The Counterfeit Hexi Pill

The Xiao Family mansion was on fire!

The fire started in a side courtyard, usually uninhabited, where the side rooms weren't even stocked with candles or lamps.

Yet somehow it had ignited for no reason, the flames spreading fiercely, sending the entire Xiao Mansion into chaos as everyone scrambled to put it out.

After they finally managed to extinguish the blaze, the residence where Xiao Shui lived collapsed without any warning, crashing down in a heap—and worse still, Xiao Shui was sleeping inside.

So the grimy-faced Xiao Family members wailed like Wailing Ghosts as they rushed to dig him out from the rubble.

When they pulled him free, he was only lightly injured, thank goodness, but then the whole mansion was plagued by one mishap after another. The doctors summoned to treat Xiao Shui either twisted their ankles on the way or bumped their heads the moment they stepped out the door.

One or two might be coincidence, but not a single physician could make it. Now, if you mentioned treating Young Master Xiao, every doctor in the city turned pale at the mere thought, calling it cursed and refusing to go.

The Xiao Family gradually caught on—this clearly wasn't chance—and began to connect it to the pills Xiao Shui had taken...

The mysterious Little Alchemist was "politely" invited back to the Prefectural Yamen by the curious Lu Dayou.

Lu Dayou sat grandly in the hall, tea in hand, while below him, Hanyu sat helplessly on a lower seat, not even offered a cup.

The hall was silent except for the occasional clink of the teacup lid.

A Prefectural Soldier nearby recounted the Xiao Family's troubles, and Hanyu listened, stunned, not snapping out of it even after the soldier withdrew.

After a long pause, Lu Dayou set down his teacup and looked at him with a complicated expression.

"Did you forge a Blood Sea Deep Hatred with the Xiao family?"

At first hearing of Hanyu's pill, it was like glimpsing a stunning nude beauty with her back to you, waiting for you to savor the sight as she turned around—only to find a burly bearded man's face.

Absolutely absurd. That was Lu Dayou's mental image right now: a Hexi Pill, half beauty in the front, half bearded brute in the back.

"Don't slander me—I mentioned the side effects when I gave the pill."

Hanyu blushed and explained quietly.

Lu Dayou shot him a glare and grumbled, "One fortune for three years—burning three years of luck means nine years of bad luck. One of you dared to give it, and the other dared to take it."

Fortune—a single year of it could make an ordinary person lucky for a whole year.

For a cultivator, that year meant endless encounters and effortless cultivation, which was the least of it.

The real significance was that having even a sliver of fortune was the prerequisite for future success.

No cultivator would gamble with their fortune. Lose it, and one fortune for three years meant three years of heavenly punishment. Xiao Shui had lost three full years of fortune—that was nine years of divine retribution.

Lu Dayou had seen something new today. He'd thought only deeds that enraged heaven and man, or caused rivers of blood and mountains of corpses, could harm one's fortune. Hah, now he knew—eating a pill could do it too.

Hanyu was startled. The thought of nine years of divine retribution sent a chill down his spine.

He'd only thought it was a minor loss of luck; he never imagined the consequences of burning three years of fortune could be so terrifying.

"Pills that ruin your conscience like that—better keep them to yourself from now on!"

Lu Dayou sighed.

"What do you mean, ruin my conscience? Hanyu, ask him if he'd take a pill that breaks through to the See Me Realm!"

Little Glazed, who had been quiet in his mind, suddenly bristled and tossed out a weakened version of the Hexi Pill.

Hexi Pill (Artifact Spirit Modified Version): When taken by a cultivator in the Shore Realm, it allows breakthrough to the See Me Realm. Side effect: consumes one year of fortune.

Hanyu rubbed his nose and tentatively asked, "Lord Lu, if there were a pill that could break through to the See Me Realm, would you want it?"

Lu Dayou's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, genuinely startling Hanyu.

"You're serious?"

"Serious, but the side effect is pretty awful," Hanyu said sheepishly.

Hearing "side effect," Lu Dayou regained some composure. He was never an impulsive man.

"Mhm, it consumes one year of fortune." Hanyu nodded, his face solemn.

A quarter of an hour later...

"These harmful pills—better not bring them out too often. They go against heaven's harmony."

Lu Dayou saw Hanyu to the door, still earnestly advising him.

Hanyu blinked, then nodded woodenly, while in his mind, Little Glazed cackled triumphantly.

Wang Xuanbei and his group were still holed up in the city, clearly not willing to swallow their pride.

By his estimate, the sect elders should be arriving soon. Every time he thought of the humiliation and injury he'd suffered here, he ground his teeth in rage.

Zhang Kui and Qiu Susu, however, remained downcast. These past few days, their Senior Brother's temper had grown worse by the day; the slightest misstep and they'd both be scolded.

