Wu Long received a message from Yu Huan that she had left a new map with the receptionist at the Association, and that she would be waiting for him for a few days.
He sighed, shaking his head.
Perhaps her obsession with alchemy was commendable, but her skills in anything else were startling.
Regardless, he first made a visit to Sui Luxiao as he promised, since he received the message from Yu Huan on the way to her.
Once he arrived, he was immediately escorted to Sui Luxiao's office. There was a new face among the reception attendants at her personal office area, and she looked at him with gratitude and bowed.
He nodded to her while smiling, seeing that she was perfectly fine and doing better than before.
He then went inside and saw Sui Luxiao in a different but still revealing black dress with a different set of jewelry on her, who greeted him as an esteemed guest this time. There was great joy in her eyes as well as deep interest in him.
"Welcome, please come in"
"I take it your alchemists have succeeded in concocting the pill" he said as a matter of fact while taking a seat.
"Indeed. I must confess I am really intrigued, but first, on behalf of my Peacock Feather Trading Company I wish to thank you for providing such a precious recipe to us"
There was still haughtiness in her voice as she was in an influential position for many years, but there was genuine politeness in her tone this time.
"As I already said, that recipe was just bait, what I want to talk about is far more beneficial, both for you and your business" he replied to her with a slight smile
"Please continue, I am already dying to know" she urged him on.
"Your health, and longevity, they are deteriorating, no?"
He suddenly said, and her eyes widened a little as her brow twitched.
"... was it the Thousand Eye Information Bureau?" she asked after some time.
"No, a deduction and observation, it is quite common for women in your position after all" he said to her, still with the same tone as if he was talking about the weather.
"Common? I have never heard of it, as doctors I have consulted have not found anything" she said raising her brows.
"You see, it is common, but most people in your position do not know of it, in fact, it is quite a simple problem with quite a simple solution" he said.
"... is this the other business you were talking about?" she asked after pondering a little about his words, as she sensed as a professional merchant that this solution will not be available for free like the pill recipe. But to her it indeed was far important as it concerned her life.
"Yes, you see, this company is only alive because of you, you might have inherited from your ancestors, but your husband and children are not up to par to keep it working without destroying it completely. Without you, this company is just a shell of itself that will not last even a decade. And to you, well it is obvious how precious your health and longevity, your beauty is" he talked, gradually leaning in from the position of his back on the seat back of the armchair he was sitting in, to forward, closer to her.
She gulped, as this was something she noticed nearly a decade ago and could not find any solution while searching extensively and also trying to keep it secret.
"What do you want in exchange for the solution?" she asked.
"There are two things, I want ingredients on this list," he placed a scroll on the table.
"I will also require you to confine your youngest son to an indefinite house arrest with no possibility to influence the outside world, as his pursuit of a certain young lady will kill him" he said next, causing her eyebrows to twitch.
"Are you threatening me?" she said, her tone of slight anger.
"No, I am just warning you, that he might die if you do not protect him from himself, I would not even bother warning you and just killed him, but I do want to do business with you so I decided to let him live a carefree life as a caged bird" he said, not batting an eye at her reaction.
"Hmph, what if your solution does not work?" she stood up and went up to the window, overlooking the hall.
"It will work" he said confidently.
She looked at the workers down in the hall an all kinds of thoughts flashed through her eyes.
She viewed the trading company as her life now.
Once upon a time, she gave all her love and affection, attention and care to her children. But what surprised her was that no matter what she taught them or how she tried, they turned worse and worse with time. She only then realized that their father influenced them in another way, in secret to her. She tried to reverse it, but it was too late, and they chose their path. And one day, she realized her children were beyond her saving. Tyrannical and abusive, arrogant people like the ones she had to go against in her youth and hated the most.
She did instinctively protect them from harm and gave them all they needed, but deep down she knew that they were not people she considered to be respectable or worthy of her care.
So she focused her attention on the company, it was her sole child now, and the meaning of her life. Alas, she started to notice her health deteriorating, and the root of longevity drying up. In the past year, she almost despaired.
