Downing the Powder

Lin Ye opened his eyes just as the morning bell rang for the third time.

He got up from the corner, brushed the dust off his clothes, walked to the water vat, cupped a handful of cold water, and splashed it over his face.

"Lin Ye! Chen Feng! What are you dawdling for? The medicinal herbs we need to clean today are piled up like a mountain! Get up and get to work!"

Head Li's roar came from outside the courtyard.

Lin Ye's expression remained calm as he walked into the courtyard.

A fresh delivery of Jade Dew Grass was piled up there. It had to be washed and dried by hand, with all the impurities removed before it could be used to make pills.

The work wasn't difficult, just tedious and exhausting.

When cleaned, Jade Dew Grass gave off a faint fragrance. Long-term exposure would erode one's meridians and slow the flow of a martial artist's true qi.

Chen Feng walked over and looked at the small mountain of Jade Dew Grass, his gaze turning cold.

"You two, clean all of this today." Head Li held a leather whip and pointed at the pile of herbs. "If you don't finish, you'll keep at it tonight until you do."

"Yes." Lin Ye answered and went to the pile of herbs to start washing them.

Chen Feng crouched beside him and began working too.

Neither of them spoke. They simply washed the herbs in silence.

The fragrance of the Jade Dew Grass spread through the courtyard. The other servant disciples stayed far away, leaving only Lin Ye and Chen Feng to toil over the herbs.

"Lin Ye..."

A faint voice came from nearby.

Lin Ye looked up and saw a servant disciple crouched some distance away, washing another pile of herbs. His eyes darted around nervously.

It was Zhao Xiaosi. He had been in the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall for two years, yet his cultivation was still stuck at the second level of Body Tempering. He had little chance of ever making something of himself.

"What is it?" Lin Ye asked.

"Be careful..." Zhao Xiaosi lowered his voice. "This Jade Dew Grass is poisonous. If you wash too much of it, it'll damage your foundation. Head Li is doing this to torment you on purpose."

"I know." Lin Ye nodded.

"Then why are you still willing to do it?" Zhao Xiaosi asked, puzzled.

"If we don't wash it, we'll be in even bigger trouble," Lin Ye said calmly.

Zhao Xiaosi glanced at him, then at Head Li, who was supervising them from a distance. He sighed and said nothing more.

Time passed slowly.

By midday, Lin Ye and Chen Feng had only washed a third of the pile.

Head Li came over to check their progress. His face darkened when he saw it. "This slow? No lunch for you. Keep washing!"

"Yes." Lin Ye didn't even look up.

Head Li snorted and turned to leave.

The other servants gradually went to eat, leaving only Lin Ye and Chen Feng behind.

"Here." Zhao Xiaosi secretly slipped them two steamed buns.

Lin Ye watched Zhao Xiaosi's retreating back, a flicker of emotion in his eyes.

"Eat. We've still got plenty of work ahead." Chen Feng took one of the buns.

"How are you planning to deal with this?" Chen Feng suddenly asked.

"With what?"

"The Jade Dew Grass's poison," Chen Feng said. "If we're exposed to it for a long time, our cultivation will regress within a month at most."

"You have a way?" Lin Ye looked at him.

Chen Feng didn't answer. He took a small porcelain bottle from his robes, poured out two brown pills, and handed one to Lin Ye. "Toxin Clearing Pills. They can ease the Jade Dew Grass's poison, but they can't get rid of it completely."

"Thanks." He swallowed the pill. A cool current flowed through his body, easing the sluggish feeling brought on by the Jade Dew Grass's fragrance.

"How many do you have left?" Lin Ye asked.

"Ten. Enough for five days," Chen Feng said. "After that, if we're still washing Jade Dew Grass, there'll be nothing I can do."

"Five days..."

"We have to find a way to get out of this job," Lin Ye said.

"Head Li won't agree." Chen Feng shook his head.

"Then we'll make Head Li agree on his own." A glint flashed in Lin Ye's eyes.

"You have a plan?"

"I'll tell you tonight." Lin Ye continued washing the herbs.

Chen Feng glanced at him but didn't ask anything else.

