The thin, emaciated hand of Pill Fiend was basically skin and bones, each and every joint clear to the eye. Not only that, they were black, raising the hairs of everyone who looked at it. Still, even such a hand deftly held the brush to write strong and bold strokes, the characters free and unrestrained. Soon, Pill Fiend had filled an entire paper with about 20 different plants.
Long Feiye's gaze grew complicated and unhappy at the sight. "We're waiting for the Life Blood Pill to save a life. Do you want them to hunt forever?"
"Your Excellency Pill Fiend, there's no time to waste when it comes to saving lives," Duanmu Baiye spoke up as well.
"Cough, cough!" Pill Fiend coughed lightly a few times, unhappy. Without a lot of plants, they'd only hunt for a short while. How boring would that be? They should at least search for ten days or half a month so he could watch the beauties hunting everyday without getting bored. As for saving lives, what business did it have with him? There were plenty of people waiting to be saved outside the valley.
"If it's too many, then don't play," Pill Fiend smiled coldly.
Duanmu Baiye and Duanmu Yao grew anxious. They were about to accept his terms when Long Feiye said, "Fine."
He actually turned to leave when he finished. Pill Fiend narrowed his eyes at his retreating back, a dangerous aura emanating from his figure. Long Feiye could feel a powerful force pressuring his back, but his expression remained as aloof as always, his steps certain. He even urged Han Yunxi, "Still not leaving?"
Hunting for medicinal plants was one of Han Yunxi's strengths, so Long Feiye didn't want to refuse. But with so many plants, Han Yunxi's endurance wouldn't outlast Duanmu Yao and she'd still end up losing.
Long Feiye was unwilling to concede.
Of course Han Yunxi was clear on her advantages and disadvantages. She secretly approved of Long Feiye's boldness and followed him without another word. Seeing that they were really leaving, Pill Fiend's eyes grew angrier and angrier. Duanmu Yao was closest by his side and began to feel afraid, but by now Long Feiye and Han Yunxi had reached the door and were about to go outside.
Suddenly, a butterfly dart flew from Pill Fiend's hands in a whirlwind swirl to fly towards Long Feiye. Yet he didn't even turn around, instead using a shapeless force to repel and return the butterfly dart to Pill Fiend. Duanmu Baiye and Duanmu Yao were both astonished. They didn't expect that Long Feiye's martial arts would have improved so much in the space of but a few months.
Pill Fiend had been longing for the poison python snake dan for many years now. How could he just let Long Feiye leave? Moreover, there were other places with the Life Blood Pill as well. With Long Feiye's abilities, it was possible that he'd find them. Seeing that Long Feiye hadn't even turned around but was stepping over the threshold, Pill Fiend finally spoke up. "Long Feiye, this excellency agrees to your terms!"
Only then did Long Feiye and Han Yunxi retrace their steps back inside. It had to be said that these two really resembled husband and wife with their equally calm composure. Pill Fiend gave them an icy look, his eyes flickering with hate. Long Feiye, you were ruthless this time. You better never ask for the secret poisons of my Pill Fiend Valley! In fact, this excellency will avenge myself right now!
Pill Fiend ripped up the first prescription he had written and picked up his brush again. The more anxious Long Feiye felt, the longer he'd take. He wouldn't write too many plants, but just a few, enough to keep Han Yunxi and Duanmu Yao searching for a year. He'd like to see who would be the first to lose their cool between Long Feiye or Duanmu Baiye.
Pill Fiend's brush hovered over the paper as he thought carefully. There's plenty of hard-to-find plants. Some of them resembled commonplace plants at first glance, but hid extremely potent natures. It was hard to find them even if they were right in front of you. There were others with strict growing conditions that were almost impossible to find, much less harvest and use. There were even rare plants that grew over a long period of time, of which only one or two existed in the entire valley…
Pill Fiend was going to write down plants that fit all these requirements. The group waited, and Duanmu Yao shot a few icy glances towards Han Yunxi in the meantime. Han Yunxi wasn't in the mood to engage in any more staring contests, but intentionally drew closer to Long Feiye, making Duanmu Yao so angry that she immediately looked away!
Long Feiye gave her a disdainful glance and shifted away, leaving Han Yunxi in an awkward spot, though Duanmu Yao missing seeing the fact. Han Yunxi couldn't help but feel a little stifled. If it wasn't Long Feiye but just herself who wanted the Life Blood Pill, he'd probably stand by and watch everything. She didn't have to suspect anything between this guy and his junior sister Duanmu Yao because he was cold and emotionless to everyone he met.
There were no exceptions in his heart.
—
After a long wait, Pill Fiend finally decided and wrote down three items on his paper, making two copies for Han Yunxi and Duanmu Yao each. Han Yunxi didn't even read it before Duanmu Yao said them out loud: "Seven Deaths Hawktail, Simple White Yimi, Wall-Hitting Ghost."
This…hearing these names left Han Yunxi momentarily speechless. She suddenly glanced at the paper in her hands, reading word-by-word to make sure she wasn't mistaken.
Heavens, so it's these three!
Han Yunxi's face was visibly moved, so much that she almost teared up. From an outsider's perspective, it looked like she was stuck on the verge of crying. Long Feiye's gaze turned complicated at her expression, unable to understand this woman. But Duanmu Yao was smiling.
"Qin Wangfei, as one born from a medical family, have you seen these three plants before?"
