Chapter 74: Awakening

“Fever?” Bai Jiao, as a doctor, was particularly sensitive to illnesses. He stepped forward to ask, “What kind of fever is it? Forehead, or whole body? Are there any other symptoms? Like vomiting, or something like that?”

He had studied the history of medicine on Brandt Star, and in the original primitive era, there was generally only one doctor in the tribe, the witch doctor, who was second only to the chief. He had seen many instances where if a witch doctor failed to treat someone’s illness, they often concluded that the Beast God was taking that person away.

When he read the books, he used to feel sorry for the backwardness of medicine in ancient times, when even the simplest cold could take away a person’s life. The current situation was so much like the one in the books, he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

“How do you know?” A dark-skinned man looked at him in surprise. “White hair? Are you a healer of the White Feather clan?”

“I am not of the White Feather, but I am a physician,” Bai Jiao’s voice was clear and unhurried. “May I see the sick Kabu?”

The man was extraordinarily interested, but Bai Jiao’s origin was too mysterious. He didn’t dare to take the risk. His companions had expressed their own views. The group of people discussed it for a few moments, but decided not to listen.

Xie Sen looked at these strong men’s torn looks, and couldn’t help but speak, “We don’t mean any harm, but If you don’t feel comfortable we won’t go. You can carry Kabu here. Anyway, in your view he will be taken away by Beast God, so why not try?”

The suggestion made the dark-skinned man’s eyes light up. “Wait. I’ll go find the chief.”

It didn’t take long for him to come back. He came together with the short blond haired chief, and two people carrying a wooden board. On the board lay a tall thin man. His face was red from the fever, his lips were dry and cracked while underneath their color was white on black. He was frowning and mumbling.

The short blond haired man put the board on the ground and stood up. He looked at Bai Jiao expectantly. “Are you really a doctor? Can you really save Kabu?”

Bai Jiao said, “I’ll do my best.” He knelt down beside Kabu, carefully examined his eyes, mouth and tongue, took out an antidote pill from his spatial pack and fed it to Kabu, then took out a bottle of water, picked up Kabu’s head and slowly fed it to him.

One of them knelt down in front of Bai Jiao. “You can actually make things out of thin air! You must be an angel of God. Are you here to save us?”

The people next to him followed with tears. “We are saved. We are saved…”

Bai Jiao was shocked, and waved his hand. “You misunderstand. I am not an angel of God.”

Long Teng said smilingly, “The thing is from the spatial backpack, not magic,” he said. He held his palm flat. The next moment there was a bottle of water in his hand. “Look, I can also do it.” He unscrewed the lid and took a sip.

“Cough cough cough…” Suddenly, a coughing sound emitted from Kabu’s throat, and everyone’s eyes immediately fell on Kabu. His eyes, which had been tightly closed, slowly opened. They were unfocused and he blinked. His gaze finally landed on Bai Jiao’s clear and meaningful face. He raised his hand and gently grabbed Bai Jiao’s long white hair. His eyes showed a strange brightness. “Divine Ambassador, are you here to pick me up?”

Bai Jiao hooked his hair behind his ear, got up and stepped back. “I am not a god-ambassador, and you are still alive.”

“Kabu!” The short blond haired man hurried to Kabu, and grabbed his shoulders in excitement. “You’re okay. You’re really okay! That’s great!”

After he finished, he quickly got up and faced Bai Jiao. He clenched his right hand into a fist, then curled his arm to put his fist to his heart. “I am Lion Chief Kavi, Kabu is our clan’s witch doctor, and my brother. Thank you for your help. You will be our Lion tribe’s friend forever.”

Bai Jiao said, “You’re welcome.” He took out three more pills, looked at Kavi, then also took out a small pill box and handed it to Kavi, “He is still very weak. Feed him this in three portions before each meal tomorrow.”

Kavi thanked him gratefully, and took the box with a cautious look, “Thanks a lot. Did you really take your stuff out of a pack? Why haven’t I seen the pack?”

