Truthful Transmigration

Chapter 552 552

Everyone had departed the ship on John's orders. Most had likely determined the issue without explanation, but he figured he should be thorough.

"Virulent poison has been released," John said as he stopped blood from flowing out of Rukiye's arm. He couldn't immediately isolate just the dangerous compounds, so he had to stop the spread. "Isolate the room, contain the airflow, and stop the ship."

After her initial cry of pain, Rukiye had only made grunting sounds as her muscles spasmed. John hoped it was because the pain wasn't that bad, but it could be stubbornness.

With blood flow stopped, he wouldn't have long. After a minute or two, the arm would be damaged just as much by the lack of blood as by the poison. Of course, that was only because the amount was so small. He'd mostly prevented the worst case scenario as he watched over his apprentice.

Even a small puff of the powder- reacting with the steam from the boiled leaves, perhaps- had rapidly infiltrated past Rukiye's skin. It seemed drawn to the blood somehow, and the muscle beneath. Unfortunately, it blended in well enough that he couldn't pick it out with his spiritual energy. He scanned back and forth, trying to find anything… then he relaxed.

Aggressively looking for a small animal in a forest… if it was part of the forest, how would he ever find it? Likewise, if it didn't belong, how could he not? A gentler form of sensing, leaving himself open to the six elements… but only in a very small area.

Earth. Both the natural elements that made up Rukiye's body and the effort she had made in Diamond Defense. She had reached initial completion, the state that the original Tenebach clan records would have considered the end of things. But of course, it could always be taken further.

Fire. The heat of her body, the shifting state of living cells. Water and air were both directly their namesakes as well as fluidity and motion. Light and darkness in the body were more vague, but any balanced and opposite parts that held in tension were the clearest example.

John had an example of Rukiye's healthy left arm. Comparing to its mirror, everything appeared much the same from a great height, but he focused on any concentrations that seemed abnormal. Most were momentary changes. Some was Rukiye herself trying to act.

Her body itself wanted to remove the poisons, even if it didn't have the capability. She wanted to aid with her own spiritual energy, but her focus was distorted by the first poison.

That first toxin was already in her head- John wouldn't touch it for the moment, as long as she appeared stable. It was easier to find but he might not safely eliminate it.

Rukiye's immune response was activating rapidly, but it was concentrated along a smaller path. John focused on those areas to find first the symptoms of the greater toxin. Muscular spasms. Monitoring the body on the level of individual chemicals that activated cells was nearly impossible even for John, but he didn't need to do that. He could work at a slight distance, as long as he found the elemental balance of what he wanted. He did have direct examples on the ship.

It was fairly resistant to being sensed, as one might expect. It had been brought by proper assassins to kill them, after all. Ones that seemed to have real expectations of the threat they needed. If John hadn't been watching Rukiye buy the poison or begin to prepare it… he might not have noticed the danger. Or at least, not fast enough.

John eased up slightly. He realized he might be compressing Rukiye's arm, causing her further pain. And, because he didn't have all the information, he couldn't quite act. Meanwhile, Rukiye could barely control her own energy.

He reached out, gently, wrapping his energy around her like a comforting arm around the shoulder while their physical bodies were sitting atop the river, his hands clutching her arm much less comfortably. Then he guided her energy, providing power, amplifying motion. Their compatibility… she claimed to hate him, and their innate elemental compatibility was probably below average. But it seemed she trusted him enough to accept his attempt.

The young woman was clumsy as she tried to fight off the toxins. John had to spend more energy protecting her body than on any other task. He did let her destroy individual cells- tens, hundreds, thousands… it was all fine as long as she didn't destroy a large volume at once. Whatever she was targeting, she tried to squeeze out of her arm. He helped move the whole mass- tiny droplets, at human size. Barely discernible. It departed the same way the poison initially came, through sweat glands and other pores. Reversing the flow through capillaries was simple enough.

As he clutched it, Rukiye's arm continued to spasm… but at some point she relaxed.

"Ugh…" she said. "I think…"

Her head slumped. John had to make his own swift determination of her fitness. He interpreted small electrical signals- he had modified his own to improve his reactions, so he wasn't entirely unfamiliar. He couldn't truly read them, but the intensity was far less than before. The pain wasn't spiking and should fade. So he hoped. He allowed her blood to flow once more. Then he gave Rukiye as many healing pills as he thought wise. Some minor side effects over the next week or month would be acceptable if he eradicated further risk at the moment.

A cultivator from the Breathless Plains caught John's eye. "Should we remove the poison from the kitchens, now?"

"Take it directly outside, preferably without unfreezing it." John ordered. "No passage through any of the rest of the ship. Make new holes if you have to. Then seal it in whatever way you find appropriate."

Even that small pouch could probably kill hundreds or thousands of people downstream- perhaps more. Cultivation was amazing in some ways, but John knew that the intensified toxins were also a result of spiritual energy during the growth process. Though it might not be so bad unless intentionally harvested.

"I have another matter to attend to," John commented. He had lost track of the assassins during that moment… but how far could they have gone? They were at most a few hours away via the ship… minutes now. Could they have so perfectly erased their traces, when he already knew their energy signatures?

