The group remained silent for a long moment, their breaths heavy, their limbs ag with exhaustion. The st of blood and venom still hung thi the air, and the dim light barely illumihe still form of the Venomfang.

  Feiyin exhaled, rolling his shoulders as he tried to steady his trembling arms. His body was still humming from the adrenaline, but he forced himself to stay posed. They had survived—but just barely.

  A quiet voice broke the silence.

  “That was… impressive.”

  Feiyin turo see a boy stepping forward, cautious but posed. He looked to be around ten years old, slightly older than Feiyin, with ly cropped hair and sharp, analytical eyes. His clothes, though dirtied from their captivity, had the faint remnants of fiitg, hinting at a more structured background.

  “My name is Shen Mu,” the boy introduced himself. “We spoke earlier about mushrooms.”

  Feiyin nodded slightly. “Feiyin.”

  Shen Mu’s gaze flicked toward the wounded, his expression tightening. “The venom is potent, but it’s not necessarily fatal if treated correctly.”

  Ren, still clutg his burned shoulder, snorted. “You got a magic cure for it?”

  “Not magic,” Shen Mu said calmly. “Medie. The gallbdder of the Venomfang tains ehat teract its own venom. If we retrieve it, I grind it into a paste and apply it to the wounds. It won’t pletely heal them, but it will slow the spread of the venom ahem recover.”

  The injured children stirred at his words, some clutg their burns, their eyes hopeful despite the pain.

  “The problem,” Shen Mu tinued, gng at the Venomfang, “is that cutting into the beast will be… difficult.”

  Feiyin uood immediately. The Venomfang’s scales were incredibly tough—he had felt it firsthand when attag it. Without ons, it would be almost impossible to cut through the hide arieve the gallbdder.

  A murmur of uainty rippled through the group.

  Feiyin closed his eyes for a moment, fog. He didn’t have a bde. He didn’t have any tools. But he did have his gift.

  His eyes snapped open.

  “Stand back,” he said.

  He approached the beast’s carcass, his hands trag the hardened scales as he extended his osciltion sense. Vibrations pulsed through his fiips, mapping the density of the creature’s flesh. Every scale, every muscle, every tendon—he could feel the oints.

  “There,” he murmured, pinpointing a softer area near its underbelly.

  He needed something sharp. His gaze nded on the Venomfang’s own fangs.

  Without hesitation, he pried one loose, gripping the venom-coated tooth like a crude dagger.

  Shen Mu’s eyebrows rose slightly, but he said nothing.

  Feiyin inhaled deeply, steeling himself.

  With trolled precisioabbed the fang into the beast’s stomach. The first strike barely pierced the surface. Gritting his teeth, he struck again—this time, twisting the fang at the weakest point.

  Bit by bit, the flesh gave way.

  He tinued, methodically cutting through the hide, using his osciltion seo guide each strike. He targeted the ective tissue, the softer yers beh the scales, making calcuted incisions rather than blindly hag away.

  Minutes passed, sweat beading on his forehead, his arms burning from exertion. The smell of blood and acid filled the air.

  Finally—

  “There it is.”

  A sickly green sac, swollen with liquid, led between the beast’s ans. The gallbdder.

  Feiyin carefully extracted it, making sure not to rupture it.

  He turned and ha to Shen Mu. “Will this work?”

  Shen Mu ied it briefly before nodding. “It’s enough.”

  The apothecary’s son moved quickly, finding a ft stoo grind the gallbdder’s tents into a thick paste. He mixed it with some damp soil and the water they had collected, creating a rough but usable oi.

  With Yue assisting him, they carefully applied the paste to the wounds. The children wi the initial sting, but the relief was almost immediate.

  A collective exhale swept through the group.

  The worst had passed.

  As the tension eased, the weight of hunger settled over them.

  They had been running oy for far too long.

  Feiyin looked at the carcass of the Venomfang and made a decision.

  “We’re eating it.”

  The others blinked.

  Yue’s ears perked up. “We eat it?”

  “The flesh isn’t poisonous,” Shen Mu firmed. “Only the venom itself is dangerous. If we avoid the gnds and cook the meat properly, it’ll be safe.”

  Ren cracked his knuckles. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  They worked together, cutting away the best portions of meat. Feiyin and Ren hahe tougher cutting, while Yue helped gather materials to start a fire—dry moss, small bones, anything that could sustain a fme.

  With some effort, they mao create a small cooking pit usied rocks, roasting strips of Venomfa over the embers. The aroma was far from appetizing, but to the starving group, it smelled like salvation.

  As they ate, a quiet but noticeable shift occurred among them.

  For the first time siheir captivity, they weren’t just surviving.

  They were living.

  Laughter, though faint, echoed through the cavern as they shared their meal. Small versations sparked between the children, breaking the heavy silehat had loomed over them siheir capture.

  And then—

  A girl hesitantly approached Ren.

  She was one of the children who had been hit by the venom, though her injuries were minor pared to the others. She had soft brown hair, wide eyes, and a cautious demeanor.

  Ren, who had been focused on chewing his meat, looked up in fusion.

  She fidgeted for a moment before speaking.

  “…Thank you.”

  Ren blinked. “Huh?”

  “For saving me,” she crified. “If you hadn’t pushed me out of the way, I would’ve…”

  She trailed off, her hands g slightly.

  Ren shifted unfortably, gng away. “…It’s nothing.”

  The girl shook her head. “It’s not nothing.”

  She hesitated, then reached out—tentatively dabbing at his injured shoulder with a damp cloth.

  Ren froze.

  “…What are you doing?” he asked, voice oddly stiff.

  “You got hurt because of me,” she said simply. “I should help.”

  Ren was silent, his usual nont demeanor crag just slightly.

  Feiyin and Yue exged gnces.

  Yue smirked. “Aww, Ren, you’re blushing.”

  “I’m not,” Ren said immediately, looking anywhere but at the girl.

  Feiyin snickered but said nothing, merely enjoying the rare sight of Ren looking flustered.

  The girl didn’t press the issue. She tinued dabbing at his wound before him a piece of the cooked Venomfa.

  “…Thanks,” Ren muttered, accepting it.

  For a brief moment, the cave felt less like a prison.

  And more like a home.

  As the embers dimmed and exhaustion began to settle in, Feiyin exhaled deeply, his mind calmer than it had been siheir capture.

  They had food.

  They had allies.

  They had hope.

  But this was only the beginning.

  They had survived orial.

  More would e.

  Feiyin ched his fists.

  And he would be ready.