Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 388 - 14 - The Emerging Shadow Again_1

Chapter 388: Chapter 14 - The Emerging Shadow Again_1

"And so, a task has been set." The three of them bid farewell to a group of Beastmen and returned to their original flower viewing spot. The scene wasn’t much different from when they left; Freya was watching the children, stretching out her legs and leaning against a tree. The trio being watched, Annie and the twin sisters, had already forgotten about the small animals that ran away. They were frolicking around the tree, occasionally picking up pink petals from the ground and throwing them at each other, resulting in everyone’s hair being speckled with fragments of flowers. The twin maids watched this heartwarming scene enviously while arranging cutlery on a spread white cloth. According to tradition, the early spring festival would end after they enjoyed flowers for a few more hours in the afternoon. Before sunset, everyone could head home. When they got back, Catherine sat down next to the white cloth and told Freya, "The reward is a piece of Night Bear Hide."

"Night Bear Hide? That’s indeed a good thing," Freya said enviously, "What are you going to do with it? Sell it?"

"Speaking of Night Bear Hide, Pannis, I haven’t asked you yet." Catherine turned to Pannis and asked, "Why did you suddenly refuse the Beastman’s suggestion to help process the hide?"

"I can do it myself, so there’s no need to let them handle it. My insistence on processing it myself, firstly, comes from a lack of trust in their skills." Pannis explained, "The quality of the Night Bear Hide directly impacts the quality of the final product. Even the slightest nuance can cause significant differences in the potency of the armor. I would feel more secure handling it myself. Secondly, and most crucially, those fools aren’t capable of processing a Night Bear Hide properly. After it passes through their hands, the processed hide can at most be used to make one piece of armor, but an adult Night Bear is quite large and, if processed correctly, the hide can make two pieces of armor. It’s not that they’re deliberately skimming off the top, but the different processing skills result in different outcomes."

"You..." Catherine asked, "You can process it?"

"Yes, I learned the top-shelf techniques of leatherworking and blacksmithing from the Beastman master craftsman," Pannis replied with a grin, "It’s just a small trick."

The phrase ’small trick’ filled Catherine with a sense of familiarity and affection. Unable to hold back her smile, she nodded with relief and said, "Since you’re so confident, once we get the bear hide from completing the task, I’ll leave everything else to you."

"Hey, you guys come over and look, something’s wrong with Vivian." After the three of them returned, Lina volunteered to wake Vivian. However, a sudden alarming shout made everyone feel an ominous sense of dread.

"What’s the matter?" In her panic, Catherine immediately activated her Charge skill and dashed to Lina’s side, directly overturning the tent, "What happened to Vivian?"

As soon as she finished asking the question, Catherine saw Vivian’s face. Vivian, like usual, was lying down deep in sleep. However, Catherine was horrified to find that Vivian’s complexion had turned pale, her lips were turning purple and black, her breathing was feeble, and she looked as though she might die at any moment.

"Calm down, Catherine." Pannis patted Catherine’s shoulder from behind, "Give way, I’ll check on her."

Catherine looked blankly as Lina checked Vivian’s breathing. She turned her gaze to Pannis before stepping aside, her lips trembling, unable to speak. Pannis disregarded any potential rebuttal, stepped over, and immediately checked Vivian’s condition. He pulled off the glove that she always wore to reveal shriveled hands that were also turning pale, and her fingernails had turned as dark as her lips.

Pannis’s expression became grave. He extended two fingers intending to check Vivian’s pulse from her neck, but just as he was about to do so, he noticed that Vivian’s complexion was returning to normal rapidly. The color around her lips and fingers was returning to normal and aside from the fact that her clothes had been soaked with sweat, nothing else seemed to be wrong. Even so, Pannis didn’t hesitate to place his fingers on her neck and check her heartbeat, which was beating furiously as though she had just finished a long run.

"What are you guys doing?" Vivian suddenly opened her eyes, looking puzzled, "Suddenly surrounding my bed, especially you, Pannis. Can you no longer resist? Are you planning to take advantage of me while I’m asleep? I’m so scared, you frightened me."

Pannis’s lip twitched as he sorted through the problematic statement. Lina, on the other hand, chose a much more direct way to retaliate, swiping a punch at Vivian’s head and resorting to violence to resolve everything, "Are you an idiot? Can you still joke around right now? Do you know what just happened to you?"

"I woke up the moment you screamed." Vivian countered innocently, "I was getting ready to wake up when Sister turned the tent over. You know, I always need a few minutes to transition from waking up to getting out of bed, that’s normal, right?"

"Normal my foot." Lina fumed, grabbing Vivian by the collar, "Do you know your face was turning as purple as a Leolian fruit just now? Are you going to tell me that’s normal too?"

