he still hasnāt given up. walking has become a rather large task for the weakened doctor, and heās upholding himself with one hand on the wall as he shuffles himself slowly forward. his other arm is wrapped about his stomach tightly, as if it will do anything. by now, heās most certainly aware that he must have ingested something poisonous. and as much as heād tried to purge it from his system, too much of it had already likely been absorbed into his body.
a last ditch effort that did him little good, only leaving him with a rolling nausea despite his emptied stomach that has him pausing every so often to stave off the urge to retch.
and unfortunately, something appears to be on his tail, too. thereās a dragging sound against the floor coming from somewhere behind him. he hasnāt looked to find out what, because he doesnāt want to know. the dolls were bad enough, and by now heās barely managed to escape from whatever pieces of art had sprung to life to try and chase him down. he doesnāt have a clue how heās managed to escape their clutches up to this point.Ā
this is awful. the absolute worst.
and whatever is after him now doesnāt intend to give up. every time he has to stop, it gets closer to him.
but squinting ahead he- he thinks he sees an actual human being and in one last determined effort manages to sprint forward with as much might as he can put into the motion.
this person, they look like theyād be able to help him! even if they canāt save him from the poison, he recognizes someone who would more then know their way around in combat. andĀ maybe itās a lot to expect out of a stranger, but he has no other options in the current situation. he has to try, has to hope heās not seeing things or that he hasnāt run across a too-realistic statue.
āh-helpā help me, please. iā i donātā¦ā
but before he even reaches the man completely, his legs give on him altogether, and there he lays collapsed - conscious but too weak to get up even when he tries to push himself up off the floor.
A voice--a rather pathetic and sickly voice--reaches Jiang Chengās ears and he turns towards it, expecting just about what heās faced with. Someone collapsed on the ground, a statue not far in pursuit. In one step, heās standing over the man, reaching down and grabbing him by the back of the shirt to hoist him to his feet. He hooks one arm under both of the strangerās, holding him upright.
ć Get ahold of yourself, ć he scolds, but his actions make it clear that he intends to protect the man. With a flash, the ring on his right hand coils out into his favored whip.Ā ć You ate the food, didnāt you? ć
He flicks his wrist and the whip shoots out, wrapping tightly around the arm of one of the statues and wrenching it into another beside it.Ā ć Can you walk, or do you need me to carry you? ć