Taking the other ingredients I brought with me, I mix them all together in a container before dumping the last part—the dust of the Wilka horn.
The mixture bubbles as it mixes and becomes homogeneous.
Moe gives me an encouraging nod as I bring the container to my lips.
The cool brew touches my tongue, the taste bitter and sweet at the same time. I down it all in one go. That wasn’t so bad…
Then my eyes roll back and I fall.
The temperatureof my body reaches a pinnacle. Sweat clings to me, leaving no part untouched. It beads onto my forehead, and drops make their way down my face. My lashes are heavy, the salt drops making my eyes itch.
I twist and turn as a wave of pain ricochets through me. It starts with a wave of heat around my brain, moving to my ears as a loud tingling. As if it had a mind of its own, it continues down my throat, into my chest and arms before going lower into my pelvis and legs.
A cold compress is pressed against my forehead. It taps gently against my skin, trying to take away some of this scorching heat.
It’s almost as if a storm of fire rages through my veins, cleansing them, purifying them.
It must be working, I think somewhere deep in my mind.This feeling must be my meridians getting cleansed.
That thought becomes a mantra that helps me through the successive bouts of pain. I vaguely remember turning to the side and retching as more of the blockage gets removed. Through hazy eyes, I see black impurities on the ground.
Those…they’re from my body. Thousands of years worth of blockage have to be eliminated in one go. The black tar comes from deep within me, from every faulty meridian.
I’m not sure how many rounds of this I go through. I only know that with each time, I feel lighter.
My throat is ragged from eliminating all this black tar. My body is simply exhausted from trying to clean itself.
But it keeps going.
Time and time again, until less and less black impurities come out.
When I’ve stopped throwing up, the temperature of my body starts stabilizing. I’m not longer sweating as much as before, nor am I so dizzy.
The haze over my mind starts dissipating until only the echo of the pain remains.
A comfortable lull settles within me and I let out a content sigh.
I don’t know how much time has passed or how long I’ve been in this wretched state. But in spite of how badly I suffered, expelling all that black tar and expunging all the dirt from my meridians, this current state is worth it. There’s a quietness that wasn’t there before. My mind is at peace, content with just being.
My body feels much lighter, as if I could move from one stop to another with a mere thought. A door of potential opens in front of me, and just thinking of the opportunities before me right now makes me euphoric.
It worked.Those words loop in my mind.
Perhaps I had some doubts before. But now I’m certain.
I’m finally free.
My mind starts to register my surroundings again. I’m no longer foggy and delirious. But with this new clarity comes another feeling.
I frown. The word euphoria keeps repeating in my mind, though I’m not sure why. Every single thing I feel, I relate to it: pleasure, euphoria, dopamine.
A tingling sensation arises in my lower stomach, like a colony of ants has made its home there.
“Ah!” I cry out.
My eyes snap open. I’m on my back, and above me is the damp ceiling of the cave.
Craning my neck, I glance downward. I’m fully naked.
