434 Chapter 434: Toxic Reques

I had barely left the hospital when I caught sight of a very familiar figure approaching me.

"Instructor Feng Hai?"

"Oh, so you still remember me?" Feng Hai chuckled as he caught up with me. Placing a hand on my shoulder, he grinned. "Good job with the tournament. I watched almost all of your matches. You did very well."

"Not well enough." I wasn't able to keep the bitterness out of my voice. "We lost against Pendragon Academy in the semifinals, and were eliminated."

"Even so, you did great. More than enough to be proud of yourself. Thanks to your progress, your school has jumped ranks all the way to the top four – that alone is a feat worthy of praise. You have restored glory and prestige to Jing Tian Academy, and put it on the map of the Global Federation. All of you have surpassed all expectations."

Feng Hai grinned as he lifted his hand from my shoulder and flashed a thumb's up. I could literally feel the delight radiating from him.

"You'll all be rewarded. The whole team. I promise."

"Uh, right." I watched him, somewhat suspicious. "I don't suppose you came all the way here to personally tell me this and congratulate me, right?"

"Sharp as ever." In just a second, the celebratory mood was replaced by a somber one, and Feng Hai's expression turned grim. "You are right. I'm here to ask you for help. I'm very sorry…even though you still have the tournament going on…and you probably want to participate in the third place match, I don't have a choice. You're the only one I can ask."

"What is it?" I couldn't help but feel a bit of a chill. There was something about Feng Hai's tone that disturbed me. Then it struck me. There was only one reason why he would approach me, of all people, for help. Not to mention, this circumstance seemed awfully familiar. I was already having a sense of déjà vu. Suppressing a sigh, I glanced down at my feet and tried to silence the thumping in my chest. "Don't tell me…Anastasia?"

Feng Hai gazed at me guiltily, and then nodded. "That's right."

"Let me guess. She went missing again." bloody hell, I just went and searched for her a few dozen chapters ago, and now she disappeared again. How many times did she need us to look for her? This was getting damned repetitive.

"Actually, no. Not exactly." Feng Hai cleared his throat. "We know where Ana is. The problem is that…she doesn't want to return. We need you to persuade her to return." He lowered his eyes. "We think you're the best person to convince her."

"Huh? Return? What's going on?"

Feng Hai sighed heavily and then scratched his head. "It's a long story. To keep it short, we stormed the Assassins' base and rescued her a couple of nights ago…or at least, we intended to do so. But when we went in…everyone was already dead."

"Oh."

I think I knew where this was going…

"Ana killed all of them."

Feng Hai's eyes widened briefly, and then he nodded, impressed.

"That's right. You really are smart. All of the corpses had been blackened and withered away by virulent toxins. The entire environment within the temple had turned hazardous. We had to cast protective spells just to get into its interior. The only survivors were Veneneum Assassins, and they were already weakened from a previous battle, so it was pretty easy for us to take them out."

No doubt the previous battle was against Anastasia. Still, for her to wipe out an entire temple of Assassins…that was incredible.

"Then we found her. Ana…her Woeful Poison Body…it was out of control. Even with the serum that Doctor Dorden concocted, it wasn't enough." Feng Hai paused to consider his words. "Well, it was enough to keep her alive, make her immune to the poison, but as you know, it couldn't fully neutralize the toxins within her body. Consequently, the toxins continued to rampage and leak out…turning whatever surroundings she is in into a lethal environment."

"What…?"

"That's the curse of the Woeful Poison Body…and why it's so highly sought after. This is why the current Grand Master of Assassins covets her so. This is its final form…a living biological weapon, able to poison and kill everyone in the vicinity from her mere venomous presence alone. Turning entire areas into toxic wastelands, and wiping out every living thing in a couple hundred meters radius. The ultimate killing weapon."

"Scary," I muttered, though honestly I couldn't care less. I was immune to poison, after all.

Wait, wasn't that why Feng Hai was approaching me? Because I was the only one who could get close to Anastasia without dying? That made sense. Taking a deep breath, I nodded and smacked my chest.

"Leave it to me. I'll persuade her to return."

"Thank you. That will be a great help." Feng Hai looked immensely relieved. Wow. Ana must have been really stubborn to give him this much grief, huh? Just when that thought passed through my mind, the Silver Wolves leader raised his head sullenly. "Just be warned…right now Ana is a little hard to talk to. She's withdrawn herself not just physically, but also mentally as well. Attaining the Woeful Poison Body has taken a psychological toll on her."

"That's understandable." If I was in her positon, I would feel extremely aggrieved too. Actually, that was quite the understatement. I probably would be on the verge of killing myself. Damn, I had best hurry before Ana started getting suicidal thoughts as well. "We should hurry. Where is Ana right now? Is she still at the temple?"

"No, she left the place and headed for the Black Underworld Swamp."

"Huh? The Black Underworld Swamp?" I still remembered that place. The both of us had went there together, participating in a mission along with Brent and Redfield. It was that expedition that Henry Porter led, in order to uncover some tomb. In the end, we encountered the Dark Church, who was conducting some ritual to summon a demon…which I then nuked to oblivion. Or was it a blood god? Damn, I couldn't remember.

Even so, I was surprised. Of all the places…

"Why the Black Underworld Swamp?"

