The Rise of the Divine Oracle

Chapter 75 - Ginger

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Wuxian knew what hunger felt like. Several times during his life, he went for days without food and water, ate from someone else's trash or had to beg for his meal. He is the last person to turn down food when offered. But.. right now, he was staring at the food Wangji placed in front of him and could barely look at it without cringing. Healer Shi requested a 'water break' two hours into their journey, which under normal circumstances would've sounded ludicrous. But, since all the people traveling knew Wuxian was deprived of his spiritual energy and the frequent stops are probably for his sake. No one questioned the stupid excuse as long as they stop without making Wuxian feel guilty.

Healer Shi knew that the smaller man had been feeling nauseous. Eating in a moving carriage wouldn't be ideal to alleviate his discomfort. She made sure they stopped to give him a chance to consume his first extra meal of the day. Wuxian swallowed hard, staring at the bowl of rice and sides laid out neatly in front of him. Wangji sensed his hesitation: "Wei Ying, would you like to eat something else?"

Wuxian's eyes widened and he shook his head: "No.. No.. It looks delicious. Thank you."

Wuxian tightened his grip on his chopsticks and took a deep breath. If he ate this fast enough maybe he won't get sick from it.

He chugged his food with gusto and when they started their trip again, he regretted it. Sizhui switched with Wen Ning and was now sitting quietly with him in the carriage. He noticed his father was wincing, covering his mouth from time to time and looked paler than usual. Sizhui: "Father, would you like us to take a break?"

Wuxian shook his head and laid down. Maybe if he napped this disgusting feeling will go away. His mouth tasted like blood even though he hasn't eaten any meat so far today. A few minutes into his nap, he woke up with bile making its way up his throat. He covered his mouth and with urgency slammed his hand on the side of the carriage to make it stop. The moment it halted, he fell off of the wooden box into the ground and threw up all the food he ate for the day.

He felt cold sweat cover his brow and couldn't stop dry heaving when nothing else was left in his stomach. Healer Shi places a wet cool cloth at the nape of his neck while Wangji rubbed his back until he was done. Sizhui handed him water to rinse his mouth and when he spat it out it was filled with blood. Healer Shi turned to look at the stuff that came out of Wuxian only to find that most of it was tinted with blood.

Healer Shi grabbed his chin and tilted his head back: "Open your mouth please."

Wuxian followed her order. Healer Shi frowned: "Your gums are bleeding. You've been swallowing it with your food. That's probably what's making you nauseous."

Wuxian blinked slowly at her then said with a hoarse voice: "How do we fix this?"

They helped Wuxian back into the carriage and she opened the big box and took out a jar of honey: "Take this and rub it into your gums to mask the metallic taste for now. It should help mend them as well."

Wangji looked worriedly at Wuxian when he laid back down and closed his eyes in exhaustion: "You said he shouldn't skip meals."

Healer Shi: "We shouldn't force him when he's nauseous. Maybe after he rests for a bit, he can try again."

They left Wuxian under Sizhui's care once more while he slept. Wuxian didn't feel any better during the first day or the second. He couldn't stomach anything and even when he forced himself to eat, it just ended up a few minutes later back out and on the ground. Da Ziran stopped moving that morning which freaked out Kaoji who was sitting with Wuxian. He whispered loudly, as to not disturb the resting man, out the carriage window to Wangji: "Hanguang Jun, something is wrong with the snake!"