Elder Xia shows Meilian where the herbs are stored and showed her the garden with the fresh plants. Meilian takes note of the herbs there, and she saw some gems even her father hasn't gotten his hands on.
She sees everything she needs and memorizes where they are placed. They return to the main hall and there Meilian sees that Jun Zhi has returned. She had asked him to send a pigeon messenger to her father to let him know that would be returning a little later than what was promised, but didn't mention what they were going to do.
Master Zhong had left, which was a relief. If he was watching everything she did, she would feel too nervous to perform because she can't perform well if she knew others were watching her.
"If you need anything Master Xihuan," Elder Xia said. "Don't be afraid to ask me"
Meilian bowed down, "Thank you Elder Xia"
Elder Xia left for his study, and Meilian and Jun Zhi began gathering the ingredients to make the antidote. She made a list of the herbs for Jun Zhi and instructions on where he could find them. Meanwhile, Meilian went outside to the garden and gathered a few plants, and brought them inside.
Jun Zhi returns soon after and they put down all the ingredients on a large wooden table. Meilian does hand signs and points her right-hand index and middle fingers at an empty spot on the table. As soon as she does that, a little black marble bowl and a knife materialize.
Meilian takes the dry herbs Jun Zhi gathered and puts them in a wheel pestle and starts crushing them to a fine powder. She asks Jun Zhi to use the mortar to crush the fresh herbs and plants together, to get the extract.
The preparation finishes after some time and Meilian gets serious. They put the herb powder and the extract in separate bowls in front of her. She puts the black marble bowl underneath her and picks up the knife. She puts her index finger above the bowl and cuts her finger, letting the blood drip into the dark bowl.
In this world, anyone is able to make poisons and a cure that follows. However, very few people have the ability to make unique poisons with a cure that follows. Most healers and pharmacists can make an antidote to any position because that's what they have been thought. Poisons made by certain cultivators can't use regular recipes to make antidotes.
Certain cultivators can use their blood to make poisons and cures that are unique. If anyone takes any poison made by them, only that person is able to cure them. This technique is viewed as a taboo in the cultivation world and only people from a certain clan are allowed to practice this art. There are of course evil cultivators that break this rule and use this art for their own gain.
Jun Zhi knew Meilian had this ability and never questioned her for it. She puts down the knife on a cloth and prepares herself. She makes a hand sign, and the ingredients float in front of her, slowly merging together. She focuses her qi carefully on combining her blood with the herbs. Getting distracted would mean a failed product and she couldn't afford it.
There was a big pill furnace in the middle of the hall. After she had made a big ball of all the ingredients, she took it to the furnace and put it inside. She made another hand gesture to increase the heat, using her qi to control the heat so as to not go overboard. Jun Zhi is watching, hoping it will go well.
Normally, this was a process that doesn't take a lot of time. However, she was making more pills in one go, meaning she would end up using all her energy for the sake of a cure. She was betting on Jun Zhi to keep her safe if anything were to happen.
After some time sweat is dripping from her forehead, and her arms are shaking. She has been holding hands in the same position for hours. She was making antidotes for 10 unlucky bastards what was going to go through hell once they healed from her poison.
Meilian is reaching the end and is preparing to take out the pills from the furnace. Jun Zhi prepared a bottle to store the antidote in and Meilian poured energy into finishing it perfectly. The heat of the furnace is turned to its base temperature and the from the furnace the pills emerge. Meilian carefully puts the antidote inside the bottle and closes it off.
"You finally finished it!" Jun Zhi said as he pat her on the shoulder.
Meilian looked pale. She used more qi than normal, and her legs shakes slightly. Jun Zhi notices and helps her to a chair and gives her water. She gulps it down and looks up at Jun Zhi, thankful that he was there.
"I made it Jun Zhi," she said. "He better pay me for this"
He couldn't help but chuckle. At least she was fine enough to joke. Meilian cursed herself. She was careless. She thought, she wouldn't have gotten into this mess hadn't she taken out the wrong paper with the poison. She had made another version of the same poison, without using her blood. Had it been the normal poison, she could have told Master Zhong how to make the antidote and she would have been back at her cottage by now.