Bai Jiao pointed to the white jade bracelet on his wrist. “This is it. It’s not the same as your pack.”

Kavi looked at the bracelet in surprise, completely unable to understand how this thing could hold so much stuff.

Bai Jiao wasn’t prepared to explain. A day and a night might not be able to explain clearly. Instead, he said, “You carry Kabu back to rest. More rest is good for his health.”

Kavi came back to his senses, and had Kabu carried back. Kabu kept looking at Bai Jiao, and when he saw that he was leaving, he asked in a weak but quick voice, “What is your name? What tribe are you from?”

Kavi, who knew his brother best, saw that he had clearly taken a liking to this female. He was deeply distressed, and said quickly, “They are not from the land of Yamu.” He urged the tribal warriors to carry Kabu away quickly.

“If you can come here, surely you can also leave. You go now. What I said before is true. If you don’t go, you will die.” Kavi said in a heavy tone after Kabu left. His attitude was very different from before.

Xie Sen asked, “What’s going on? What did you mean before when you said Beast God was angry?”

Kavi looked to the east with a serious face. “Beast God is angry. The plant of the sacred mountain is growing like crazy, and even started attacking us. It is preventing us from going up the mountain, and it no longer gives us shelter. After one more full moon, it will be the rainy season. Water will overwhelm our tribe, and all of us will drown!”

Xie Sen said in his heart, It’s really related to wood energy. It might just be a coincidence that Kavi looked to the east, but if the plant was growing like crazy, it was definitely influenced by wood energy. But he was still surprised, “The amount of water in the rainy season is so large? If you don’t go to the mountains, you’ll drown?”

“Yagi Continent is surrounded by the sea, the water level rises in the rainy season, and the current flat land will become an ocean. Only the sacred mountain can give shelter. But now, it refuses to shelter us.” Kavi’s palms clenched into fists.

Xie Sen realized the seriousness of the matter, and his face developed a worried look. If it wasn’t for saving him, Adam’s energy wouldn’t have been scattered everywhere and the Yagi Continent wouldn’t have suffered this disaster. He must retrieve the energy as soon as possible!

“The sacred mountain is close to three hundred kilometers away from here. How do you know the situation there?” Xie Sen asked.

Kavi looked at him in surprise. “Is three hundred kilometers the distance? Didn’t you guys come from another location? How do you know the location of the sacred mountain?”

Xie Sen was stunned and thought, This man is quite observant. “We saw it when we came.”

Kavi didn’t doubt him and explained, “The Eagle tribe is not far from us, and they often go to the sacred mountain to pick wild fruits which they trade with us for prey. The news was brought back by them. When I got the news, I personally went to see it, and only returned to the tribe yesterday. Kabu was injured then.”

Xie Sen suddenly said to his partners, “Let’s rest first. Tomorrow we’ll go to the sacred mountain and see?”

“Yes!” Long Teng exclaimed. “I haven’t fought a plant yet! He said the plant can attack. So curious!”

Bai Jiao nodded. “Since edible wild fruits exist, there should be other plants too.”

Maine nodded. “I’m with you.”

Liu Shen was silent and didn’t comment. The purpose of his trip was only to guide Maine and Long Teng on their first time flying a spaceship on a voyage. He really wasn’t worried. His presence wasn’t to keep them out of situations in any case.

He didn’t have to concern himself about any of their actions, and he didn’t have to participate.

Kavi said, “Don’t go. Many animals in the mountain are running away, and the plant will attack people. The sacred mountain is dangerous now!”

Xie Sen looked at his anxious expression and smiled, “Thank you for your concern. We will be careful.”

Kavi watched them get on the spaceship, worried. They saved Kabu, so he didn’t want anything to happen to them.

“Chief, don’t worry. They all look very powerful, almost like the legendary God’s ambassadors. Maybe they can even save us!”

