At last, Trình Trú brought over fifty thousand spirit stones. His face was visibly haggard, dark circles stood out beneath his eyes, and his topknot was a little disheveled. His voice was hoarse as he said, “Junior Sister Ngân Linh, don’t worry. Your Senior Brother will find a way to get the other fifty thousand.”
I took the heavy storage pouch, a twinge of guilt rising in my heart. Senior Brother… was far too honest. I should never have quoted such a high price. Who could’ve guessed he wouldn’t even try to bargain! Talk about squeezing every last penny out of a hero.
My Senior Brother had always been cool and noble, but now he looked so haggard. My lips parted without thinking, and I was about to tell him that fifty thousand was enough. But eager to earn the money as quickly as possible, he flew off on his sword before I could get a word out.
I really did feel ashamed. But when fifty thousand spirit stones poured out of the storage pouch and piled up into a little mountain on the table… Um… somehow… I didn’t feel quite so ashamed anymore. I hugged the spirit stones, nearly cheering aloud, and all I wanted was to dive in and swim around.
While I was busy admiring the spirit stones, I suddenly heard a quiet cough. “Ahem, ahem.”
Giang Úc raised a hand to his chest and coughed twice. I snapped back to my senses. “What’s wrong?”
He lowered his eyes and sighed. “I don’t think I’ve taken my medicine today.”
I’d almost forgotten what mattered! I hurriedly set down the spirit stones and looked at Giang Úc apologetically. “Wait here. I’ll make your medicine right away.”
“Mm.”
Once the medicine was ready, I fed it to Giang Úc myself, as usual. Seeing that his face was still pale, I couldn’t help frowning and muttering, “That’s not right…”
“What is it?” His sparkling blue eyes turned up to me, his long, curled lashes forming a beautiful arc.
“It’s nothing, it’s just… You’ve been taking medicine for days. You should be completely better by now…”
These doses should have had Giang Úc bouncing around and rolling everywhere, just like Giang Miên. And yet he was still so weak.
“Could there be something wrong with my prescription?”
Could foxes need a different dose than humans? I bit my lip, brow furrowed tight.
Giang Úc spoke gently. “Perhaps it’s because I exhausted too much of my vital energy at Trích Nguyệt Pavilion.”
He gave a soft laugh. “With injuries as severe as mine, to have nearly recovered in just three short months proves there’s nothing wrong with your prescription.”
I nodded. His injuries had indeed healed about seventy to eighty percent; at the very least, the prescription was on the right track. After thinking it over, I decided to add a few nourishing ingredients based on Giang Úc’s current symptoms.
But making sure they didn’t interfere with the existing medicinal properties while also complementing one another was no easy task. I stayed up all night poring over several medical texts, but still couldn’t find a breakthrough.
The next day. Snow drifted down beyond the eaves as I yawned and prepared the medicine. The flickering firelight illuminated my face, and the little fox curled up in my arms was fast asleep. Winter was nearly here, and the weather was getting colder by the day. The lazy little girl would sometimes turn into a person, curl up in my arms, and lie there all day without getting up.
Most cultivators shut themselves off from the outside world. Rain couldn’t wet their clothes, and snow couldn’t dust their hair white. But I didn’t much care for that.
The seasons turn, cold gives way to heat and back again—spring rain, summer sunshine, autumn winds, winter snow. These are things all living creatures must experience to grow. Why go out of your way to avoid them? So now, I nudged the glowing coals and felt the warmth spread. As expected, there was nothing more comfortable than staying warm in winter.
Gradually, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier… When Giang Úc arrived, he saw a pot of medicine nearly boiled dry. Beside it, a person and a fox were fast asleep, drooling all over the floor.
To find a prescription as quickly as possible, I decided to go into seclusion and work on pills. Officially, I said I was going into seclusion to cultivate.
Giang Úc and Giang Miên came along too, and the rumors surged once more. Everyone in the sect knew I doted on the two little foxes at my side. Their status as cultivation cauldrons was also tacitly acknowledged.
The disciples looked down on them, but didn’t dare do anything. After all, the sect leader, Mộc Phong, had never said a word against it. And why would he? He hoped I’d sink even deeper into the demonic path.
But Mộc Phong’s “tolerance” worked out nicely for me. My reputation might have suffered, but the benefits were very real. For example, lately I’d been using the excuse that I had two more foxes to feed to ask him for a little extra spending money in spirit stones.
Mộc Phong laughed heartily and tossed me a pouch. I shook it and scoffed. “Master, I want to buy Giang Úc a snow-silk robe. With this much, I doubt I could even afford one sleeve.”
Mộc Phong’s face stiffened. I put on a mournful look and sighed. “Master, didn’t you say I could have anything I wanted? Now you’re going to begrudge me a few measly spirit stones? Surely not, surely not?”
“How, how could that be?” Mộc Phong gritted his teeth and tossed me his own money pouch. This time, it was heavy enough. I smiled with satisfaction.
With my pouch full, I was about to go into seclusion. But before I could gather all the medicinal ingredients, Mộc Phong summoned every disciple to the main hall for a meeting. The Phong Yên secret realm, which normally opened only once every hundred and fifty years, had suddenly opened.
Rumor had it that the Phong Yên secret realm was rich not only in spiritual plants and herbs, but also contained magical artifacts left behind by ancient immortals. Great opportunities always came with countless dangers.
No one had ever returned alive with one of the legendary artifacts. Most people just gathered a few spiritual plants and herbs before heading back. As for the artifacts, no matter how tempting they were, you had to be alive to claim them.
Trình Trú was visibly delighted. The haggard look he’d worn over the past few days had vanished without a trace. He drew his sword, his spirits soaring.
“This time, when I enter the secret realm, I’m going to leave not a blade of grass standing!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Senior Brother, pull yourself together! What happened to your character setup?!