The medicine hut was far too quiet.
Mei Man leaned against the wall, able to hear nothing but her own breathing.
Xie Xu had been pushed away by her, and all the aggressive tension in him withdrew as well.
He returned to his usual self, no longer speaking, silent as a mute, doing nothing but staring at her.
Quietly staring at her.
Mei Man was still sitting on his lap.
The taut muscles of his thighs dug uncomfortably into her. She had not noticed it just moments ago, but now that her stomach hurt less, these little details began to irritate her.
She was just about to curse him out and send him away when she suddenly heard footsteps outside.
Mei Man panicked. She hurriedly glanced at the window, afraid someone might suddenly appear there.
Xie Xu’s eyes shifted slightly.
They had been seeing each other for more than half a year, and he had more or less figured out her temperament. Naturally, he also knew where this sudden panic came from.
“Afraid someone will see you?” He leaned forward, almost touching the tip of her nose. His voice was so soft it was nearly a whisper. “Afraid that if someone sees you, they’ll realize that even after coming to a blessed paradise like this, even after finding the path you’ve always wanted, you’re still fooling around with a lowborn nobody?”
“Shut up. Shut up!” Mei Man pushed at him again, but he caught her arm in one hand.
“If you want me to shut up,” he said, “then contradict me.”
Mei Man’s expression darkened, and the heart she had been holding tightly began to tremble. A thread of panic spread through her chest, leaving her unable to speak for a moment.
Yes.
That was exactly what she thought.
She did not want anyone to see her fooling around with him—especially not the people in this immortal estate.
She did not want anyone to discover that even after coming here, her life had not changed in the slightest.
She did not want those people to look her up and down with sidelong glances. She did not want to hear their knowing, malicious laughter.
She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to—
Mei Man’s heart drew so tight that her entire body began to shake, yet she did not loudly curse him, drive him away, or vent her anger and resentment on him, because she could hear the people outside drawing closer. She could even hear them chatting and laughing.
“They’re almost here.” Xie Xu asked in a calm voice devoid of any emotion, “Are they people you know? Might they come into this medicine hut? If they see you, how do you plan to explain yourself?”
His words made her pay even closer attention to the sounds outside. She wished she could identify the people from their footsteps alone and figure out where they were going.
At the same time, she glared darkly at him and asked in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Are you getting revenge?”
“Revenge? What would I be getting revenge for?”
“Revenge on me—”
Mei Man stopped abruptly as the voices outside drew nearer.
They belonged to those two female cultivators. There seemed to be others with them as well, and they were discussing a spiritual art they had just learned. The disciples of the Outer Sect Courtyard were not particularly talented; even the simplest spiritual art required them to go over it again and again before they could learn it.
But even so, at least they were capable of learning.
Mei Man clenched her teeth so hard that a dull ache spread through her head.
She did not know when it had happened, but her vision had grown blurry, and pain was once again churning in her stomach.
It was only when Xie Xu leaned over and wiped her face that she belatedly realized she was crying.
His expressionless fingers gently wiped away her tears. His hand seemed steady, yet at the same time, it seemed to be trembling.
Several shadows fell through the window and stretched across the floor.
Mei Man panicked at once. She did not dare move an inch, feeling as though her blood had nearly frozen, terrified that they might see her.
Fortunately, Xie Xu had only been speaking. He made not the slightest sound as he silently and intently wiped her face.
When the women had finally gone far enough, Mei Man was just about to push him away, but he released her first.
Xie Xu slowly rose to his feet.
Most of his body was swallowed by the dim night, leaving even his face indistinct.
But she could feel his gaze.
“Xie Xu.” Mei Man lowered her head and curled up in the corner, her voice muffled. “Don’t see me again.”
Xie Xu watched her in silence. After a long while, he let out a laugh.
It was so soft, as light as dust drifting through the air before settling without a trace.
He turned and left the medicine hut.
Afraid of running into anyone, Mei Man stayed in the medicine hut for a while longer before finally leaving.
Over the next few days, Chai Qun continued to ignore her as usual. She was too lazy to speak to him either, and she had no intention of asking for the dragon bone he still had in his possession.
Using the last of her medicinal ingredients, she prepared another batch of Sleeping Powder. With her previous experience, she made it quickly this time, even without his help.
When the time came for the spiritual medicine examination, Mei Man had barely entered the classroom when she saw that her desk was empty.
The winter jasmine she had raised was gone.
Mei Man abruptly quickened her pace, only to step into a little water.
She stopped and looked down, following the trail of water. There, she saw several shards of white porcelain and a branch of winter jasmine, crushed nearly beyond recognition beneath someone’s foot.
A shrill buzz exploded in her mind with a sudden roar.
Then she heard laughter.
She looked over.
Chai Qun was shaking a bottle, surrounded by several new friends.
