Everyone was having a normal conversation when Aunt Ru laughed and slathered on more praise for Han Yunxi.
She said, “Princess, I never expected you to have the skills to invite Pill Furnace Master here! Princess is the princess, after all. You certainly have face! I, Aunt Ru, admire you![1]
“As I see it, Pill Furnace Master won’t give anyone else in the world face but you, princess.” So speaking, she gave a thumbs up. “Formidable, formidable!”
How could she know of the relations.h.i.+p between Han Yunxi’s group and Pill Furnace Master, or what they underwent in the Medicine Requesting Cave? She only knew that the higher one flew, the harder they fell. Aunt Ru just remembered that Pill Furnace Master had even ignored invitations from Medicine City’s medical academy head in the past. Han Yunxi might have asked for medicine in the Medicine Requesting Cave, but she shouldn’t be too close to Pill Furnace Master. How could she ever make him break his habits?!
So speaking, Aunt Ru smiled and looked at Han Yunxi, waiting for the d.a.m.ned girl to make modest remarks and explain herself out of an awkward situation. She couldn’t do anything against Han Yunxi personally, but she wouldn’t lose this chance to suppress her arrogance!
Meanwhile, the people who knew the truth didn’t say a peep. Han Yunxi was also harboring a cold smile in her heart as she stared back. Looks like I’ll have to crush Aunt Ru thoroughly today so she doesn’t annoy me in the future.
“Aunt Ru, what do you mean by those words?” she began frostily.
Aunt Ru naturally knew Han Yunxi had seen through her bad intentions, but feigned ignorance as she said, “Princess, I’m simply praising you. There’s nothing else to it, so you mustn’t misunderstand.”
Han Yunxi’s voice was still cold. “In other words, you’re saying that you never thought much of me before today? Aunt Ru, in what ways did this princess offend you in the past? You say I’m capable now, so do you mean I was incompetent in the past?”
Aunt Ru smiled obsequiously. “No no, you’re even more capable now! If not for the princess, who else could invite out Pill Furnace Master?”
“That’s true!” Han Yunxi openly accepted Aunt Ru’s “praise.” “Without this princess, you lot wouldn’t be able to find the earthly fire at all! Much less ask Pill Furnace Master to come! Aunt Ru, I see you have sense enough to recognize your princess’s skills!”
Hearing this, Aunt Ru was left confused. She almost failed to understand the meaning of Han Yunxi’s words. Why isn’t she trying to get off the altar I put her on? Now she’s acting smug? This d.a.m.ned girl, isn’t she afraid of falling to her death?
Aunt Ru pursed her lips and said, “Heheh, then I’ll wait for the princess to invite Pill Furnace Master here. I’ve heard of his repute in my lifetime, but never seen him in person. Now I’ll have to borrow some of the princess’s good fortune. I don’t know when princess will ask him to come?”
Han Yunxi glanced at Long Feiye, who opened his mouth to cut her off. “Pill Furnace Master is already on his way with the celestial fire. At most it’ll take him seven days to get here from the Medicine Hut.”
Han Yunxi was originally going to ask Long Feiye to send a message to Pill Furnace Master, but it turns out the old man was coming on his on. This wasn’t for her sake, of course, but Gu Qishao’s. Still, she could only borrow some of Gu Qishao’s face in front of the irritating Aunt Ru.
“Then you should just wait a few days!” Han Yunxi faced Aunt Ru. “There’ll be nothing else for you to do after seeing Pill Furnace Master.”
In other words, Aunt Ru would have to continue her confinement once she got her glimpse of the man. By now, she had long been left gaping at the admission. I never thought Han Yunxi really had such skills. When did this d.a.m.ned woman get so close to Pill Furnace Master? How did she do it?!
She looked stricken at Han Yunxi and suddenly realized this wasn’t the same woman from the past who only had poison skills. She now had n.o.ble status, mighty martial arts, and ample social connections. There was no need for her to hide under Long Feiye’s protection when she could stand independently!
Han Yunxi had grown much in the past two years. But what about her? She’d been stuck guarding the gravesite and did nothing besides persist in holding up the enmity between East and West Qin! Even the missions related to Perplexing b.u.t.terfly Illusion had been taken out of her hands. Yet she was still stupid enough to a.s.sume Han Yunxi was nothing but a poisons-wielding, good-for-nothing “Han Clan girl?”
Aunt Ru finally realized that she was a useless joke who was only fooling herself! Even thought she wanted to deny it, she had to admit this truth: Han Yunxi was a fitting match for Long Feiye, who made the right choice in picking her over Duanmu Yao. Without a word, Aunt Ru bowed towards Long Feiye before leaving the group.
Once she was gone, Gu Qishao suddenly exclaimed, “She’s finally gone. So annoying!”
Tang Li was embarra.s.sed, so he pretended not to hear. Long Feiye hadn’t said a word since this was the Tang Clan and the burial place of his parents. As an elder in the family, Aunt Ru had seniority over him, so it wasn’t good for him to say too much. However, Han Yunxi’s actions hadn’t disappointed him or lost him face.
