After Professor Koen's class ended, Lin Qi immediately got busy. First, he went to the supply office and submitted the list of materials Master Ke Cha had requested. The other materials were manageable, but gathering three thousand stalks of Ten-leaf Moon Flower Grass would take time. It was estimated they wouldn't have enough until two months later.
After taking some of the materials already in stock from the supply office, Lin Qi also extorted a protective talisman from Father Balin. Then, with his heart in his throat, he stepped into the Master Tower.
This time, Master Ke Cha wasn't acting crazy. When Lin Qi entered his laboratory, Ke Cha was sitting on a wooden stool in the corner, holding a crystal beaker and savoring a liquid that was a ghastly green, bubbling and giving off white vapor.
Seeing Lin Qi enter, Master Ke Cha set the beaker down on a workbench made of black basalt. He put it down a little too forcefully, and the beaker rocked. A few drops of the ghastly green liquid splashed onto the bench, burning it with a sizzling hiss as a faint, acrid smell quickly spread through the laboratory.
Lin Qi shuddered. Only a monster like Ke Cha could enjoy something so terrifying, right? From the looks of it, the liquid was highly corrosive. If a normal person drank even a mouthful, it would probably melt their insides.
Ke Cha gave a few strange laughs and mumbled, "I've had a bit of food buildup and indigestion lately, so I mixed up some digestive medicine to clear out my bowels. Hmm, did you bring everything I asked for?"
Lin Qi carefully set the dozens of wooden boxes, large and small, that he had been carrying onto a materials table. Then he bowed respectfully to Ke Cha. "Respected Master Ke Cha, gathering three thousand stalks of Ten-leaf Moon Flower Grass will probably take about two months. As for the other materials—the brain matter of a two-headed serpent, the hot blood from a white-furred winged tiger's heart, the teeth of a black-toothed poison bat, and fifteen other ingredients—those will probably take one to two months to prepare as well."
"Incompetent fools!" Ke Cha narrowed his eyes, green light flickering in them. It was hard to tell whether he was calling Lin Qi incompetent or cursing the supply office officials. After thinking for a while, he slowly stood up and muttered, "I'm going to make a potion, and none of these ingredients can be left out. Since they won't be available for another two months..."
Lin Qi thought of his father's letter and hurriedly said, "Respected Master Ke Cha, the winter break starts in less than a month, and I..."
Ke Cha slowly nodded. He looked at Lin Qi and gave him a smile terrifying enough to make a child cry. "Very well. You've served me for three years, and you haven't taken a winter break once in all that time, have you? Since the materials aren't ready, you can go home and see your family. Look, I'm a reasonable man."
The muscles in Ke Cha's face twitched. He said coldly, "But before that, prepare two months' worth of food for me. You wouldn't want me to starve to death in here, would you, Lin Qi? Hmm? Last time, I was so hungry I nearly had to rely on potions to keep going."
Lin Qi broke out in a cold sweat. It suddenly occurred to him that when Ke Cha said he had indigestion, could it be because after Lin Qi had brought him a large amount of smoked meat and other food yesterday, Ke Cha had been so hungry that he'd wolfed it all down without regard for what his stomach could handle? Poor Master Ke Cha. No wonder he was drinking that terrifying digestive potion to help his stomach.
Forcing out an awkward smile, Lin Qi bowed slightly and said ingratiatingly, "That was my fault. Please forgive me."
His eyes darting about, Lin Qi saw that Ke Cha seemed to be in a good mood today and cautiously added, "In that case, may I come back tomorrow to restock your food? I have a bit of trouble to take care of tonight."
Ke Cha looked at Lin Qi in surprise. Tilting his head, he demanded, "Trouble? What trouble? Who dares cause you trouble? Don't they know you work for me? Who's picking on you? Who's challenging my authority by picking on you?"
In three years of serving Ke Cha hand and foot, this was the first time Lin Qi had seen him act so human. Was he being protective? Or did he simply care about his own face? Either way, it was a stroke of good fortune for Lin Qi.
After a light cough, Lin Qi put on a pitiful expression and said quietly, "You know that for the past three years, I've served you diligently. At school, I've also been an exemplary student who follows the rules. For each of the past three years, my grades have been among the best in the accounting department."
With a long sigh, Lin Qi gazed at Ke Cha sorrowfully. "But as you know, where there are good people in this world, there are bound to be bad ones too. In Berely University City, there's a gang of thugs who make their living through extortion. They like to use violence to bully us."
"The Round Table Knights—they're a bunch of scum!" Lin Qi shook his fist angrily. "They're a pack of thugs from the Army Academy. They've banded together, and every day all they do is scheme about how to bully poor students like us."
Two streams of tears rolled down Lin Qi's cheeks as he gritted his teeth. "My best friend, Vik, was caught by them today. They told me to go to a place of their choosing tonight and pay up if I wanted him back. They threatened that if I didn't give them enough money, they'd break Vik's arms and legs."
Lin Qi took a deep breath and wept bitterly. "You know we're all poor students. Otherwise, why would we come to the Master Tower to serve the masters here?"
Ke Cha paused, then nodded thoughtfully. It must be true, right? Given the Master Tower's terrible reputation in University City, each year it had a horrendous record of thirty or fifty servants dying. Who would risk their life serving the monsters inside the Master Tower if they weren't desperately poor students?
Lin Qi lowered his head and said, overcome with grief, "Vik is an honest man. His family is counting on him to make something of himself. They saved their very last copper coin to send him to Fifth University. If his arms and legs are broken, then..."
The eccentric Ke Cha smacked his lips and walked over to the shelf where he kept his finished potions. He took down two red bottles and three pale-black ones and handed them to Lin Qi. "The red ones are powerful healing potions. Even if someone's arms and legs are broken, they'll recover within three days. As for the black ones... Heh, open the bottles while standing upwind, and you'll see what they do!"
Lin Qi gripped the potion bottles tightly. The three pale-black bottles were labeled in hasty writing: Powerful Dizziness.
"Your generosity surpasses that of the Gods, dear Master Ke Cha. Don't worry, I'll serve you with all my heart!"
Lin Qi bowed deeply to Ke Cha again and again, his heart, liver, and lungs trembling with joy.
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