41 Chapter 39 - Arrival of the Sacred Flame Celestial Temple

Over the next several days, Ao Wen brewed three more cups of tea. Gong had been the most recent when the bumps on his skin began to pierce through his flesh, turning into a row of razor-sharp spikes. She'd been lucky to catch him before he hurt one of the other children but she'd suffered a nasty cut along her stomach in the process of restraining him.

After that, she'd moved the six remaining children to individual rooms so they didn't have to see each other and didn't need to know when someone else died. She didn't know if it was kinder or more cruel but it was easier to manage. She'd stopped trying to treat symptoms of Yin Fiend Transformation and had instead turned her efforts to refining pain medicine. She couldn't save them, couldn't buy them time, but as long as they kept fighting it off she could help keep the pain away.

Briefly, she thought of Feng Xi and Tang Jin. Had she learned anything that would help Tang Jin to make it worth this? Could she still ask Feng Xi to hold her after this? She'd been afraid of losing herself by living too much time in a life that wasn't hers, but this was far more horrifying. Even if she went back right now, she'd never be the person she was again.

Suddenly she heard the crash of the front gate falling down and several people entering the clinic. Grabbing a kitchen knife as her only weapon she rushed towards the entryway only to come to a halt at the sight of several immaculately clean cultivators dressed in matching white and gold robes bearing a similar flame design to the one on her own faded and torn robes.

"This is a much nicer building than the one I grew up in," an elegant young man was telling one of the attractive young women among the group of cultivators. "Wait till you meet my old Senior Sister Mai," he said with enthusiasm. "She and Senior Sister Cheng have so much in common that I know you'll be like good sisters when you meet. As bad as things look out there, I know she must have been taking good care of the young cultivators here."

"Sacred Flame Celestial Temple?" Ao Wen asked numbly. Realizing it was a stupid question she dropped the knife and cupped her hands with a deep bow. "Initiate Yu pays respects to seniors," she said, unsure how to address the group of men and women.

"Initiate Yu?" the elegant man asked. "Where's Initiate Mai? I'm Outer Sect Disciple Ji Ying, I was in Sister Mai's care when I grew up here," he said while looking behind Ao Wen to see if anyone was following behind her.

"I'm sorry," Ao Wen said softly. "Senior Sister Mai died ten days ago. She mentioned Disciple Ji before she passed. She said she hoped that Disciple Ji was living well and found a kind Senior Sister to look after him the way she once had," Ao Wen said stiffly. Hope, however, helped her press forward. Relief was finally here. The other children would be saved! "Did the medical saintess come? There are still six children who need help. My… my alchemy skills are far too poor to save them," her voice trailed off at the end as she lowered her head in shame. Just two more days and Gong would have… But help was here now. Help arrived for the rest of them.

"Merciful heavens," one of the other women among the disciples said. "You've been trying to cure them?"

"No," Ao Wen said, still looking at the ground, unable to meet the eyes of the sect disciples before her. "I've only been studying Alchemy these ten days," she explained. "Master Dongfang died leaving me only books to learn from," she continued mechanically. "Curing anything is too far beyond my reach so I tried treating symptoms. The fever reducer I concocted helped some of them but I made so many mistakes that I was only able to make two batches with the herbs that were stored here," she explained in a stilted mechanical tone. "Nothing else I did seemed to help, whether it was ointments or infusions so after a few days," she stopped as her voice cracked but she forced herself to tell the story. "When Fen's tongue swelled so much he couldn't swallow around it and the purple veins spread to his eye, I knew he wouldn't make it until Medical Saintess arrived. He was in so much pain and he could barely breathe at all. So I brewed a cup of Perfect Sleep for him," she said, no longer able to see the floor of the room through the haze of tears in her eyes. "He was nine I think. I didn't figure out it was Yin Fiend Transformation until two days later when Euhang, she was the oldest at twelve, she began growing vines that stretched out from her legs with small dark green leaves on them. After her, there were three others who didn't make it. Once it became obvious they couldn't fight back anymore, I didn't want them to see themselves becoming hideous Yin Fiends and suffering all that pain so I…. For the past three days I've just been keeping them fed and making medicine that dulls the pain and makes them sleepy so they can rest until Medical Saintess arrives," she finished.

"Why? Why would you…" the woman asked, horrified at the story this little girl had told so simply.

