The Fairy Doctor Zufu had long since taken all his medical equipment and medicines out of his over-sized satchel and neatly arranged them nearby. He sat with Lu Shao and Ye, behind Jin, waiting for the Fairy Princes to return with their Mother. No one moved, they barely seemed to breath, as the minutes ticked by.

When the two hour mark neared, Jin finally stirred. Unfolding his legs, he quickly stood up, his hands clenching and unclenching.

“Father?” Lu Shao asked timidly, standing up too.

“She comes.”

The little boy began to shake from relief while Ye let out a “phew” sound.

“How long?” Ye questioned as he jumped onto Jin’s shoulder.

“Hm… she was taken far, so a bit. It will take them time to bring her back.”

The little fairy lowered his voice so that Lu Shao couldn’t hear:

“How is she?”

Jin’s eyebrow twitched and his lips flattened into a line.

“She is alive.”

Hearing this, Ye closed his eyes and grimaced. The image of her broken body was seared into the fairy’s mind. It was good that she was alive, but that she was only alive… her condition must be terrible.

They waited almost another thirty minutes before Shi Ji and Mei Hua appeared. Since they were on the very border of Jin’s territory, they saw them before they felt them.

Shi Ji could have arrived sooner, but he didn’t dare go full speed. Every jostle caused further injury to his Mother’s body. Rather than focus on speed, he focused on his steps being smooth and light. He made a rather peculiar figure, running with a strange elegance as though he were a dancer with a face filled with worry.

Jin had his arms wide and took Mei Hua from his son the moment the boy stepped close enough. The tall, usually proud but slightly silly man, stumbled at the sight of his wife. Even though he’d felt what she was going through, seeing it up close crushed him further.

“Mountain flower… what have they done to you… what have they done to you…” His voice was raw as tears spilled down his anguished face.

Everything about her was broken, cut, and sliced. Not just her body, but her soul. The poison they’d used on him, they’d used on her. It had been in a smaller amount because she’d only been hit by one arrow, but it had still been highly effective. It looked as though a black pit with tiny tendrils extending from it had formed over her entire soul. On her body it showed like a sickly green infection emanating from her shoulder and spreading across her chest and up her neck to her face.

How she’d survived so long was a mystery. But every second the poison remained, was a second longer it devoured her body and soul. Of all her injuries, the poison was the most dangerous.

He put a hand above the injured shoulder that was the source of the poison and lifted, intending to remove the poison and then immediately heal his wife. As the poison visibly shifted under her skin, Mei Hua’s body convulsed violently.

“Old Man!” “Mommy!” “Stop you fool!”

Three separate voices cried out in horror, while Doctor Zufu didn’t even bother; the elderly looking fairy stepped forward and forcibly removed Mei Hua from the arms of a stunned Jin.

Laying the woman down, Zufu knew without even looking she’d stopped breathing.

Seeing her limp form, Ye jumped onto Jin’s face, clasping it with his tiny arms and legs and said in a fury, “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“I— I— only wanted to remove the poison!” Jin explained, his whole body shaking from shock. It had worked with Ye and himself, and he’d been trying to be gentle with his wife. He hadn’t expected her body to react that way.

Doctor Zufu hovered one wrinkled hand over Mei Hua’s chest (where her heart was located) and another over her forehead and concentrated. Both his hands began to glow hot white.

He breathed in and breathed out. His hands followed his breathing rhythm, rising and falling. After only a few seconds of this, his strained face suddenly relaxed and his hands stilled. Mei Hua’s chest was now rising on it’s own.

Without moving the location of his hands, he let each rest on Mei Hua and the white light began to throb softly. He remained this way for a few minutes before retracting them completely and giving a satisfied nod.

When Jin shuffled closer and reached out a hand to check on his wife, Doctor Zufu grabbed his wrist.

“Do. Not. Touch.”

The elderly fairy did not even bother being polite. He’d almost lost his patient once because of his Lord’s meddling, he’d not let it happen again.

Jin saw the Fairy Doctor’s hard expression. Immediately he retracted his hand and took a step back, his face filled with anxiety. Ye, who’d been on his shoulder, smacked him and hissingly told him to stop interfering.

Doctor Zufu stood up, now ignoring his Lord, and walked over to his medical supplies. Rubbing his chin with his eyebrows scrunched together, he began lifting ceramic bottles while talking quietly to himself. He’d nod or shake his head occasionally and either left or took a bottle based on whatever conclusion he came to.

The Fairy Doctor took the bottles he’d selected and set them near Mei Hua’s head. Each bottle had a pill or liquid in it. For the pills, he would simply place them in her mouth and wait. They naturally dissolved on their own, without her even having to swallow them. The liquid he measured out in careful doses and carefully fed it to her, massaging her throat to get her to swallow.

While he worked, no one dared interrupt him. Not even Jin, who could only hover nearby feeling miserable and anxious. Some of the effects of the pills and potions were more obvious than others. One changed her deadly pale skin color to a more normal pink. Another miraculously healed all the cuts and bruises. Others showed no noticeable effect at all, but the Fairy Doctor seemed pleased by some result only he could see.