Now she had a glimmer of hope. She could not be certain it would work, but he did give her the precious recipe that was worth a lot more than any ingredients he might desire, as it was long term profit. And there was no harm in at least trying, instead of slowly rotting to death.
After a long period of silence, she turned and went back to the table, picked up the scroll and looked through the contents. There were a lot of precious items there and the quantities specified were large, but for such a large trading company, it was doable.
"I agree to your conditions" she said after looking through it "This will take around a week to collect"
"Perfect, I will see you in a week then" he replied, standing up and exiting.
He then visited the Alchemy Tower and retrieved the new map, following which he arrived at a small courtyard house.
He knocked on the gate, and after some time, a young woman in plain robes with a shoulder length hair opened up.
When she saw him, she widened her eyes and her jaw almost dropped.
'W-What in the Heavens is this divine being? I-Is this really a human?!?! That Yu Huan!!! To call this "my type" or "handsome" is not even beginning to describe him!'
She cried inwardly, all the confidence she showed previously talking about how she will see if he qualifies to be called attractive or how she'll stay composed no matter how charming he was melting like snow in a summer heat.
"Hello, you must be Yu Huan's housemate, she didn't mention she lived with such a beauty" he smiled at her, almost blinding her eyes.
"Ah? Eh… yes… no… I mean thank you… I mean, please come in, Yu Huan has been waiting for you" she said, trying to regain her composure.
He nodded with the same smile and went in, while the blushing Bi Rui closed the gate and took a few breaths in.
'T-that was dangerous' she thought to herself, and followed him inside.
Yu Huan greeted him with a guilty expression, but also stubbornly refusing to talk in a submissive matter.
"My apologies, the map was wrong"
Wu Long did not care much about it, as there was still a week until he had all the necessary ingredients.
He went in and questioned her on her understanding of the scrolls and how much she progressed with the technique he gave her.
After receiving satisfying results, he told her to ask him any questions she had, and while she initially reluctantly asked, she then became absorbed in learning, all the while Bi Rui peeked into the room from time to time.
"I made some tea as it is already late and you might be thirsty" Bi Rui said, waking Yu Huan from her learning frenzy. The way she talked was like an older sister, more mature and learned.
"Ah, my apologies, I took so much of your time…" she said to him, realizing he has been here from noon to almost late evening now.
"No worries, as it is important for me that you understand and improve as quickly as possible" he replied with a smile.
"It seems you are not as worried about me assaulting you as before" he added, as she was more relaxed than before now
"Your knowledge of Alchemy Dao is profound, I do not believe that such a person will have bad intentions toward me. Besides, sister Rui is an expert on men, especially handsome flirty men, so she would have told me if you were bad news the second you arrived" she said, while BI Rui almost gasped in the background.
"Hoh? Is that so?" Wu Long turned to look at Bi Rui intently, seemingly impressed, but Bi Rui instantly started to profusely sweat under his gaze, shifting her eyes and trying not to look in his.
He then suddenly smiled while sending goosebumps all over Bi Rui with his gaze and smile.
"Yes, Sister Rui had so many men I could not even count them all, and they all had pretty faces. She always teases me saying I am too immature…"
"It! It is already late, we should let Mister Wu go" Bi Rui interjected in a slightly unnatural voice as the gaze Wu Long gave her unnerved her more and more as Yu Huan talked.
"Yes, I shall leave for now, take these scrolls and study them, I will come and check on your progress tomorrow, we might start pill concocting in two to three days, so be ready" he said.
"Yes, thank you Mister Wu" Yu Huan said, taking the precious scrolls he gave her.
"You can just call me Wu Long, both of you" he said, taking his leave.
On his way through a dark, but full of bustling life Imperial Capital, Wu Long looked at the somehow festive atmosphere despite there being no festivities, taking it in while breathing the refreshing night air mixed with the aromas of life around him.
He then recalled the scene before and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
'Heeeeh, a maiden duping her friend into believing she has experience huh' he chuckled while thinking inwardly , and then added out loud "This could be fun"