A Second-Rate Hexi Pill

The Xiao family's grand estate was on fire!

The blaze had started in a side courtyard. No one lived there, and the rooms weren't even stocked with candles or lamps.

Yet somehow, for no apparent reason, it had caught fire. The flames were fierce, and the whole Xiao Mansion erupted into chaos as everyone rushed over to put them out.

After they finally managed to extinguish the fire, the house where Xiao Shui lived collapsed with a thunderous crash and no warning at all. Worse, Xiao Shui had been sleeping inside.

So the soot-covered Xiao family members howled and rushed back to dig him out of the rubble.

Thankfully, once they pulled him out, they found that he'd only suffered minor injuries. But then one mishap after another struck the Xiao Mansion. The physicians called in to treat Young Master Xiao either twisted an ankle on the way over or cracked their heads just after stepping outside.

One or two such incidents might have been nothing, but not a single physician could make it there. Now, whenever anyone mentioned treating Young Master Xiao, the city's physicians turned pale at the very thought and insisted the place was cursed.

The people of the Xiao Mansion gradually began to realize that this clearly wasn't a coincidence. They started thinking about the pill Xiao Shui had taken...

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

Lu Dayou sat grandly in the seat of honor, tea in hand. Below him, Hanyu sat with a helpless look on his face, without even a cup of tea.

Apart from the occasional faint scrape of a tea lid, the hall was utterly silent.

A yamen soldier nearby was recounting what had happened at the Xiao Mansion. Hanyu listened, dumbstruck, and was still dazed even after the soldier had left.

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

"Do you have some blood feud with the Xiao family?"

When Lu Dayou had first heard about Hanyu's pill, it had been like seeing a peerless beauty standing naked with her back to you. You waited, savoring the sight, for her to turn around—only to discover she had the face of a burly man with a full beard.

It was absurd. That was what Lu Dayou thought at that moment. The first half of a Hexi Pill was a beauty; the second half, a burly, bearded man.

"Don't put words in my mouth. I told them about the side effects when I gave them the pill."

Hanyu blushed and explained in a small voice.

Lu Dayou shot him a withering look and said in a muffled voice, "One year of luck bought you three years, but it cost three years of fortune—that means nine years of bad luck. One of you had the nerve to give it, and the other had the nerve to take it."

A year of fortune could bring an ordinary person a whole year of good luck.

For cultivators, it meant one fortuitous encounter after another, and cultivation with the heavens lending a hand—that was just the least of it.

Its true significance was that even a little fortune was the prerequisite for achieving anything in the future.

No cultivator dared treat fortune lightly. Losing it meant three years of heavenly retribution for every year of fortune spent. Xiao Shui had lost three whole years of fortune, which meant nine years of heavenly retribution.

Lu Dayou had seen something new today. He'd thought it took deeds that enraged the heavens and stirred the people, or rivers of blood that gravely offended the natural order, to damage one's fortune. Heh, he'd learned something: apparently, even taking a pill could do it.

Hanyu jumped in alarm. Just thinking of nine years of heavenly retribution made his spine go cold.

He'd thought it would merely cost a little fortune. He hadn't expected the consequences of spending three years' worth to be so terrifying.

"Pills this wicked should stay off the market!"

Lu Dayou sighed.

"What do you mean, wicked? Hanyu, ask him if he'd take a pill that could break through to the See Me Realm."

Little Glazed, who had been quiet in his mind, instantly bristled. She produced a weakened version of the Hexi Pill.

Hexi Pill (modified by the Artifact Spirit): After taking it in the Shore Realm, the user can break through to the See Me Realm. Side effect: Consumes one year of fortune.

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

Lu Dayou's eyes instantly turned bloodshot, giving Hanyu quite a fright.

"Are you serious?"

"I am. It's just that the side effect is rather frightening," Hanyu said sheepishly.

At the mention of the side effect, Lu Dayou regained some of his reason. He had never been an impulsive man.

"Mm. It consumes one year of fortune." Hanyu nodded, his expression solemn.

A quarter of an hour later...

"Pills that harm people like this should be kept off the market as much as possible. They offend the natural order."

After escorting Hanyu to the gate, Lu Dayou still gave him a heartfelt warning.

Hanyu paused, then nodded woodenly. Little Glazed was laughing triumphantly in his mind.

Wang Xuanbei and his group were still holed up in the city, clearly unwilling to let the matter go.

By his estimate, the elders of his sect should arrive soon. Just thinking about the humiliation and injuries he'd suffered here made his teeth grind with rage.

Zhang Kui and Qiu Susu, meanwhile, were both frowning in worry. Over the past few days, Senior Brother's temper had grown worse by the day. The slightest mistake was enough to earn them a scolding.

Qiu Susu felt especially miserable. What had she been thinking, believing Senior Brother was perfect in every way?

