"Young Master Chen, I cannot thank you enough for saving my life." Feng Yingyue was bowing politely to Cao Yun.
"I may be impolite but what is a young girl like you doing into these woods? If my eyes do not deceive me, you should only be a 1st-grade Mortal. I'm not sure you could survive an encounter with even the weakest of the 1-star demonic beasts roaming this forest."
Cao Yun was sincerely curious. But he also had something else in mind. If possible, he wanted to get some information about her, that could maybe lead him to news regarding his own family. Also, he had not really considered where he was going. She obviously came from a town. Hence, he decided to interrogate her.
"Young Master Chen, this incompetent one went into the woods to gather some medicinal herbs. I am a small alchemist and I just needed a few materials for my decoctions." Feng Yingyue spoke very humbly. "When I was deep into the woods, those men attacked me. I fled for several days but they were faster than me."
"Several days?! You were able to evade them for that long?! They were 2nd-grade Mortals and that Huang Lixin guy was even a grade higher. How did you pull it off?!"
Cao Yun was shocked. In the same circumstances, he never could have fled for more than an hour or two. Yet, this small girl that was way weaker than him managed to do so. Feng Yingyue was a little flustered but she answered truthfully.
"I am but a small alchemist, but I do possess several pills. I used them to alleviate my fatigue and keep me alert. And these woods were in fact very helpful. My craft demands that I know my way around nature. Thus I was able to use the environment to delay them. Thankfully, none of them was used to hunting in the woods."
"You claim to be a mere alchemist, but I believe it to be the sign of a great alchemist..." Cao Yun was really impressed by this girl. Judging by her looks and the state of her shoes, what she said was absolutely true. She had ran through the woods for several days with five men chasing after her.
"Oh, I am nothing of the sort. My craft barely allows me to earn a living." Feng Yingyue lowered her head shyly.
"You own a shop?"
"Yes, in Yinmen city, to the east. My father founded it... but now, I manage it alone. My father was the real alchemist, I just make do with the craft he taught me." There was a small pause in her answer and Cao Yun felt some sadness in her voice. He decided not to talk further about it, he could imagine what this meant and did not want to put her on the spot.
"I see. Even though I am ignorant of the ways of alchemists, let me tell you that you seem very impressive."
Feng Yingyue clearly could not take a compliment about her alchemy and she just stared at the floor.
"You must be very tired. I still have some questions, but I think you should rest first. Do not worry, I will keep guard. Rest for now."
"Thank you, Young Master Chen."
"Please just address me as Chen Guo and I will address you as Feng Yingyue."
Feng Yingyue was not comfortable around people and she just nodded. She took a pill from her robe and immediately went to sleep.
-
Several hours later, Feng Yingyue woke up and saw the back of Chen Guo. During a moment, she was lost, and then, she remembered what happened and it jolted her awake.
"Are you well rested?"
"Yes, thank you, Young Mas... sorry, thank you, Chen Guo." Her face clearly showed her shyness.
Cao Yun turned toward her and helped her on her feet.
"Please forgive my curiosity, but I would like to know why I killed these men."
"I understand." Feng Yingyue hesitated a bit. "I believe I know the reason why they were trying to kill me. My father died a couple years ago. Since then, the Huang family has been trying to buy my shop. I did not really know why, considering they never had any interest toward alchemy. But I was able to overhear some rumors. It seems they are under the impression that my father left a mystical pill formula somewhere in his shop." Feng Yingyue rapidly shook her head. "I can assure you that there is no such thing."
Cao Yun was a bit amused by her behavior. She was waving her hands in the air to deny it, even though he didn't ask. However, he did not dare to smile because of the contents of her answer.
"Whether it is true or not is of no importance to me. Now I get the general picture. But if I am not mistaken, Yinmen city is pretty far from here."
"Yes, by walking, it should take us two months if we are very careful and take the safe way." When she ran from her pursuers, it took her almost twenty days to come here. But she used all her strength and several pills to help her. She also went through dangerous paths. Unfortunately, her pursuers also had some pills and even dared chase her through the most risky areas.
"You really fled for your life with everything you got. Impressive!"
Feng Yingyue did not know what to say and Cao Yun was silent for some time.
"Fine. I will accompany you back to Yinmen city."
"What?!" Feng Yingyue was flabbergasted. "Young Mas... sorry, Chen Guo, do not worry yourself over me. You already saved my life, you did enough."
"If I just left you to your fate, I do not know if you could go back alive. You must have consumed most of your pills and it should be difficult for you to defend against demonic beasts. What would be the point of saving you to then let you die? And I must admit I am not doing that by pure goodness. This Yinmen city piqued my interest. I was wondering where to go, and you helped my make up my mind."
Feng Yingyue hesitated but acquiesced.
Cao Yun was in desperate need of information about the Cao family slaughter. He was a little worried about this Huang family, but it was only a side branch, Huang Lixin recognizing him was just a fluke. No one should be able to recognize him in Yinmen city and he should be able to gather some intel. The city was not that far from Baziyun and word of his family's demise should have already reached them. And, Cao Yun had to admit that the loneliness was becoming difficult for him. He was a young boy and was not used to being alone for so long.
And he was not against traveling with such a beauty.
Feng Yingyue was in a sorry state, but still, she was very charming with her delicate face and her fiery hair. Her silhouette was pretty generous as well.
It was decided! Cao Yun and Feng Yingyue set out toward the east, to return back to Yinmen city.
-
Feng Yingyue went to gather ingredients in order to replenish her stock of pills. Cao Yun insisted on accompanying her, she tried several times to dissuade him saying it was boring and tedious work. It did not work.
