After about 3 hours they were finally far enough from the village and came to a stop "I think we're far enough now" Sha Wujing said looking back "I...can't believe that...the whole village was...working with...The Cursed Immortal" Zhu Bajie said panting for breath as he collapsed to the ground exhausted from running "how's your throat Wukong?" Macaque asked looking at the copper simians neck and the large red burn on it "I'm fine Mihou, it doesn't hurt that much anymore" Wukong said with a small smile his voice less raspy than before "I am just glad that everyone is safe" Tripitaka said as he dismount the dragon horse
Suddenly a growl was heard making everyone jump at the sound, they all looked around to see Ao Lie transformed into a human, stomach growling "sorry" the dragon boy said smiling bashfully. Everyone let out a sigh "alright, I'll go look for something for us to eat" Wukong said looking at the others before looking at Macaque "would you like to come with me?" Wukong asked, Macaque looked at the copper simian and nodded "alright, me and Macaque are going to look for food, do not I repeat. Do. Not. Leave this area or I will drag you back here by your ear, understand" Wukong said glaring at the four, they all nodded and the two simians left
As the two simans looked around, Macaque couldn't help but glance at the copper simian, noticing him stumble a bit and take sharp intakes of air "Wukong, are you sure you're alright" Macaque said looking at the copper simian "yeah Mangoes, I'm fine, I'm just sore from that fight" Wukong said turning to Macaque "but your practically limping and you're holding your side too" Macaque said looking at the copper simian with worry "Mihou, I know you're worried but I promise you that I'm fine, it's just taking a little while for me to heal up, but I'm okay, look" Wukong said lifting his shirt up to reveal a big bruise on his chest that was healing "see, I'll be back to normal before you know it" Wukong said pulling his shirt down
Macaque looks at the copper simian still feeling worried but slightly better "okay" Macaque said, Wukong smiled and hugged him, kissing his forehead "I'll be fine, it'll take more than a brawl to put this monkey down" Wukong said smiling gently pressing his and Macaques forehead together, Macaque blushes and smiles 'there's my smile' Wukong thought smiling. Later the two went back to their search for food finding wild onions, bok choy, a couple of enoki mushrooms, scallions, and cilantro "this should be enough, let's head back before Zhu Bajie starts convincing master to wonder off somewhere" Wukong said and the two simians began to head back
When they return they saw Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, Ao Lie, and Tripitaka eating berries "what the, I told you guys to stay here!" Wukong said looking at the four "we did but little brother was getting really hungry so Zhu Bajie went to look around and found these berries" Sha Wujing said as Zhu Bajie ate another handful of the berries "want some, they're really delicious and juicy, like ripe plums" Ao Lie said holding out a handful of the berries. Macaque looked at the berries and took one inspecting it "um, Bajie, where did you find these berries?" Macaque asked looking at the pig demon
"I found them next to a big tree, there was a lot of them" Zhu Bajie said eating another handful of the berries "did the bush you pick these berries had a red stem and a bright small yellow flower under them?" Macaque asked looking back at the berries "yeah, they did, why?" The pig demon asked with a mouthful of berries "Bajie, these are Tutsan berries, they're poisonous" Macaque said looking at the four. Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, Ao Lie, and Tripitaka eyes widened in shock at that and they spat the berries out of their mouths "WHAT?!" Zhu Bajie said spitting out the berries "p-poisonous?!" Ao Lie exclaimed in shock "a-a-are we going to die, are we dying!" Tripitaka said panicking "calm down everyone calm down!" Macaque called out silencing the panicking group "now the Tutsan berries are poisonous, but you won't die" Macaque said, the four let out a sigh of relief "but what will happen to us?" Sha Wujing asked worried "you all will experience some sickness from the berries like abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea" Macaque said
Suddenly their stomachs began growling as Zhu Bajie, Ao Lie covered their mouths, while Sha Wujing and Tripitaka held their stomachs in pain, they quickly ran to different directions going far as they could from the area. A few seconds later a horrible smell filled the air making Wukong and Macaque cover their noses from the smell "looks like we're setting up camp here for tonight" Wukong said fanning the air
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Later in the afternoon, Macaque had the campfire going with a pot of soup stirring it before tasting a bit of it, then Wukong came back "I got the clover and Fennel just as you asked" Wukong said holding out the herbs in his hands "thank you, I'll add the Fennel into the soup, you add the clover into the tea" Macaque said taking the Fennel and dropping it into the soup, Wukong nodded and went to where the tea kettle was next to the campfire and poured it into the kettle mixing the clover into the tea. He looks over to Ao Lie, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Tripitaka who were laying on their sleeping mats groaning and holding their stomachs in pain as they had wet cloths over their heads and skin pale "how are you guys feeling, any better?" Wukong asked looking at his brothers and master "I'm afraid not big brother" Sha Wujing said with a slight groan "well the soup and tea will help, and look on the bright side, at least our scent will be masked by the stench so we won't be worrying about Kai's soldiers finding us anytime soon" Wukong said with a smirk
"Yeah, and it cost us a lot of pain" Zhu Bajie said groaning "hey, be thankful that these symptoms can be cure with herbs and not life threatening, it's your own fault for not knowing that those berries were poisonous" Wukong said with a small shrug "shut up" Zhu Bajie said with a groan. Macaque taste the soup again and dubbed it ready "soups ready" Macaque said filling the bowls up with the soup, the copper simian went over to the kettle and stirred the contents before pouring the tea into the cups, the tanned simian try to gather all four bowls but thankfully Wukong grabbed two of the bowls "thank you" Macaque said with a smile "you're welcome" Wukong said hand the first bowl to the monk and the second bowl to the celestial swine before going back to get the tea, Zhu Bajie blew on it before taking a sip of the soup letting out a sigh or relief as his stomach slowly feels better
Ao Lie let out a hum as he drinks the soup while Sha Wujing drinks the tea "thank you Wukong and Mihou" Tripitaka said taking another sip of the soup "mmm, this taste amazing, a bit bland but still amazing, I'll teach you how to cook once we get better" Zhu Bajie said drinking the tea "thank you, I'm sure I'll learn great things from you" Macaque said smiling. Soon the four finished both the tea and the soup feeling a little better than before, Ao Lie let out a yawn feeling drowsy from the soup and tea, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Tripitaka feeling drowsy as well before they fell asleep "guess we should rest up as well, I'll finish cleaning up " Wukong said looking at the tanned simian "alright, goodnight Wukong" Macaque said laying down onto his sleeping mat falling asleep
Wukong stares at the sleeping tanned simian as he packed up the last herb before looking at the campfire his hand gently going to his throat as he let out a small hiss of pain 'Still sore, probably gonna take all night to fully heal' he thought heading to his sleeping mat next to Macaque laying down, he gently traces Macaques face tucking a strand of black hair behind Macaques ears before placing a kiss on Macaques forehead "goodnight Mangoes" Wukong said before falling asleep his tail gently wrapping with Macaques as the tanned simians tail wraps back in his sleep