When Doctor Zufu put away all his bottles he gave a nod and then turned to Jin and bowed.

“My Lord and Young Masters, the worst is past.”

Lu Shao burst into tears, while Shi Ji sank to the ground in relief. Ye ran over and gently touched Mei Hua’s face, crying silently.

Only Jin still remained taunt.

“The poison is still there.” He pointed out.

“It is.”

“Then—”

“Sire, this poison can not be removed from your wife all at once. To so do is extremely dangerous.” The Doctor’s white eyebrows rose slightly. “As you have experienced.”

“If it’s left in her, it will rot her from the inside out.”

“Indeed you are correct. Even so, if it’s to be removed it must be done slowly and very carefully.”

Seeing Jin’s dissatisfied expression, the Fairy Doctor sighed and place his hands behind his back.

“My Lord, I will talk more in-depth about the problem we’re facing. But rest assured she is in no immediate danger. The poison has at least been isolated and her body strengthened. At this point, it would be better to—”

Before the Doctor could finished, Yan Li had run up at full speed. In one arm he held a man and in the other a ragged bundle of dirty cloth.

“Old Man! Brothers!” When Yan Li saw his Mother, he dropped the man roughly near Jin and rushed over to her. “Is she alright?”

Shi Ji looked up at him and nodded. Yan Li sniffled loudly and raised his arm to rub his eyes, trying to suppress his tears of relief. Now that the real danger had passed, he suddenly recalled what he’d brought with him.

“Old Man,” the older twin walked up to his Old Man and pointed at the unconscious man with his free hand. He struggled to spit out the awful words needed to describe what had happened, “This is one of the people who hurt Mother. We found this guy… ugh… attempting to… attempting to… violate her.”

Jin instantly released a killing intent so intense anyone standing nearby felt their knees buckle. Lu Shao actually spit blood and almost passed out from it, while Ye and the Fairy Doctor were paralyzed where they stood. Mei Hua was the only one completely unaffected, not because she was unconscious but because even in his anger, Jin wouldn’t hurt her.

Yan Li bent over, trying to protect his bundle of rags from the onslaught emanating from his Father.

“Father, please, I’ve brought a witness!”

“…witness?”

“Yes, but they’re mortal and already injured. You’re killing them!”

“Ah.” Jin blinked and immediately stopped suffocating his surroundings with his aura. “Explain.”

Yan Li moved the rags, showing the face of a pale, dirty and starved child.

“This child was found there, amongst dead bodies. I think our enemies used…” The boy’s voice cracked slightly. “..used human sacrifices. This was the only one who survived.”

Jin face twitched, repulsed, while he muttered, “…crimes upon crimes. How deep does humanity’s sin go?”

“Let me see the child.” Doctor Zufu said after recovering from Jin’s temper. The younger man handed his bundle over, knowing the Doctor would take care of her.

Examining the little one, the Fairy Doctor shook his head sadly. “To suffer such a fate at so young an age… truly this is tragic.” He then turned to Jin. “My Lord, it’s safe for you to carry her Ladyship. I suggest you return to the Palace with her for now. Lady Mei Hua will be safer and more comfortable in her own bed and we can talk further about that poison and… how to deal… with the trash.”

The Fairy Doctor eyed the unconscious man disdainfully before walking to his stuffed satchel. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulders. Then, without further comment, he left with his new patient.

There was no point in Doctor Zufu staying any longer. What he could do for his Lady, he’d done. And his Lord would personally carry his wife back home. In which case, it was better for the Doctor to get things ready at the Palace and inform his assistant and the servants about everything that had happened.

Jin stared down at his immobilized enemy and sneered. The thing, for even calling it human seemed too good for it, was indeed trash. From this point onward, Jin did not see a man at his feet, but an object that’s only value was what information could be squeezed out of it.

Walking over to Mei Hua, Jin very gently picked her up. While she looked significantly better, his heart was tight knowing the poison was still there.

“Shi Ji.”

“Yes Father.” Shi Ji stood to attention.

“Take that… trash. Make sure it doesn’t wake up and keep an eye on it. Don’t bring it into the Palace, I will make a… special… place for it. Yan Li.”

“Yes!”

“Explain to me what happened to you all while we return home and why Shan Hui hasn’t returned.”

“Of course.”

Jin glanced at his youngest son and Ye but his heart felt numb and, having nothing to say, left without a word.

Lu Shao sniffled, his guilt compounding with the obvious neglect he’d received from his Father. He had not saved his Mother, so it made sense in his child-mind that his Father wouldn’t like him. Ye, sensing the boy’s depression, quickly hopped over to him.

“No one blames you Little Lu. Not even your Old Man, no matter how he acts right now. Stress just makes some people mean, don’t take it personally.” Ye hugged the boy’s face gently. “And I’m here. And not just me either, all the fairies will support you. And your brothers too. So you’re not alone. Remember that, you’re not alone. So lift up your chin and let’s go home.”