heaven official's blessing Keitteishimai (edited)

poisoned and to find a cure.26

"the general died," Xie Lian continued to read. "the cause of death was unusual. he tripped over his own shoe laces, and was stabbed to death."

silent laghes could be heard. i was about to say some thing when when Honger stood up and asked.

"is that funny?" Honger asked with a glint of something dark in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, i don't mean anything bad it's just- this is just-"the little boy from before panicked.

"everyone please be more considerate, we are in front of his tomb." Xie Lian stood and placed a hand on the stone as he spoke calmly. "anyway, the residence placed this tomb stone here in respect to him."

"the people of Banyu discovered something mysterious about this tomb." Honger began as he fixed his shirt. "as long as they bowed three times in front of it, they were able to turn their misfortunes they encountered in the Gobi into blessings."

after that, everyone in the merchants group began to pray to it.  giving Honger a glance, i over heard my brother.

"san Lan..." he began as he and Honger made eye contact. before giving a laugh and closing his eyes while Honger stuck out his tongue with a smile. "why are you so mischievous?"

"the generals death, that ones wrong." Snake spoke up. i looked back to her. she knows a lot about this story huh? brother and Honger turned to her as well as the rest of the group of ours but the merchants continued to prey. "the general died after trying to get and orphan girl out of a fight between the two sides. after that he was trampled to death."

"you know quite a bit on this general." Honger said with a slight smirk.

"of course." she said with her fang sparkling in the slight view. "he was as admirable as general Xie, so why wouldn't i look into the story to the finest detail."

"that's snake for you." i laughed. my brother could tell i was trying to get on to something other than death.

the girls were about to dust off when someone started screaming.

"snake!" the merchants started panicking. "there's a snake!"

"where?!" another asked.

"how could there be a snake?!"

Fu Yao and Nan Feng created larger flames to illuminate the area to locate what was scaring the merchants. snake rushed through the crowd.

"be careful!" flower sword called, holding out his arms to protect Honger. in the light that now illuminated the entire area, there, with scales of crimson red, was a cobra, with a scorpion tail.

"scorpion snake!" i shouted as it lunged forward. Honger moved my brothers hand before snagging it by it's heart.

"san lang! watch out for it's tail!" the snake tried to strike his hand, when Honger snagged it with his free hand.

"oh?" he smirked as he looked over the creature. "this tail looks pretty interesting."

the snake began to thrash and struggle to break free.  that's when i noticed Mu Yoong Yoong was hiding behind Fu Yao. she kept freaking out when the snake thrashed.

"why does it have to be twice as dangerous?!" she whisper shrieked as her face grew green. she was dramatized by a snake spirit when she was younge, so seeing a scorpion tailed snake probably isn't helping.

"it's a poisonous creature that's pretty local." i said as i held Kiyoshi close. "but it should be closer to Banyu, not all the way out here. stung or bitten by one, you'll even- Honger stop playing with the snake!"

Honger was pulling the snake like a piece of stretchy string or fabric.

"it's okay jiejie, don't worry." he gave a sly fox grin as he didn't even look at me while tying the poor snake in a knot. "this snake is the state preceptor's totem, and it's a rare chance to examine it carefully."

"we have to get out now!" snake shouted. here eyes were panicked as her nostrils flared.

"why what's going on?" i asked her.

"the preceptor controls these guys, we have to leave now!"

"SHIT!" Mu Yoong Yoong shrieked as Fu Yao and Nan Feng sent fire in every direction.

"everyone out now!" i roared as i use to as a general. Kiyoshi was hoisted in my arms and everyone was rushing to get out while the hundreds of snakes were set ablaze.

"hurry!" brother called from behind. we rushed as fast as we could.  hundreds of tapping noises from our footsteps could be heard. the cave's opening was a sight for sore eyes.

"this tomb stone is scary!" a merchant called out as we made it out. "we only bowed once, and this happened!"

"yeah!" another joined in as we left the opening. "it's like bowing to that useless trash gos! the more you bow, the worse it gets!"

"i wouldn't say those things!" Feng Ling said as she held Mu Yoong Yoong's hand and rushed her the furthest away from the cave.

"why's that?" the same merchant asked.

"the 'worthless trash god' that you just insulted is the snow generals older twin brother." the caravan went silent and still. that is, until the little boy shouted.

"uncle Zheng!" there before him, the older man was laying face down. brother and i rushed over. but i had already spotted the sting mark from the snakes.

"everyone!" flower sword shouted as i looked at the sting. check if there are wounds on your body! if there are, tie it off with rope to stop the spread!"

"the venom is extraordinarily potent." i said i lifted old man Zheng's hand. Honger was messing with his hair and just sticking close to brother, to protect him most likely. the sting was bright red and traced with thin dark lines from the broken vein and the venom spreading. Tian Shang was crying and kneeling beside his uncle. i tore my sleeve to my upper arm. using the removed cloth to tie off the sting.

"miss, " the young man looked to me teary eyed. "uncle won't die, will he?"

"unless we find the fern, he will in four hours." i told him. a low voice.

Tian shang looked broken in his eyes. Honger was nearby listening in. Tian Shang probably wants to know what we can do.

"i have medicine, but it will only delay it a day." Nan Feng held up a bag and handed it to Zhao since he was on the other side of me.

"what fern?" brother asked knelled beside me.

"it grows in Bayue kingdom, and is the reason so many people die out here." i explained.

"exactly." Honger chimed in. "even if we go now and find the fern, we may not be able to come back."