"It’s totally normal." Vivian waved it off nonchalantly, "You’re just being overly worried. Look at me, am I not perfectly fine? Nothing happened, alright? I always wake up from deep sleep like this, don’t worry. This time might’ve been a bit worse but I guess it’s because there’s too much pollen around here, it affected my breathing temporarily. It doesn’t matter though, I’ll be fine once we leave this place tonight, and you can check on me again then if it makes you feel better, okay?"

"Is that so?" Lina seemed unsure, looking sceptically at Vivian’s face, "Don’t you dare push yourself if there is something wrong."

"There’s nothing wrong, nothing at all." Vivian got up and took a few steps, then turned back around and said, "See, I’m fine, right? Don’t worry, I know my own body very well. Even if I were to die, it wouldn’t happen so quickly."

"Something’s not right." Lina shook her head violently, "Normally if anything is going wrong with you, you would definitely freak out. You’ve never ever been this nonchalant about it."

"You’re so annoying, take this Explosive Flame Spell!" Without warning, Vivian threw a huge fireball at Lina. Lina had no time to prepare, and got hit by the fireball straight in the face, leaving her pale complexion scorched, "Hahaha, you idiot Lina, it’s exactly because I’m not worried, that’s why I’m saying nothing happened."

"You... big... idiot..." Lina’s blackened face had two sparkling stars on it, they were her eyes filled with murderous intent, "It looks like you’ve forgotten your fear of me since I haven’t disciplined you in a few days. Idiot, stay right there, I am going to pinch your face till it swells."

"Who says I’m scared of you?" Vivian flipped her hair with an exaggerated flourish, though her words said she wasn’t scared, she swiftly turned and sprinted around the tree, "I’m not an idiot like Pannis, who would stand there waiting to be pinched."

"Hey." Pannis, his head lowered in thought, was suddenly appointed the role of the fool. He looked up with an expression of mild discontent and said, "I haven’t done anything. Why am I always the target of your games?"

"Hahaha." The two girls laughed brightly, disregarding his complaints, and began their daily chase around the tree.

Pannis didn’t say anything else, his thoughtful gaze resting on Vivian nearby. He sighed gently. As he raised his head, he met Catherine’s reddening eyes and could only muster a bitter smile.

"It hasn’t started to worsen, has it?" Catherine asked Pannis in a hopeful tone, "Is it really as she says, that the strong scent simply made it difficult for her to breathe?"

"Although the scent contributed to it, unfortunately, there has been a slight deterioration." Patting Catherine on the back, Pannis said in a soft voice, "Her symptoms just now tell me that her heart had most likely stopped beating."

Catherine stiffened and asked despairingly with her eyes closed, "Is there no hope?"

"No, it’s not as soon as you think." Pannis shook his head, comforting her, "If nothing unexpected happens, she could hold on for two to three more years. The frequency of such incidents will increase over time, but at least for one more year, there’s not much to worry about."

"So, you’re saying I should start worrying after that year?" Catherine glanced at the others, putting on a seemingly normal smile. She wiped her eyes while pretending to yawn, then murmured, "Just over a year left, is it?"

"I remember making a promise." Pannis said, "I told you I’d do everything I can to find a cure for her. Don’t you believe me?"

"I want to believe you, but the time is too short." Catherine said with a bitter smile, "Even if you come up with something, it might not be in time. So many people have tried to diagnose Vivian before and they haven’t been successful. Can you really do it?"

"Never question a man’s abilities." Pannis said, laughing heartily with his hands on his hips. His laughter was quickly subdued by a kick from Catherine, and he grumbles, "Actually, I have already come up with a solution."

"Why didn’t you say so earlier?" Catherine’s eyes widened as she asked in a controlled voice, "What’s the solution?"

"I can’t disclose it just yet." Pannis shook his head, "But I can promise you that things are moving in the right direction and everything is going well. All we need now is luck. If fortune is on our side, we should be able to beat the clock."

"And if our luck runs out?" Catherine pressed.

"Then it is her fate." Pannis responded, "A destiny that no one can alter."

"Then, what should we do to help?" Catherine inquired.

"Just carry on as usual, working and living as if nothing has changed." Pannis advised, "Work hard, girl. Vivian’s life is in our hands."

"Really?" Catherine asked skeptically, "Are you sure you’re not just trying to console me?"

"Of course, when have I ever lied to you?"

Catherine gave him a playful smile.

"Okay, when have I ever lied to you about something serious?"

"Catherine kept up her playful smile."

"Um, I promise that I have not lied to you on this matter."

"I believe you." Catherine suddenly raised her voice, "Have you two had enough fun? If so, come back here and start packing up. We’re about to leave. Especially you, Vivian. You knew that the fragrance from the flowers affects you, yet you’ve been running around beneath the tree. Sit down and behave." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read).