At first, she was a little flustered and did not know how to act with this boy with her. But, as soon as she immersed herself in her craft, she was someone else.
She dug a little hole beneath a tree and took out a strange looking root. She felt the curious gaze of Cao Yun on her.
"This is a Charred Cow's Knees. It grows under some trees as a parasitic root. To find them, you need to look for signs. For instance, the trunk of this tree is slightly orange over here, this is a sign of the Charred Cow's Knees stealing its nutrients. Then if you look on the ground, you'll see that no moss grows around there, and that's precisely where the root was buried. If you look at the root, you'll understand its name, with its appearance like the knee of a cow. It has a very abrasive smell. There."
Feng Yingyue hold up the root for Cao Yun to smell it. And indeed, the smell was very powerful, and awful as well.
"Its smell alone can be used to wake up someone who lost consciousness. But what's interesting is that it can have a very different effect. If you boil it in fresh Lunar tears, it will even produce the opposite effect. Instead of stimulating someone, it can relax him, even to the point of putting him in a deep slumber."
Feng Yingyue looked up and saw Cao Yun's face. He was in a daze and lost in his thoughts and it awoke Feng Yingyue.
"Oh, sorry. When I'm talking about herbs, I just can't seem to stop myself, sorry. I won't bother you again."
"You're not bothering me at all. On the opposite, it's pretty interesting. As a cultivator, alchemy is very important. It's just that I realized I was walking amidst a treasure trove of medicinal herbs with no way of knowing it. Please go ahead."
Feng Yingyue blushed a little and got back into her herbs. She kept talking for a long time. Each time she found something interesting, she exposed all its properties to the young boy. And he was not just being polite, he was really interesting in everything she said. Usually, he was passionate about cultivation and martial arts and never really tried reading books about alchemy. Yet this subject was essential for cultivators. Most of the time, they just took pills without understanding the inner work of the craft. Right now, he realized that learning a little could bring many benefits to his cultivation.
They kept on treading through the woods, Feng Yingyue was gathering many herbs, roots and all kinds of plants. Cao Yun was listening to every thing she said. He did not understand it perfectly but it was still beneficial to him.
Alchemy was mainly the art of forging pills from medicinal herbs, but it could also use parts from demonic beasts or even some miraculous water, ores or all kinds of ingredients. These pills could be used in medicine of course, but the most interesting thing for cultivators was that some pills could improve your cultivation, calm your state of mind, and all kinds of other fantastic effects. Some pills could even temporarily increase the strength of a fighter.
As the sun was setting, they both came back to the campfire they had set earlier. Feng Yingyue had spoken all day long and was now at ease around Cao Yun, they even started talking about other things.
"Little Yingyue, I was wondering... There must be herbs and pills meant to calm the emotions, for example to soothe anger."
Cao Yun became more and more worried about the effect of the Drop of Wrath. He had read the materials from Cleansed Asura and he understood that the more powerful he would get, the more effect the Drop would have. There were many mantras and techniques to temper the mind and resist its intent. Alas, it was still a little too advanced for Cao Yun and all the pills mentioned in the books were completely unknown to him.
"Of course. The first one to come to mind is the Sorrowful Dew Pearl. You just have to reduce it into powder and mix it with the blood of a female 1-core demonic beast with a strong yin intent. By digesting it, the medicinal properties will gradually diffuse throughout your body and calm your mind. It's especially useful against anger."
"Would the blood of a Purple rotten keelback snake be up to the task?"
Cao Yun took out a small pouch made with demonic beast skin. He had gathered the blood of all the beasts he killed to use them during his training.
"Of course, and I happen to have a Sorrowful Dew Pearl on me. Let me prepare it."
"Could you teach me?"
Feng Yingyue was surprised but she smiled brightly.
"Of course."
They both got to work. Feng Yingyue was keen to teach everything, even more than what was necessary to Cao Yun. But he too was very eager to learn all he could.
After the process was done, Cao Yun ingested the mixture. He felt a very cold flow of medicinal essence in his throat. This sensation rose up and his mind calmed down. While feeling this, he started performing his cultivation.
As he was activating the 'Dance of Slaughter', he tried to focus his intent on guiding the medicinal properties alongside the intent of the Drop of Wrath. He quickly felt that the medicine was effective and the drop that used to feel as if it was burning was cooling down. To his surprise, the cultivation gave him more benefit than usual.
Feng Yingyue gave him enough ingredients to make the concoction throughout their journey. With her help first and then alone, he worked on making it.
The next few days were all the same. Cao Yun soon realized that the medicine were less and less effective. The Drop of Wrath had already calmed down a little, but it would not respond to the medicinal properties anymore. However, it still helped Cao Yun to calm his mind before cultivating and helped him focus even more. He would have to wait to be more advanced before trying out the ways of the 'Cultivation of Wrath'. Indeed, he did not want to lose his sanity during an important fight.
Feng Yingyue and Cao Yun were becoming really intimate. She had no more trouble speaking with him as if they were old friends. She kept talking about herbs and alchemy and eagerly listened when Cao Yun spoke about cultivation and martial arts.
Cultivation was also important to alchemist. Some pills and forging methods needed strength to be performed, but they could not use too much time on cultivating. The insights she gained from Cao Yun were very fruitful and she could quickly advance her cultivation. She was still some weeks away from becoming a 2nd-grade Mortal, but she was feeling real change in her body. She even trained with Cao Yun and they prepared several mixtures together to help them during the journey back to Yinmen city.