Gute

Strands of sunlight slowly crept through the darkness into every corner of the world.

Xiao Yi Xian woke from her sleep and looked helplessly at Little Spirit, who was sprawled on top of her.

She rubbed her messy hair and nudged Little Spirit awake...

After getting ready, the two little fairies—Xiao Yi Xian and Little Spirit—headed downstairs for breakfast, with Xiao Yi Xian carrying the still-sleeping Chi Han.

"Miss?"

Liu Yan greeted Xiao Yi Xian when he saw her come downstairs, then instructed the waiter to bring two more portions of food.

Sitting opposite Liu Yan, Xiao Yi Xian asked, "Do you know Gute?"

Liu Yan was stunned for a moment before nodding. "How could I not? Gute is quite the oddball among Medicine Masters!"

At the mention of Gute, Liu Yan could not help recalling that irritating figure. That fellow had an incredibly eccentric temperament. Though he possessed considerable talent in medicine refining and was even the younger brother of Pill King Gu He—

—he was obsessively fond of collecting all kinds of rare treasures and heavenly materials. As a result, he had remained stuck at the third tier. His fixation had practically reached a pathological level. Whenever he discovered that someone else possessed something valuable, he would immediately pester them without end, leaving people endlessly annoyed and thoroughly exasperated.

Hearing that Liu Yan knew Gute, Xiao Yi Xian smiled faintly. "We came here for Gute."

Liu Yan was initially taken aback, but then he understood. Gute's collection was indeed worth seeing; perhaps they might be able to trade for something useful.

After a pleasant breakfast, Liu Yan led Xiao Yi Xian and Little Spirit through more than a dozen dizzying streets in Black Rock City before finally stopping before a strange building tucked away in a secluded corner near the southern part of the city.

Looking up at the peculiar building before them, Liu Yan took a breath, turned to Xiao Yi Xian, and smiled. "Miss, this is where that fellow Gute lives. He's a very strange man."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded. She knew that already, having read the original story.

Liu Yan walked ahead and pushed open the door. Before he could even step inside, however, a fierce gust of force erupted from within, carrying a sky-filling cloud of black powder.

Faced with the sudden change, Liu Yan curled his lips and violently swept his sleeve. An even fiercer gust of force appeared from nowhere, blasting all the black powder back inside.

As the black powder gradually dispersed, it revealed the filthy, chaotic room within.

Clapping his hands, Liu Yan turned to Xiao Yi Xian, whose expression had not changed in the slightest, and said with a smile, "That old man always likes setting up these pranks. That black powder won't poison anyone, but if even a little gets on your skin, the itching will be unbearable."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded behind him. Xiao Yan had already gone through this in the book, so she knew a little about it, though not very clearly.

No matter how good her memory was, she had only been an ordinary person in her previous life. It was already impressive that she could remember the general details of a novel.

"Come on. Follow behind me, and don't touch anything carelessly." With a smile, Liu Yan entered the room first. Xiao Yi Xian glanced at Little Spirit, nodded, and followed him inside.

As they entered the dim room, the door automatically slammed shut behind them. The loud sound made Xiao Yi Xian shake her head helplessly once more.

This prank-loving personality was truly irritating. I should give him a proper beating!

Her gaze swept across the rooms that looked like garbage dumps. Following Liu Yan, she crossed several rotten wooden staircases that swayed as though they were about to collapse, endured several more waves of bizarre attacks, and finally reached the top floor of the building.

After climbing the final staircase, Liu Yan let out a relieved breath. Looking at the wooden door at the end of the corridor, he turned to Xiao Yi Xian and asked, "Miss, it should be here."

Xiao Yi Xian nodded to show that she understood. Getting here truly had not been easy.

Liu Yan lowered his head and glanced at the several holes melted into his robes by a basin of corrosive liquid on the stairs earlier. His lips twitched as he gritted his teeth. "That old bastard refuses to properly refine medicine. All he does is play with these shady little toys..."

Xiao Yi Xian merely smiled faintly at his complaint. She knew that Gute would not end well in the end.

"Proper medicine refining, my ass! What's improper about my stuff? You old rogue, don't think that just because you finally came to see me, I won't throw you out!" An elderly voice suddenly roared from the room at the end of the corridor as Xiao Yi Xian smiled.

"You're the old rogue." Rolling his eyes, Liu Yan irritably waved his sleeve, led Xiao Yi Xian down the corridor, and stopped outside the room. Then he viciously kicked the seemingly wooden door.

Clang!

When his foot struck the door, a crisp metallic sound rang out. Xiao Yi Xian's eye twitched slightly as she turned to look at Liu Yan, whose old face had nearly twisted out of shape.

That looked painful...

Little Spirit stared curiously at the man. She could clearly sense that he had fractured a bone.

"Ha ha, old fellow! After you kicked down one of my doors last time, I specially had someone replace it with a refined steel door! Ha ha, fun, isn't it?" The old man's laughter rang out from inside again, this time filled with gloating.

"You old bastard..." Liu Yan's face twisted as he sucked in a breath of cold air. His expression gradually turned iron-blue, and powerful Dou Qi slowly rose from his body, wrapping around him like flames before directly burning the door to ashes.

Liu Yan stormed inside and glared at the grinning Gute. His powerful soul force immediately pressed down on him.

"Urgh!" Feeling that immense soul force, Gute wiped the grin off his face and cautiously said, "Brother Liu, don't be angry, don't be angry. Hehe!"

Seeing Gute behave so absurdly, Liu Yan snorted coldly, withdrew his flames and pressure, and stepped aside.

Though Gute was somewhat surprised that Liu Yan had improved again, his eyes lit up when he saw the two beautiful women who had entered with him.

Xiao Yi Xian gave Gute a mysterious smile. The Sword Box on her back released an overwhelming pressure, and an aura of sovereign majesty bore down on him.

"Mm!"

Gute let out a muffled groan and wiped away his cold sweat, his eyes filled with terror as he looked at Xiao Yi Xian.

"A powerful expert—definitely a powerful expert!"

Gute was certain that she was an expert, and no ordinary one at that. This pressure was absolutely at least that of a Dou Emperor.

Suppressing the discomfort in his body, Gute forced an awkward smile. "May I ask what brings the two of you to my humble place?"

Seeing Gute like this, Liu Yan could not help sneering inwardly. A fellow who fears the strong and bullies the weak.

If not for the fact that Gute relied on his brother, Pill King Gu He, and their years of friendship... Hmph...