Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 116: Healing the Tribe Leader’s Son

A bright smile flashed across Gorn’s face. Allo stood watching. His face showed nothing. Visha wasn’t sure whether he was truly indifferent, but it was none of her concern. What she needed to do now was help Korin get better.

"You know what ritual to perform?" asked Allo.

Visha looked at him and shook her head, "We don’t need a ritual. I have another way to make him feel better."

She looked directly at Gorn. "The cure isn’t a ceremony. It’s a cleansing. We need to draw out the poison. Do you trade white mud with the River Clan?"

Gorn was confused but answered in the affirmative. Allo stood there listening to Visha as she told Gorn what to do.

"Okay. I need you to get me some hot water first. Place it in a cup. I’m going to make some tea for him to drink. Then I need you to get some of the white mud. Enough to cover his chest and back. I’ll take care of the rest," Visha said.

Gorn didn’t hesitate. It could be seen that this was his last hope. He didn’t question anything Visha told him; he only knew that there was a chance for his son. Even if the ingredients didn’t make sense to him.

Uri and Xeno stood outside. They didn’t enter the dwelling. But they heard everything, and they saw Gorn rushing out. They didn’t move from the door. They waited for Visha to let them know it was safe to come in.

Korin, who was lying on the bed, had his eyes closed. Visha looked at him, monitoring his breathing. Korin looked as if he were on his last leg, and to be honest, he might be. He was lucky that Gorn was willing to ask for help when he did.

Allo stayed in the room. Not saying anything. He listened to what Visha asked Gorn to do. None of it made sense to him. What was the use of mud and tea? He questioned what kind of priestess Visha was. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

Finally, Allo spoke, "Mud... and water. Is that your solution?" His voice sounded raspy. Different from the low tone before.

Visha turned towards him when she heard him talk. She nodded, not wanting to get into more details right now. She took various herbs from her pouch and placed them at the foot of the bed.

Silvervein grass, dawnpetal, and clearroot, all of which were dried. She took out her mortar and pestle and began mashing the dried herbs to make a powder.

"Stop!" came Allo’s voice.

Visha turned slowly, her eyes looked at him with indifference. She knew he was arrogant. Every priest had their pride. Visha knew this. She also knew Allow wasn’t a bad person, just overconfident. She turned around, still crushing the herbs.

"What do you not agree with?" Visha didn’t wait for him to question her. She made sure to ask instead.

Allo paused momentarily, "I don’t believe mud and water can cure him. I have performed multiple rituals, blessing and ceremonies. None of them has worked. At most, it has given some vitality. Why do you think your method would work?"

"All things work together in harmony." This simple statement held the weight of the world.

Ever since knowing about the lore of the first beast, she thought about the interrupted harmony. As she read the Hearth-Keeper’s book, it kept mentioning harmony. The harmony of herbs working together.

The harmony of the world. The very breath that was interrupted was repeated so many times in the Hearth Keeper’s notes that Visha wondered if the Hearth Keeper had something to do with the First Beast. That’s when she started looking at the harmony of herbs rather than just learning pharmacology.

This wasn’t the world she had known before. While she could draw inferences, she could rely on the things she learnt before. So she started focusing on harmony. And that’s when she made a breakthrough.

Using the Rite of Vitality, she could feel the shifts in the air. Over time, she learned to do it without the rite. This is why she closed her eyes when she first examined Korin: she wanted to feel the shift.

"Harmony? What harmony? Where is the connection to the Beast God? Where is the soul?" Allo’s voice cracked. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Soul? I don’t understand. Why would you need a soul to heal someone? Everything we have and are comes from nature. If you give back to nature, it will give back to you." Visha responded.

Allo stared at Visha, trying to understand.

"The white mud is a sponge. It will soak up the poison, but it cannot hold it. Clearroot is the base, silvervein grass cleanses the blood, dawnpetal restores vitality, and gloomcap fungus repairs nerve damage. They all work together to lift and restore. Mistleaf and heartbloom tea strengthen the organs and reduce fever." Visha waited for him to talk.

Allo pursed his lips, unsure of what to say. What he knows from the previous priest is the rituals. The few herbs he does know have always been enough. Hearing her mention what each of these herbs can do, he realized he had been looking at things the wrong way.

Rather than praying to the Beast God to heal, he should have been looking at the things given by the Beast God around him. These things can be used to help his people. He thought about the other priests who relied on the gifts rather than using the land as Visha had. He wondered if they were all wrong.

"Your method isn’t wrong," Visha said as she poured the powder out of the mortar. "It has always been right. It’s just that there is more than one way to be right. If one thing doesn’t work. Try another."

Not long after Visha finished crushing the herbs and talking to Allo, Gorn came back in. Behind him were two Stone-horn females. Their eyes scanned Visha as she walked towards them.

She didn’t pay much attention to them. She thought they were here to help with Korin.

Gorn handed Visha a wooden cup. She placed the Mistleaf and Heartbloom in a homemade tea bag and placed it in the water to steep. The two women who had accompanied Gorn had gone to stand outside.

Visha looked at the large tub of white mud. Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the small bowl in Gorn’s hand. She didn’t stand on ceremony and took the amount of white mud she needed, then added the powder and some spring water she had previously collected to the mud and started mixing.

"Lift him," she said to no one in particular.

Both Allo and Gorn moved to place Korin in a sitting position. As soon as the mud touched him, the young man shivered. His brows furrowed, and he coughed.

As Visha continued to slather the mud on his chest and back, his face relaxed. The coughing was less frequent. The change wasn’t instantaneous, but it was undeniable. His grey face started to regain its colour. His hand tremor subsided.

Everyone in the room heard him take a deep breath.

Gorn, who has lost his composure too many times to count, didn’t care if anyone saw him at this moment. His grin was wide, his body was jittery. He watched his son breathe without pain for the first time in a long time.

He was still holding his son and shaking. But he insisted on giving Visha a deep bow. "You have rescued my son. I owe you a debt of gratitude. My people are grateful for your assistance. You are the Stone-horns benefactor. If you ever need anything. You only need to ask."

"You don’t need to be so formal. You’ve already talked to Uri about a trade. I don’t need anything else." Visha said softly.

Visha knew she wasn’t being kind. She expected that saying those words would make them feel even more indebted. Especially after she finished healing all the rest of the people in the Stone-horn tribe who were affected by this illness.