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John raced downriver, creating a single small stream to carry him faster than he could fly. He did have to consider further poisons upon his arrival, but he could still afford to use more spiritual energy. For all the delicacy of his work with Rukiye, the actual power he used was negligible.

He allowed his foes one moment to believe that he might have lost them. He even was kind enough to almost stick his head in the room they had abandoned. Of course, he would later treat the whole building as a biohazard zone, until proven otherwise.

Then his spiritual energy faded into the natural background, and he began to move once more. His quarry hadn't run- how could they? Hiding was the correct call, because running would have revealed them more easily. Their only real chance had been to hide. But… the woman who was their leader was still only an Ascending Soul Phase cultivator. Her techniques were decent, but John had seen the best.

The river ran red with the blood of all but the leader before she even noticed. It was a decent hiding place, truth be told. The highest concentration of spiritual energy, both freefloating and in the various creatures. Sadly, their trail gave them away. Another hour, perhaps, and he would have lost them- but they hadn't immediately left town after Rukiye purchased her poison. Instead, they had seemingly been monitoring John's overall energy. A decent cultivator could feel Exalted Soul Phase cultivators from a hundred kilometers off, after all. At least, if they weren't hiding.

John eradicated the woman's dantian and the core of her spiritual energy in a single blow- along with a good portion of her abdomen. He did specifically avoid the muscles required to move her diaphragm, so she would be able to talk. Obviously she would die with the damage he did, but not that quickly. Especially not if he slowed the rate she would bleed out.

He dragged her up onto land, dumping her against a tree. "Leaving already? I didn't even offer you tea."

John held up a pair of pouches he had grabbed from the rooms they had been occupying.

"A threat to kill me?" she spoke coarsely. Just because John had left her ability to speak intact didn't mean it would be pleasant. "I'm dead already."

"Not kill you," John said. "Just enough for it to hurt."

"I'm immune," she said.

"Really?" John raised an eyebrow. "I've trained my own poison resistance. Let's find out if you're telling the truth."

Immunity to a toxin was… an ideal. One could be practically immune to certain toxins. John had reached that state for many things… as long as the doses were anywhere close to typical. But he had a quantity of poison that seemed similar to what had been meant to poison an entire ship including an Exalted Soul Phase cultivator. He would have enough for her.

But he actually didn't think she was resistant at all. It might be a ploy to speed up her death.

He started small, controlling the air in a large area. He battered the poison's fumes around with his spiritual energy. He began first with the tea. Not too much, though. It dulled the senses and the mind. She needed to be able to think for him to get information.

Torture… wasn't one of John's preferred methods to do anything. He just wanted some information. But he got little more than a few words out of her before she died a short time later. Of course, what was in the cultivator's personal belongings was more telling- and he knew their spiritual energy. And to some extent, he could already determine what region they would have been from.

The only questions after that were who else was working with them. John could go and annihilate an entire species of plants- it might be for the best to eradicate such a poison- but he wanted to know who outside of the region might still be trying to assassinate him. Probably several different groups. This had been the only plan with merit, so far.

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John was pleased that, just a few hours later, Rukiye had him gather together the entire company. Then, she threw herself face down on the dirt. "I have placed everyone in great danger, and I admit my faults. Please… know that it wasn't my intention to harm any of you."

John couldn't help but interrupt. "Except me, of course."

Rukiye hesitated for a moment, even though she loved to say she wanted to kill him. "Yes. Naturally. But I…" she looked towards the others. "I just wanted you to hear my intentions before… before my end." She bowed her head to the ground, trembling.

Ah, yes. She certainly had brought great danger to other people. John had nearly forgotten with everything that happened.

What should a leader do here? He first took stock of his people, analyzing their mood. He was pleased at their looks of displeasure- not with Rukiye, exactly. In short, John hadn't brought the sort of people that would wish harm upon a foolish girl.

"I do recall that the terms of our agreement mean your death if you harm any of my companions," John said. "So I must ask them… were any of you harmed?"

His tone of voice was leading them towards the answer he wanted.

Renato was the only one who spoke. "You two were the only ones who entered the room."

John nodded. "So it happened. However, that does not mean Rukiye's actions can go unpunished. Intentions are one thing, but foreseeable consequences… should be considered."

She raised her head. "I didn't-"

"You didn't think about who was selling you those poisons. Or why they were so cheap."

John looked down on her sternly. She could have provided other excuses. He had an inkling that she might have truly been aiming for poisons in that price range, knowing they would be insufficient.

"It can't be risked again."

"I understand, Master John," she bowed to the ground once more. Tears streamed down her face. For herself? Her mother?

John would find out later.

"Your avenues will be significantly restricted. Any signs of you attempting to obtain more poisons or colluding with suspicious figures will be deemed a breach of the contract and an end to your life."

The area was silent- except for the pleasant sound of the river nearby and chirping birds ruining the scene.

"This means you will continue to live, for now. But if you want your revenge… you'll simply have to grow strong enough to kill me conventionally."

Or to break his rules without getting caught, in which case she would have to be far stronger- and more mature. But unless he was fooling himself, John honestly found it less and less likely that she was actually going to actually try to kill him. But maybe he'd prove himself a poor judge of people- or he was more horrific than he thought such that a kind young woman would still want to kill him after she actually knew him.

John was trying to angle things more towards forgiveness, though. He still wanted to believe he was a good person overall.