Oh No, I Can Raise Dan Shu's Affection, Too? / From Today On, I'll Speak in Riddles

Could that short-lived species really resist embracing Abundance and seeking the path to immortality?

Even if she could resist asking for it, what if someone brought the method of immortality right to her doorstep?

Would she still be able to resist the temptation?

The more Lin Shuang thought about it, the more logical it seemed.

That was, if she ignored the fact that she herself was the protagonist in this scenario.

From a third-party perspective alone, Lin Shuang would have thought she had come to the Xianzhou to join Abundant Doses.

At the very least, Lin Shuang felt that if the method of immortality were delivered to her doorstep, she would be tempted no matter what.

Perhaps that was why Abundant Doses had tried to approach her.

Lin Shuang stroked her chin and continued thinking.

As for the Lord Ravager...

Abundant Doses and the Lord Ravager were not truly on the same side. They merely had a temporary partnership.

It was only one failed operation. At worst, they could just find Phantylia another suitable host. Besides, there was still plenty of time before the operation officially began.

If Abundant Doses truly intended to win her over, they probably would not pay attention to Tingyun anytime soon.

After all, Tingyun already knew Lin Shuang, and Lin Shuang had rescued her from Abundant Doses.

If Abundant Doses went after Tingyun again now, it would be no different from provoking Lin Shuang.

Not to mention that Abundant Doses was trying to recruit her. Even just to avoid completely forcing a neutral party into opposition...

Anyone with a brain would put off assassinating Tingyun and wait until the outcome on Lin Shuang's side was clear before making further plans.

She wondered where Phantylia might be hiding right now.

After returning to where she had been sitting earlier, Lin Shuang sat down again, poured herself another cup of tea, and took the opportunity to put the secret order back.

She pretended to take a sip. Once the second cup of tea had cooled, Lin Shuang prepared to bid Danshu farewell.

Just then, Danshu suddenly said,

“Young Friend Lin, may I be so bold as to touch your hands?”

"Hm? Why?"

“I have the feeling that Young Friend Lin’s hands show signs of overexertion. Perhaps you have been working them too hard recently. If you do not mind, I can write you a prescription. Soak your hands in the medicinal broth after you return, and it should relieve the fatigue.”

Lin Shuang was startled upon hearing that. She could tell that much?

After some thought, Lin Shuang still held out both hands before Danshu.

Perhaps sensing the warmth of her palms, Danshu carefully held Lin Shuang's fingers and pressed along them all the way to her palms.

Danshu's hands did not match the impression she gave people. They were somewhat rough, but strong and steady.

After examining them for a while, Danshu released Lin Shuang, then took paper and a brush from her robes and began writing without looking.

Lin Shuang had wanted to take the paper and brush to help her, but Danshu refused.

"There is no need. I am worried you may not recognize Xianzhou medicinal herbs. It would be troublesome if you wrote the wrong characters."

As she spoke, Danshu kept her head raised. One hand held down the paper while the other gripped the brush, her strokes flying across the page. Her handwriting was not particularly beautiful, but it was neat.

For a blind person to write, and to write properly at that, she had no idea how much painstaking effort it must have taken.

Even though Danshu could see now, she was still writing blindly with her head tilted up.

Back when she had been blind, who knew how much hardship she had endured to develop this handwriting.

Just that small glimpse was enough to make Lin Shuang sigh inwardly.

Heavenly Defect sufferers truly had it hard.

Ignoring Lin Shuang's gaze, Danshu quickly finished the prescription as though she had merely done something ordinary.

Danshu skillfully tucked the brush away again and handed the prescription to Lin Shuang.

“Have the medicine prepared according to this prescription. Soak your hands once every day. After seven days, the treatment will be complete. But to prevent a recurrence, please control the workload on your hands, Young Friend Lin.”

She nagged Lin Shuang with concern, making it feel just like a genuine doctor-patient relationship in reality.

Before Lin Shuang, who knew Danshu's true background, the scene was rather strange.

Thinking that, Lin Shuang lowered her head and glanced at the prescription. There was no Vidyadhara marrow in it, so it presumably was not some outrageous formula.

She barely recognized any of these Xianzhou herbs, however. She could only find another physician later and have them examine the prescription.

Noticing that Lin Shuang had accepted it, Danshu blinked her hollow eyes and said again,

“When I have free time, I often sit at Ruomu Pavilion. If you ever have a headache, fever, or any questions or unexpected issues concerning this prescription, you may come find me there, Young Friend Lin.”

"Being able to see a physician for free is more than I could ask for. Thank you for your generosity, Miss Danshu."

Lin Shuang responded politely. Danshu merely nodded as she drank her tea, neither declining the thanks nor the compliment.

Just as Lin Shuang was preparing to leave, the system inexplicably popped up again to make its presence known.