The two of them worked until evening and managed to wash only half the pile.

When Head Li returned to check, he flew into a rage. "Useless! You only washed this much all day? You'll work through the night! Don't even think about sleeping until it's done!"

"Yes." Lin Ye remained calm.

Night fell, and the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall lit its torches.

Lin Ye and Chen Feng continued washing the herbs by the firelight.

The other servants had all gone back to their rooms to rest. Only the two of them remained in the courtyard, along with Head Li, who was dozing in the distance.

"What's your plan?" Chen Feng asked quietly.

Lin Ye didn't answer. Instead, he took a paper packet from his robes and opened it.

Inside was some pale-yellow powder.

"What's that?" Chen Feng frowned.

"Beast Attracting Powder," Lin Ye said quietly. "It's mixed with Soul-Stench Grass and Rotten Bone Flower. Low-level demonic beasts are strongly attracted to it."

"You're going to lure demonic beasts to the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall?" Chen Feng's gaze sharpened.

"No." Lin Ye shook his head. "I just want something to happen to the Jade Dew Grass."

He spread the powder evenly over the pile of unwashed Jade Dew Grass, then took out another paper packet and sprinkled some white powder over the pile they had already washed.

"What's this one?"

"Toxin Neutralizing Powder. It can neutralize the Jade Dew Grass's poison, but it leaves behind a special scent that Medicine-Eating Rats can smell," Lin Ye said.

"Medicine-Eating Rats?" Chen Feng suddenly understood.

"Tomorrow morning, the Medicine-Eating Rats will come and gnaw on the unwashed Jade Dew Grass. They won't touch the herbs we've already washed because of the Toxin Neutralizing Powder's scent." Lin Ye put away the paper packets. "When that happens, Head Li will find all the unwashed herbs ruined, while the ones we cleaned are untouched."

"Then he'll give us different work," Chen Feng finished.

"Right." Lin Ye nodded.

"But what if we're found out..."

"We won't be." Lin Ye remained calm. "The Beast Attracting Powder and Toxin Neutralizing Powder are made from ordinary ingredients, so no one can trace them back to us. And Medicine-Eating Rats already like gnawing on spirit herbs. It's perfectly normal for them to show up."

Chen Feng looked at Lin Ye for a long moment. "You've prepared very thoroughly."

"I've gotten used to it." Lin Ye continued washing the herbs. "When you're living at the bottom, you have to keep a few tricks up your sleeve."

The two fell silent and went back to work.

At midnight, they finally finished washing all the Jade Dew Grass.

Head Li saw that they had finished and couldn't find anything to complain about. He could only wave them away. "Get back to your rooms and sleep!"

"Yes."

Lin Ye and Chen Feng returned to the servants' quarters.

"Tomorrow, we'll see if your plan works," Chen Feng said quietly.

"Mm." Lin Ye closed his eyes and began cultivating.

The Azure Origin Technique circulated through his body, gradually dispelling the day's fatigue and toxins.

Before dawn the next day, a scream shattered the quiet of the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.

"Oh no! The Jade Dew Grass has been gnawed on!"

Head Li rushed into the courtyard and saw that the pile of unwashed Jade Dew Grass had been chewed to pieces, with rat paw prints and droppings scattered everywhere.

The pile they had washed, however, was untouched.

"What happened?!" Head Li roared.

"It was Medicine-Eating Rats," one servant said, trembling. "I heard something last night, but I didn't dare come out."

"Useless! You're all useless!" Head Li's face turned livid with rage.

This batch of Jade Dew Grass was meant for the Alchemy Hall. Now that half of it had been ruined, he couldn't escape the blame.

"Head Li, what do we do now?" one servant asked.

"What else can we do?!" Head Li roared. "Quickly dry the ones that were washed! Throw the unwashed ones away!"

"Then what about today's work..."

"Wash what? It's all ruined, so what's the point of washing it?" Head Li waved his hand irritably. "Lin Ye, Chen Feng, you two are hauling water today! Fill the water vats!"

"Yes."

The two exchanged a glance, a hint of amusement flickering in their eyes.