“Yes, Chief. They know the danger and still want to go, they must be very confident.”

Kavi nodded, “May Beast God bless them!”

The next morning, bright light shone through the glass onto the bed in the ship’s rest area. Xie Sen looked at the light with a delighted gaze.

Maine took him by the waist, and rubbed the side of his neck, “Good morning.”

Xie Sen turned around, and nibbled on his chin. His eyes curved slightly. “Good morning. What do you want to eat this morning? White porridge or potato pancakes?”

“White porridge,” Maine kissed him on the lips and was about to speak, when suddenly a high-pitched bird’s cry came from the window. Maine frowned, jumped out of bed with one hand and walked to the window to look out. “A giant hawk. It’s flying to the Lion tribe.”

Xie Sen immediately thought of Kavi’s words yesterday. “Could it be a messenger from the Eagle tribe?”

“It’s possible.”

They washed up and went to the kitchen to make breakfast, where the group ate breakfast together. After breakfast Xie Sen and his group got off the spaceship, while Liu Shen stayed behind in the ship to do checks.

As soon as Long Teng jumped off the spaceship, he summoned the flying dragon beast, Big Black, who excitedly flew overhead twice, and gave a light dragon roar before it landed, rubbed against Maine and curled up beside Long Teng. Its head twisted, and it looked around, curious.

“Their tribe and the way they dress is almost exactly like ours in ancient times.” Bai Jiao sighed as he looked over at the tribe that had surrounded their city with blocks of earth and branches.

Xie Sen smiled. He didn’t know much about the history of Brandt Star planet, only that the current humans used to be beasts…Wait, beasts? So…

While he was thinking, an eagle call came from the Lion tribe, and the giant eagle flew overhead, in their direction. The tribe’s wooden gate opened, and a giant lion came running towards them.

The giant eagle landed quickly not far from them, and in the next second, it turned into a tall gray-haired man with deep eyes. When his gaze landed on Xie Sen and Bai Jiao, his expression subtly brightened.

The giant lion was only a step behind him, and quickly turned into a man when he was fairly close. It was none other than Kavi.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! So cool,” Long Teng exclaimed. “Could our ancestors do that too?”

Bai Jiao laughed. “Yes, our ancestors were beasts.”

Kavi stepped forward, and was about to speak when he saw the flying dragon beast beside Long Teng. He was surprised. “Dragon?”

Long Teng laughed. “It’s a flying dragon beast. My contract beast.”

Kavi didn’t understand. He thought that a contract beast was something similar to a pet, and was shocked. To be able to take such a powerful creature as a pet, how strong should the person’s ability be?

Even though he knew they were powerful, he said, “This is Voser of the Eagle Clan, he just went to scout the sacred mountain this morning,” he said, and gave a worried glance eastward. “More and more animals are running out. The closer you get to the sacred mountain the more dangerous it is. You can’t go there.”

Voser’s eyes wandered over Xie Sen and Bai Jiao, and his eyes gleamed. “I heard you’re from another continent? That’s amazing. Oh, what beautiful females. Forgive me for being presumptuous, but I’ve never met two more beautiful females than you two, with that white skin…”

The corners of Xie Sen’s mouth twitched. This kind of praise, which seemed to be sincere, didn’t make him feel happy.

Maine held Xie Sen’s waist, and looked at him coldly. “Avert your eyes.”

Voser froze. “Sorry, I just couldn’t help but praise. I didn’t mean to seduce.” He said, then looked at Bai Jiao.

Bai Jiao’s face was clear and elegant. His white hair made his skin even whiter, but he still looked a bit cold. He smiled politely at Voser, then looked at Kavi, “Thanks for the reminder, but we still have to go.”

Long Teng sat on the back of the dragon beast, and waved at them, quite impatient. “Let’s go!”

Voser looked at the dragon beast, and suggested. “It may not be convenient for you to go there together. I’ll give you a ride?”

“No need.” Maine refused quickly.

