Chapter 5: Obtaining the Medicinal Pill
Xiao Yichen looked at the three fierce beasts in the distance frantically running toward the cave. Weren't they the exact three fellows he had dragged out of the valley to practice on when he was bored while cultivating by the waterfall earlier?
"Are these the fierce beasts Senior Sister Liu was talking about??" He was somewhat surprised. But on second thought, to ordinary mortals, they certainly qualified as fierce beasts. It was just that Liu Qingqing had underestimated Xiao Yichen's current strength, mistakenly writing him off as a greenhorn who couldn't handle much.
Xiao Yichen gave chase, quickly arriving at the cave and cutting off the three beasts inside. He approached them step by step with a wicked grin.
"Xiaobai, Xiaohua, Dahuang, I've really missed you guys to death! Where on earth have you been hiding all this time? I couldn't find you anywhere."
Right now, the three of them looked as though they had run into a tigress, continuously backing up against the rear wall of the cave with faces full of terror. But the cave was only so big, and when they reached the very back, their claws scraped frantically against the rock wall as if trying to dig a tunnel to escape.
As far as the three of them were concerned, every time they went out to hunt for prey and got careless, this plague god would catch them and beat them to a pulp. At first, it wasn't too bad—the plague god couldn't beat all three of them combined. But gradually, the three of them together weren't even enough for him to beat up by himself.
Every time he finished thrashing them, he would deliberately let them go so they could recover from their injuries. Once they healed up, they would venture out again for food, only to be caught and beaten up all over again. Over and over, in the span of these past few months, they had been beaten about a dozen times. To say they weren't terrified would be an absolute lie.
Later on, they got smart. Whenever they ran into this plague god, the three fierce beasts would turn tail and run straight away, finding another spot to hunt for food. They had thought that perhaps they would never run into him again in this lifetime, but who would have thought that today, this plague god would actually seek them out on his own initiative? Who could they even reason with about this?
Xiao Yichen walked right up to them, let out a chuckle, and then lunged forward abruptly. Dahuang, caught right in the middle with nowhere to run, was grabbed by Xiao Yichen, its mouth continuously emitting whimpering growls. Meanwhile, Xiaobai and Xiaohua showed a complete lack of loyalty by abandoning it alone in the cave and scattering in opposite directions toward the outside.
"Did Dahuang miss me? I haven't seen you in so long, and it feels like you've put on quite a bit of weight. Looks like you've been eating well lately." As he continuously rubbed and ruffled Dahuang's head, the heavy stone in Xiao Yichen's heart dropped. If the fierce beasts Liu Qingqing spoke of were none other than these guys, then there was truly no need to worry at all.
Right now, under his rubbing, Dahuang didn't dare to move a single muscle, forced to endure this humiliation while letting out whimpering sounds of ingratiation.
With that, Xiao Yichen led Dahuang by its leash slowly over to the Red Lotus Fruit Tree, gave the trunk a light kick, and several bright red fruits tumbled down. One of them happened to bonk Dahuang right on the head, but it didn't dare to make a peep.
He picked up the fruits, tucked them into the pack on his back, took out two of them, and shoved one directly into Dahuang's mouth. Xiao Yichen started munching on the other one himself. Leaning his back against Dahuang, he very contentedly admired the surrounding scenery.
In the woods in the distance, the other two fierce beasts looked at the figure under the tree ahead with some puzzlement. Wasn't this plague god here to beat them up today?
Harboring this doubt, they slowly crept closer in Xiao Yichen's direction. When they reached him, Xiao Yichen noticed them, but instead of standing up, he fished two more fruits from his pocket and tossed them over.
Seeing this, the two of them finally set their minds at ease. This plague god had truly turned over a new leaf; he was finally going to stop beating them up.
They picked up the fruits from the ground with their snouts, swallowed them down, and slowly approached Xiao Yichen, lying down right beside him. The sight of it looked just like three pets kept by Xiao Yichen, as docile as could be.
Looking up to check the time, Xiao Yichen slowly got to his feet, gave each of their dog heads a brief hug, and said, "Time's almost up, I have to head back. I'll come find you guys to play next time." With that, he turned around and sprinted back toward the sect.
Leaving the three fierce beasts crouching in place, they looked with extremely complicated emotions at the shrinking figure ahead. Xiaobai was the first who couldn't help itself, letting out a muffled howl toward the sky—a sound that seemed to carry a long-lost joy, startling the nearby small animals into scrambling everywhere.
Upon returning to the sect, Xiao Yichen ran straight to the Alchemical Hall without a single moment of rest. When he found Liu Qingqing, the other woman assumed he had given up and was prepared to beg her to think of some other way, only to suddenly catch sight of the bulging bag of Red Lotus Fruits on Xiao Yichen's back, leaving her speechless with shock.
After a long while, Liu Qingqing finally spoke with some astonishment, "You actually brought the Red Lotus Fruit back? Weren't those three fierce beasts at home?"
Hearing her words, Xiao Yichen became completely certain that the fierce beasts she spoke of were indeed Dahuang and the other two—the numbers matched up perfectly. However, not wanting to expose his strength, he played along with Liu Qingqing's assumption. "I got really lucky. When I found the Red Lotus Fruit Tree, those three beasts happened to be out foraging. I hid nearby until they walked far enough away before I went and retrieved the Red Lotus Fruit." Having said that, he even put on an act of patting his chest as though he had been terribly frightened.
