The pulse-reading continued, and so did Xiao Yuan's inner thoughts.
[When she was three, her mother took her to live in a small village where the people made their living gathering herbs. But her mother and the entire village died from a mysterious poisoning caused by her.]
[She'd studied medicine with everything she had, hoping to make up for the guilt she felt inside. Even more than that, she didn't want anyone else to die because of her.]
[Unfortunately, things hadn't gone as she'd hoped.]
[She'd always dreamed of becoming an alchemist, but because of the Woeful Poison Body, she was fated to never have anything to do with alchemy...]
[Why did such a gentle, kind girl have to be given such a tragic fate?]
Xiao Yuan sighed inwardly, indignant on Xiao Yi Xian's behalf.
But the next second, he felt the pressure on his wrist grow heavier. When he looked up, he saw that Xiao Yi Xian had gone pale and was biting her lip hard.
It seemed she was trying to endure something.
"W-what's wrong?"
Xiao Yuan's heart sank. He had a bad feeling about this.
In his previous life, he'd learned that there was nothing to fear when a doctor smiled at you; it was when their brows furrowed that you had to worry.
One furrowed brow, and your life or death was up in the air.
And seeing Xiao Yi Xian's miserable expression, as if her husband had just died, only made him feel that things were getting worse.
[I'd better not have some kind of terminal illness, right?]
[That can't be it, can it?]
[Even if Xiao Yi Xian's a good doctor, she can't be skilled enough to diagnose some rare, difficult-to-treat disease, can she?]
[Besides, do terminal illnesses even exist on the Dou Qi Continent?!]
For a moment, even Xiao Yuan grew nervous.
He even forgot that he could examine his own body with inner vision.
"N-no, it's nothing. You're just a little tired lately. I'll prescribe something to calm your nerves. Boil it into a decoction, drink it, then get some sleep, and you'll be fine."
Her voice was still soft and gentle, as warm as a spring breeze.
But her smile wasn't as gentle as before. It looked strained, as though she were suppressing some emotion.
Xiao Yi Xian lowered her head, took a sheet of paper, and swiftly wrote down the herbs he needed.
Seeing her like that, Xiao Yuan felt a little relieved.
[Phew, looks like there's nothing seriously wrong with me.]
[But if gentle Xiao Yi Xian's making that face, she must have just thought of something sad, right?]
[That's very likely!]
[It's definitely because she's upset about her Woeful Poison Body!]
[But it's fine. The Woeful Poison Body isn't impossible to cure.]
[It's just a shame that, even though I know how to cure it, I'm not an alchemist and can't help her. Even if I started learning now, it probably wouldn't be in time...]
[Should I force Xiao Yan to improve faster and give him a kick in the pants?]
[That's not a bad idea. It's just Xiao Yan who'll suffer for it. Ah, well. I don't want to see Xiao Yi Xian go through another Woeful Poison Body outbreak and be so overwhelmed with grief that her hair turns white overnight.]
[You heartless author! You really have no heart!!!]
Xiao Yuan had already made up his mind when the system notification sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations, you have obtained Emperor-Grade Alchemist Insights.] [These insights contain the life's work of an Emperor-Grade Alchemist who has already ascended.]
At the sight of this, Xiao Yuan's breathing turned ragged. His eyes widened, and he couldn't even manage to blurt out, "Holy shit!"
He'd always thought this damn system was nothing but an emotionless pill-producing machine.
It had even given him a pile of useless pills just moments ago while he was grumbling about it.
He hadn't expected it to start teaching a man to fish!
And it was Emperor-Grade Alchemist Insights, no less!
What did that even mean?
Everyone knew that Yao Chen, the greatest alchemist on the continent, had only reached the high eighth tier in life. It was only after he was resurrected that he became a Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill alchemy grandmaster.
And above the ninth grade was the Emperor grade!
How could that not leave him thrilled?
At that moment, Xiao Yi Xian's breath caught, and her pen left a tiny ink mark on the scrap paper.