Qiu Susu, in particular, felt a growing bitterness. Why had she ever thought Senior Brother was perfect in every way?

After leaving the Prefectural Yamen, Hanyu snuck over to the Xiao Residence to see for himself if the side effects were really that absurd. Finding a secluded spot, he vaulted over the wall and happened to spot Young Master Xiao Shui, his head wrapped in bandages, in the West Courtyard.

Maybe it wasn't as exaggerated as Lu Dayou said—Xiao Shui seemed pretty relaxed, Hanyu thought.

Suddenly, as he strolled through the courtyard, Xiao Shui reached up and touched his head, his palm coming away sticky and green. He looked up to see a bird circling overhead.

Fuming, he turned to go back inside and wash up, but as he stepped onto the corridor, a beam came crashing down toward him.

Before long, the Xiao Mansion was once again in an uproar, shouting for help.

Truly rotten luck. Hanyu retracted his head and quickly jumped down, his heart pounding wildly. He'd even had the nerve to covet that earlier.

"Little Glazed, do you think we can still squeeze something out of Young Master Xiao when he's this down on his luck?"

"No problem. No matter how bad the Child of Destiny's luck gets, he won't die. We're not taking for nothing."

At the city gate, a slovenly old Daoist slowly ambled into Minzhou City. His hair was a mess of white, his face sallow and weathered, and his Daoist robe—who knew how long since it had last been changed—was stiff as a board and gave off a sour stench.

Wherever he went, the crowd cleared out in an instant. No one could stand that smell.

He stood at the street intersection, glanced around, and quickly found his bearings.

The Longxing Inn.

Wang Xuanbei and his group had been holed up here for three days. Qiu Susu and Zhang Kui had been urging him to return for treatment due to his injuries, but he kept refusing in a weak, listless voice.

At that moment, Zhang Kui was helping hold the medicine pot nearby, while Qiu Susu carefully dabbed medicinal paste onto his burned face.

"Where is he?"

The slovenly Daoist appeared silently in the room, staring at the three of them with an expressionless face.

"Master!"

The aggrieved Wang Xuanbei burst into tears like a child weighing over a hundred jin.

"Why him?"

Lu Dayou had known the moment the slovenly Daoist entered the city.

Now his face showed disbelief, then gradually darkened.

"This is truly shameless..."

How could he not know that Wang Xuanbei and his group had been lingering on his turf? But as long as they didn't cause trouble, he couldn't be bothered with them.

Yet this one's appearance made no sense. A squabble among the younger generation, and a Peeping God Realm old-timer shows up to clean up the mess.

Something had happened at the Xiao Mansion again!

Hanyu had thought the townsfolk were still gossiping about Young Master Xiao's endless bad luck, but instead they said a slovenly old Daoist had gone to the Xiao Mansion to kill people.

At the Xiao Mansion's gate, the inner courtyard was already littered with fallen guards. Blood covered the entire walkway. The slovenly Daoist walked through without touching the ground, floating along, with Qiu Susu and Zhang Kui carrying Wang Xuanbei, following close behind.

Qiu Susu stepped on the warm, fresh blood. She nearly retched several times but forced it down. She stole a fearful glance at the Daoist ahead of her, then quickly lowered her head.

Xiao Shui knelt on one knee, his chest a bloody mess, his fine brocade robes burned beyond recognition. Yet he still forced himself to stand, shielding the clan members behind him.

"A fire-attribute divine ability is wasted on you."

The slovenly Daoist said expressionlessly.

Xiao Shui smiled bitterly. Just now, his own fire-attribute divine ability had been thrown back at him. He hadn't even had the power to resist.

"Death-Seeking Senior, why must you go this far?"

Lu Dayou descended from the sky, his face complex as he looked at the slovenly Daoist.

"Since you know me, do you still dare to block my way?"

The slovenly Daoist cast a glance at him and said flatly.

The name Death-Seeking Taoist was naturally renowned—notorious in the cultivator world for being overbearing and unreasonable, acting without scruples.

"Death-seeking" didn't mean seeking his own death, but rather that in everything he did, he left no room for others, nor for himself.

Even facing a Peeping God Realm powerhouse, Lu Dayou remained neither humble nor arrogant as he spoke.

"The other day, when Senior's disciple came to the Xiao residence to provoke, I didn't stop it. When the Xiao boy injured Senior's disciple, I didn't stop it either. In my view, it was ultimately a conflict among peers."

Lu Dayou sighed and continued slowly.

"How about I take the lead and have Young Master Xiao apologize to your disciple? We'll end this matter here. What do you say?"

"Master, I... want... him dead!"

Wang Xuanbei pointed weakly at Xiao Shui.

"You heard that? My disciple won't accept an apology."

The slovenly Daoist glanced at his own disciple and said coldly.

"Then I'll have to discuss the law of the land with you, Senior."