Fangshi

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The evening wind swept past. Soaked to the bone and unable to summon her true qi, Li Qingjun shivered faintly. Qin Yi turned a blind eye, with no intention of taking care of her.

Li Qingjun gritted her teeth against the cold and picked up the rabbit from the ground. "I fed it poison I brought myself. Your so-called pill that cures all poisons can't possibly cure it. Explain yourself!"

Qin Yi laughed. "I sell medicine at the foot of this mountain, and it only works for things from this mountain. What do poisons brought in from outside have to do with me? If you brought African swine fever, would you blame me for that too?"

Li Qingjun automatically filtered out the incomprehensible "Africa" and snapped, "I knew you would say that. Then do you have the ability to cure its poison? If you can't, you're just a fraud who knows nothing about medicine."

Qin Yi took the rabbit and found its entire body stiff as iron.

"This isn't poison at all, but a Fangshi art that turns muscles hard as metal and stone. It's useful if a person takes it in battle, though it has some aftereffects." Qin Yi casually tossed the rabbit aside. "The effect will disperse in half an hour. What is there for me to cure? You want me to loosen its tendons and bones and erase the aftereffects? Forget it. Being hard is actually pretty good..."

Li Qingjun stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say.

Put plainly, she had been the one acting willfully. She resented how her brother claimed to be accompanying her in seeking immortals, while actually harboring other plans, turning her eager journey to seek immortals into something like child's play. Unable to swallow that anger, she had deliberately wanted to prove her brother wrong.

But it seemed... her brother had been right.

This Gold and Stone Powder had been prepared by the Imperial Preceptor, Dong Huazi. It was not something an ordinary apothecary could recognize. Yet this Qin Yi had identified it at a glance. He truly was a reclusive Fangshi.

Once the anger drained from her, Li Qingjun immediately felt the cold closing in. Hugging her arms, she curled up in the chair and shuddered. White liquid still dripped from the tips of her hair, blotches covered her face, and her hair hung in disarray. She looked utterly helpless.

Just as Qin Yi thought the little girl was about to burst into tears, she slowly rose to her feet and said in a measured voice, "My apologies. I misunderstood Mister Qin."

With that, she whirled around, picked up her spear, and strode out. Her slender back was straight as a spear.

"What a proud little girl." Liusu mocked her within the Sea of Consciousness. "Her muscles are sore and weak, and she has no true qi left, yet she still refuses to ask you to undo it. Going out like that, isn't she afraid of being carried off by wolves? Hey, are you a eunuch or something? You're not going to do anything even now?"

Those words reminded Qin Yi of something. He called out, "Miss, wait."

Li Qingjun paused, then said coolly, "Could it be that Mister wishes to compensate me?"

"My humble dwelling offers lodging services: a heated bed, hot tea, a herbal bath barrel, tendon and bone loosening, blood circulation and meridian clearing. One night costs only three coins."

Li Qingjun had not expected that attitude from Qin Yi. Instinctively, she was about to refuse, but a cold gust swept over her and she could not help sneezing. Thinking of how unsafe the mountains were, and how dangerous it would be to seek her brother in her current state, she swallowed her refusal.

After a silent moment, she took out a small ingot of silver and placed it on the stone table in the courtyard. Then, expressionless, she walked past Qin Yi into the house. "Innkeeper, draw some water."

Qin Yi watched her enter and could not help laughing. "What a prickly little girl."

Liusu sneered. "What a prickly man."

Watching the door close, Qin Yi lowered his voice. "How am I prickly?"

"Who carries a Wolf Tooth Club into a bath barrel?"

"Isn't that a sign that we're close? Always together, never apart..."

"Cut that out." Liusu's tone dripped with mockery. "When she barged in, you curled into a ball. Yet you weren't afraid I might be female and see you naked?"

Qin Yi snorted. "Do artifact spirits even have genders? Fine, even if they do, could a Wolf Tooth Club this manly give birth to a female artifact spirit? And you were even planning to possess a man? Don't make me laugh. Even if you were female, you'd probably have a green face, fangs, broad shoulders, and a waist like a water barrel."

Liusu did not answer.

Li Qingjun soaked in the hot water, absently examining the furnishings of the guest room.

It was an ordinary little wooden house, not even painted, but it had been planed with great care. The pillars were round and smooth, and she could almost picture the young man's focus and diligence as he worked the wood. The clean wood had been coated in a smooth gel, seemingly to keep insects away. A pot of small flowers sat on the windowsill, blooming softly under the moonlight, their fragrance curling through the room and refreshing the heart and mind.

The quilt was also plain white silk floss, carrying the fresh scent of sunlight and spread perfectly neat.

There was a painting on the wall, depicting mountain forests veiled in clouds and mist. The technique was rather strange, as though it had been drawn with a sharpened eyebrow pencil. There were only black and white colors, yet it strangely conveyed depth, distance, light, and shadow with lifelike precision. In Li Qingjun's eyes, the painting leaned too much toward craftsmanship and lacked some spiritual charm and artistic conception, but it was already remarkable for a young man, let alone with such an innovative style.

The painting bore an inscription: Qin Yi's doodle, Year One, Month Two, Day Eight.

She did not know what that method of counting time meant...

Still, it was elegant and fresh. Li Qingjun could sense an attitude within it, a tranquil yet refined approach to life. It was hard to imagine this was the home of a village youth. It bore no apparent connection to the mystical, mysterious Fangshi people she had imagined. It looked more like the residence of a scholarly household.

Her bathwater had been infused with medicinal herbs. Threads of warmth seeped through her limbs and bones, completely driving away the chill from being soaked earlier. The effects of the Tendon Weakening Powder were expelled as well, her blocked meridians cleared, and true qi flowed through her once more.