Xie Sen smiled at him. “The dragon beast can fly in the air. Even if there is danger, we can come back safely. Don’t worry. We still have a companion here. If something happens, please help look after him.”

“Of course.” Kavi nodded cautiously. “You saved Kabu. You are a friend of the Lion tribe for life.”

The flying dragon beast soared overhead, and quickly headed east. It went fast but didn’t fly very high so that Xie Sen and the others could see the ground.

Within half an hour there were hordes of animals running below, and Xie Sen said, “It’s just like Kavi said.”

Bai Jiao, “It’s a good thing there is the flying dragon beast, otherwise it would be very dangerous traveling by ground.”

The flying dragon beast smiled and waved its tail, very proud of itself.

As they got closer, the sacred mountain revealed its full appearance. It resembled a huge semi-circular ball, expanding infinitely horizontally and vertically, while the curvature of the mountain was smooth, giving a very strange and soft feeling.

The closer they got, the more animals were on the ground, the faster they traveled and the more panicked they were. Xie Sen frowned at the sacred mountain. “What the hell is going on?”

It didn’t take long for his question to be answered. They reached the edge of the mountain and looked up. Almost no light could be seen in the forest, which made the whole forest extraordinarily gloomy.

Xie Sen felt the heat on his right shoulder and knew that the wood energy was nearby. He gently stroked the phosphor armor of the flying dragon beast, “Fly overhead and see what’s going on.”

The flying dragon beast swung its long tail and rose quickly. The curvature of the mountain was smooth but not steep, and the flying dragon beast flew until it was over the highest point of the mountain before it stopped.

“Wow! What a big flower.” Long Teng pointed to the top of the mountain.

They looked, only to see the mountain top was almost entirely covered by a golden flower. The flower was so brightly colored, and so large, that one would never have guessed its true identity if they hadn’t been standing high up looking at it.

They were above the edge of the petals when the flying dragon beast suddenly swung its tail and flew towards the middle. Xie Sen hurriedly pressed his palm against its scales. “Big Black, don’t move!”

However, the flying dragon beast was extremely fast, so it had already crossed the edge of the petals, and reached the top of the flower.

Suddenly, a flat, triangular-shaped object, the size of an arm, with a white border and black body, shot out from the flower and struck at the beast’s eyes. The dragon beast quickly twisted to avoid the attack. Because of its movement, the four people on its back instantly tumbled around. 

Maine held Xie Sen tightly in his arms, while Long Teng grabbed Bai Jiao’s arm to shield him.

“Get out of range of the flower!” Maine said to the flying dragon beast, as he watched another flattened triangle that shot out of the flower.

The flying dragon beast flew outward. It dodged the first triangle, but after dodging one, there was another one. It wasn’t afraid of being hit. After all, it had a solid phosphor sheet, but the people on its back didn’t, so it couldn’t fight back, only dodge nimbly.

Xie Sen fell eastward but was completely protected by Maine. He looked downward and got scared. At this height, if he was hit and fell, he would be killed.

“Descend.” Maine said. He used one hand to hold Xie Sen, while the other hand stabilized his own body.

The flying dragon beast quickly descended, and the attack suddenly stopped. However the group didn’t breathe a sigh of relief, because they saw the flower grow higher, then the flower tilted, as if it had a crooked head, and continued to launch flat objects towards them.

With a flash of light, Xie Sen summoned the watermelon vine, ordered it to form a net and spread out diagonally above them, blocking the triangle. It did, but the triangle attacked so fast that when it hit the vine net, a huge friction was created between the edge and the net which severed the vine.

Bai Jiao said, “It’s turning very slowly.” The only time the attacks had stopped was when the flower turned.

“Rise to the middle and descend to the other side.” Maine said immediately.

As soon as his words fell, the rest of the group understood his intention. If the flower wanted to track them, it would have to turn one hundred and eighty degrees, which would take a long time.

