Molting the Mortal Coil

“What!?”

An older woman, an Elder wearing a shawl made of blue scales, nearly leapt to her feet and yelled at the guard. She rushed forward and grabbed the man’s shoulders, “Where is he?”

“He’s being carried to the Medicine Hall.”

Immediately, the woman ran out of the room. Her speed caught everyone off guard and the group of guards were thrown onto their sides. A loud boom of thunder filled the room while the woman’s form was suddenly covered in crackling lightning bolts. Like she’d become one, she disappeared from the room in a flash, her fading silhouette the only thing left as her extreme speed seemed to leave a mirage, an afterimage, in her wake. The other five Elders were left in varying degrees of consternation, instantly forgetting about the meeting they were already having. They completely ignored Huifang and rushed out of the hall, leaving Sage, Songji, and Huifang to stand there alone. After a moment, Huifang steadied herself. Both Sage and Songji were unsure what to do next. Sage was actually trying to decide if now was the perfect time to ditch Huifang, when the woman in question finally spoke.

“Xuelong is the Dian Clan’s most promising Disciple. He was supposed to be on a secret mission for the Thundercloud Sect. The Elder that rushed out first is named Xuemeigui, Xuelong is her Great Grandson.”

Sage found the response reasonable after Huifang explained. It also brought a smile to his lips. He nodded and then waved for the two to follow. Leading the way out of the room, he only had to watch for a second before seeing multiple people running in the same direction. He walked calmly in the same direction as them, quickly realizing they were all heading towards the Thundercloud Sect and up the path at the front of the mountain. Most mountains had a higher energy density than other places. Sage wasn’t sure if it was the closeness to the sky, the reduced air density, or things inside the mountains and rocks themselves, but it led to them being the most popular place for Sects to lay down roots. It also helped that there was some beautiful scenery to see from atop them.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that the Medicine Hall was a place in the Thundercloud Sect and as they neared the gate, Sage asked a question of Huifang, “Are you permitted into the Sect? Do you know a way we can get in?”

“I was never a Disciple of the Sect, so I am not permitted. Why do you want to get in?”

“Of course, I wish to see the action up close.”

“I don’t think they will…”

Sage interrupted her, holding up his hand, “I was only joking about that. We need to get in so we can help out.”

A few minutes later, they were waiting at the gate to the Thundercloud Sect while one of the Disciples on guard duty went to talk to a superior. Another half an hour later, a small squad came down the mountain and surrounded them, escorting them up towards the main building of the sect. A large and magnificent, but also somewhat primitive looking structure. It was finely made and well designed, but it made out of only three materials: blue scales, gold scales, and grey stone. The stone was even carved in the same shape as all the scales and made up most of the structure, but many of the other parts were made of pieces of gold and blue scales. The roof, door, windowsills, and frames were all made of the unusual scales. As they got closer, Sage got a better look at the building and was quite impressed by the level of craftsmanship, especially once he saw the scales were real and not just a fake veneer or painted imitation. The building itself was massive, like an immense castle with something of a mongolian flair with scales everywhere, both as decoration and also as important building materials.

The massive central hall could easily seat ten thousand, and it also had large halls leading away from it like the spokes of a wheel. One of those paths had a sign over it that read ‘Hall of Medicine’. Sage didn’t have much time to look around and admire the place as they were almost immediately led down that hall and towards a large room at the back of it where twenty or so people were gathered around a bed. One of them left the group and walked over to Sage’s group. As he left the crowd, they could make out the face and realized it was Uncle Rong. He approached the three of them with a tense look, “Can you really help? You better not be joking or you’ll likely never leave this building again.”

“That’s not a very good way to speak to a benefactor, but I understand the animosity. I can’t guarantee anything, but if you want some reassurance just tell them I have reached the third degree of the Major Law of Poison.”

When Uncle Rong heard him, his eyes widened, “Poison? Really? Alright.”

After looking at Huifang and seeing that she was nodding, Uncle Rong seemed to brighten up a bit and he turned back to the group with a bit of excited energy. There was a bit of talking and then three others left the group with Uncle Rong and came over towards them. One of them was Xuemeigui, Xuelong’s great grandmother. One of the others was a man wearing a helmet made of gold scales, and the last was a dignified old man wearing no scales at all, but his eyes crackled with balls of electricity in place of his pupils. Uncle Rong stepped over to the side of Huifang and made some introductions.

“This is Dian Xuemeigui, Lei Xinlu, and Sect Elder Chang Lanyan. The Sect Elder is a highly skilled Doctor, yet he has been unable to identify the poison.”

Sage smiled, thinking to himself: So it’s Blood Rose, Bone Brain, and Blue Smoke. Quite a lineup.

Uncle Rong continued, “They would like to know…”

The woman, Xuemeigui interrupted him, “How are you going to cure him? Tell us?”

As they’d just made introductions, Sage bowed to them, “Greetings, esteemed ones. I am Lang Sheng and as I told Elder Rong, I have reached the third degree of the Major Law of Poison. I also studied under a Poison Master so I have some understanding of them. I cannot guarantee anything, but I would like to help.”

Being poisoned by one hundreds of times counts as ‘studying’, right?

The three important figures immediately lost their expectant gazes and then nodded. They were hoping to find some secret master, but his introduction sounded more like something a trainee would say. Even so, they didn’t turn him away and the Sect Elder Chang Lanyan waved a hand to someone near the bed. Almost instantly the person he’d waved to said something and started politely shoo-ing the other people out of the room. In only a few moments a large space was cleared around the bed. Sage was singled out and Elder Chang brought Sage over to help him with a diagnosis. Songi and Huifang were led over to where the others were, with Xuemeigui straying the farthest from the group, trying to inch closer and closer to the bed at every moment.

Unfortunately for the Doctor, Sage was not an Orthodox Poison Master. He didn’t create his own poisons, nor did he know any of their formulas. No matter how detailed their examination of Xuelong was, Sage still had no idea what type of poison he’d been exposed to. As the examination continued, Sage leaned closer to Chang Lanyan and whispered to him, “Can we clear the room completely?”

The condition was not too uncommon among the medical trade, so Lanyan agreed, sending another order to that same person from before. Just as efficiently as they had worked earlier, the room was soon empty and the door closed. Chang Lanyan then walked over to the door and activated a Formation Array that was carved into it and finally turned back towards Sage, “Alright, out with it. Do you need to undress Xuelong or is there some foul play at work?”