Anything but Ordinary

After Xiao Yan had cleaned himself up and followed the two guards into the room Mr. Yao had prepared, he finally understood what the man meant—

A poised, slender-waisted beauty had already been tied up and placed on the bed.

Seeing Xiao Yi Xian's dazed eyes, flushed cheeks, and incoherent state, Xiao Yan guessed that Mr. Yao had given her some medicinal herbs to strengthen the body.

So Xiao Yan took out a second-grade Calm Heart Pill and fed it to Xiao Yi Xian. Once her breathing was no longer so rapid, he untied her.

Xiao Yan was very careful with his movements, but he inevitably touched Xiao Yi Xian's body, making her delicate frame tremble lightly.

Xiao Yan knew Xiao Yi Xian was pretending to be asleep, but things were too awkward now, so he simply pretended not to know.

He casually took out a piece of white cloth and covered Xiao Yi Xian's face with it, hiding her tear-streaked expression. Xiao Yan felt that he was being exceptionally considerate.

Just then, Xiao Yan suddenly discovered that little Xiao Yan was standing at attention.

"???" ДO

"I forgot to tell you. This little girl has a Calamity Poison Body. She can turn any poison she consumes into Dou Qi for cultivation."

"When the Calamity Poison Body loses control, her entire body becomes poisonous. The potency depends on what poisons she has consumed."

"She was obviously drugged. You've already been affected."

Old Yao's voice came far too late. Xiao Yan had every reason to suspect that Old Yao had done it on purpose.

That rotten old man was wicked as hell!

Xiao Yan hurriedly took out another Calm Heart Pill and swallowed it, suppressing the restless urge within him.

Looking at Xiao Yi Xian lying stiffly beneath the white cloth as though she were a corpse, Xiao Yan sighed, sat down cross-legged, and began cultivating.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, Mr. Yao's lecherous voice came from outside the room. "Master, did you rest well?"

Hearing the implication in his voice, Xiao Yan immediately withdrew from his cultivation state. "Prepare breakfast for me."

"Yes, Master."

Once Mr. Yao's voice had faded away, Xiao Yi Xian sat up from the bed while wrapped in the blanket, looking at Xiao Yan's back with a complicated expression.

"No matter how much you deny it, after last night, they all see you as mine," Xiao Yan said flatly.

"..."

Xiao Yi Xian did not respond. She had spent the entire night thinking, even considering taking her own life to prove her innocence, yet she still could not figure out what she should do.

"I think you have decent talent, so I'll accept you as my teacher's disciple. Starting today, cultivate with me—I won't be staying in Qingshan Town for long. Once we leave this place, no one will gossip about you anymore."

Xiao Yan's tone remained calm as he took out the Earth Grade Cultivation Method Old Yao had prepared and tossed it behind him.

Then Xiao Yan slung the Heavy Black Ruler across his back and left the room.

Xiao Yi Xian sat on the bed in a daze for a long time before finally picking up the scroll Xiao Yan had left behind.

"An Earth Grade Cultivation Method..." Xiao Yi Xian's face was bitter.

The cultivation method Xiao Yi Xian currently practiced was only Yellow Tier Advanced. She had never even dared to dream of something at the Earth Grade, yet now it had fallen into her hands so easily—at the cost of nothing but her reputation for chastity.

As for freedom, Xiao Yi Xian had never possessed it. Before today, she had merely been confined in the Myriad Medicine Hall; from now on, she would be confined somewhere else.

In the end, Xiao Yi Xian clenched the Earth Grade Cultivation Method tightly. Mr. Yao had treated her like an object and gifted her to a stranger whose name she did not even know. In the end, it was all because Xiao Yi Xian was too weak, able only to be at others' mercy.

Therefore, Xiao Yi Xian needed strength—strength powerful enough to protect herself.

Mr. Yao had prepared a lavish breakfast, including pork kidneys, lamb testicles, bull penis, and more.

Xiao Yan did not touch a single dish and simply ate plain rice.

After breakfast, Xiao Yan joined the Myriad Medicine Hall's herb-gathering team. Xiao Yi Xian also emerged from the room and joined the group.

Xiao Yan looked over everyone in the team. Mr. Yao probably knew that Xiao Yi Xian did not want to see him, so he was absent from the party. However, he had arranged for more than half of the Myriad Medicine Hall's experts to join them—

This mercenary squad had two Eight Star Dou Practitioners and three Seven Star Dou Practitioners.

Yet Xiao Yi Xian seemed not to notice anything unusual. With her head lowered, she silently followed beside Xiao Yan.

This naturally dissatisfied Xiao Yi Xian's many simps. One young man in particular, wearing a badge engraved with a one-eyed wolf head on his chest, glared so hard that his eyes nearly popped out.

The moment they left Qingshan Town, the young man could no longer hold back and shouted, "Wolf Head members, protect Xiao Yi Xian properly! Don't let anyone with ill intentions get too close to her!"

"Yes, Young Commander!"

Nearly half the mercenaries responded to the young man's words. They crowded toward Xiao Yan, trying to shove this blind fool aside.

However, the high-level Dou Practitioners from the Myriad Medicine Hall released their auras one after another, making those Dou Practitioners—none stronger than five stars—turn pale and dare not approach.

"Young Commander, what do we do?"

Mu Li spat. Yesterday, the Myriad Medicine Hall had suddenly announced with great fanfare that they had hired an Alchemist. He had been somewhat skeptical, but now it seemed to be true.

"Find a chance to kill him!" Mu Li's face darkened. Since this Alchemist had joined the Myriad Medicine Hall and had the nerve to lay his hands on Xiao Yi Xian, it would be best to get rid of him.

Thus, the Wolf Head mercenaries stood guard outside the Myriad Medicine Hall's mercenaries, putting on an act as though they were protecting Xiao Yan as well.

"Wolf Head? They've really become simps." Xiao Yan shook his head.

"By the way, I still don't know your name." Xiao Yi Xian suddenly spoke in a low voice, asking quietly enough that only the two of them could hear.

"Xiao Yan. What about you?" Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Yi Xian. The original novel never revealed Xiao Yi Xian's name all the way to the ending—surely her surname wasn't Xiao and her given name Yi Xian?

"My name is Xiao Yi Xian."

"..." (-ι_-｀)

"Then take my surname, Xiao. You can be called Xiao Yi Xian."

"..." Xiao Yi Xian did not answer. She neither agreed nor denied it.

Xiao Yan waited for a while. When no answer came, he took it as her tacit consent.

Xiao Yi Xian was named Xiao Yi Xian. Chances were, she was an orphan. She had raised a magical beast, discovered a Little Medicine Valley, then found a set of ruins and awakened the Calamity Poison Body. Wasn't that the perfect protagonist template?

Thinking of this, Xiao Yan became much more interested in Xiao Yi Xian and began discussing with Old Yao, in his heart, how to nurture the Calamity Poison Body.

Before long, the group entered the Beast Mountain Range, where they encountered attacks from several weak first-rank magical beasts in the forest.

That young leader of Wolf Head seemed to be deliberately directing the Wolf Head mercenaries, allowing the magical beasts to attack Xiao Yan in order to wear down the stamina and Dou Qi of several Myriad Medicine Hall experts.

Xiao Yan quickly noticed something, and after a brief moment of thought, called the group to a halt.

"Does the esteemed Alchemist have something to say? Don't tell me your legs have gone weak and you can't walk anymore?" Mu Li immediately mocked.

The mercenaries burst into laughter as well. They resented Xiao Yan for tarnishing their goddess, but because of his status as an Alchemist, they had not dared to act on it.