"Are you sure you want to risk your brother's safety? What if we get attacked by something as fast as the scarlet hummingbird or the snapping willow? Can your brother, in his current state, be able to fend off something at that level?
Side effects aside, the mushroom is the only way we can make enough distance between us and whatever beasts coming our way, but if you don't want him to take it, I won't force it but should something happen, it will be on you," said He Shan.
"Liqin...stop...I'll take it," said Zou Yi when he saw Zou Liqin still had more to say. He slowly rose up, albeit with wobbly legs and an unsteady gait. He had to use Zou Liqin to steady himself.
He Shan didn't waste much time as he split the cap of the mushroom to its ring and left the stem for Yu Mei, who was already up.
"No need to chew it. Just insert it into your mouth, and it will dissolve," He Shan said as he went ahead and placed it in his mouth.
Zou Yi and Yu Mei subconsciously closed their eyes as they put the mushroom in their mouth. With how disgusting it looked, its taste was bound to be anything but tasty. Zou Liqin looked worried as she watched them swallow it.
"Mmh," Zou Yi moaned in surprise. The disgusting taste wasn't there. The mushroom instantly dissolved in his mouth, and all he got was the taste of the mix between passion fruit and orange with a tinge of hotness.
Immediately after, he felt the liquid he had just swallowed fill every cell, tissue, and organ down to his bones with explosive energy.
The tired sensation he had seconds ago was gone, including his pain. He was mesmerized by the miraculous effects the mushroom had on his body. The energy even gave him the illusion that he could punch through the last attack from the snapping willow tree in his current state.
However, his reverie of vengeance was cut short by He Shan ordering them to leave. They still maintained their earlier formation except with one minor change. Zou Liqin had taken the place of Zou Yi in holding up the rear while he took her place at the center with Yu Mei.
"You guys better refund me everything I've spent," He Shan muttered as he launched bags releasing light grey smoke to their left and right.
"He Shan, what is that?!!" yelled Zou Yi as he spat out saliva with a look of disgust showing up on his face. He looked to just be at the cusp of vomiting. He wasn't alone in it, as Zou Liqin and Yu Mei made similar faces that seemed like they were about to hurl.
"It's the dung of an alabaster-inflamed lion. It's really good stuff, especially in deterring other beasts. Just that one bag cost 1,000 gold coins. You all owe me 2,000 gold coins," said He Shan as he increased his pace while muttering the cost every time he threw out a bag containing the dung of an alabaster-inflamed lion.
The run became torturous for the trio as they struggled not to vomit, with He Shan ruthlessly flooding the area with cloud smoke. Their eyes had reddened at some point as they started feeling even the taste of the dung in their mouth. Despite how they felt, they couldn't complain since the results were there.
They could hear the whimpering voices of a couple of spirit beasts when they got hit by the smoke. Just like this, the distance between them and the area Zou Yi crushed into continued to grow by the second, and with the boost from the mushroom, Yu Mei was able to keep up with them effortlessly.
He Shan would zig-zag around while the trio faithfully followed his lead. Ten minutes passed by without a major incident. They had encountered a few spirit beasts, but none were particularly troublesome for them. He Shan even insisted that they help him carry a few of them for later.
With the fifteen-minute mark coming up, they spent it searching for a secluded area where they could rest when the paralysis hit, leaving Zou Liqin as the only person to watch out for them for thirty minutes or an hour until the paralysis wore off. The most ideal spot would have been the special zone, but they lucked out in that regard. However, they did manage to spot a few herbs mentioned in the booklet, which they quickly snagged up as they looked around.
With time slowly dwindling and no place in sight that seemed safe, panic showed on their faces, except for one person, Yu Mei.
"Yu Mei, what's wrong?" asked Zou Yi. He noticed for the past few minutes, Yu Mei had her brows scrunched up, almost as if she was in deep contemplation about something.
"I keep hearing voices coming from there?" she said as she pointed at a river running to their left.
Zou Yi, Zou Liqin, and He Shan all curiously looked at the river. They didn't know how long it was, but in their escape, they found it and had been running close to it just in case they needed to mask their scent and cater to their water needs later.
He Shan had said they'd suffer from severe dehydration after the paralysis wore off, and being close to a water source was important. But now it seemed there was something off with the river if Yu Mei's words were anything to go by.
Zou Yi couldn't help but think maybe he wouldn't have gotten hurt if they had agreed to follow the direction Yu Mei had pointed at before. After what he had been through, he was more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"What voices?" carefully asked Zou Yi.
"It's a mix of noises from different creatures. So far, I've heard noises from a bull, crane, swallow, frog, cricket, cicada, katydid, bear, rhino, and the loudest of them all was from a tiger," said Yu Mei with visible fear on her face as she mentioned the tiger.
The trio all had looks of dismay when they heard Yu Mei's response. When she said voices, they expected something along the lines of fish noises, or if it was something mystical, they expected ghostly noises at least or some creature whose name they had never heard of, and not birds, mammals, and insects that don't live in water.
He Shan shook his head, clearly in no mood to listen any further. As for Zou Yi, even if he wanted to speak up for her, he struggled to believe what she said, especially when they didn't hear anything from there.
"Wait!" Zou Liqin suddenly said.
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