The flying dragon beast reacted quickly. The moment Maine spoke, its body pulled up abruptly, dodged an attack while it flew to the highest point, then rushed towards the middle, ready to follow Maine’s words and cross the middle and drop to the other side.

“What a thick branch!” As they crossed the highest point, Long Teng’s eyes glowed as he looked at the branch exposed by the flower’s tilted head.

Xie Sen looked around. “It’s below the forest, so when it turns, the branch will touch the trees on the mountain. No wonder it’s slow to turn.”

Bai Jiao nodded and added, “Its flower is huge, and when it deflects sideways, the trees will also resist its weight. If we land low enough, it won’t be able to attack,” he said then frowned. “But there are too many beasts down there, so it’s not safe to be down low.”

Maine mused, as he stared into the forest, “Inside is still probably the safest.”

The temperature on Xie Sen’s right shoulder rose to a fever pitch as he passed the midpoint where the flower’s branch was located. He covered his right shoulder with his hand, and stared down. “What I need is below its branch.”

The flying dragon beast subconsciously stopped. “Go down?” The originally covered mountain side was exposed at this time because of the flower’s twisted head, which revealed a gap. They could use the gap in the trees to go down.

“Go,” Bai Jiao urged before the others could decide. “It’s turning its head upwards very fast!”

As they were speaking, two triangles came at them at the same time. The flying dragon beast flew forward, and Xie Sen summoned a vine net. He didn’t wait for the triangles to attack, but commanded the vine net to wrap around them in mid-air.

The vines that touched first broke instantly, but stopped their advance, while the vines behind them wrapped them smoothly inside a ball.

“Great!” Long Teng laughed.

“Roar!” Suddenly, an earth-shattering lion’s roar came from the mountain below, and the flower that was turning its heads abruptly stopped moving. The next moment, the mountain resounded with the wailing and mournful cries of various birds and beasts.

Maine’s face changed. He looked down, his face filled with restrained excitement. “Flying lion beast.”

Xie Sen’s eyes were happy, then worried. “It seems to be fighting.”

Bai Jiao nodded, “Listen to the movement. It’s indeed fighting. The reaction of the flower isn’t right either. It may have something to do with it. It’s dangerous for us to descend directly to the center. Why don’t we land on the periphery, and then approach the middle to observe the situation?”

Xie Sen also thought this was a good idea, and looked to Maine, who nodded. “Okay.”

The flying dragon beast flew away from the center, found a location with little vegetation at a distance of about ten kilometers to descend, and before it landed it made a roar to deter the beasts.

They landed in a place that was exceptionally quiet, and the sound of the lion’s roar in the distance became more and more clear to the ears.

Xie Sen saw that everything was fine, and summoned the watermelon vine. It scurried to him with the two flattened triangles. He recalled the vine, and the two triangles fell to the ground.

Long Teng picked them up, curious, and looked at them. “What are they? Can a weapon grow inside a flower?”

Xie Sen stared at the triangular body, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it looked. Like…an expanded version of a sunflower seed! When he thought about it, he suddenly realized that if the flower was made infinitely smaller, wasn’t it just like a sunflower?

The corners of his mouth twitched. He was always feeling that things were a bit magical. Maybe it just looked similar.

Despite this thought, he couldn’t help but take one from Long Teng’s hand to measure it. Then he used his thumb and snapped it heavily at the edge. “Click…” The crisp sound reached his ears, and a small broken hole appeared on the surface of the flat triangle.

Xie Sen looked at that formerly big killer with a complicated expression. He quickly peeled off the shell starting from the broken hole to reveal the fat white flesh, that was exactly the same shape as a melon!

He came close and smelled it. It was the faint fragrance of melon seeds. He simply took a bite, and the familiar taste of melon seeds ran over his taste buds. There was no fried sweetness, but with its own fragrance.

Maine snatched the melon-like seed out of his hand, cupped his chin and said in a harsh voice, “Spit it out!” He had a troubled look in his eyes. “What if it’s poison?”