"It's one of the most toxic environments in the world," Feng Hai reminded me. "It's probably the one place where Ana's Woeful Poison Body will have minimal impact on, given how the Black Underworld Swamp is a cesspool of poison itself. Populated by the most venomous monsters know to men, it's probably the place where Ana's rampant toxins will do the least damage."

"Speaking of which," I began, now that something else had occurred to me throughout this entire exchange. "What are we going to do when we bring her back? As you pointed out, her body is not exactly in great shape. She'll turn her surroundings into a toxic environment, and nobody will be able to get near her. Even if I persuade her to return with me, it's not as if she can walk around with everyone without poisoning them to death."

"That's a good point." Feng Hai seemed troubled. "You're right, and we have discussed the problem. Honestly, there is nothing we can do. We can only place her in a specially designed space to contain her uncontrollable venom magic. But it's still better than leaving her alone in the Black Underworld Swamp, especially with the Assassins Guild still determined to capture her and bring her back to their Grand Master."

"I see. I can't say I like that idea, though."

Feng Hai stroked his chin, contemplating hard. He sighed and turned his gaze toward the horizon, where the sun was slowly setting.

"To be honest, neither do I. But what choice do we have…?"

"If I may…"

The two of us spun around, catching sight of Mary Cure.

"Teacher Cure? What are you doing here?"

My jaw dropped when I saw her. Mary Cure merely shrugged as she stepped forward, her arms folded. She nodded at Feng Hai, who bowed his head in return.

"It's been a while."

"Indeed, Teacher Cure."

Mary Cure laughed at that and waved her hand somewhat airily. "Quit with that. You've graduated from Jing Tian Academy a long time ago. You no longer have to address me as teacher." She wrapped her hands around herself. "It makes me sound old."

"My bad."

"Um, Teacher Cure…earlier, you were saying something?" I asked, to the point as always. I didn't want to waste too much time on pleasantries.

"Oh, right. I know of someone who might be able to help you." Cure raised a finger. "But no guarantees, though. Before you go off to help this poor friend of yours, who has the Woeful Poison Body, you might want to approach this young man for help. He might know something. He might be able to concoct medicine that will allow your friend to keep her poison under control."

"Really?!" I wasn't able to contain my excitement. This was great news. I felt hope flare up inside me.

Cure nodded. I made a mental note to stop callig her Cure, because I was mixing her up with a South Korean Starcraft 2 pro gamer who was known as one of the best Terrans in recent years, on par with the likes of Maru and Innovation. Not as good as Gumiho, though the famous mech god had gone to do his military service.

"I will message you his contact. He is a famous genius receptarier, or alchemist, known as the Flame Emperor, mostly because he has all the Heavenly Flames. If there's anyone who knows how to concoct a spirit pill or medicine to help your friend bring her Woeful Poison Body under control, it's him. There are rumors that he has done it for one of his closest friends, and succeeded."

"Really?" I was already shaking my head and covering my face with a palm. "Let me guess…his name is Xiao Yan."

"How do you know?!" Cure…I mean, Mary gasped. "Are you an acquaintance of the Flame Emperor?"

I wasn't sure if my teacher was trolling me, or if she was serious. "I read Battle Through the Heavens. Please stop this nonsense, or we'll be sued for copyright."

"Don't worry about it. Just look at Ultimate Scheming System/Strongest Anti M.E.T.A. They shamlelessly make a lot of references to Battle Through the Heavens and other web novels, and no one sued them."

"Whatever, can you not waste time making references and breaking the fourth wall? Do you really know anyone who can help or not?"

"I already told you. Xiao Yan, the Flame Emperor…"

A wind blade sliced several strands of her hair away. Mary Cure went very still as she stared at Feng Hai's raised hand.

"Teacher Cure, I have the utmost respect for you, and I appreciate you treating my wounds back when I was a student. But if you don't take this seriously and continue wasting our time with this nonsense, then I won't be so polite any longer."

"All right, all right." Mary Cure held up both hands in surrender. "Can't even take a joke, the both of you."

"Does this seem like the appropriate time to joke around?" Feng Hai asked icily. "We have a comrade whose life is in danger…"

"Her life isn't in danger," Mary corrected. "Rather, it's the people and living things around her who are in peril, especially if her poison powers continue to run rampant. We will need a way to bring her toxic magic under control."

"Again, do you know of anyone who can help? And don't give us that Xiao Yan crap, he doesn't exist in reality. He's just a fictional character."

Crossing my arms, I glared at Teacher Cure sternly. She scratched her head for a moment before twirling a strand of golden hair around a finger.

"I wasn't lying when I said he was a receptarier or an alchemist," she began. "But you are right. He's not the Flame Emperor who wields Heavenly Flames or whatever. He's a normal medical alchemist. His name is Ling Dan. He's famous for concocting spirit pills and curing the incurable. If you look for him, he might be able to help. But again, no guarantees."

"Where do we find him?" Feng Hai asked, decisive as ever.

"That's the problem. His whereabouts are unknown." Mary Cure sighed heavily as she lowered her hand. "The only clue I have is that he might be residing somewhere in the Yao Cai Mountains. If you want to search for him, that would be the best place to start."