Upon hearing this, Liu Qingqing tapped her own head with one hand, thinking to herself, *He actually managed to get the Red Lotus Fruit? My calculations were off.*
Lifting the bag containing the Red Lotus Fruits, feeling extremely reluctant, and thinking of Zhang Qingyue's commission, she was just about to open her mouth to say the medicinal ingredients weren't enough and that they still needed a few other things when she saw Xiao Yichen right in front of her looking at her with eyes full of anticipation.
Seeing that the other party seemed still somewhat dissatisfied, Xiao Yichen spoke up directly, "Senior Sister Liu, I beg you, please save Senior Sister Yun! You have no idea—when I saw Senior Sister Yun being carried back, her body was covered in countless saber and sword wounds, several of her bones were broken, and her internal organs had suffered severe trauma. Although she was treated by the sect elders, as you know, they are merely keeping Senior Sister Yun alive by a thread."
At this point, he gave his own thigh a fierce pinch. Tears immediately welled up, and continuing with a choked, weeping voice, he said, "Right now, Senior Sister Yun is lying on her bed at death's door, looking as though she has only one breath left in her. Before I left, I even saw her wounds bleeding continuously, her entire person soaked in fresh blood. The sight of it was simply too ghastly to witness! I truly cannot bear to watch her just die like this—please show mercy and save her!" With that, he even let out a loud, sobbing wail toward the heavens. That performance was enough to break the heart of anyone who saw it and bring tears to anyone who heard it.
Hearing this, Liu Qingqing's heart softened. Staring with some panic at Xiao Yichen, who was still crying, she asked, "Senior Sister Yun is really hurt this badly this time?"
"It's absolute truth, I wouldn't dare exaggerate in the slightest." Xiao Yichen was this close to dropping to his knees; he had pinched his thighs several times, and those tears came the moment he wanted them to.
Seeing him like this, Liu Qingqing scratched her hair in utter irritation. Then, hardening her heart, she said impatiently to Xiao Yichen, who was still sprawled on the ground, "Wait here, I'm going to refine the medicine." With that, she strode into a room without looking back, and the door slammed shut with a loud *bang*.
Inside the room, Liu Qingqing looked at the large bag of Red Lotus Fruits in her hand and tossed it aside casually. The strength of those three fierce beasts was only formidable to ordinary mortals; she was already at the Body Tempering Mid-stage herself, so if she really wanted those fruits, it wouldn't have taken any real effort at all. She had simply been trying to make things difficult for Xiao Yichen on purpose. But now that the fellow had managed to get his hands on them by sheer good fortune, coupled with her genuinely softening heart and pity for Senior Sister Yun, she had no choice but to dig a medicinal pill out of her own pouch with a deeply aching heart. Staring at the pill in her hand, she slumped right down onto the floor of the alchemical room and started sulking, angrily brainwashing herself in a rambling stream of consciousness all the while.
*"Half a year of cultivation resources isn't much, Senior Sister Yun is the most important. Half a year of cultivation resources isn't much, Senior Sister Yun is the most important..."*
An hour later, the room door opened. Hearing the movement, Xiao Yichen hurried over to Liu Qingqing's side, looking at her with a face full of smiles.
"Senior Sister Liu, how did the pill refinement go? Senior Sister Yun is still waiting for her treatment."
Seeing Xiao Yichen looking like this, Liu Qingqing unceremoniously tossed the medicine bottle in her hand right at him, muttering, "Hmph, I went through all that grueling work refining medicine inside for over an hour, and all you do is go on and on about Senior Sister Yun. Am I not your senior sister too?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yichen felt rather awkward. She had helped him refine medicine, yet he had been pressing her like this. But right now he truly didn't have a single coin to his name, and he had no idea how to repay her, so he could only scratch his head continuously.
As if sensing Xiao Yichen's embarrassment, Liu Qingqing found it rather amusing. Coupled with the fact that she hadn't actually gone to the trouble of truly refining medicine in the first place, she wasn't genuinely angry. With a sudden chuckle, she said, "All right, I'm not asking for any repayment from you. Just treat Senior Sister Yun well from now on. Off you go."
As if granted a pardon from the heavens, Xiao Yichen thanked Liu Qingqing once more, clutched the pill, and bolted outside.
Watching Xiao Yichen sprint out of the Alchemical Hall, Liu Qingqing wiped the smile from the corner of her mouth, raised her head, and shouted at the ceiling, "Junior Brother is so awfully good to Senior Sister Yun! When will I ever get a sweet-smelling cultivation partner of my own? This is driving me crazy, ah—!" With that scream, she began frantically scratching her hair again, an appearance that terrified several male disciples nearby into scrambling away as fast as they could.
Watching the people continually fleeing outside, Liu Qingqing wore a look of utter disdain. She wasn't desperate enough to go snatching other senior sisters' cultivation partners yet. Besides, she really had no use for this bunch of guys whose legs trembled just walking—they were sleazy, physically pathetic, and thoroughly substandard goods. At this thought, Xiao Yichen's figure kept flashing through her mind, the corners of her mouth slowly curling upward. With a twitch of her eyes, she strode out the door.