Han Yunxi sniffled emotionally and shook her head. "I haven't."
In a flash, Duanmu Yao was filled with confidence. Very good, this completely depends on physical endurance. Soon enough, Pill Fiend summoned people to bring over two sets of diagrams depicting the plants.
"How is it…let's start?" Pill Fiend asked impatiently.
"No problem," Duanmu Yao was long eager to give it a try. As long as there were pictures for comparison, she could definitely track down these three plants with her speed and endurance, even if it meant searching the entirety of Pill Fiend Valley.
Han Yunxi clutched the plant diagrams tightly. "Un!"
"All right, begin! Your excellency will be waiting right h…" Before Pill Fiend could finish, Duanmu Yao stuffed the diagrams into her robes and flashed out the door.
"So quick…ahahaha! Your excellency is looking forward to this." Pill Fiend was laughing so much that he was ready to dance and gesticulate in joy. Of course, he was still more interested on Han Yunxi at the moment. Who told Long Feiye to tick him off?
Han Yunxi was surprised to see Duanmu Yao leave so quickly, but recovered soon enough. She clutched her diagrams and ran outside, her sluggish speed enough to make Pill Fiend feel anxious for her sake. He rose to his feet and followed beside her at a sedate pace, though still a little ways ahead.
"Han Yunxi, you can't be so slow. I suppose it's no harm if I tell you now, but there's only a single Wall-Hitting Ghost in the entire Pill Fiend Valley. If you find it too late, you'll lose!"
Han Yunxi turned around, feigning a face full of shock. "Really?"
Pill Fiend laughed until his pretty eyes turned into crescents. "This excellency never lies to women."
"Then I'll have to thank you." Han Yunxi smiled sweetly and sped up, finally running into the courtyard. By now, Duanmu Yao was gone without a trace.
Long Feiye and Duanmu Baiye had been waiting outside long ago. Seeing Han Yunxi just arrive made Duanmu Baiye smirk and mock her. "Qin Wangfei isn't in a rush at all, you must be very confident?"
But Han Yunxi actually turned around and assumed the same expression when first seeing the plants on the list, nodding in reply. She thoroughly approved of Duanmu Baiye's words. This time, it didn't look like she was on the verge of tears, but emotionally moved.
Ehh…
Duanmu Baiye stared at her blankly. What's wrong with this woman? What does her expression mean?
Even Long Feiye was befuddled by Han Yunxi. What kind of reaction is this? Did or didn't she recognize these three plants?
Han Yunxi ignored them both to sit down on a stone seat nearby, a hand resting on her heart to calm herself down. Seeing this, even the smug Pill Fiend quieted down. This woman…couldn't be giving up now, right? If that was the case, he should prepare to have a good laugh at Long Feiye.
Han Yunxi wasn't deliberately trying to be mysterious, but she was really, truly moved! It was impossible to express herself in words. Looking at Pill Fiend, she wanted to swoop over and drown him in praise. His Excellency Pill Fiend really was a genius! Nonono, a fiendish genius! He'd written down three poisonous plants!
The crucial point was that all three were right in this courtyard!
This was the easiest place to overlook, so that idiot Duanmu Yao had rushed out right away.
—
Poisonous plants came in two varieties. One displayed its poison only after being boiled and extracted, so they were referred to as concealed poison plants. The other showed its poison as soon as it sprouted, so they were called visible poison plants. Too bad that Pill Fiend's three plants all belonged to the latter category.
As soon as Han Yunxi entered Pill Fiend Valley, her detoxification system had given her multiple alerts of its many toxic flora. It was the same when she entered the courtyard. She was most familiar with poisonous vegetation, so there was no need to detect visible poison plants when she could recognize them with a sweep of her eyes.
Duanmu Yao, go ahead and search. Seven Deaths Hawktail and Simple White Yimi aren't ordinary plants, but extremely rare poison plants. Even if there's a second or third one in this valley, it's unlikely that Pill Fiend himself could find them!
And there was only one Wall-Hitting Ghost, probably specially cultivated by old Pill Fiend himself. It'd be impossible to find it beyond this courtyard.
Long Feiye, Duanmu Baiye, and Pill Fiend were all flabbergasted as they looked at her clutching her chest. Such an emotional event required some time for her to calm down. Finally, Duanmu Baiye couldn't hold it back anymore.
"Qin Wangfei, aren't you going to look? Do you want to admit defeat?"
His death is near at hand, but he's still so aggressive. Just wait and you'll be crying later.
Han Yunxi rose to her feet with a smile. "Crown Prince Ye. Princess Changle was in such a rush, so now you're being anxious as well?" As she spoke, she handed over the unopened diagrams to Long Feiye. "Your highness, help me hold onto these."
Long Feiye seemed amused as he quietly accepted the papers.
Duanmu Baiye had no rebuttal but felt uneasy in his heart. It couldn't be that this woman actually felt self-assured? But he quickly rejected the idea. That was impossible. Even if she recognized these plants, she wouldn't be able to find them immediately. Where did her self-confidence come from? She was just trying to be intentionally mystifying.
Duanmu Baiye crossed his arms as his face turned cold. He'd just wait. He didn't believe that Han Yunxi could come up with anything.
Meanwhile, Pill Fiend grew secretly restless. This woman's just sitting in the courtyard without leaving. She can't have discovered something, right?