asked him, why wasn't he resting properly and what was he doing?
"He said, 'I want to go see the forest sea of Ongvak. To accomplish what I want to do, I have to keep drawing that unseen future. I must cure myself, even if I end up in prison or get expelled.'"
"I've never had something I wanted to do. I just repeat medical work day after day."
"Sometimes I think, just fast-forward to the next hundred years. Life is too boring, too trivial. It wouldn't matter even if I skipped straight to the end of life."
"I don't want to know what painful things happened during these years. I have no interest in knowing what I experienced in this life. It's all trivial things anyway."
"The moment I heard Liang Mu speak, I suddenly felt very sad. A person's life shouldn't be like this. At the very least, the one living it shouldn't be indifferent to it."
"Liang Mu… made me open my eyes. In my eyes, he shines."
Listening to Banxia rambling there, Bailu spoke as if comforting her, "Sorry, I don't really understand these kinds of feelings."
Banxia took a deep breath, seeming to regain some clarity. "My lady… why have you always wanted to escape the Alchemy Commission? Don't you like treating and saving people?"
"I… I was born with the ability to treat and save people, but if you ask me whether I like it, I really can't answer." Bailu shook her head.
"Since I can remember, I've been learning medicine. No one has ever asked me if I like it. Those old folks of the Vidyadhara race don't care, and I don't care either," Bailu continued.
"Treating people is like eating and drinking. I don't really feel anything about it. If I have to say, I dislike it?"
"But if I cure someone, and that person can become better and healthier, then I like it! So hurry up and pull yourself together."
Nero stood to the side without speaking, because he had never encountered this kind of trouble.
For him, whether he liked something was very simple.
If doing it felt smooth and comfortable, then he liked it. Otherwise, he didn't.