Qui Tian's condition didn't improve even after two days had passed.
The only thing that gave a little bit of hope was that, as Yun Jieshi had been anticipating, the hag began to move indeed. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly all for the good. Qui Tian was constantly shuddering and blacking out inexplicably and unpredictably.
Yun Jieshi tried his best to feed her and with all the flavours that he had found her to enjoy but even that didn't work. Qui Tian continued to exhibit extreme fever-like symptoms. Her leg condition even chimed in, making the experience horrible for both of them. Her feet grew hot, her legs cracked. Yun Jieshi had to soothe them with his Bonding Touch after eating two of the four Shuang Fingers he had left. While that worked wonders to abate the strange illness, whatever else the little monkey had to do for the hag to keep her from tossing and turning was extremely draining.
Even in this mystical world, Yun Jieshi felt like hygiene would still play a factor in recovery for someone smitten by an inexplicable illness like the one haunting the old woman. Thus, even as she was unconscious, even as she didn't go anywhere, Yun Jieshi bathed her.
But that wasn't the most difficult part.
The little monkey found that the arc in her back grew by the day. The skin on the hag's back was supposed to be wrinkled from age, but because of the strain, it glistened, stretched taut. Yun Jieshi thought Qui Tian's spine would shatter by the second day. He could see it printed against her skin and could even touch it.
He cursed himself for not knowing the incantation Qui Tian used every now and then to soothe this. Perhaps that would have helped. He had tried to make her use it each time she woke up, shivering, but it was no use. She never even saw the hemp slip he passed to her hand.
By the third day, Yun Jieshi was at wits end.
The hag had woken up again. This time, she seemed more aware of what was happening, but just barely. Her swollen eyes, twice as thick as before, turned to him and she wheezed. The little monkey shuddered.
"Hey. Look. This is important to you, isn't it?" Yun Jieshi said desperately. He held the beautiful cloak that had been nailed into the wall in front of her and shook it. "Come on, please look."
When she made to close her eyes shut, Yun Jieshi shook her as gently as he could. She hummed and turned to him, the hazel glow of the eyes behind her eyelids shimmering through briefly. Urging her again, the little monkey brought the beautiful cloak closer to her face.
Only then did Qui Tian show a reaction. She reached for the cloak and grabbed it. Her lips seemed to tremble… and then she fell unconscious again.
'Pluck my damned life!' Yun Jieshi cursed.
He gobbled up his last Shuang Fingers, and began massaging Qui Tian's feet. They were scorching again, but it didn't take long for their temperature to die down. Afterwards, Yun Jieshi prepared a soup with finely chopped pieces of meat and fed it to the hag carefully.
'I wish I hadn't left that pheasant! I will have to go and get some more food at this rate, but leaving her alone…' the little monkey thought.
Afterwards, he prepared the tea that Qui Tian always made him drink. The recipe was on his fingertips by now and it didn't take long to whip up. He had been feeding it to Qui Tian thrice a day for the last three days, but it hardly seemed to have an effect, which vexed the little monkey.
The tea, or rather its ingredients were supposed to combat Disharmony, and the hag and had been impacted by Disharmony.
But why was that the case?
And why did that worsen the condition of her hunchback too?
Were the ingredients for the tea irrelevant to Qui Tian's condition?
The Discount Sage massaged his head. For the better part of an hour, Yun Jieshi watched the hag. She never woke up, but her face would contort at interspersed points.
She must have been in great pain whether she was asleep or not.
'It's not looking good,' Yun Jieshi thought. 'Think. Think. What can I do?' His brows furrowed.
Hurrying into his corner, left of the bedroll, he grabbed his wineskin.
'Perhaps the sap can help.' The little monkey frowned and hesitated.
"Sap for the fiends, sap for the living. Fiends and shadows plead with stretched paws. Let four lap to contentment, and save a sip for the ailed lord at the edge, at the end of tall hills with faces – the halls of Tsang Shan," the old sagely voice reminded him.
Yun Jieshi remembered of course. He also remembered Qui Tian pointing northward and saying, There, real monster.
If he opened the wineskin and that delightful smell of the sap inside crossed the world, as it had done before, calling abominations to him… what would he do?
Last time, dozens of Jade Imps had rushed towards him.
There were apparently two monsters on this side of the Gap. What if they came running? What if…what if they killed the hag and him?
As much confidence as Yun Jieshi had in the hag, he wasn't sure she could defeat whatever monsters were lurking in the blizzard, much less himself. Hadn't Qui Tian steered them away from where that black-feathered creature lived?
Was that not a sign that underneath her dismal of it, she was wary of it?
'No. I can have us escape with my ruan if those things should come for us. And even if I can't do that immediately…' The little monkey looked at the large bow and two arrows in the corner. 'I can at least buy time with a well-placed arrow…'
He had managed to nail the Greater Blight Wind Pheasant from earlier with one of those arrow, after all. Each of the arrows was special too. One of them had even nailed down Honghuo, an entity of heat and light – a miniature sun.
Whatever faith the little monkey mustered didn't stop him from scanning the surroundings outside the cabin just in case. Only after he'd soothed his anxiety somewhat did he come back into the cabin, take his wineskin over to the hag, and draw in a deep breath.
"Here goes."
The little monkey uncorked the wineskin.
A familiar overpowering yet pleasant scent exploded out.
There were familiar hints of Freesia and honey, but like before, Yun Jieshi couldn't fathom what the other mixtures of sweet smells could have been. And indeed, this time around as well, reminiscences of some of his favourite sweets from America flushed into his head.
"Focus!" Yun Jieshi shook his head.
The magnificent fragrance stirred the appetite and inspired a pleasant mood. It packed the cabin full, drowning the little monkey, but he didn't forget his objective.
He raised Qui Tian's head and opened her lips before pouring the contents of the wineskin into her mouth.
"Please! Please wake up!" he cried.