The unique poison she brought with her was for emergencies. Like, if she met people she shouldn't have, she could use the poison to save her own life and give them the antidote and they wouldn't have suspected anything. This situation was too risky for her. Her father had told her to be careful with this ability because none was able to make poisons using their own blood. Meilian didn't know why, but she later learned the truth after reading a book about taboo cultivation. She asked Mr. Gu and he told her half the truth.
Shortly after, Master Zhong returns.
"How are things coming along?" he asks.
"Master Zhong," Meilian and Jun Zhi greet him.
She then picks up the pill bottle on the table and shows it to him.
"It went quite well," she responds.
He takes the bottle from her hand and opens the lid and looks at its contents. He is satisfied.
"Good," he says and Meilian feels relieved.
She feels weak and is about to fall. Master Zhong sees this and hurriedly catches her. Their eyes lock and they share a moment. Meilian can feel her heart beating fast. They stare into each other's eyes.
"Xihuan!"
She snaps back to reality and Master Zhong lets her go once she is stable. Jun Zhi checks upon his friend.
"I'll arrange a place for you to stay to recuperate," Master Zhong says. "We would be glad to host you"
Meilian and Jun Zhi look at each other dumbfounded, then back at master Zhong. Staying the night wouldn't be a good idea. Mr. Gu wasn't fully aware of their situation, so if they got back late, her father would begin looking for her and she would never be allowed to leave the cottage ever again.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Master Zhong," she says as she bows to him. "But we have somewhere to be and can't delay it any further"
Master Zhong understands and escorts them to the entrance of Heaven's Sword Sect. They say their goodbyes and Meilian and Jun Zhi leave.
It has become very late by the time they return to the cottage. They see no sign of Mr. Gu around and sneak back into Meilian's room without alerting her father. They silently get to her room and Meilian is unable to stand up and falls to the ground. Jun Zhi kneels down beside her and holds her.
"Maybe you over-exerted yourself..." he says worriedly. "You didn't have to use that much qi"
"Quiet," Meilian whispers. "Father will hear you"
"Xiao Lian.. Oh Xiao Lian..." he says.
"Lian'er!!" they hear from Meilian's room door.
They both look in that direction and see an anxious Mr. Gu. He hurriedly gets to the other side of Meilian and, he and Jun Zhi helps her to her bed and sits her down. He checks her temperature and then looks furiously at Jun Zhi. He knew he couldn't lie to Mr. Gu if he asked why Meilian was like that.
"What happened to Lian'er?" Mr. Gu asks.
Jun Zhi tells her father everything that happened, from what happened in Cangshan Town all the way going to Heaven's Sword Sect. Jun Zhi tells her father about using up most of her qi to make an antidote.
Mr. Gu looks at Meilian disappointedly. However, he is mostly relieved she got back home safely and healthily. He doesn't say anything to Jun Zhi's story and silently leaves the room. Meilian and Jun Zhi sighs.
"Xiao Lian you have to be more careful with which poison you use," he says as he looks at Meilian. "We almost got into so much trouble"
"But we didn't," she says. "We should celebrate our first victory!"
Jun Zhi isn't amazed. He just stares at her.
"I'm sorry," she says as she holds Jun Zhi's hands. "I promise to be more careful in the future"
Not long after Mr. Gu left, he returns with a bowl in his hands. He brought back a bowl of Meilian's favorite dish, Tofu Soup.
"Eat up," Mr. Gu tells his daughter. "Eat up and rest well"
Mr. Gu wants to be mad at his daughter, but he was sure his daughter had learned a lesson. He didn't want to add more wood to the fire.
"You have to be more careful in the future Lian'er," he adds. "Remember how special your abilities are. If people got wind of it... I only want you to be safe"
"I apologize, father," she says.
"Rest well," Mr. Gu says and leaves her room.