After leaving the Prefectural Yamen, Hanyu secretly went to the Xiao Residence to see for himself whether the side effects were really so outrageous. He found a spot where no one was around and climbed over the wall, only to run into Young Master Xiao Shui in the West Courtyard, his head wrapped in bandages.

It didn't seem quite as exaggerated as Lu Dayou had made it sound. Xiao Shui looked rather relaxed, Hanyu thought.

Suddenly, as Xiao Shui strolled through the courtyard, he reached up to touch his head. His palm came away smeared with something green and sticky. Looking up, he saw a bird circling overhead.

He angrily decided to go back and wash up. But as soon as he stepped onto the covered walkway, a roof beam fell and came crashing down toward him.

Before long, the Xiao Mansion was in chaos again, shouting for someone to save him.

He really was down on his luck. Hanyu ducked his head and hurriedly jumped down. His heart pounded. He'd actually been greedy for that pill earlier.

"Little Glazed, do you think Young Master Xiao's luck can be drained any further?"

"No problem. Even if the Child of Destiny's luck hits rock bottom, he won't die. We're not taking it for nothing."

At the city gate, a disheveled Daoist strolled into Minzhou. His white hair was a tangled mess, his face sallow and weathered. His Daoist robe, which looked as if it hadn't been changed in ages, was stiff with grime and gave off a sour stink.

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

He stood at the street corner, glanced around, and quickly found his destination.

Longxing Inn.

Wang Xuanbei and his group had been staying there for three days. Qiu Susu and Zhang Kui had repeatedly urged him to return and recover from his injuries, but he had always refused weakly.

At that moment, Zhang Kui was helping hold the medicine pot, while Qiu Susu carefully dabbed medicinal paste onto Wang Xuanbei's burned face.

"Where is he?"

The disheveled Daoist appeared soundlessly in the room and looked at the three of them without expression.

"Master!"

Wang Xuanbei, stifled with grievance, now wept like a child weighing over a hundred pounds.

"How could it be him?"

Lu Dayou had known the instant the disheveled Daoist entered the city.

Now his face showed disbelief, then slowly darkened.

"This is truly shameless..."

Wang Xuanbei and the others had been lingering in his territory all this time. How could he not know? But as long as they didn't cause trouble, he couldn't be bothered with them.

But this man's arrival was out of line. A Peeping God Realm old-timer had come to settle a dispute between juniors.

Trouble had broken out at the Xiao Mansion again!

Hanyu had assumed the townspeople were talking about Young Master Xiao's endless misfortunes, but they were saying a scruffy old Daoist had gone to the Xiao Mansion to kill someone.

When Hanyu reached the Xiao Mansion, the inner courtyard was already strewn with fallen guards, and blood covered the entire walkway. The disheveled Daoist glided forward without his feet touching the ground, while Qiu Susu and Zhang Kui followed close behind, carrying Wang Xuanbei between them.

Qiu Susu stepped in the hot, fresh blood and nearly retched several times, but forced herself to hold it in. She shot the Daoist in front of her a fearful glance, then quickly lowered her head.

Xiao Shui knelt on one knee, his chest already drenched in blood. His fine clothes had been burned beyond recognition, yet he still forced himself to stand and shield the members of his clan behind him.

"Your fire attribute divine ability is wasted on you," the disheveled Daoist said expressionlessly.

Xiao Shui gave a bitter smile. Just moments ago, his fire attribute divine ability had been knocked back at him by his opponent. He hadn't even been able to resist.

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

Lu Dayou descended from the sky, his expression complicated as he looked at the disheveled Daoist.

"Since you know who I am, do you still dare stop me?"

The disheveled Daoist glanced at him and spoke calmly.

The name Death-Seeking Taoist was naturally well known. He was famous in the cultivation world for his bullying, unreasonable ways, and for doing whatever he pleased.

"Death-seeking" didn't mean he wanted to die himself. It described how, whenever he acted, he left no way out for others—or for himself.

Even facing a Peeping God Realm expert, Lu Dayou remained neither servile nor overbearing as he spoke.

"When your disciple came to provoke the Xiao family, I didn't stop him. When the Xiao family's young master injured your disciple, I didn't stop him either. As far as I'm concerned, it was a fight between people of the same generation."

Lu Dayou sighed and continued slowly.

"How about I make the decision? Let the Xiao family's young master apologize to your disciple, and we can put this matter to rest."

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

Wang Xuanbei pointed at Xiao Shui, his voice weak.

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

The Death-Seeking Taoist glanced at his disciple and spoke coldly.

"Then I'll have to talk to you about the laws of the land, Senior."

Last night, I stayed up all night revising the setting. I've changed chapter eighteen: the space inside the Glazed Bottle is now an Artifact Spirit, so it won't feel so rigid.