Xie Sen took his hand, and said soothingly, “It’s okay, I won’t eat anything bad. It’s a sunflower seed. It’s okay to eat. Ask Bai Jiao, it’s non-toxic.”

Bai Jiao took the melon-like seeds and examined them carefully. He pulled off a piece and tasted it. “It’s really not poisonous, I’ve seen the description of sunflower seeds in ancient books. They just aren’t this big.”

Xie Sen said, “It’s the first time I’ve seen one this big. It should be related to what I’m looking for.”

Maine looked slightly relieved as Long Teng clicked and peeled the large melon seed in his hand, then took two bites, his eyes glowing. “Mmm…Yummy!”

Long Teng saw that the piece Xie Sen had eaten earlier was now in Bai Jiao’s hand, so he wrenched it in half and gave it to Maine. “We’ll eat one, they’ll eat one.”

The four of them finished the melon seeds quickly. Long Teng was a little bit impatient. “Ah. Why don’t we fly up again and let it attack us?”

Xie Sen laughed. “It grows here and can’t move. There’s no hurry. Let’s see what’s happening with the flying lion first. When the sound of the battle diminishes, we’ll slowly approach that location.”

Long Teng thought it made sense. He smiled and patted Maine on the shoulder. “Hahaha! Isn’t it exciting? I was super excited when I saw the flying dragon beast.”

Maine gave him a look, “Yeah.”

Xie Sen couldn’t help but grin at his words. However, the corners of his mouth froze before they could hook up an arc. A sudden heat from his heart swept through his whole body. The temperature was so hot that it almost burned him.

He couldn’t help but let out a stifled grunt. His body fell limply. Maine quickly caught and embraced him, as his pupils contracted violently. “Sen!”

Xie Sen heard the panic in his voice, and tried to smile at him, but his consciousness was swept up in the amazing burn. He bit the tip of his tongue to regain a glimmer of clarity, and grabbed Maine’s sleeve with a reassuring smile.

Maine’s face didn’t look the least bit better, and he hurriedly called out to Bai Jiao. “Come and see what’s wrong with Sen. Could he be poisoned?”

Bai Jiao looked tense. As carefully examined Xie Sen, his brow knitted tighter and tighter. “Not poisoning. A sudden high fever, this symptom is too strange, unless…” He paused abruptly. “No, it doesn’t make sense.”

Maine looked anxious. “What’s going on?”

Bai Jiao took Xie Sen’s pulse, and took out his stethoscope from his spatial pack. Finally, he said, “It doesn’t make sense, but there’s no better explanation than this.” He looked at Xie Sen’s left shoulder. “Can you undress him?”

Maine noticed his line of sight and immediately understood. “Are you saying that this is his reaction to an awakening contract?”

“Yes, but I can’t be sure. After all, he has already awakened.” Bai Jiao said.

Maine thought of his awakening of the flying lion beast, and said in a harsh voice, “It could be a second awakening, Sen is a plant-based beast master. His beast mark is on his right shoulder.”

He pulled down the right side of  Xie Sen’s collar. It revealed that the red and yellow petals were bright, while the rest of the petals were dull on the five-colored peony.

Maine frowned. “No change, it’s the same as before.” He was with Xie Sen every day, and knew the five-color peony better than Xie Sen.

Bai Jiao looked at the five-colored peony in surprise. Long Teng came over and said, “Could the beast pattern that Sen awakened not be on his right shoulder, but in another location?”

Maine didn’t say anything, but pulled up the right side of Xie Sen’s collar, then followed by pulling down the left side of Xie Sen’s collar, only to see a pattern was emerging on the originally white skin, as if from a shadow.

“It’s really a second awakening!” Bai Jiao breathed a sigh of relief. “His awakening reaction is very strong. We need to find a place for him to rest.”

Long Teng smiled and took out the folding tent from his spatial pack. “I’ll set up the tent.”