Chapter 42: Cannot be saved
"It’s impossible for me to save her." Priestess Yuan shook her head and pulled her hands away from the woman lying in front of her. Her misty eyes stared at Ah Man, and she exhaled heavily. Honestly, if she could, she would have saved Ah Man’s life as well, but her hands were tied. She didn’t know the antidote for the Mist Spider. "You should arrange for her funeral; let her pass away in the lap of the Beast Goddess; that way, she would at least get a place in heaven."
When Tribe Leader Xie heard that the chances of Ah Man’s survival were low, her eyes darkened. Their tribe was small to begin with. Only twenty or so women were the warrior kind, while the rest couldn’t do anything other than search for herbs and fruits.
Their tribe already had it hard, with most of the women being Scouts. This was the reason why she had always been really careful with the hunting teams, always making sure that they would never go for any meat-eating beasts. Even if the tribe received less meat, as long as the warriors were safe and sound, it was alright.
Because losing a warrior was equivalent to losing one of her limbs!
"Are you sure that there is nothing you can do about this, Priestess Yuan?" Tribe Leader Xie asked. Even though she knew in her heart that Priestess Yuan’s answer would not change, she still hoped that maybe a miracle would happen and she would be able to get an answer that would be more positive than negative.
However, when had the world worked as the humans wanted it to? Priestess Yuan shook her head and then calmly replied to Tribe Leader Xie, "If I could have saved her, then I would have saved her long ago. I wouldn’t have wasted time letting the poison spread. But there is absolutely nothing I can do."
With Priestess Yuan confirming that there was nothing that could be done, the entire tribe turned grim.
"How will our tribe ever recover from this loss?"
"That’s right. Ah Man was such a strong warrior woman. Remember? She took down a theropod on her own once."
"I do... of course I do. How could I ever forget the bravery that she has shown in the past?"
Everyone turned sad when they thought about how a brave warrior had fallen so easily. A beast couldn’t take her down, but a small spider did.
Xie Daiyu, who was leading the team, felt the worst. Even though he knew that this was an inevitable injury and that he couldn’t have done anything about it, he still felt bad. If possible, he wanted to make everything better for Ah Man.
A young mer suddenly dashed from the crowd and knelt in front of Tribe Leader Xie. His eyes were red, and he was cradling a little baby in his arms. He kowtowed in front of Tribe Leader Xie and said to her, "Chief, please save my wife. She cannot die yet... I ... I have just mated with her, and we have this little child between us. He is not even two months old. If his mother died, then how would he and I survive? I cannot even think of going on with my life without her... please... I beg you, chief!"
When the old and young mers saw the plight of the young mer, their eyes turned red and they started to sob. After all, they could understand how life was for young mers who lost their mates. As mers who didn’t have powerful beast cores, they only had one task, and that was to mate with women and give birth to a litter of pups.
If the woman died, then they would be like logs in water, floating aimlessly until they found another woman who would take them in, but no woman would take the child of another woman. Thus, the children would either be abandoned or the mer would have to live a life worse than death, where they would starve to death along with their child.
"Nuannuan is truly pitiful. He mated with Ah Man just a few months ago; how could such a thing happen to him?"
"Nuannuan, you need to get up. Look at the weather; it’s so hot, and the ground is piping hot as well. You will hurt yourself and the child."
"Nuanuan, I understand how you are feeling, but the chief is not a healer, and even if she were, there are no known antidotes for the Mist Spider. What do you think she can even do?"
"That’s right, get up, Nuannuan. Get on your feet and see Ah Man like a warrior husband. Don’t make it difficult for her to pass on; let her sit in the lap of the Beast Goddess."
"That’s nonsense! How can I let her leave? She cannot leave our son. If she dies, then what will become of us? She will surely survive; she cannot bear to leave us father and son, behind!" Nuannuan truly panicked. He was not a warrior-kind beast mer; he was a scout. He could only look around the forest and find something useful to eat, but beast men and women needed meat to survive and grow strong.
Without hunting skills, how could he raise his son? He didn’t want to abandon his son. Thus, his wife had to survive no matter what!
He turned to look at Chief Xie and stubbornly continued to kneel on the ground. He was determined to save his wife.
Chief Xie raised her hand and pressed her forehead. She said to Naunnuan, "It’s not that I don’t wish to save her. She is a third-level warrior and would be useful for the tribe in the long run, but she cannot survive the journey to the temple of the Beast Goddess. You have to accept her death, Nuannuan."
However, how could Nuanuan accept it? He continued to kneel on the ground stubbornly.