Jing Tao's Fragrance

Jing Tao nodded, her heart filled with trepidation.

Power struggles are always a matter of life and death; when Jing Hesheng was defeated back then, the entire family was slaughtered, leaving only Jing Tao as the sole survivor.

And that was only out of consideration for the fact that Jing Tao was a girl.

Jing Tao told Xu Yi that if he hadn't appeared, she likely would have been forcibly betrothed to one of her relatives' offspring the moment she graduated from school.

At that point, those relatives could have legitimately inherited the family assets of Jing Tao's direct line, changed the company seal of Lingtong Hall, and completely devoured the Jing Family's estate.

They had no other skills to speak of, but their ability to strip a family bare was exceptional—and immense!

If Jing Tao had been a boy, she would have long since died in some nameless gutter.

Now that Jing Tao had turned the tables and seized the initiative, she naturally intended to settle all past grievances at once.

--Mr. Ye Hai had known the stakes involved from the start, and because he was certain Xu Yi could not stand against such a ruthless branch of the Jing Family, he had been full of confidence, believing that Xu Yi's trip would end in disaster.

He just didn't know that Xu Yi was already capable of controlling spiritual energy, and could even face the demons within the Hundred Night Miasma alone and escape unscathed.

Mr. Ye Hai did not know that Xu Yi was no longer the rustic, naive country boy who had come to Puxi to seek his help.

Xu Yi bid farewell to Jing Tao and spent 10 copper coins at a department store that had finally opened for business to buy a small alarm clock, then spent another 5 coppers on a bottle of medicinal wine for bruises and injuries.

He did not return to the Golden Orchid Nunnery immediately, but instead found an inn and spent 3 copper coins to rent a room.

He had not yet helped Jing Tao fully secure her footing, so it was inconvenient to report the results of this mission to Mr. Ye Hai.

Once this matter was settled and the Jing Family's fate was handled beautifully, he would surely be able to give Mr. Ye Hai a surprise!

Xu Yi entered the room, locked the door, and placed a small glass vase from the room onto the door handle; this way, if anyone entered from outside, the vase would shatter, and he would be alerted immediately.

He tore a strip of cloth from the bedsheet, then applied the medicinal wine to his left wrist and rubbed it gently.

He hadn't felt it before applying the wine, but once he did, his wrist burned with searing pain, which quickly seeped from his skin into his bones, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.

Xu Yi knew that if he didn't rub the dislocated tendons back into place as soon as possible, such an injury could leave behind permanent damage.

It was painful to use the wine, but not using it would lead to lasting ailments, which would be even more troublesome later.

Better a short pain than a long one; Xu Yi had always been ruthless with himself.

This simple action exhausted all of Xu Yi's strength, and by the time he had rubbed the dislocated tendons back into place, he felt so dizzy and lightheaded that he couldn't even sit steadily.

He struggled to set the alarm clock for 12:00 noon, placed the soda bottle filled with gasoline on the table, hesitated for a moment, and then tucked the jade pendant Jing Tao had given him under his pillow.

The faint, exotic fragrance belonging to Jing Tao lingered in his nostrils, but Xu Yi didn't bother to smell it, for he was truly too exhausted. The world before his eyes was spinning, and he didn't even have the strength to take off his clothes before he collapsed straight onto the bed.

Not even the intense pain could stop him from falling asleep.

The morning in the 38th Shop District was extremely noisy, but the chaos in and out of the alley could not affect Xu Yi's death-like slumber.

Xu Yi had another dream.

He dreamed he was soaking in a hot spring, surrounded by what seemed to be the foothills of a snow-capped mountain; the snow was white and vast, and the hot spring was enclosed by a dense pine forest, so even though the north wind howled outside, he felt no cold where the spring was located.

Xu Yi felt incredibly comfortable, and the fatigue accumulated over the day and night was slowly being drained away.

"Heh..."

A soft chuckle drifted over. Xu Yi, dazed and hazy, opened his eyes in the hot spring to see a woman on the other side, amidst the swirling clouds and mist.

"Who are you?" Xu Yi asked groggily.

The woman did not answer, only smiled.

The hot spring evaporated more mist, and Xu Yi felt even more comfortable.

Just as Xu Yi was enjoying himself, the mountains suddenly shook and the earth trembled, sending the hot spring water splashing everywhere!

As Xu Yi became increasingly clear-headed, he heard the sound of the earthquake growing louder and more piercing...

"Ring-ring-ring!"

Xu Yi jolted awake from his dream, sat up, and reached out to press the alarm clock.

The piercing ringing of the clock stopped.

Xu Yi shook off his stupor and finally realized that the earth-shaking in his dream was actually the sound of the alarm clock in reality!

Immediately after, the sounds from the main street of the 38th Shop District reached his ears through the window.

Xu Yi heard the sound of wooden cart wheels grinding against the bluestone road; likely because the road was uneven, the cart bumped along, the dull clatter of wood against stone repeating at a rapid frequency.

Xu Yi heard the haggling between pedestrians and vendors. The customer was likely visiting Puxi City for the first time, unaware of local prices and short on cash, arguing with the vendor for half a day over a single copper coin, only to fail to buy the item in the end.

Xu Yi heard dense but irregular footsteps, and he could distinguish the direction the footsteps were heading quite clearly.

Suddenly, a mayfly hovered outside the curtain; it was clearly afraid of the sunlight and was anxiously searching for a shaded spot. Its wings flapped over a hundred times before it finally found the cool shade in the corner of the wall.

Xu Yi's eyes widened, and he felt more clear-headed than ever before.

"Sharp ears and bright eyes?"

He was astonished by his current state.

Suddenly, he raised his left hand.

He realized something and abruptly twisted his wrist.

The wrist that had been painful enough to make him faint before bed was no longer painful at all; there was only a slight tingling sensation left!

Driven by an inexplicable impulse, he flipped his hand to take out the soft jade from under his pillow, and after a moment of silence, slowly brought the jade close to the tip of his nose.

The scent of Jing Tao appeared, the fragrance of osmanthus and gardenia blending together, yet becoming distinct the moment it was inhaled.

This fragrance entered his brain and merged with his spirituality, making that spirituality become even more peculiar.

As the peculiar spirituality surged within his body, the sensation of Xu Yi's senses being sharpened grew even more intense, and at the same time, even the tingling sensation on his wrist vanished completely!

Xu Yi held the soft jade and took another deep sniff.

The scent of osmanthus and gardenia suddenly became extremely rich, and the concentration of the peculiar spirituality formed by the mixture of fragrance and spirit doubled; Xu Yi suddenly felt a wave of dizziness in his head, and his stomach churned violently.

He made a trip to the latrine, but it was completely useless; it was as if he had taken a laxative, and he simply could not stop!

He had no choice but to head to the medical clinic to seek treatment.

The doctor said: food poisoning.

Holding a packet of pills, Xu Yi walked out of the clinic in a daze, standing on the main street with his left hand in his pocket, touching the jade pendant, his mind still replaying that strange fragrance he had just smelled.

That strange fragrance had caused him quite a bit of suffering, yet he still liked it.

Xu Yi had already asked for water at the clinic and taken a pill, and with the doctor's help in inducing vomiting, he was already feeling much better by now.

"Can different fragrances actually produce different effects..."