Chapter 179: Regaining Consciousness

Chapter 179: Regaining Consciousness
Translator: TYZ Editor: Book_Hoarder
Inside the house of Great Elder Shi Qing, a few officials were seated in a circle. An extremely distressed look was on all of their faces.
Most of them had heard about the attack on Ren Baqian today. After all, when the empress rushed over to the clinic in a fit of rage, many people could sense her aura. After enquiring about it, they were able to find out what had happened.
However, no one had expected the empress to bring Ren Baqian to the north alone.
The empress's action this time around was really unacceptable.
When you chose him as your husband and everyone objected to your decision, you said you will push him to the level of Earth Wheel and everyone accepted him.
What happened afterwards proved that Ren Baqian was indeed capable. At least he had increased the iron output of Mount Damo by a few times.
This slightly changed everyone's perspective of him.
However, this time around, they just couldn't tolerate the fact that the empress brought Ren Baqian to the north alone.
The Son of Heaven never puts himself in danger. Even though this phrase did not exist in Dayao, everyone in Dayao knew the logic behind it.
One had to know that if anything happened to the empress, Dayao would fall into chaos. Moreover, they were currently preparing for a war with Great Xia.
The empress was also Dayao's most powerful expert.
At this point in time, everyone felt that this matter was getting out of hand.
"Everyone, what should we do now? No matter what, we can't let Her Majesty go to Great Xia alone," Tu Wan looked around and asked.
"Send the winged cavalry after Her Majesty," Minister of War, Qin Chuan, furrowed his eyebrows and said.
"If the winged cavalry enters Great Xia's territory, Great Xia won't sit still and do nothing. If we do that, I'm afraid Her Majesty will be in an even greater danger," someone commented.
"She is already in a great danger," Qin Chuan immediately replied.
Even though everyone endlessly debated over this issue, the one thousand five hundred winged cavalry members stationed outside Lan City still struck camp and headed for the north four hours later.
And before this, they had already sent a carrier pigeon to Hong Wu.
However, everyone felt that the possibility of Hong Wu stopping the empress was very small. That kirin could traverse all kinds of terrains. Hence, no one knew from where the empress would enter Great Xia.
...
The empress was sitting sideways on the back of the kirin. No matter how the kirin ran or jumped, the body of the empress seemed to be glued to its back.
Ren Baqian lay on the empress's legs.
One had to admit that the empress really did not know how to take care of people. Positioning Ren Baqian's torso on her thighs was the best she could think of. In reality, Ren Baqian felt sick and nauseous along entire the way.
If he wasn't in a coma, he would have asked someone to just kill him.
Ren Baqian was unconscious and he did not know what was going on outside. He found himself in the lake in [Visualization of Water]. The surface of the lake was no longer calm and smooth, but rather, choppy and torrential.
He wanted to swim downwards but couldn't do so. Every time he wanted to dive downwards, he would be stopped by an invisible force and swept away by a huge tidal wave.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, he suddenly woke up and regained consciousness.
The first thing he felt when he woke up was something pressing against his chest, making him sick and nauseous. However, he couldn't puke no matter how hard he tried.
At the same time, his body did not have any strength at all. He found it hard to even turn his head around.
He realized he was on something that was moving forward very fast. The ground, grass and stones beneath him flew past his eyes at an extreme speed while the strong wind kept on blasting his face.
When Ren Baqian let out a groan, the empress's ice-cold face jolted. She lifted him up and placed him on the back of the kirin, letting him sit directly next to her.
By now, Ren Baqian had slightly sobered up. Just now, he already knew who was beside him when he smelled a tinge of delicate fragrance.
"Your Majesty." Ren Baqian's throat very dry. His voice was muffled by the wind the moment he opened his mouth to talk.
"You're awake," the empress said casually.
"The people who attacked you have been killed," she continued.
"Your Majesty, where are we going?" At this moment, Ren Baqian could finally move his neck. However, he was not looking ahead, but rather, at the empress who was beside him.
The first thing he saw was her limpid eyes and charismatic-looking eyebrows.
"Great Xia," the empress merely replied. In fact, she did not know what to say. After all, she was a girl that did not know how to care for other people.
"We are going to Great Xia?" Even though Ren Baqian had not sobered up fully, he still knew that the empress shouldn't be going to Great Xia.
The empress is the ruler of Dayao, how can she go to Great Xia?
And what's going on with me now? Why do I need so much strength to even move my fingers?
"Your Majesty, what happened?" Ren Baqian asked weakly.
"You're poisoned, I'm bringing you to get the antidote now." The empress's voice turned frigid.
"..." Ren Baqian was stunned.
I'm poisoned? The empress is bringing me to Great Xia to get the antidote? Why can't I be treated in Dayao? Is this poison very troublesome?
"What will happen if we can't get the antidote?" Ren Baqian asked.
"You won't be able move or talk, but you will still be conscious."
"How much time do I have?"
"You must eat the antidote within half a month's time, otherwise it will be useless even if you have the antidote."
Ren Baqian panicked when he heard these words. He wanted to scold someone but he did not know who to scold. The condition that the empress described sounded like Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the one that Stephen Hawking was suffering from. Furthermore, the disease could worsen at a very fast pace.
If he really was afflicted with that condition, he would rather die.
"Don't worry, there's an antidote." For the first time, the empress consoled him.
If the antidote is easily obtainable, why would the empress bring him to get it personally? After all, the empress is the ruler of Dayao. How can she enter the territory of Great Xia rashly?
Ren Baqian knew this thing wasn't that simple.
"Your Majesty, how long have I been unconscious for?" Ren Baqian finally asked about the time after panicking for quite a while. He was poisoned, not afflicted with ALS. Since it was a poison, there was definitely an antidote for it. Earth might actually have a cure for it.
Of course, this was him thinking positively.
After all, a poison from another world wasn't easy to cure. Furthermore, he had too little time. As of now, he only had half a month's time left.
Therefore, he could only do this best to think positively now.
"Twenty hours," the empress replied.
They had already travelled for a day and a night.
Ren Baqian did some calculation. The last time he returned to this world 11 pm to 1 am Right now, he still had a few more hours before he would be teleported to Earth.
"Your Majesty, I may be able to find a solution if I return to Earth," Ren Baqian said.
"How confident are you?" The empress looked at Ren Baqian.
"I don't know," Ren Baqian shook his head and replied miserably.
"We only have fifteen days. As of now, we are left with fourteen days. It will take about ten days to travel from Dayao to Nine Pavilions. Even though this kirin is fast, it will still need seven and a half days to reach Nine Pavilions. You can only return to Earth twice for two and a half days each at most. Otherwise, you will not make it in time," the empress said solemnly.
Even though the kirin was much faster than a horse, a tired horse could be replaced with a new one, but the empress couldn't do so with the kirin. She would have to give the kirin a break before it could continue again. Therefore, riding the kirin would only allow them to reach Nine Pavilions two days earlier.
If Ren Baqian returned to Earth twice for two and a half days each, even if he failed, they still had two more days to negotiate with Nine Pavilions or snatch the antidote from them. If they made a single mistake, Ren Baqian would forevermore lead a life that was worse than dying.
The empress had been pondering over this matter along the way.