“Chai Qun, you’re something else!” someone said to him. “You actually thought of adding dragon-bone powder to the Sleeping Powder. The effect became much stronger right away. I tested it on a paper puppet, and it slept for an entire night—far more potent than the previous batch!”
Chai Qun tossed the bottle into the air and caught it again, smiling carelessly. “It took me ages to figure out that method. But forget about that for now. Tell me yourselves—how’s the quality of the dragon-bone powder I gave you?”
“Where did you get it? It’s practically a treasure! I went to the spirit market to buy some before, and even after spending a hundred top-grade spirit stones, all I got in exchange was a little fire dragon bone powder. It was only from a creature with a thousand years of cultivation, nowhere near this quality.”
“Only Chai Qun would be generous enough to share something like that.”
“It was just a lucky break.” Chai Qun brought it up as though in passing. “Senior Brother Qiu came to the Outer Sect Courtyard that day. He gave it to me.”
“Senior Brother Qiu gave it to you?!” someone exclaimed at once. “What’s your relationship with Senior Brother Qiu? Do you know each other? Why would he casually give you something so valuable?”
“I’m not sure myself.” Chai Qun was deliberately vague. “Maybe he liked the look of me. Or perhaps our families know each other. Who can say?”
His evasive answer only attracted more attention. The group of cultivators surrounded him, bombarding him with questions about his relationship with the Qiu family.
He was basking in their admiration when Mei Man suddenly pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of him.
A flash of panic crossed Chai Qun’s face, but he quickly regained his composure.
Ignoring her, he calmly began discussing the Sleeping Powder with someone else.
Mei Man did not ask about the Sleeping Powder or the dragon bone. She did not question how he had dared to use the method she had painstakingly tested to curry favor with others.
She asked only, “Did you knock my things over?”
Only then did Chai Qun truly look at her. He seemed somewhat surprised that she had come to him over such a trivial matter.
“What thing?” He followed her gaze. “Oh, that? I thought it was something important. That broken bottle—bottle, I mean. Yes, I knocked it over by accident while looking for something. Don’t blame me. It really wasn’t intentional. I’ll compensate you with another one at worst.”
Mei Man’s face darkened. She glanced at the thing in his hand, then abruptly changed tack.
“Did you make this Sleeping Powder?”
Chai Qun froze. “Yes. What about it?”
“You made it all by yourself?”
His expression remained unchanged as he nodded, as though that were truly the case. “Even though we sit close to each other, that doesn’t mean we have to share our work.”
Mei Man forced out a laugh, then her expression darkened.
“You’d better remember those words,” she said before turning to leave.
Chai Qun paid no attention to her anger. Before long, the immortal master responsible for teaching them alchemy arrived.
The newcomer wore a light cloak, a piece of blue jade hanging from his waist. His features were refined and otherworldly.
His silver hair was as white as frost, and his eyes were shaped like willow leaves. Half of his hair was tied back, the corners of his eyes slightly downturned. His complexion was pale, giving him an aloof, distant air that made him seem difficult to approach.
He was Shen Shushi, the immortal master who taught them how to make spirit medicines.
The other classes were taught by inner-disciples of the Immortal Estate. Only the spirit medicine class was taught by an immortal lord from the estate himself, so Mei Man had put considerable effort into it.
Just like the impression he gave people, Shen Shushi was extremely strict in class. He never smiled, and his standards were exacting.
As soon as he arrived, he got straight to the point. Taking the seat of honor, he began inspecting everyone’s sleeping powder one by one.
The disciples stepped forward in turn and handed over the sleeping powder they had made. Shen Shushi only needed to take a light sniff to judge its quality.
Everyone knew his temperament and held their breath in fear. The first few disciples to go up had faces as pale as sheets as they tremblingly presented their porcelain bottles.
Shen Shushi merely pulled out the stopper—sometimes he did not even bother with that before knitting his brows and delivering his verdict.
“Do it again.”
“Did you break your hands? No? Then why couldn’t you even grind the ingredients properly? I remember telling you to make ‘sleeping powder,’ not to throw everything into a pot and boil porridge.”
“Copy the formula ten times, then do it again.”
“Do it again.”
“The smell and color are both wrong. Compare it against the formula, find where you went wrong, and do it again.”
“…”
As time went on, Shen Shushi’s expression grew increasingly grim. Everyone was practically burying their heads in their desks. Only Chai Qun still held his head high, eagerly waiting for Shen Shushi to inspect his spirit medicine.
Mei Man gave him a dark look.
At last, it was his turn. He sprang forward and presented the sleeping powder with both hands.
“Immortal Master, this is the medicine I made.” His voice was full of unconcealed excitement, and he even pulled out the wooden stopper himself.
At first, Shen Shushi only gave it a cursory glance.
The words “Do it again” were already at the tip of his tongue when he suddenly took the porcelain bottle and rubbed its sides.
