Chapter 0143

“What the hell? I could have killed the bastard in six moves! Why did we have to retreat?” Tempest screamed out her anger.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Where was the finesse you showed us earlier? Instead of fighting using that head of yours, you use that small skull of yours like a battering ram. Ram, ram, ram. All you know how to do was charge forward and ram against them regardless of consequences to us or yourself.” Bei Ting Mao grabbed Tempest’s hand, pushed back the sleeves of her mage robe and shove the cut up arm into Tempest’s face.

Tempest gasped in surprise as she fell to her knees at the sight of her shredded arm. She knew flunky one was filleting her arms like a fisherman filleting a fish but she didn’t realize how bad it was.

Pain indicates the damage to one’s body. The greater the pain, the greater the damage. Tempest didn’t feel any pain. She thought she had minor cuts on her arm because she didn’t feel the pain. All the pain she was supposed to feel during the fight was held back behind a damn called ignorance.

Once the veil of ignorance was pierced, the pain came flooding in.

“Aaaaahhhhh, my arm. It hurts.” Tempest screamed surprise everyone around her.

From the way she was acting, they thought it was nothing to her. During the fight, they had kept an eye on her because she wasn’t acting like her usual self. They notice Tempest’s strange behavior when she charged into the group with Bei Ting Mao. They had attributed her strange behavior to her greed. Hannah had destroyed her charms, effectively stealing from her.

They didn’t realize something was wrong with Tempest until they were retreating, hence the confrontation between Bei Ting Mao and Tempest.

Except now that Tempest is back to her silly self and screaming in pain, they don’t know what to do.

Graden stared pensively at Tempest before reaching into his mage robe for a Blood Restoration Pill. “Here, eat this pill. It will cure your wounds.”

“Ahhh, no pills, ahhhh. I.. I don’t… ahhhhh… eat drugs.” Tempest refused despite her pain.

“Take the pill Tempest.” Fenix said in exasperation. This is the first time Fenix saw a mage refuse to take a pill to heal their wounds. It is normal for cultivators to take pills for everything, from healing wounds to increase their cultivation speed. Eating a pill is a normal occurrence, more common that eating regular food. Cultivators have to cleanse their bodies of impurities periodically or they won’t be able to circulate the mana or qi throughout their bodies. For mages, the more impurities they have in their bodies, the longer it takes from them to improve their cultivation. It takes time for the spirits to cleanse their mortal of impurities, time which could be used for cultivation instead.

“Sis Tempest, please take the pill.” Starm beseech Tempest. Seeing his beloved sister in pain hurts his little heart.

“No!” Tempest continued insistence threw the group into confusion. Tempest was in too much pain to offer an explanation.

Graden tried to offer the pill to Tempest time and time again, but Tempest continued to refuse. Fenix couldn’t stand Tempest’s pigheadedness. She grabbed the pill and shove it into Tempest’s mouth. Before the pill could dissolve, Tempest spit it out.

“What can’t you just take the pill?” Fenix questioned in anger.

Tempest didn’t answer. She gritted her teeth as her body was racked with pain but she still turned her head away from the concerned gazes of her group.

How could she explain to them she came from a different world, a world where pills/medications have dangerous consequences? She didn’t want to speak of her past. She didn’t want to speak of those four months where innocuous pills had dulled her senses and self-preservation instincts to the point where she was lead around by the leash. Tempest didn’t want to admit it, that she was one of the reasons why her sisters died.

The spirits tried to warn her about the dangerous situation she was in but she liked her new life too much to listen. Even when she was given proof of the dangers surrounding her, she dragged her feet, unwilling to leave.

“We’ll leave when there is a chance.” Tempest had always told herself this. They would leave when there is a chance. When the chance came, she was naive enough to believe the words of the betrayer and innocently ate the sedative he gave me. They missed their best chance to flee the horror house all because of a pill.

Tempest is aware she had misplaced her guilt onto the drugs. It wasn’t the cause of her sisters death. There were many factors that went into their death, their desire to cling to the love they had for one another was a major reason why they died the way they did. Still, Tempest needed something to project her guilt and anger on. Pills were one of the easiest choices.

She never had resolved the guilt she felt for living when the others had died so she avoided taking any pills. Tempest wanted to be in control of her actions. No one will control her ever again.

“If Tempest won’t eat the pills then try healing salve. It might work as well as the pills, but I don’t think have any aversion to them.” Yu Li Ming suggested.

Graden pulled out a healing salve from his mage robe, open the bottle and slapped the medication onto Tempest’s wounds.

This time Tempest, didn’t try to avoid the salve Graden liberally plastered on her arm. The pain lesson immediately and the wounds on Tempest’s arm healed at a startling rate. Everyone was relieved Tempest was getting better.

Of course, now that everyone wasn’t worried about her health, they began to scold Tempest for her rash actions.

Fenix was the first to start. “Seriously Tempest, safety first and fight at range. We’re mages, not idiotic barbarians who charged into a fight like myopic raging bull bent on goring the anything and everything around them.”

“Sis Tempest, let Starm do the fighting. Starm will give you all the prizes. Starm no want to see you hurt.” Starm made eyes at Tempest like he was attending her funeral. The creepy eyes were filled with worry and unshed tears. Tempest’s pain had frightened the token bun.

Tempest didn’t know the token bun’s motive in clinging to her. She never did buy the ‘you can help me with cultivation’ excuse Starm gave. Oh, it is true Tempest can help him with his cultivation but Tempest sensed there was more to it. But now, with his eyes glistening with unshed tears, Tempest felt his eyes weren’t as creepy as she thought it was.

“Tempest, don’t be reckless anymore.” Yu Li Ming, the innocent naive little girl who didn’t know the suffering of her fellow woman. She set aside her depression to comfort Tempest.

“The salve will heal your wounds, and it won’t leave a scar. I’ll make more of it. When your life is in danger, don’t be stubborn and take the pill. Living is more important.” Graden is still kind as ever, except he is looking at Tempest in a very strange way. The pain must have caused Tempest to imagine things cause for a moment there, Tempest thought he was plotting something.

“Quit charging into things like a fool. You’d only turn up dead.” Tempest really couldn’t take Bei Ting Mao’s scolding. Of everyone here, he has the fewest reasons to reprimand Tempest. He was the one who charged in first. Tempest was only following his lead. The other’s harsh words, she can take. Words coming from Bei Ting Mao made her blood boil.

“You are the last person who has the right to scold me Bei Ting Mao. It was you who rushed into the thick of the fray. I was just following your lead.” The words Tempest were saving for later came rushing out. Well, they needed to be said anyways.