Target: Danshu

Affection: 55 (She seems to be expecting something from you)

Relationship: Doctor and patient

'You can even charm villains? I underestimated you.'

Reward: One white draw

Seeing those lines, Lin Shuang's eyelids twitched. This truly was beyond her expectations.

Danshu was a story character with no special character model, yet she had still triggered the system prompt.

Could it be that the system determined who could gain favorability based on their importance in the plot?

In the Xianzhou storyline, Danshu was quite significant aside from playable characters, and her importance was fairly high as well.

Among non-playable characters in the story alone, Danshu's importance was indeed not low.

If that was the case... could Cocolia work too?

What about Phantylia?

But Danshu’s Affection was only 55, and she had only given one white draw.

Could it be that playable characters had higher requirements, but also gave better rewards, while important supporting characters like this had lower requirements and correspondingly lower rewards?

Lin Shuang had been wondering why, apart from the very first time, all the draw chances she had received were green and purple. She had not seen a single white one.

So this was where they had been hiding.

Lin Shuang stroked her chin as she considered the system rewards.

Just then, Danshu's voice abruptly pulled Lin Shuang's attention away from the system prompt.

“Young Friend Lin? What are you thinking about? Why did you suddenly zone out?”

"Nothing. I was just thinking that if I'd known I would meet Miss Danshu today, my friend probably would not have needed to stand in line for so long."

Lin Shuang smiled and made up an excuse to brush it off.

Danshu did not say anything more after hearing that. Once she had said goodbye to Lin Shuang, she did not look back again.

When Lin Shuang returned to the consultation area, Qingque had already finished seeing the physician and received a prescription.

The reunited Qingque waved the prescription in her hand and said with a grin,

"Hehe, I can directly ask the Divination Department's old lady to reimburse today's prescription and medicine costs. Huh? Lin Shuang, why do you have a prescription too? Did you see a physician just now as well?"

"Not exactly. I just happened to run into a physician while wandering around..."

Lin Shuang shook her head and briefly explained what had happened between her and Danshu.

But the more Qingque listened to that description, the stranger it sounded. In the end, she could not help asking,

"...A blind physician? Don't tell me you ran into Danshu, the Chief Alchemist of the Alchemy Commission?"

"She did say her name was Danshu."

Lin Shuang did not deny it and simply nodded.

"Good grief. You met the Diviner at the Divination Department just now, and after one trip to the Alchemy Commission, you immediately ran into the Chief Alchemist. Your luck is incredible. I'm afraid I'll be losing money today."

The first half was fine, but when she heard the last sentence, Lin Shuang pursed her lips.

She knew it. Qingque could not go three sentences without bringing up cards.

After returning from the Alchemy Commission, there was naturally no way Qingque would go back to her post.

So she dragged Lin Shuang into playing cards with her for half the day.

Changle Heaven was as lively as ever.

Lin Shuang had a great time playing cards too.

Halfway through the game, during a break between rounds, Lin Shuang remembered that she still had three unused draws.

Two were from Fu Xuan, and one was from Danshu.

Three draws in a single day—Lin Shuang had never fought such a rich battle before.

Thinking that, Lin Shuang slipped into the restroom and opened the system's draw interface.

One white draw, one green draw, and one purple draw.

Naturally, she would start with the lowest rank.

Draw!

A flash of white light passed by, and a small white transparent bottle with a satisfyingly solid feel appeared before Lin Shuang.

Blank Full Load Bottle (Imitation Enhanced Version): Can be used to store a certain energy source, but can only be bound to one designated item and cannot be unbound.

"It is just an energy-version storage card. Of course it got some upgrades. But then again, it is only a storage bottle. Who would have nothing better to do than make it legendary quality?"

Lin Shuang looked at the Full Load Bottle that had fallen into her hand, feeling completely unmoved.

Looking at the little glass bottle, which gave her an overwhelming sense of déjà vu, she really wanted to twist off the cap and give it a shake right then and there.

But this thing had to be bound before it could be used, and it could not be unbound.

That made Lin Shuang feel miserable. Getting a toy but being unable to play with it was pure torture.

On top of that, it only had one chance to bind, leaving a hoarder like Lin Shuang somewhat unsure what to use it on.

And besides...

Were white draws less connected to the person involved?

After turning it over in her hands for a while, Lin Shuang truly could not see how a Full Load Bottle had anything to do with Danshu.

The first white draw had not had anything to do with Acheron either. Perhaps that was simply how low-rank draws worked.

She casually tucked it into her pocket and set it aside for now before looking at the draw interface again.

This time, straight to the purple card. Keep going!

Whoosh—

A glow representing rarity lit up, and then a new item dropped into Lin Shuang's hands.

It was a deck of Tarot Cards engraved with exquisite mystical patterns.

Tarot Cards: Cards tainted with faint threads of fate. Perhaps you could try using them to become a qualified riddler.