Ling Hong returned to his hut.
The hut was made of earth and stone, the same style as the Clan Leader's, though slightly smaller. It was moderately sturdy. Given the level of civilization in this world, it was already considered a mansion.
The moment he turned and entered the hut, his expression changed drastically. Large beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his face turned pale and weak.
Ling Hong gasped for breath. He slumped down, his back against the cold, hard wall, and folded his long legs. Beneath him was a soft pile of dry straw.
The snake venom was spreading from the wound throughout his body. The purplish-blue mark on his arm began to expand.
Ling Hong knew all too well that if he let the poison continue to spread, he would, at best, lose the arm. At worst, his life would be in danger.
He took out a sharp stone tool, intending to carve out the dead flesh around the wound.
He could lose an arm, but he would not allow himself to die from a mere snake's venom.
The instant the stone blade fell, someone stopped him.
"Wait, I have a way."
A gust of wind swept in, and a small, thin, dark-skinned figure appeared before him. Her hands were clamped tightly around the sharp stone tool he was about to bring down, and red marks were cut into her palms.
Ling Hong frowned at the familiar female before him. "Get out!"
His voice was glacial, as if tempered in ice.
He had no fondness for the female in front of him. If she hadn't been so foolish as to get caught and taken away by a Wandering Beast, he would never have accepted the mission to retrieve her.
Finding her was just a pretense. In reality, it was just a scheme by the Clan Leader, who wanted to use her to get rid of him.
Females were rare, but she was still just one person. She wasn't worth the tribe's number one warrior leading a group of men to risk their lives for her rescue. What's more, this female had been foolish since childhood, frail and sickly. It was a miracle she had even lived to adulthood, let alone whether she could even bear children.
To be so grievously injured for such a worthless person was, to him, a great insult.
Ling Hong shoved the female away with great force. An Jin slammed right into the wall, her head ringing from the impact.
"Sss—"
'Damn it, that hurts like hell...'
An Jin staggered to her feet, clutching her head. When Ling Hong let his guard down, she gritted her teeth and lunged at him again, just like the foolish madwoman from the rumors.
She sank her teeth into his flesh, biting down hard. Ling Hong let out a pained grunt and viciously grabbed her dry, dark hair, trying to tear the mad female off him.
But her teeth were abnormally sharp, and every time he pulled, he tore at his own flesh.
The female clung to him with a beast-like, desperate ferocity. But beneath her tangled mess of long hair, her eyes were clear and calm, nothing like those of a madwoman.
While the man was desperately trying to free himself, her thin, dark fingers fumbled on the ground. She grabbed the sharp stone tool that had fallen, then twisted her body to dodge his attack and made a bleeding cut on his fair arm with a backhanded slash.
The cut was made right where the snake venom had begun to spread.
"Don't move. I'm drawing out the poison."
Unexpectedly, the girl's voice was calm and composed, filled with an unquestionable resolve.
Ling Hong froze for a moment.
Perhaps he was stunned by her, but he actually didn't move.
He watched as a stream of dark red blood flowed from his arm.
The dark red blood splattered onto the ground, drop by drop, and the blackness spreading from his wrist began to fade... 'She's really drawing out the poison?!'
He was taken aback.
Then, the girl tore a strip from her own clothes. She tied the tough piece of animal hide tightly above the snakebite, toward the heart.
Next, An Jin leaned forward. Ling Hong was now completely stunned and didn't resist her approach.
Without wasting a moment, she lifted his arm, placed her lips over the wound, and began sucking out the snake venom. She spat it out, mouthful by mouthful, rinsing her mouth with water from a nearby stone basin.
'In such primitive conditions, with no suction device, using my mouth is the most reckless method. I have to clean my mouth out thoroughly and immediately.'
"If you want to walk out of this hut in one piece, then you'll listen to me. Don't move. I'll heal you!"
An Jin stood up and wiped the tainted blood from her lips. Though she looked like a small, thin, dark-skinned beggar, the sharp, confident glint in her eyes was undeniable.
An Jin picked up a stone bowl and walked outside. "Clean the wound yourself. I'm going out to gather some herbs for you. Don't move while I'm gone, or the remaining poison might spread."
As soon as she finished speaking, her small figure disappeared from the doorway.
In truth, meddling was not in An Jin's nature. The man's life or death should have had nothing to do with her.
But after she received the original owner's memories, she discovered that the original owner... wasn't very bright. She had been tricked by a Snake Beast into becoming its mate, which in turn had implicated Ling Hong.
Since she had inherited this body and would have to live in it for the time being, she might as well help pay off some of its debts.
Besides, she couldn't go back to where she came from anyway. Having someone owe her a favor was better than nothing.
But as she turned and left so coolly, she didn't notice the sheer shock flowing through the green eyes of the man behind her.