"It was Senior Sister Mai's last command," Ao Wen said flatly, not noticing the combination of stunned and horrified looks on the faces of the assembled disciples. "I only just Awakened but I have an Azure Flame," she said, briefly holding out her hand and summoning a wisp of pale blue flame before she continued. "Senior Sister Mai told me to get anything I could use from Master Dongfang's clinic and save as many of the children as I could. She told me that if I couldn't save them I had to save myself because my life belongs to the sect."

Suddenly one of the other women moved forward to embrace Ao Wen only to stop as Ao Wen pulled away. "Apologies, Disciple for my rudeness," she said before lifting her left arm and showing them the strange flesh there. "I'm afraid that I might infect others. I've burned the bodies of everyone who…" Died? Everyone she killed? She couldn't make herself say it. "In the hopes that infection wouldn't spread but I don't know how it spreads." She pulled aside a portion of her robes to show the bandages wrapped around her stomach. "Little Gong, he grew spikes and he was lashing out violently when they erupted from his skin. I had to pull him away before he could hurt any of the others but I was injured. The problem on my arm hasn't changed for these ten days, neither growing nor shrinking, but with a fresh injury, I may have been infected with a different type of problem."

"I see," the woman said stiffly. She tried to imagine this waifish little girl dragging away a newborn Yin Fiend who had been one of her brothers in the orphanage and shuddered at the image that came to mind. "Follow me," she said gently. "I'll take you to the Medical Saintess."

After Ao Wen had been taken away the first woman who spoke to her stared daggers at Ji Ying. "Don't you ever compare me to Initiate Mai ever again!" Disciple Cheng snapped. "How old is that girl? Thirteen? Fourteen? Your senior sister commanded her to save mortals from Yin Fiend Transformation and it sounds like she even made her believe she could do it! She has no idea! She thinks she killed those children because her skills at Alchemy weren't good enough to let them live till we got here. Her silks of TEN DAYS weren't good enough to cure the incurable!"

"Junior Sister Cheng," the oldest man among the disciples spoke. "It's not junior brother Ji's fault. It may not even be Initiate Mai's fault. She might have thought it was just an illness."

"I know," she spat. "I'm just… Did you see her eyes? It's like her body is moving but her heart is gone. At least we know about how Yin Fiend Transformation affects mortals. We're all adults, this isn't the first mission for any of us. We know what's at stake if Yin Fiend Transformation spreads. But her…"

"I know," the older disciple said reassuringly. "I'll take care of things here. If you're worried about her, go back to camp and stay with her for a time. You can rejoin us once you're sure she's settled."

"Thank you Senior Brother Han," Disciple Cheng said with a bow before rushing to catch up with Ao Wen and the disciple escorting her.

Outside, it was the first time she'd truly looked at the city in several days. The boys she'd promised breakfast to had stopped showing up after two days and since then she hadn't gone outside other than to burry the ones who died.

All along the streets, Ao Wen saw dozens of sect disciples moving from home to home, frequently followed by mortal laborers in plain white robes. More fires burned than she'd seen before and Ao Wen now clearly identified the distinct odor of burning bodies. She imagined that one of the sect's many tasks was to contain the spread of the illnesses and that not only would a good many bodies be burned in days to come, but a good many buildings and personal belongings as well.

After a few moments, Disciple Cheng caught up to them and fell in beside Ao Wen with a concerned look in her eyes. "I came to keep you company," she said simply.

"Initiate Yu thanks Disciple Cheng for her kindness," Ao Wen said stiffly. The way that Senior Sister Mai had spoken of disciples from the sect, as though they were mighty beings beyond the heavens, Ao Wen didn't want to risk offending them. She had no idea how powerful these cultivators were but the fact that a person couldn't even be an Outer Disciple without being a second stage cultivator made it clear that they wouldn't be weak.

"You don't have to be so formal," Disciple Cheng responded. "You can call me Senior Sister Cheng, or Cheng Chuntao. Is 'Yu' your surname or your given name?"

"It's just Yu," Ao Wen said simply. She truly didn't know if there was more to it, but the only thing she'd ever been called by anyone was 'Yu' so she felt that as an orphan it must be the only name she had.

"Oh," Cheng Chuntao said, realizing that she'd likely poked another wound with something she thought of as an innocent question. Feeling that it might be better to remain silent, Cheng Chuntao said nothing further as the trio left the city towards the camp the sect had set up a few li away, allowing the remainder of the trip to pass in silence.