For the next few days, none of them saw any sign of Aunt Ru around. Five days later and Pill Furnace Master was almost on the cusp of reaching them. Once he showed up, Gu Qishao vanished. Long Feiye and Han Yunxi knew the story but feigned ignorance.
Pill Furnace Master had dressed up before setting out, so he wasn’t the disheveled and shabbily-dressed man of the Medicine Requesting Cave. Perhaps his clothes were to blame, but Han Yunxi felt that he looked better than before, looking lively and even a few years younger. Although they had unhappy memories together, Pill Furnace Master still had the heart to help them by showing up here.
Long Feiye greeted him with hands clasped. “Old Pill master, you’ve suffered through a rushed journey.”
Pill Furnace Master seemed to be in fine fettle as he chuckled. “It wasn’t hard. This is a rare moment for this old man to go out, so take it as a spring tour.”
Han Yunxi noticed the small furnace in Pill Furnace Master’s hands. It was a cleverly wrought little copper thing, similar to a metal handwarmer but completely sealed. It was impossible to see what laid within. Pill Furnace Master was cradling the thing carefully in his hands.
Seeing Han Yunxi look his way, he slowly opened the lid and a flash of flame rushed out with a heatwave. Pill Furnace Master quickly caught it with the lid and smiled. “I only brought a few tongues of flame with me, but it should be enough.”
Han Yunxi finally felt relieved and took Pill Furnace Master directly to Fire Spring. They didn’t alert too many others since the hunt for Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons was a top-secret mission. Pill Furnace Master didn’t ask after Gu Qishao’s whereabouts either, seemingly only here to help them. His head remained bowed as he held the little furnace and followed in Han Yunxi’s wake.
Xu Donglin had explained the issue with the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace in his letter, but Pill Furnace Master was still taken aback by the sight of the real thing.
“How is this furnace supposed to refine any dan pellets?” he asked.
If he didn’t know, how were Han Yunxi and Long Feiye supposed to have a clue?
“Old Pill master, this furnace doesn’t need to refine any dan pellets. We only need its poison flames,” Han Yunxi clarified.
Earthly Fire Kun Furnace could very well possess Fire of Ten-Thousand Poisons, but it wasn’t convenient to reveal their scavenger hunt details to others. It was likely Bai Yanqing was also concentrating his efforts on finding the same things. He probably knew about Jun Yixie’s poison pond in Medicine City and would have little difficulty recognizing it as Water of Ten-Thousand Poisons.
Han Yunxi had too many uncertainties about Bai Yanqing, but she could only set aside his enigma for now. In any case, they should try to get their necessary items as soon as possible. Although Pill Furnace Master felt it was a waste of the Earthly Fire Kun Furnace, he was here to help, so he didn’t comment. After observing it from a distance, he began to study the skies.
“Lure down the spring lightning with celestial flame to create heavenly lightning, then ignite earthly fire,” he muttered to himself. “We’ll need to wait for a thunderstorm.”
It was currently spring in the south, so that wasn’t a difficult request.
“Old Pill master, will this earthly fire be as potent as celestial fire?” Han Yunxi asked. She couldn’t figure out how to drip a drop of Perplexing b.u.t.terfly Illusion into the stuff if it was as potent as its kin. They didn’t have much poison left and still needed to save some for the poison beast and poison Gu blood.
Pill Furnace Master stroked his beard and shook his head helplessly. “This old man only knows the heavenly lightning is supposed to ignite the flame, not how strong it’ll be.”
Han Yunxi creased her brows. If the earthly fire is as strong as celestial flame, could I take a sample of it like Pill Furnace Master to use?
Xu Donglin brought people to set up a tent and Pill Furnace Master settled down by Fire Spring with Han Yunxi to wait for a thunderstorming day. Two days pa.s.sed, during which Pill Furnace Master and Han Yunxi discussed all manners of questions related to dan pellets. Han Yunxi discovered for the first time that Pill Furnace Master was a very respectable old man who wasn’t crazy at all. Long Feiye made oblique queries into Phoenix energy on the sidelines; unfortunately, Pill Furnace Master really didn’t know much. In the end, Long Feiye dropped his questions.
Tonight was exceptionally stuffy inside the tent, so everyone went outside for some air. Han Yunxi saw that there were no stars in the skies. Either the moon was too bright, or clouds were rolling in.
“Today should be the seventh day of the second lunar month,” she remarked.
“Yes!” Tang Li responded instantly. He had never paid attention to the dates before, but for the past six months he was fixated on them. How could Han Yunxi forget? Gu Beiyue had already calculated that Ning Jing’s delivery date would be on the 27th day of the second month, about 20 days away. In other words, she was due to give birth anytime between now and then.
How was Tiger’s Den doing? Ning Nuo should have delivered news of the delay to them by now. Seeing Han Yunxi look gloomy, Tang Li smiled without misgivings. “In a few more days, Ning Jing’s going to give birth. Then I’ll be a real father!”
“Is there real and fake when it comes to fatherhood?” Han Yunxi smiled haplessly.
1. Translator: ...hahaHAHAHAHA ah geez this is going to be so pathetic for her in retrospect.