Herkid dropped the wooden spoon directly into the pot with a splash. Mara's jaw went slack, her hands flying to her mouth. Even Faral remained entirely still, his golden-ringed pupils contracting into sharp, narrow slits.
"A coma?" Herkid whispered, standing up so fast his bench nearly overturned. "Zhu, what are you talking about?! What does your core need to stop it?!"
Zhu squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look them in the face. Her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "Blood. I... I need fresh blood. To ingest it or absorb it into my mana system." She hugged herself tighter, flinching as if expecting them to recoil in horror. "I'm sorry... I know it sounds grotesque. I know it sounds like a demonic technique, but—"
"How much?"
Zhu blinked, snapping her eyes open.
It was Mara who had spoken. She was already standing, unrolling the clean cloth bandages she had just put away. There was no disgust on her face. No fear, no hesitation—only a fierce, unyielding determination.
"How much do you need, Zhu?" Mara repeated, stepping closer and extending her left arm toward Zhu. "Tell me."
"Mara, wait—" Zhu stammered, completely thrown off guard. "It's... it's human blood! Or high-grade spiritual blood! You can't just—"
"I am a weak Spiritual Mana user," Mara interrupted softly, kneeling directly in front of Zhu and taking her cold, trembling hands into her own warm ones. "My mana carries healing properties, but at its root, it is pure spiritual blood. You saved my life in Hollowveil, Zhu. You brought me into your mind, trusted me, and protected me. Do you really think I would hesitate to give you a fraction of my blood?"
"She's right," Herkid blurted out, rushing over and pulling a clean, silver hunting dagger from his belt. He didn't even hesitate as he rolled up his sleeve, exposing a broad, muscular forearm. "Take mine too! I've got plenty! I build muscle like a bull, a little blood loss won't do anything to me!"
Zhu stared at the two of them, completely stunned. Tears finally spilled over her eyelashes, running hot down her pale cheeks. She had spent so much time hiding her secrets, afraid of being seen as an anomaly or a freak, yet here they were, offering their own lifeblood without a single moment's second thought.
"You guys..." she sobbed weakly. "You're... you're idiots. You shouldn't just offer your blood to people..."
"We aren't offering it to 'people,'" Herkid said with a warm, goofy grin, though his eyes were fierce. "We're giving it to you. You're our family now, Zhu. We stick together."
Faral stepped forward, his tall, ethereal form casting a long shadow over the group. He looked down at his own long, pale fingers, a rare, troubled expression crossing his handsome features.
He slowly reached into his aura, tapping into the plant-vessel core resting within his chest. A faint pulse of violet-and-blue light rippled beneath his skin.
"My current vessel..." Faral began, his voice laced with a subtle bitterness he rarely exposed, "...is constructed entirely from the ancient lotus root and refined spiritual mana. I possess no circulatory system, nor crimson blood to bleed for you."
He knelt beside Mara and Herkid, placing a warm hand on Zhu's head. His luminescent violet eyes held a deep, profound solemnity.
"I have spent centuries captive, watching souls wither," Faral murmured softly, smoothing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You gave me freedom, little one. You gave me the sky. If I possessed a single drop of mortal blood, I would drain my veins to keep you whole. But as I cannot... I shall oversee this transfer to ensure neither you nor our companions suffer harm."
Zhu buried her face in her hands, weeping quietly as the crushing weight of panic began to lift from her chest. The cold horror of the System's deadline was swallowed whole by the overwhelming warmth of the people surrounding her.
"Thank you," she choked out, her voice muffled against her palms. "Thank you..."
Mara smiled gently, wiping a tear from Zhu's cheek before turning to Faral. "Faral, guide us. How do we prepare the extraction so her core accepts it cleanly?"
"I will construct a small purifying array using my lotus mana," Faral instructed, his confidence restoring calm to the air. "We will combine small portions from both Herkid and Mara, neutralizing any lingering spiritual wildness before Zhu ingests it. It will be swift, and it will be safe."
Herkid nodded eagerly, handing the dagger handle-first to Faral. "Lead the way, boss."
As Faral began tracing a glowing blue-violet circle onto a clean stone slate, Zhu looked at her friends—at Mara's gentle smile, Herkid's resolute stance, and Faral's protective presence.
For the first time since the cold red system warnings had appeared, Zhu felt her breathing steady. She wasn't alone in this strange, terrifying world anymore.
Zhu watched the three people busy themselves prepping for another array, her gaze naturally drifting to Faral as he moved with effortless fluidity.
"Shouldn't you be a plant?" Zhu muttered, eyeing his very human-looking form. Why does he have to be so ridiculously handsome? she complained silently, practically offended by how unfairly stunning he looked.
Continuing his precise hand movements over the stone slate, Faral answered without breaking his stride—or acknowledging that she hadn't technically been speaking to him.
"My analysis," Faral replied smoothly, "is that because I am a human soul now in primary control of the vessel, the physical form automatically adapted to reflect my origin."
Zhu rolled her eyes. "Right, right."
She didn't have the energy to be mad at the handsome celestial being gracefully addressing them. He was just a pretty plant before—why did he have to turn into such an absolute looker? A sudden wave of icy, bone-deep exhaustion crashed over her, a harsh reminder of the System's terrifying twenty-four-hour deadline.
She flopped backward onto the bedrolls with a faint groan. "I'm going to rest for a hundred days. Someone, wake me when everything is done..."
Faral chuckled lightly, his deep voice rich and resonant in the quiet courtyard. He didn't stop her, allowing her to rest peacefully for an hour while Mara and Herkid were instructed to eat and drink plenty of liquids before the blood donation.
Once the preparations were complete, Faral set his tools down. "The food is done; the girl should wake up now."
Hearing this, Herkid trotted over toward the ladies, ready to help. But before he could even extend a hand, Faral was already there. With effortless grace, Faral scooped the younger girl gently into his arms.
Zhu stirred awake from her deep, exhausting sleep the moment she was moved. Under normal circumstances, Zhu would have loudly protested this pretty boy carrying her around like a delicate princess. But opening her mental world, enduring the chaotic takeover inside her soul, and having her vitality drained to a critical threshold by the System had completely wrecked her.
She leaned her head against his shoulder only because she was utterly exhausted—nothing more, she repeatedly assured herself.
Faral gently fed Zhu a few spoons of light soup while she weakly protested that she could feed herself, after which he carried her over to the array area.
"Hold still, little one," Faral said gently, sitting her upright on a flat stone near the glowing purification circle he had just finished drawing. "The preparation is ready. We must stabilize your core before the collapse deepens."
Zhu pouted, resting her chin grumpily near his collarbone. "Alright, alright... stabilize core, blah, blah, still such a know it all."
Mara and Herkid looked at each other and ruefully shook their heads; those two were clearly getting closer and closer by the minute.
Faral brought Zhu over to a makeshift table where a hollowed-out stone bowl lay directly atop the slate where the array was drawn.
"The blood will be poured in here, and once at the appropriate amount, the array will be triggered," Faral instructed, gently setting her down on a flat stone bench right beside it.
Herkid stepped up first, rolling his sleeve past his elbow without a trace of fear. Taking the small silver blade Faral had cleansed with lotus mana, he made a swift, shallow cut along his forearm. Crimson blood trickled down into a carved stone cup held by Mara. Herkid didn't even flinch, gritting his teeth into a proud, goofy grin. "All yours, Zhu. Take as much as you need."
Mara immediately took the blade next, pressing it to her own wrist to add a smaller, steady stream of her silver-tinted spiritual blood into the cup. "May my mana soothe the strain on your soul," she whispered softly, already wrapping a fresh bandage around her arm with practiced ease.