After escaping the underground auction, Shui went to the edge of the city before stopping. He had considered leaving the city completely, but his legs wouldn't take him that far. Just as he finished hurriedly using 'Conceal' talismans to make a concealment pseudo-array, Shui suddenly coughed a copious amount of blood.
"Shui!" Fox exclaimed.
Fox had been in a daze due to the extreme speed that Shui had moved at, but the splash of blood chilled her mind.
"I'm fine—"
Shui tried to suppress his internal injuries, but there was no hiding the blood leaking from his pores. He didn't, or rather couldn't, feel any pain, but he could tell that his body's condition was deteriorating at a dangerous rate. Given the previous instance, Shui thought that he would be able to endure the backlash brought by using speed essence, but there were two errors in his calculation. First, he hadn't actually fully recovered from the last backlash; it only seemed like that because the surface damage was repaired and his powerful body allowed him to ignore the lingering effects. Second, he had activated the speed essence while still controlling his body using mental control. He likely could have endured the direct damage to his body, but trying to control his body while it was affected by speed essence nearly tore his soul apart due to his lacking comprehension of the law of speed.
Thankfully, he had many fortuitous encounters that made his soul exceptionally strong, but it would take much time and special means to repair this damage. Furthermore, at the rate his condition worsened, it seemed his death would be inevitable. Fortunately, there was a helping hand.
"What a reckless fool."
Shui felt a comforting warmth touching his back, and it was easy to tell who was helping him.
[Thanks.]
[You better be grateful. If I knew you were trying to commit suicide, I wouldn't have helped you resist that old man. Of course I can stop now if you want.]
[Sorry. I thought that I could handle the backlash.]
[Well, I hope almost dying cured your stupidity. You're banned from using that speed essence from now on. If you force it again, then even I won't be able to save you.]
Engraving Alia's warning in his heart, Shui started wiping off the blood on his face. A quick spell would be enough, but even that might push him to death.
"I'm really fine. Do you still have the ring?"
Fox bit her lips as she looked at Shui's pale face, but she soon nodded.
"I have it. Let's go somewhere else before we talk further."
Once Shui agreed, Fox wrapped his arm over her shoulder and started supporting him. He wanted to refuse, but he could barely move a finger, so he merely sighed in resignation.
[For once, being a playboy works to your advantage.]
[I'm not a fan of your phrasing but I agree.]
Since Fox was careful while carrying him, they were slow, but they were able to avoid attracting attention thanks to Fox's perception and Alia's concealment. Fox eventually brought him to a small house among similar houses. Coincidentally, the area Shui brought them was near her main base inside the city, so she decided to come here since it would be safe and she could treat him inside. If it was before the mission, she would have chosen a different place regardless, but she couldn't treat her benefactor poorly.
As soon as they entered the house, Shui noticed the arrangement of decorations and furniture and could tell that someone was living here. With that information plus the aura that lingered in the room, it wasn't hard to guess what this place was.
[Is this her house?]
[Seems like it. Depending on her mood, you might be drained of more than just blood tonight.]
Such a situation was unlikely given Shui's life-threatening condition, but the joke helped Shui stay positive. Unaware that her intentions were being questioned, Fox made Shui lie on the couch and began wiping off the blood from his exposed skin before applying bandages that slowly turned red. She wanted to move him to the bed, but it would be too much of a hassle to disarm the traps she set at the bedroom door.
"I'm not sure how much good it'll do, but take this for now."
Fox took out a healing pill made with at least rare-grade mutated herbs. A pill like this would be able to help a peak Earth Realm cultivator recover from serious injuries, but since most of the damage was done to his soul, it wouldn't be of much use to Shui. Even the physical injuries would be healed naturally thanks to his powerful body cultivation, so Shui thought it would be better if she kept the pill.
"Thanks, but it's fine."
"At least stop leaking blood before lying like that. I know you probably don't fully trust me, but I would never do anything to harm someone who saved my life. I swear it on my name, Maha."
[Looks like she's serious. Just treat it as candy and take it.]
[I doubt it'll be sweet, but you're right.]
Since she swore by her real name, refusing again would indicate a lack of trust, so Shui opened his mouth and took the pill. It was mostly ineffective as he expected, but the herbs used in the pill had a slight resonance with his soul, so he felt a little better.
'So my wood soul has benefits like this as well.'
Seeing hope in healing his soul, Shui felt much better mentally.
"Thank you."
"This is the least I can do. How are you feeling? Be honest."
"Well, can't say I've been hurt this badly many times before. I'll be in a weakened state for a while, but I should be able to move by morning."
Since the effect on his body was minimal, Shui could actually move in little more than an hour if he stopped using mental control, but as a result of this incident, he felt his soul seep into the deepest parts of his body, so he believed he would be able to reach Soul Perfection in a few days. Even he acknowledged that he was crazy for choosing to remain in a near-crippled state for the sake of power, but with Alia by his side there was little chance of danger.
"That's good. Though it would be better if you took your time to rest, that Master might be looking for us."
"That won't be a problem. I wiped off any imprints on the ring when you took it, and the Master didn't take us seriously, so they haven't left a mark on us. It will be troublesome if they have support from the city though."
"If they really haven't marked us, we should be safe for a few days. While searching the city would take an instant, the process to approve such a request is laughably convoluted. I hear even a serious request from the mayor takes at least 24 hours to go through."
"Heh- *cough* cough. Then we don't need to worry."
Watching as Shui wiped the blood from his mouth, Maha wished there was more she could do to help, but she had already given him her best pill, and she wasn't well-versed in the healing arts. Fortunately, the rate at which he bled was slowing down, so it didn't look like his death was imminent.
"Do you want to look at our loot? It should make you feel better."
"That does sound interesting. Go ahead."
Maha then took out all of the items inside the stolen storage ring. There were seven items in total, with one being the map fragment that the two originally aimed for. Once Maha took the fragment she originally had, the two pieces stuck together like magnets and formed a bigger piece of the faded yellow map. The map fragment still didn't seem special, but Shui could faintly sense more from it.
"I can't give you any specifics, but it looks like certain conditions need to be met before we can use that map to find the inheritance."
"I see. I'll leave it with you for now then."
"Really?"
"Yes. That was my plan to begin with. To be honest, finding the treasure will rely mostly on you, so I have to give you some level of trust. And now, I don't think someone crazy enough to risk their life for me will break their word."
"I'm glad almost dying earned your trust."
"Hmph. In exchange, I want to take four from the rest of these items. You can choose the two you want."
"Very well."