Ch. 265: There's No Such Thing as a Free Lungclear Herb

A foul, stifling vapor welled up out of the mud beneath his feet and poured straight into Mo Fei's nose.

By the time he realized something was wrong, he had already taken a breath, and the world lurched in front of his eyes.

Mo Fei held his breath and tried to stand and back away. But his throat felt stuffed with a wad of wet cotton, and his chest felt tight and swollen.

The moment he tried to push himself up, his legs gave out.

"Damn..."

The wet, black ground rushed up at his face.

Mo Fei lay in the mud without moving.

"Kii-kii!"

Prototype No. 1 bounced over from the edge of the grass and landed beside his head.
It tilted up its round little head and stretched its flat mouth wide open.

Haaah~

The foul vapor that had surged up in front of Mo Fei's face swirled once and was swallowed in a single gulp.

But the moment it closed its mouth, a few more bubbles swelled up in the mud under Mo Fei, and fresh wisps of foul vapor curled up. It finished that one, and another puff came out of the bare mud beside it.

Phoebe charged down the slope, clamped onto Mo Fei's collar, and hauled upward; Prototype No. 1 stretched out a tentacle, wrapped it around his arm, and heaved along with her.

But Mo Fei moved only a little.

She tried pulling harder, but her claws sank into the mud. For every step she dragged him up, she slid back half a step.
Prototype No. 1 was in much the same state. Its tentacle was pulled taut as a rope, yet its whole body still slid downward with him.

The two of them tried several more times. Mo Fei still lay at the low point, with the vapor welling up without end.

Phoebe changed her angle and pulled again. Mo Fei's body tilted, and a small bottle rolled out of his pocket and landed in the mud.

The stopper had been knocked half loose, and the potion inside sloshed.

Phoebe stared at the bottle. That's the curse-breaking potion... If I could talk, maybe I could wake him up.

She let go of his collar, pulled out the half-loose stopper with her teeth, and licked up every last drop of the potion.

Phoebe raised her head.

"...Alchemist!"

She leapt onto Mo Fei's chest and slapped him across the face with a paw. "Wake up! Alchemist, you wake up right now!"

Mo Fei's eyelids didn't so much as twitch.

She slapped him several more times, each one more frantic than the last. Only his chest was still rising and falling, faintly.

"Still breathing... I told you not to harvest too much at once."

The mud at her feet gurgled, and a huge billow of vapor surged up all at once, thicker than any before.

Prototype No. 1 opened its mouth to suck it in, but it couldn't swallow as fast as the vapor rose. The vapor rolled over its head and pressed down toward Mo Fei's face.

Phoebe arched her back, every hair on her body standing on end.

A wisp of black mist rose from around her feet and wavered.

This time, the black mist did not scatter.

Phoebe looked down at her feet; the wisp of black mist crept outward over the mud in rings, growing thicker and thicker.

My magic... I can actually move it?

She lashed out with a sudden swipe of her paw. The black mist swept out like a gust of wind, struck the vapor, and shoved it away from Mo Fei's face.

The mist didn't stop. It slipped under Mo Fei and lifted his whole body.

Prototype No. 1's tentacle stayed wrapped around his arm while Phoebe bit down on his collar and steered the black mist to carry him up the slope. A long groove was dragged through the mud behind them.

They went all the way to the top of the slope, until the ground under their feet was no longer sludge, and only then did Phoebe let go. The black mist shrank back to her feet.

Mo Fei lay on the fallen leaves outside the hollow, his face pale, still unconscious.

Phoebe panted. She was just about to go to him and call him again when the light above her suddenly dimmed.

A black shadow swept across the sky, circled half a turn, and bore down.

Whump! Whump!

An unusually huge crow landed beside Mo Fei and folded its wings, and the grass all around was beaten flat by the gust.

Phoebe froze where she stood, not even her tail moving.

Why is she here?

The giant crow's jet-black eyes swept over her. Phoebe met that gaze, and her pupils narrowed to thin slits.

The giant crow's eyes seemed to lose focus for a moment, then turned to Prototype No. 1 huddled at Mo Fei's feet, and finally settled on Mo Fei's face. It lowered its head and prodded his shoulder with the tip of its beak.

"Hey."

Mo Fei didn't react.

The giant crow lifted its head, glanced toward the hollow, then looked back down at Mo Fei's pale face.

"What a nuisance."

Several black ropes shot out of the shadow beneath its feet, wound around Mo Fei in tight loops, and the other ends drew back into its talons.

With one beat of its wings, the giant crow lifted him off the ground.

Prototype No. 1 bounced and stuck itself to Mo Fei's leg. Phoebe shrank back half a step and glanced at Mo Fei, then leapt up after them and caught hold of his clothes.

The giant crow climbed higher and higher and flew off toward the depths of the forest.

---

Mo Fei opened his eyes. Overhead was a canopy of wood curving inward, with wood grain running in lines across it.

His throat felt dry and rough, and even drawing a breath scraped painfully.

He turned his head and saw a tall, slender woman standing beside the bed, a dark shawl draped over her shoulders.

It was Corone.

Phoebe was curled up at the foot of the bed with Prototype No. 1 squeezed in next to her. Both were watching him.

Is this... the Witch Coven's base? I never expected her to pick me up...

"How... did I end up here?"

"I sensed the doll had turned up near the base, so I went to take a look." Corone's voice was cold. "A large stretch of the plants in the hollow had been pulled out, and the ground was still giving off vapor. You were lying beside it. I had no choice but to bring you back."

Phoebe said not to harvest too much, that it'd be dangerous... Could this be what she meant?

"That hollow is outside the base, but outsiders don't know how to get around the maze formation, so normally it's unlikely anyone could get close." Corone's deep black eyes fixed on him. "How did you find it?"

Mo Fei's gaze nearly drifted toward the foot of the bed before he yanked it back.

Phoebe doesn't seem to want anything to do with the Witch Coven... Better not say.

"I-I came out looking for herbs. I was wandering around the forest when I ran into a slime, so I followed it, and before I knew it I'd ended up there."

Corone didn't answer, and she didn't press him further.

Mo Fei pushed himself up into a sitting position.

I never thought gathering herbs would be this dangerous. Looks like I'm better off going to the Witch Coven about this after all.

"Corone, the plague outside is getting worse. It spreads from person to person now. The treatment station is packed with people coughing up blood, and the medicine has run out. You can't buy Lungclear Herb on the market at all anymore, and what I gathered this time will only make a few doses. You have some here, right? Could you spare some for me?"

Corone adjusted the shawl on her shoulders before she finally spoke. "Lungclear Herb isn't something you can just hand out. We do grow it at the base, but it's hard to grow to begin with." She paused. "It has to be raised on noxious vapors."

"Noxious... vapors?"

"That's right. Every single plant is raised that way." Corone looked at him. "Asking a witch for anything requires paying a price. Witches only waive the price for those they treasure."

"And you, what price do you intend to pay?"