Her beautiful eyes widened, and she lifted her shocked face to look at the young boy before her.
What had she just heard?
This little boy knew how to cure her condition?!
At first, she hadn't known that she had the Woeful Poison Body, but after piecing together what she'd heard in Xiao Yuan's inner thoughts, she understood.
So she wasn't beyond saving.
So she really could be cured!
She couldn't yet tell whether Xiao Yuan's words were true, but since she'd heard them in his unguarded inner thoughts, they were probably true.
Unless he was so devious that he'd use his own inner thoughts to deceive her.
But what could he possibly gain from going to all that trouble?
Unfortunately, Xiao Yuan had no idea what Xiao Yi Xian was thinking. He hadn't noticed her expression either, too caught up in the joy of obtaining an alchemist's knowledge.
"Hey, kid! Are you tired of living? You've been sitting there staring at Xiao Yi Xian for ages. You think you can look at her like that? Get the hell out of here!"
A coarse shout interrupted their thoughts.
He turned around and saw a burly man wearing the Wolf Head Mercenary Group's insignia on his chest, glaring at him menacingly.
The man deliberately let a hint of his Six-Star Dou Zhe aura leak out, apparently trying to make him leave without a fuss.
A group of people followed behind the man.
They surrounded a rather handsome young man as they slowly made their way over.
"You little brat, what the hell are you staring at? Didn't you hear me talking to you?!"
Seeing that the green young pup hadn't paid him any attention, the man flew into a rage. He raised his fist, ready to bring it down on Xiao Yuan's head.
Xiao Yuan had already placed a fingertip on his Storage Ring.
Just as he was about to pull out the Heaven-Slaughter Halberd, a shout stopped the tragedy before it could unfold.
"Stop!"
It was Xiao Yi Xian.
She stood up, her brows furrowing as she looked first at the burly troublemaker, then at the young man surrounded by the others.
"Mu Li, this is the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, not a place where you can cause trouble whenever you feel like it. Take your men and leave!"
[Oh-ho, so that guy's Mu Li. Tsk, tsk. He really has the face of a short-lived man.]
Seeing Xiao Yi Xian stand up for him, Xiao Yuan gave up on the idea of going on a killing spree. He sat back and watched the show with interest.
Little did he know that Xiao Yi Xian had heard every word.
She tried hard to suppress a laugh, then gave him a slightly annoyed look, warning him with her eyes not to say anything reckless.
Xiao Yuan spread his hands innocently.
[I didn't say anything.]
The young man known as Mu Li gave a faint smile at their exchange of glances.
"All right, stop. Don't disturb Miss Xiao Yi Xian while she's treating someone."
"Yes, Young Master!"
The burly man obediently lowered his hand, shot Xiao Yuan a threatening look, then returned to Mu Li's side.
Mu Li turned to Xiao Yi Xian with what he thought was a refined smile and cupped his hands.
"My apologies. I didn't know Miss Xiao Yi Xian was busy. I'd only heard that you were going into the mountains to gather herbs tomorrow, so I came to ask whether you needed us to accompany you and provide protection."
"Thank you for your concern, Young Master Mu Li, but there's no need. The Myriad Medicine Pavilion has already hired the Blood Battle Mercenary Group to escort us, so we won't trouble you."
Despite receiving such a blunt rejection, Mu Li didn't seem to mind. He merely shrugged and said lightly,
"All right. If Miss Xiao Yi Xian doesn't need us, I won't bother you any further. Brothers of Wolf Head, we're leaving!"
"Yes, Young Master!"
The dozens of burly men around them answered in unison. Their voices were so perfectly coordinated that they seemed like a well-trained unit.
But anyone who knew them understood what kind of beasts they really were.
Just as Mu Li was stepping out of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, however, he suddenly turned back to look at Xiao Yuan, a vicious glint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
Xiao Yuan couldn't help sighing inwardly.
[Well, looks like I've got someone after me again.]