Chapter 9 Too Big to Offend
"We're only in the Earth-grade section anyway, and no one knows she's here. We can just send her away quietly and seamlessly."
Liu Xun said with a deep frown.
"Master, do you mean something like this?"
Zhao Zheng made a gesture of slitting a throat.
Liu Xun rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Are you out of your mind? Look at who she is and who we are. If you laid a finger on her, dying a hundred times wouldn't be enough."
Could the woman meant to be the Young Sect Master's wife be an ordinary person? She might be a fake ordinary person, but they were the real deal.
Liu Xun slapped Zhao Zheng on the forehead. "You brat, stop letting your mind wander into shady paths."
"By sending her away, I mean truly escorting this great Buddha out! I don't mean taking her life, understand? If she really dies in our hands, do you think even the ashes of our ancestral lineage down to eighteen generations wouldn't be scattered to the winds?"
Liu Xun couldn't help letting out a sigh. His young apprentices truly lacked any sense of perspective.
Anyone with even a shred of sense wouldn't dare utter such words.
"Master, is it really that serious?"
Jiang Ya rubbed his nose.
Liu Xun looked at the three of them, seeing the disbelief in their eyes, and shook his head. "You still don't understand. You're just fifteen or sixteen-year-old kids; what do you know about the complexities of the world of great figures?"
"Let me put it this way: the more powerful these figures are, the less pure love and hatred become. They might wish the other person dead a moment ago, but if that person actually dies at someone else's hands, they'll go on a killing spree for revenge. Human hearts are immensely complicated. Since she can become the Young Sect Master's wife, do you really think the Young Sect Master doesn't care at all?"
The more Liu Xun thought about it, the more his heart pounded with fear. Saying too much leads to mistakes. Seeing that his three young apprentices were clearly frightened as well, he stopped talking.
"Take good care of her during this time, and keep an eye out for anyone looking for her or any other unusual signs outside. Watch your mouths and your eyes; don't go looking around or talking nonsense. Once we send her off, it'll have nothing to do with us anymore."
Liu Xun instructed the three of them. He also had to go figure out a solution—this matter had to be handled properly, without a single hitch.
"Don't worry, Master. We'll definitely watch ourselves."
All three nodded repeatedly.
"Be sharp. I'll be too busy these next few days to mind you, and no one is allowed to doze off during the evening alchemy sessions! You hear me?"
Liu Xun knew that an opportunity like this would never come again if missed. Someone as formidable as Lin Wei—even just a tiny sliver leaking through her teeth would be enough for them to learn from.
It didn't matter if they couldn't grasp it right away; they just had to commit it to memory and practice it slowly over time.
Jiang Ya and the other two nodded repeatedly.
The path of immortal cultivation was something they didn't dare to dream of. As Liu Xun had said, they only wanted to make a tidy sum of silver in these few short years and return to the mortal world to live at ease.
In the afternoon, Zhao Zheng went to deliver food to Lin Wei.
This was an errand Zhao Zheng had fought to take because he had a knot in his heart.
As Lin Wei ate, she asked indifferently, "Have you eaten?"
Zhao Zheng nodded. "Thank you for your concern, Elder. I've already eaten."
If he had eaten, why wasn't he leaving?
Seeing the kid fidgeting and hesitating, Lin Wei understood immediately that he had something to say.
She had no grievances with him; if there was anything between them, it was only their very first meeting. A single guess told Lin Wei what he was afraid of.
"If you have something to say, spit it out so I can finish my meal. Watching you stand there like that makes my food lose its flavor and appetite."
Lin Wei's tone softened considerably. After all, he was just a fifteen- or six-year-old kid. In this world, ordinary people lived with extreme caution. She had never blamed him, yet he was harboring such deep anxiety.
That was only because they lacked cultivation; otherwise, they would have known that she actually lacked cultivation too. They were wary of her simply because they didn't understand the real her—the asymmetry in information made people who were originally equal seem unequal.
Of course, she wouldn't be foolish enough to tell them she truly had no abilities.
"Elder, I'm sorry. Please don't hold it against me. Earlier, I was blind and offended you. Please forgive me, because I want to live to go home. I'm betrothed to Taohong, and she's still waiting for me to go back and marry her." With a dull thud, Zhao Zheng dropped to his knees and kowtowed solidly twice. He was genuinely terrified of dying here; he wanted to live to return home.
Lin Wei got up, helped him to his feet, and said gently, "Alright, I forgive you."
A smile broke across Zhao Zheng's face, and he was overjoyed. "Thank you, Elder."
The stone in his heart finally settled.
"I won't be staying much longer. Remember to take good notes, earn more silver, and live a happy life with your Taohong when you go back home."
Lin Wei smiled slightly and gave Zhao Zheng a parting word of advice.
Zhao Zheng nodded excitedly, his mouth split in a grin from ear to ear; it seemed a happy life was already right before his eyes.
Youth was the purest time for a man, a time when everything felt entirely real.
With the knot in his heart untied, Zhao Zheng happily stepped outside.
Lin Wei could finally eat in peace.
After finishing her meal, she sat in meditation for a while.
Compared to a month ago, a major part of her body was now unblocked, and a trace of spiritual qi had accumulated in her Dantian.
During the evening alchemy session, the three of them were exceptionally focused and took meticulous notes.
Operating in the same Earth-grade Alchemy Room, the pills they produced were more numerous and of better quality, which naturally earned them more assignments.
Liu Xun did not return for five consecutive days.
There was no abnormality outside either.
Lin Wei had 19 days of lifespan remaining.
Three more days passed.
Liu Xun returned, bringing an identity token for Lin Wei.
"Elder Sister, take this identity token and register with the apothecaries. They will arrange a place for you to stay. In half a month, there will be an Earth-grade apothecary examination. If you pass, you'll be assigned an alchemy room of your own and can take on young apprentices."
Liu Xun explained in detail, with a hint of fishing for credit.
Lin Wei could leave now. Since he had helped her so much, would she leave behind any treasures to thank him?
Lin Wei took the identity token and said, "Thanks. I've already handed the pill recipes over to them. I'll borrow the alchemy furnace one last time tonight and leave tomorrow."
A reward? She currently had nothing.
So she simply pretended not to see Liu Xun's implicit demand for credit.
Seeing that Lin Wei had no intention of offering any reward, Liu Xun put the thought away. A tiny ripple of disappointment crossed his heart, but curiosity quickly took over as he wondered what kind of pills Lin Wei intended to refine with the furnace.
"No problem, go ahead and use it," Liu Xun said cheerfully.
If it turned out to be a good pill, he would just memorize the ingredients and the timing so they could refine it themselves in the future.
As Lin Wei prepared to brew medicine, all three of them watched her closely. When they saw her produce only porcelain bottles used for storing pills, a trace of puzzlement crossed their faces.
"I'm preparing to refine the pills a second time. If it succeeds, you can emulate the method in the future; if it fails, consider it a lesson," Lin Wei said calmly.
At this point, taking three Hemostatic Pills no longer increased her lifespan by a single day; she needed a dozen or even twenty.
She currently had hundreds of various pills and wanted to try repurifying them. She wasn't even certain whether secondary refinement was possible.
If the quality of the pills could be elevated further, that would naturally be for the best.