Chapter Four: The Girl from the Mountains
Three days later a faint mist clung to the village that morning, the crisp mountain air carrying the scent of damp earth and pine. Inside his home, Alexei sat cross-legged, his breathing slow and measured as he guided the flow of Qi through his body. His recent breakthrough had opened new pathways within him, refining his energy in ways he was only beginning to understand.
The past three days had been spent in quiet cultivation, reinforcing his control over the suction force he had awakened. He had experimented with Qi-infused mixtures, testing their effects on his own body. Though crude, his methods showed promise.
But just as he was settling into his meditation, a sharp knock echoed through his cabin.
His eyes snapped open. Looking forwards to his first patient in a long time.
Rising to his feet, Alexei moved to the door, unlatching it to reveal an older man—one of the village hunters. His face was lined with concern, and in his arms lay a girl, no older than fifteen, her body limp and pale.
"We found her in the mountains," the hunter said, voice low. "She was unconscious when we got to her. No wounds, frostbite or fever. But, she won't wake up"
Alexei's brows furrowed as he took the girl into his arms. Her breathing was shallow, her skin clammy, yet beneath the surface, he could sense something familiar—a faint trace of Qi, flickering weakly, as if struggling to stay lit.
He stepped aside, motioning for the hunter to enter. "Set her here."
Gently, he placed the girl onto a small cot near the fireplace.
The hunter watched with uneasy eyes. "She was alone up there. No sign of a camp, no tracks leading to her. It's strange."
Alexei nodded absently, already focusing on the girl's condition. He pressed two fingers to her wrist, channeling the faintest thread of Qi into her to probe her state. Immediately, a wave of heat pulsed against his energy—wild, unstable.
She was a cultivator.
The revelation made his chest tighten. Cultivators were still rare, especially in these remote areas. Where had she come from?
No time for that now. He needed to act.
Moving swiftly, Alexei gathered herbs from his shelves—heating agents, stabilizers, and an unknown instinct told him to add spices. He crushed them into a fine paste, focusing his energy just as he had learned three nights ago.
This time, his control was sharper. His Qi merged seamlessly with the mixture, strengthening its effects.
Sitting beside her, he carefully tilted her head up and fed the medicine into her mouth. She swallowed weakly.
Then, her body shuddered.
A wave of scalding heat burst from her, forcing Alexei to step back. Her skin flushed, her breathing turned ragged.
Without hesitation, he prepared another dose, refining it with more Qi before feeding it to her again. The heat flared once more, her body trembling violently—but after a moment, the heat receded slightly.
Again.
And again.
Each dose he gave her increased the heat, but he didnt stop.
Then, as he was making another mixture—
A weak cough broke the silence.
His gaze snapped toward the girl just as her eyelids fluttered open, revealing red and silver eyes burning with intensity.
For a long moment, she simply stared at him, her breath still uneven but no longer labored.
Then, in a hoarse voice, she asked,
"…Are you an Alchemist?"