Li Qingjun found this person named Qin Yi deeply contradictory.

He had set traps at his courtyard gate. Whether they were meant to guard against beasts or people, he seemed, in any case, like someone very insecure and cautious. Yet now, after the considerable grudge between them, he actually dared leave her alone in his home and had removed every restraint from her.

Was he too softhearted?

Did he truly think she would not seek revenge?

Or perhaps he had some other confidence? Faced with such a strange "Fangshi," Li Qingjun could not tell whether he possessed other unfathomable means.

Barely forcing down the thought of revenge, Li Qingjun let out a breath and reached toward the washbasin by the barrel.

Qin Yi had brought in the washbasin after drawing the hot water. It contained a towel and several strange things. One was called scented soap, which Qin Yi said he had made himself. It could replace the soap pods people commonly used to cleanse themselves. There was also something called bath bean powder, which he said was for washing one's face...

Li Qingjun tried them. Her skin felt as smooth as warm spring water, like freshly washed congealed fat, with a faint fragrance lingering in the air. It was truly comfortable, and it cleaned exceptionally well. Even the hair that had been smeared with that sticky, strange liquid was restored to a glossy shine.

And this... Li Qingjun curiously picked up a wooden handle. One end was packed densely with stiff bristles, fixed in place by some unknown method. Qin Yi said it was for brushing teeth, to replace the tender willow twigs people usually used... Along with it was something he had made himself called "toothpaste," meant to replace powdered salt...

Everything seemed strange, yet once she used it, she had no choice but to admit that it was truly useful.

Was this what made "Fangshi" special? The things they refined were stranger and more useful than the last.

Then why had Dong Huazi's group never refined such things? Every day, they only knew how to make aphrodisiac pills and elixirs of immortality for Father...

Li Qingjun even felt that these things alone made it worthwhile to drag this Qin fellow to the Capital City...

She had unexpectedly reached the same conclusion as her brother, and Li Qingjun almost laughed. Then she straightened her face again. Qin Yi had offended her thoroughly. She would not let him off easily!

At last, she rose from the water, took out a set of men's clothes from her bundle, and changed into them. With her belt tied, she was once again a handsome young man.

When she stepped out of the guest room, Qin Yi was indeed still awake. He sat in the courtyard compounding medicine under the moonlight. She could vaguely hear him muttering, "I could ask Brother Zhang San to bring Purple Lotus Root back from the prefecture when he goes. I don't necessarily have to go myself..."

After a pause, he muttered again, "A pill furnace? Hmm... there should be one anywhere..."

At that point, he suddenly fell silent and turned toward where Li Qingjun stood.

A light breeze drifted in. Li Qingjun's robes fluttered softly, her hair still carrying the dampness of her bath. Though she wore men's clothing, her girlish air could no longer be concealed. Yet she had a pair of exceptionally heroic eyes. With her long spear planted on the ground and her body standing tall, she possessed a pride and sternness unlike ordinary girls.

She was actually a very beautiful little girl...

Qin Yi's eyes shifted slightly. "You're not resting yet?"

Li Qingjun kept a straight face. "You lack medicinal ingredients and a good pill furnace, don't you?"

"So what?"

"A pill furnace suited to your own use might not satisfy you even if someone brought it for you. And with your financial means..." Li Qingjun looked around and revealed a mocking smile. "I fear you cannot afford many of the things you need."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"I... this Young Master is hiring you as my household's apothecary. You need only serve me as your master and refine medicine for me. Everything you need will be covered by my household."

"Are you sick?" Qin Yi rolled his eyes. "Young Master? You weren't hung up enough, were you?"

"You!"

"Oh, right. If I said what I needed was you, would your household cover that too?"

Li Qingjun's face turned iron-blue. "Qin Yi, do you know what you are saying?"

"I don't." Qin Yi said, "If you're keeping me, I'm supposed to be responsible for warming your bed. You want to keep me, but you won't let me warm your bed. As someone with professional ethics, I'd feel bad about that, so forget it."

Li Qingjun forcibly restrained the urge to stab him with her spear. She spun around with a whoosh and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Liusu's voice rippled through the Sea of Consciousness. "Tsk, tsk. What an unromantic man. The little girl is a little proud, so what is wrong with saying a few sweet words to fool her?"

Qin Yi replied lazily, "You know Big Yellow at the village entrance, right?"

"What about him?"

"That dog is pitiful. Every day, he licks Old Man Xu's shoe soles, but Old Man Xu will not even build him a doghouse. It just goes to show that licking dogs have no house."

"..." Liusu had long grown accustomed to Qin Yi's occasional bizarre nonsense and did not bother arguing over it. She merely mocked, "Are you uninterested in women? I've never seen you speak much to any woman. I thought you just looked down on the village girls. But this girl has skin and bones like ice and jade, as though fashioned by heaven itself, and there is heroism between her brows. She is no ordinary person. Even I was moved when I saw her, yet you had no reaction at all."

Qin Yi was surprised instead. "Hey, what do you mean by that? On one hand you urge me to cultivate immortality, and on the other you urge me toward women? Aren't those two things in conflict?"

Liusu fell silent for a moment, as though she wanted to say something but held it back. Then she suddenly laughed. "Though that is the principle, it is not as mutually exclusive as you imagine. The Mysterious Gate has dual cultivation, while the wicked path has Yin-Yang Harvesting. One day, when you embark upon the immortal path, if you are still this pathetic mess who hugs his shoulders and curls up in a barrel, I may have to keep watching you panic and cry, 'Hey, hey, Fairy, please behave yourself.'"