“You added dragon-bone powder?” he asked.
“Yes!” Chai Qun answered.
“Why?”
Many of the disciples lifted their heads to look at the two of them.
Chai Qun drew a deep breath and explained, “The formula provided by Immortal Master can indeed produce sleeping powder, but two of the ingredients—the poisonous vine herb and the shed skin of an ice serpent—require extremely precise measurements when used together. The slightest error affects the medicine’s efficacy. I failed several times, and afterward, I searched through some books before realizing that I could add a little dragon-bone powder. It strengthens the medicine’s effects and masks the smell of the poisonous vine herb, making the result more difficult to detect.”
Mei Man stared at him without blinking.
Every word had come from her. She had searched through book after book to find that method.
And now he was pretending he had discovered it through his own hard work!
The classroom fell silent. After the initial excitement, Chai Qun had grown nervous as well.
Shen Shushi said, “The dragon-bone powder you used is of exceptional quality. It is a rare immortal treasure.”
“It was something I happened to obtain by chance. It was from Senior—”
“Which books did you search?” Shen Shushi interrupted him.
Chai Qun had no idea which specific books Mei Man had read. But judging by Shen Shushi’s tone, he did not seem angry, so Chai Qun was not particularly afraid. He said, “Immortal Master, I read so many books that I—”
“Presumptuous little fool!”
Shen Shushi suddenly hurled the porcelain bottle. It struck Chai Qun squarely on the head. He had not held back at all, and Chai Qun cried out as blood immediately appeared on his forehead.
Chai Qun panicked. Forgetting the pain, he clutched his head and stared blankly at Shen Shushi. “Immortal Master, I… you… I…”
“Dragon-bone powder is an extremely yang substance, while shed serpent skin is cold in nature. Their opposing properties create an imbalance. At best, it will produce fire poison; at worst, it will kill. Are you refining medicine or making poison?”
Chai Qun was stunned. “B-but I tested it! Immortal Master, this medicine really does work. We tested it on paper puppets, and they slept for an entire night!”
Someone below them boldly spoke up in agreement.
Shen Shushi sneered. “Where are those paper puppets?”
Chai Qun’s voice abruptly died.
“Where are they?” Shen Shushi asked again, his face cold as frost.
“They… turned to ash.” Chai Qun lowered his head, his face flushed scarlet.
“How did they turn to ash?”
“They caught fire on their own.” His voice grew even softer.
The several paper puppets they had used for testing had caught fire one after another as soon as they awoke, burning to ash. At the time, they had been too excited and had assumed it was caused by a malfunction in the puppet technique. None of them had considered that the paper puppets might have been poisoned by fire poison.
“Trying to be clever, only to do something utterly foolish!” Shen Shushi said coldly. “Copy the formula one hundred times, then do it again.”
“Yes…” Chai Qun wished he could bury his head in his chest. He slunk away in disgrace.
The remaining disciples who had used dragon-bone powder did not dare make a sound. They hurriedly stuffed their porcelain bottles into their robes.
Mei Man and Chai Qun sat together, so once he returned, it was her turn to go up.
She stepped forward and handed over her porcelain bottle.
Shen Shushi pulled out the stopper.
His brows quickly furrowed. “You added dragon-bone powder too?”
Mei Man lowered her head, her eyes fixed on a single point on the floor. Her hands clenched tightly, and her heart pounded like a drum.
After taking a moment to steady herself, she finally forced out an answer.
“Yes.”
Everyone looked toward her, especially Chai Qun. He glared at her with both indignation and schadenfreude, evidently waiting to see her suffer the same fate he had.
After a long pause, Shen Shushi set the medicine down and said, “Not bad.”
It was only two words, but they were already the highest praise he had given anyone that day.
Mei Man admitted that she was a petty person. The moment she heard those words, she could not help but feel smug. Still, she put on a deliberately modest expression and said, “Thank you, Immortal Master. It’s really nothing. I only practiced a few more times than the others.”
Shen Shushi glanced at her.
She could not care less what expression he wore. All that mattered was that she had beaten that bastard Chai. If there had not been other people around, she would have laughed out loud.
Chai Qun immediately protested angrily, “Immortal Master, why is it acceptable when she adds dragon-bone powder, but not when I do it? Immortal Master, even if she is an ordinary mortal, you shouldn’t be so biased in her favor!”
Shen Shushi’s expression grew even colder, but he did not answer.
Mei Man naturally refused to let this opportunity pass. Feigning composure, she said to him, “Perhaps you didn’t read carefully enough. Dragon-bone powder of exceptional quality really can produce fire poison when mixed into sleeping powder. Inferior powder mixed with other animal bones is actually more effective.”
Chai Qun was rendered speechless.
Seeing the look on his face, Mei Man felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
That ungrateful bastard. Go to hell!
