545 Poison

Alex watched as Ma Rong got the upper hand. The old man's right arm was frozen and she was getting ready to stab him.

"Yes!" he said softly to himself.

'Finally, tonight's tragedy is over,' he thought.

Suddenly, he saw the massive barrier behind them crack open and fade as a giant wave of yellow energy flew their way.

Alex put his hands up to stop the light from hitting his eyes. While his hands were up, he heard a thud coming from in front of him.

He lowered his hands and…

"Eh?" the scene wasn't what he had expected. His master had been ready to kill him and yet..."Eh?" he watched blood flow down the missing arm, and a sword stabbed through the abdomen. Only, the victim was his master.

"Eh?"

He couldn't understand what had happened just now. His master was totally winning the battler. She had even stabbed the bastard through the heart. But then… why was she on the ground and that bastard standing.

The old man looked at his chest, then at his sword that was in Ma Rong, and pulled it out as fast as he could. He then looked towards Alex for a moment and started running up the mountain with his master's blade still stuck in his chest.

Why? Alex didn't understand again.

Finally, the urgency of the situation went through to him and he realized what had happened.

"Master!" he cried out and immediately ran forward. She was missing an arm just like his other master, but that was fine.

As for the stab wound in her abdomen, she could be fully healed with just a pill. There was nothing to worry about.

However, just as he was running, he realized something he hadn't realized due to the shock.

He had no cultivation base at the moment.

"What?" he cried out in surprise, but he made his way to his master regardless.

Ma Rong had gone into shock from the missing arm and getting stabbed in the abdomen. Her eyes darted around not understanding what was happening.

He grabbed Ma Rong's head and placed it on his lap to let her breathe easier. "Wait for a second master, I will get you a healing pill," Alex said. He brought out his storage bag with the pills in it, but then remembered that he had no Qi right now.

'No…' he thought. He quickly tried to use his spiritual energy, but he couldn't use that either.

"NO!" he shouted. He looked down at Ma Rong and the blood she was losing. He quickly tore off his already torn robe and wrapped it around her cut arm.

He then started wrapping the rest of the cloth around her abdomen. He picked her up a little and passed the cloth underneath, and that was when he noticed something.

The cut… the skin around the cut was starting to turn purple with red veins popping up in it. Alex didn't even have to guess to know what that was.

"Poison!" he thought.

His emotions were turning chaotic, his thinking all over the place.

"What do I do?" He was starting to panic. "Who can save her?"

Who could save someone that was poisoned by a cultivator's sword? His first instinct was to go to a doctor. However, did this city even have doctors? Alex didn't know.

'Maybe not all the place is Qi-less. Maybe I can use it elsewhere,' Alex thought and tried to carry her, but Ma Rong groaned in pain.

"Hang on, master. I will save you," he said and picked her up with his one arm before running out of the place. He ran past the two corpses and the unconscious master before leaving the sect master's front yard.

He then ran past his house and went down. However, before he could make it very far down, Ma Rong shouted once more.

"Master, hang on. Just a little l—"

Alex looked down to console her only to see her entire body starting to become the same as the cut which was still bleeding.

The red veins were starting to show. "No no no no no no no… master? Master! Can you hear me?" he asked.

Ma Rong slowly opened her weak eyes and looked at Alex. "Is that you… Alex?" she asked.

"Y-Yes master, it's me, Alex. Hang on," he said and started running down but Ma Rong cried once again.

Alex was starting to get scared as well. No matter how far away he went, he couldn't feel the Qi at all.

"Al… Alex... put me down," Ma Rong said.

"No, master. Just a little longer—"

"It's likely a saint rank poison," Ma Rong said weakly.

"What?" Alex's eyes went wide. "Wha-what do you mean it's a saint rank poison?"

"No-normal poisons don't work on my body. Th-there is no antidote to the poison in the sect," Ma Rong said with bated breath.

"I can tell. My body is trying its best… but it can't stop it," she said weakly.

Alex's face turned fully pale. "No way, that can't be true," Alex said.

"Alex?" Ma Rong called him again.

"Yes?" Alex asked with tears in his eyes.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Master? Master, I'm right in front of—" Alex stopped speaking. The red veins had made it up her body and reached her eyes. She could no longer see.

"Where are you Alex?" she asked.

"Master, I'm here. I'm right here," he said as he put her down and held her left hand with his right hand.

"Alex? Where's do you go? Why aren't you speaking?" she asked.

"Master, I'm speaking. I'm right here," he said as he squeezed her hands. However, it didn't look like she could feel it. The red veins had also reached her ears, making her unable to listen to anything anymore.

"Is anyone still here?" she asked. "Master? Shun'er? I… I think I'm dying. Am I dying? I don't want to die."

Ma Rong moved her right arm, trying to get a hold of something, anything— completely unaware that she had lost it.

"I don't know if you're listening or not right now. I don't even know if I'm talking or not. But, if I am… I'm sorry," Ma Rong said. Tears streamed down her eyes with a mixture of blood in them.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise, Alex," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. I promised you, I promised that I would… ack…ack…"

The veins stopped her from speaking as well. "Master? MASTER! Please speak! Master!" Alex started crying. Ma Rong didn't respond at all as her breathing started to get heavier.

"No, no," he cried, tears streaming down his face. He picked her up once again and ran down the mountain.

She was starting to cough up blood by the time he reached the sect valley. "Help! Please help!" he shouted as he made his way through the valley to the Elder hall, crying all the way through.

The already tragic atmosphere got more tragic when they saw the deathly state of their sect leader.

The elders were already out after Qi was missing.

"Grand Elder! Martial Uncle! Anyone— Please help master," Alex shouted in front of the Elder's Hall.

"Little Ma?" the Grand Elder walked up to Alex with a pale face.

"Sister!" Lang Shun jumped with some other elder as a support due to his missing leg.

"Wh-What happened?" they asked as Alex laid Ma Rong down on the ground.

The elders started gathering around Ma Rong. Soon the disciples came to see what was happening when they saw Ma Rong.

Her body hadn't turned purple, but the red veins had crept all over her body. Tears were still streaming down her eyes, but at this point, they were so bloody that it was impossible to tell if it was even tear anymore.

Despite the redness, one could see how pale her skin had gotten already from the lack of blood. She had been bleeding this whole time.

Grand Elder cried as he struck the ground, angry at his helplessness. Lang Shun was angry too, but only towards the person who did this to his sister.

Alex cried at his helplessness as well. 'It should've been me,' he thought.

Ma Rong struggled with the poison for some more time while the people gathered around helplessly.

Only after minutes did she stop struggling.

That was when Ma Rong, the sect leader of the Hong Wu Sect, one of the most proficient Alchemy experts of the Crimson Empire, master of Alex, in the midst of all of her loved ones, passed away.