Gu Beiyue seemed like he understood Lil Thing very well. After all, he did have a director for a grandpa, so it wasn't strange for him to know such things.
"How so?" Han Yunxi asked in interest.
Gu Beiyue wore an exceptionally guileless smile. "It has a huge appetite. It'll eat you out of house and home, esteemed wangfei."
Han Yunxi was amused before she opened up the medical pouch for Gu Beiyue to see. The two of them came to a tacit understanding with smiles as both their troubles and woes were temporarily set aside. Gu Beiyue was like the winter sun, warm yet not scorching. He could always appear at the most unexpected times to drive away Han Yunxi's clouds. Though they were both smiling, he was still serious when it came to his explanations.
"Esteemed wangfei, a poison beast's teeth is poisonous, but its blood can treat hundreds of poisons. That's due to the fact that it ingests hundreds of poisons in turn. Thus, once the poison beast bites someone, or gives its blood to save a life, it'll need to eat nonstop. Otherwise, its life might be in danger!"
Many people were after the poison beast, but only few knew of such a secret. Han Yunxi was surprised. She looked back at Lil Thing, only to see it currently nestled up by Gu Beiyue's neck and shoulders. It blinked its eyes at her, while its mouth moved, as if to indicate its hunger again. So that was it. No wonder it kept sneaking food into its mouth even after she treated it so fiercely.
"Then how much does it need to eat before it's full?" Han Yunxi asked anxiously. Leaving aside how useful Lil Thing was, she couldn't bear to see such a little creature starve from hunger.
Gu Beiyue tilted his head towards Lil Thing, his gentle gaze taking on a pitying light. The sight of his gaze was almost enough to make Lil Thing melt. It didn't know who the man was or his relationship with its master, but it really like the clean scent emanating off his body.
"That's something we'll have to ask him. However, even once it's full, its blood won't have any medicinal properties. Each time its blood is used to save someone, it'll take time to accumulate back to its life-saving properties again. Its blood can treat hundreds of poisons, so if it loses too much blood, it can't live long, either."
Han Yunxi chuckled. This little animal had even wanted to give her more blood in exchange for more poisons! Did it even understand how dangerous it was to lose that much? Just who was it that spread the rumors of the poison beast being practically immortal?!
"Then, how much does it need to eat to recover those properties?" Han Yunxi asked seriously.
Gu Beiyue helplessly shook his head. Aside from asking Lil Thing, he himself had no idea. "Esteemed wangfei, the most important thing now is to feed it until it's full. It looks like it's been starved to desperation."
Gu Beiyue had very large hands, so it was easy for him to cup Lil Thing in his palms. He softly scratched its ears, making it feel extremely comfortable by the sensation. If possible, it'd spend its whole life living in this man's palm and never getting up. But Han Yunxi soon plucked him from the warm nest.
"Let's go, we'll find something to eat."
Because Gu Beiyue was here, it wasn't convenient for Han Yunxi to take poisons from her detox system. She might as well go out and buy some more, since it was time to refill the system's stores anyways.
"Perhaps this one should come along with esteemed wangfei," Gu Beiyue immediately rose to his feet.
"You've just recovered from a serious illness, you should rest. I'll be back in a jiffy." Han Yunxi was really worried that even a gust of wind would be enough to blow over the frail-looking Gu Beiyue, but he was insistent on coming along.
"Esteemed wangfei, I know of many medicine merchants in Medical City. I can recommend them to you."
Medicine City and Medical City were tied together by these medicine shops. Together, they controlled most of Cloud Realm Continent's drug market. All right, even though Han Yunxi wasn't planning on buying wholesale, she still needed quite a bit of raw ingredients. Finding a medicine merchant would make the prices much cheaper. Thinking up to here, Han Yunxi felt the gold card in her sleeve. It was the one that Long Feiye had given her in Medicine City and was equivalent to a modern-day credit card. She could use it anywhere in Cloud Realm Continent and have Long Feiye pay off the costs. Much of the stock in the detox system came from this card. Han Yunxi paused for a moment before silently placing the card on the table. She didn't want it anymore.
But she and Gu Beiyue had just gone out the door when Lil Thing slipped out of the medical pouch. As quick as a peal of thunder, he rushed over and picked up the golden card. After making sure it was the real deal, he quickly slipped back into the medical pouch again. He had a little secret, and that was — being greedy for treasure as well as for food!
Han Yunxi and Gu Beiyue had just gone out the door when they met Gu Qishao head-on. He hadn't been able to find Mu Linger anywhere in Medical City, so he'd just come back. The sight of Han Yunxi was a pleasant surprise to him. "Poison lass, you haven't left yet?"
Immediately, Han Yunxi grew angry. "Where's Mu Linger?"
If she hadn't seen him, she would've forgotten all about Mu Linger. That little girl had pushed her, something that couldn't be forgotten so easily. Forget repaying kindness with enmity, she had been trying to kill her outright!
"I was just looking for her as well. When I find her, you can kill her in one slice," Gu Qishao said respectably.
Kill her?
Han Yunxi could tell that Gu Qishao and Mu Linger had a deep relationship. This fellow had mysterious origins to begin with, so how could anyone close to him be killed off so easily?
"She liked you so much for nothing," Han Yunxi tried to sound him out.
But Gu Qishao only sighed, before saying, "Aye, too bad I like you."
On one side, Gu Beiyue creased his brow at these words, but Han Yunxi had long grown used to them. She rolled her eyes and ignored them. Gu Qishao chased after them as they walked away and asked, "Was it that fellow from the Shadow Clan who saved you?"
"Find Mu Linger and I'll tell you," Han Yunxi said seriously.
"Will you tell me who taught you your poison arts at the same time?" Gu Qishao hastened to add, not minding the existence of Gu Beiyue by their side at all.
