Chapter 27: Punishment

“I really feel like this time there’s a real chance!”

“Watching the live streams these past two days, the regenerative powers of martial arts are truly astonishing. There might actually be a way to regrow lost limbs!”

“Does regeneration really have anything to do with limb regrowth? At most, a strong recovery rate just means bleeding stops faster, right? You can’t actually expect a new leg to grow from the stump, can you?”

“Whatever, I’ve been bedridden for three years since I became lame. Who cares if it’s true or not—might as well give it a try first. Farewell, everyone. I’m off to wait at the Scarborough Market!”

“I think I’ll keep watching for now.”

“+1. That market is just too far and out of the way.”

“Streamer, I’ll keep following you and wish you all the best! Here’s a ten-in-a-row gift combo!”

“Is your injury really that bad? It doesn’t look like it from the outside!”

“Is there something wrong with your brain, asking that? How are you supposed to see it from the outside? Should the streamer cough up a lung for you?”

“How do we know you two aren’t just putting on a show?”

“Can you really get someone as invincible as Master Ling to act in a farce with you? Think before you speak!”

“Don’t bother arguing with the trolls. Let them say whatever they want—if they go on, just get their accounts banned. Perfect!”

“…”

Katherine didn’t want to continue the topic. Watching the arguments scrolling past in the chat, she changed the subject: “By the way, I’ve realized that the Peppucino I ate earlier was truly amazing—its name ‘grand fruit’ is well-deserved. I can feel the massive amount of energy my body is burning to heal itself. My blood is surging within me, my metabolism is several times faster than usual! If it weren’t for that little watermelon endlessly supplying me with energy, I’d probably be a dried-up husk by now. Hmm, the energy from that little watermelon is all used up, but fortunately my body is almost—”

She abruptly stopped, frowning with a hint of helplessness. “I think… cough… cough, cough! Earlier… I was too naïve… cough!” She could barely get the words out between harsh coughs. “I already know… cough, cough, cough… what punishment my master gave me… cough, cough… My internal organs are starting to rebel…”

With this, Katherine fell back, her face terribly pale, beads of cold sweat rolling across her forehead. Her throat, strained by rapid breathing, was visibly caving in; her fingers began to twitch uncontrollably. She finally understood the punishment Ling Mo had given her: it was exactly this—resetting her tendons and bones was the greatest punishment of all!

The damaged parts had been set right, so her body believed it was time to repair and began burning energy at several times the normal rate. Once the little watermelon’s energy ran out, the demand for oxygen to transport blood throughout her body suddenly soared to many times the usual. But the most severely injured part of her was her lungs!

It was nothing less than torture! The rushing blood needed oxygen, placing a tremendous burden on her lungs, but her damaged lungs couldn’t supply nearly enough. She was gasping like a broken bellows, and no matter how much air she drew in, she still felt as if she were suffocating. Her oxygen-starved heart grew weaker with every beat; the energy-rich blood couldn’t reach her body quickly enough, pooling in her chest and making things even worse.

She felt as if she were dying! The fire in her throat faded into numbness, her chest grew hotter and her limbs colder, and she could see her nailbeds turning blue out of the corner of her eye. Her head swam, and a host of dreadful sensations crashed over her; she seemed to see a thousand visions, or perhaps nothing at all. In desperation, she reached up to feel her own neck—veins bulged, purple and throbbing, as if they might burst at any second.

Katherine opened her mouth wide, gasping like a fish stranded on the shore. She had never known such pain. She couldn’t see the flood of worried messages from viewers; her world was turning black, darker with every second. The chill and loneliness seeped in, and in the blur she seemed to see death beckoning her. She bit her tongue hard, the taste of blood flooding her mouth and jolting her back to fleeting clarity. Regaining control of her body, she seized the speckled rock python egg she had just acquired, cracked it open, and pressed her mouth to it, greedily sucking out its contents.

Gulp, gulp!

The sweet egg fluid slid down her throat, and her drained body was nourished again. Energy surged forth, greatly reducing her body’s demand for oxygen. Color gradually returned to her fingertips and toes, and her heartbeat grew stronger. After devouring half the snake egg in one go, Katherine finally lifted her head. The cold was receding; she was safe—for now.

“This kind of energy consumption is just terrifying,” Katherine said, still shaken. She touched her neck and found the bulging veins returning to normal, and finally allowed herself to relax. “Thank you all for your concern. I can’t really describe the despair I just experienced in those few moments—the feeling of death surging over you like a tidal wave. I never want to go through that again. From now on, I swear I’ll never let my guard down in battle. If I get punished again, I really will die!”

“You were terrifying just now, streamer!”

“You looked hideous! Already took a screenshot!”

“The veins in your neck stuck out half an inch! I thought you were going to explode!”

“What just happened?!”

Katherine struggled to sit up, briefly explaining the situation to her viewers. Then she shook the snake egg in her hand. “Judging by my energy consumption, this egg will last me about two hours. If Master doesn’t return by then, I’ll have to go out hunting. I’d rather die fighting than go through that agony again. At least if a magical beast kills me, it’ll be over quickly!”

No sooner had she finished speaking than she felt an icy gaze boring into her back. She turned, and every hair on her body stood on end: at some point, the giant speckled rock python had returned! Half its body was hidden beneath the ground, its head raised high as it stared down at Katherine. When its eyes landed on the cracked egg in her hand, they filled with a murderous hatred.

Katherine instantly realized she was still near the python’s lair! Snakes have extraordinarily keen senses of smell. Apart from a few species like the vine snake that hunt by three-dimensional vision, most snakes rely on olfaction to track their prey. She was eating its young right in its territory—how could it not smell her?

She was utterly defenseless. Was this how she would die? Katherine stared hard at the python for a long while, but though it looked furious, it refused to come within twenty meters of her. There must be something it dreaded deeply—so much so that even in a parent’s rage, it wouldn’t cross the invisible line.

Of course! Her master’s urine! Suddenly she understood. She shifted position experimentally, and the snake mirrored her, circling the perimeter but never coming closer than twenty meters to the tree her master had marked. Relief flooded her. She knew she was safe for now, though she had no idea how long the effect of the urine would last. All she could do was pray silently for Ling Mo’s swift return.

————————I am the adorable dividing line————————

Meanwhile, Ling Mo was darting through the dense forest at astonishing speed, moving so quickly he seemed to ‘blink’ from place to place, trailing a chain of afterimages behind him. Each shadow moved differently, overlapping and flickering in midair, dazzling to behold.

There was only one strange thing: wherever he passed, the chorus of insects and beasts fell silent, replaced by an uncanny stillness. Not until he had gone far did the animal cries slowly return, intermittent at first. After covering an unknown distance, Ling Mo stopped at a damp mountain stream. He slipped easily inside, leaping across slick rocks polished by the water until he reached a moist cave. There, he rummaged around for a bit, found an oddly shaped object, and held it up to inspect it with a satisfied smile.

It was a fungus—a mushroom, bright and colorful. Ling Mo didn’t hesitate to tuck it into his leather pouch, about to gather more when something odd caught his eye: another mushroom, identical to the others except that its stem was rooted not in earth, but deep within the corpse of an insect long dead.

He studied it for a while, snorted coldly, seemed about to do something, then sighed and picked up the strange mushroom. Without a backward glance, he left the cave.