This guy was always pestering her to death and treating her well. But it was simply so he could find out the origins of her poison skills. Just what did he want to know, and what did he suspect? Every time she asked him, he would always refuse to answer. Han Yunxi really was tired of dealing with him, especially when she herself still knew so little about herself, such as the secret of her birth, why Lady Tianxin had died, why the Poison Sect's little squirrel was so friendly with her or why the Shadow Clan guy had came to her rescue. She smiled stiffly at Gu Qishao before taking long strides to avoid him, but he was quick to catch up.
"Where are you going? You didn't leave with Long Feiye?"
Han Yunxi didn't speak. By her side, Gu Beiyue shot Gu Qishao a glance as his eyes flashed with faint laughter. But the expression was quick to fade away.
"Poison lass, since you didn't leave with Long Feiye, why not leave with this gentleman? We can be immortal companions who eat and drink our fill!" Gu Qishao said playfully.
Immortal companions? Eat and drink our fill? He sure knew how to string two things together. Han Yunxi narrowly resisted laughing out loud, but kept ignoring him to walk even faster. But soon enough, she halted and stared at Gu Qishao, who backed up in surprise. "You… what do you want to do?"
Han Yunxi stared at him for a long time in silence before breaking into a grin. "Take me to a place."
Gu Qishao thought she was going to do something to him, but grinned back at those words and said generously, "Sure. Anywhere you want to go, just say the word!"
Han Yunxi discarded all formalities and only gave three words: "The poisons warehouse!"
The poisons warehouse was equivalent to the storeroom of the Poison Sect and was located in the central peak of Lotus Mountain. However, it was actually just a large patch of natural poison forest that extended from halfway up Lotus Mountain to its peak. The area was filled with all sorts of poisonous plants. The Poison Sect had been the first ones to cultivate the area, but because its plants were so hardy, it kept growing wild even after the destruction of the Poison Sect. In the end, it ran rampant all over the mountain despite there being no one to look after it. The medical academy had once tried to scorch it away with fire, but in the wake of its smoke, new sprouts had grown from the ashes. The new plants grew even denser than before, so the medical academy ceased touching it from thereon. Instead, they sealed off the entire mountain instead.
If Han Yunxi hadn't seen Gu Qishao, she wouldn't have thought of bringing Lil Thing to such a place. She and Gu Beiyue alone weren't strong enough to enter the Poison Sect's forbidden grounds, but it'd be different if Gu Qishao helped.
"What are you going to do there?" Gu Qishao asked doubtfully. He never knew that Poison lass had known about the poison warehouse.
"To gain some knowledge and experience," Han Yunxi said modestly. She reckoned that no one would be any the wiser even if she moved the entire area into her detox system.
"Done!" Gu Qishao agreed readily, before adding, "Tell me why that fellow from the Shadow Clan wanted to save you! Have you two met before?"
Han Yunxi's face sank. "Can't we be proper friends anymore?" Couldn't she have a friend who could treat her with honesty and sincerity, instead of trying to probe her out? Annoying!
A complicated look flickered past Gu Qishao's eyes before he recovered his usual seductive smile. "I'll take you there right away, come on." So speaking, he pulled along Han Yunxi's hand to leave until she shook herself free.
"Imperial Physician Gu's coming along too!"
Immediately, Gu Qishao stopped and avoided Han Yunxi to stare at Gu Beiyue. "What are you doing, tagging along?"
Gu Beiyue didn't expect Han Yunxi would bring him along too. He was about to reply when Han Yunxi cut in front of him. "To gain some knowledge and experience."
Gu Qishao replied rudely, "He's a burden!"
"Hey! That's too much!" Han Yunxi grew angry. Gu Beiyue might not understand poisons, but he still recognize some ingredients that could be used to deter them. An extra person meant an extra share of strength. Moreover, Gu Beiyue really could gain some knowledge and experience if he went as well. A poisons store like that one was all one could wish for, whether one was an ordinary doctor or a poisons one!
Gu Beiyue wasn't angry, but was smart enough to not express any particular views. Gu Qishao discovered that somewhere in between all his jokes, this lass had eaten him up completely. He'd always been the lawless and defiant type, but he wasn't brave enough to refuse her requests. There was a saying that even the unconventional and unrestrained men would end up as henpecked husbands after marriage, but all he knew was that he simply liked her. And yet, this was enough to make him fear her. Gu Qishao did some careful calculations in his heart. Someway or another, he had to find a way for Long Feiye to divorce this woman so he could marry her immediately.
He released Han Yunxi's hand and easily turned around. "We'll all go together. Mind you keep up and don't get lost!"
Han Yunxi was thrilled. She signaled with her eyebrows at Gu Beiyue not to worry. Gu Beiyue nodded, his eyes filled with warmth as he said softly, "Someone from the Shadow Clan saved you?"
"Mm, you know about the Shadow Clan?"
Faced with Gu Beiyue, Han Yunxi was much more open. Actually, if Gu Qishao wasn't harboring ulterior motives, she'd be willing to share some things with him too.
"I know them to some extent," Gu Beiyue paused before adding, "I heard that the Shadow Clan's long been exterminated as one of the East-West Qin imperial clan's Seven Noble Families?"
After the fall of the East and West Qin Dynasties, members of the Seven Noble Families buried their surnames to live incognito, but the Shadow Clan should have followed after the West Qin imperial clan for sure.
"I think it's strange as well. Why do you think that is?" Han Yunxi asked doubtfully. She was simply saying whatever came to her mind, but it sent a flash of grief flitting through Gu Beiyue's eyes. Faint as it was, he was unable to get rid of its traces.
—
After leaving the courtyard, Gu Qishao took them along a little path. As one woman and two men journeying together, what kind of people would they meet along the way?