In the still of the night, the vitality of the mountain forest's plants quietly spread.
Brilliant stars shone overhead, but the Magical Beast Mountain Range below remained restless. Mournful wolf howls and beastly roars rose from time to time, echoing far through the darkness.
Xiao Yi Xian's residence stood in the inner courtyard of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.
Her bedroom was simply and elegantly furnished, with pale purple gauze curtains hanging throughout, lending it a hazy atmosphere. A screen embroidered with mountains and rivers stood in the center of the room. Behind it sat a bathing tub filled with warm water.
Petals of various colors floated on the surface, and white mist curled upward. Several floral fragrances mingled in the air, carrying a faint, distinctive sweetness tinged with something metallic.
Xiao Yi Xian soaked in the tub, washing away the worries and exhaustion of the many days she had spent gathering herbs in the mountains. Now and then, she stretched out an arm or lifted a leg, sending droplets trickling down her jade-like skin...
For some reason, the youth she had happened to encounter on the street that day kept circling through her mind. In particular, his clean, refreshing smile, so utterly unlike those of the rough mercenaries, had left a deep impression on her heart.
Clack-
A faint scraping of roof tiles suddenly sounded overhead.
Xiao Yi Xian's heart clenched. Instinctively, she reached for the clothes on the rack beside her, but a roof tile had already been gently moved aside. There was no time.
If she did not want the intruder to see her completely naked, she had only one choice. Without hesitation, she sank into the petal-covered water, leaving only a stretch of luminous white neck exposed.
"Ahem."
Xia Kong had never imagined that his late-night visit would bring him face-to-face with such a dazzling sight.
The water swayed gently, petals bobbing on its surface. Beneath the hazy steam, the girl's delicate curves flickered in and out of view, leaving endless room for imagination.
Through the narrow gap in the roof, their gazes abruptly collided.
Xiao Yi Xian immediately recognized the visitor as the youth whose eyes had met hers across the street that afternoon. The idle fancy in her heart vanished in an instant. Startled and mortified, she snapped:
"You? You lecher! Close your eyes at once!"
The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them a little, and unease crept into her heart.
Although the youth had made a good impression on her that afternoon, his uninvited arrival in the dead of night had worn much of it away. She still could not gauge his temperament and did not know whether her rebuke would anger him. Sitting in the bathing tub, she had practically no means of defending herself.
Yet Xia Kong's reaction made her breathe a little easier, and her opinion of him rose considerably again.
Faced with the girl's embarrassed, angry gaze, Xia Kong guiltily turned his head aside. He even politely raised a hand and gently replaced the tile he had lifted.
"He looks every bit the refined gentleman. Who would have thought he'd do something like this?"
Xiao Yi Xian muttered under her breath, her thoughts in turmoil, anger and embarrassment mingling with a bashfulness she could hardly conceal.
On the roof, Xia Kong was thoroughly frustrated too, feeling as though he had tried to steal a chicken only to lose a handful of rice.
He had deliberately made a noise to warn the person inside beforehand. Otherwise, how could Xiao Yi Xian possibly have noticed someone on the roof? He had clearly heard running water that suggested someone was bathing, yet he still could not resist lifting the tile. Though he claimed it was accidental, curiosity and anticipation had indeed stirred in his heart.
"Ah, if I'd known, I wouldn't have made a sound first," Xia Kong sighed softly.
Those words reached Xiao Yi Xian's ears with perfect clarity, making her even more furious. She cursed under her breath, "Hooligan! Pervert!"
She deliberately kept her voice low, but Xia Kong's soul power far surpassed that of ordinary people. He heard every word and could not help defending himself.
"I'm no hooligan. I wasn't inside the room-how could I have known you were bathing? Besides, with all those petals and all that steam, I couldn't see anything clearly!"
"You're still talking about it!"
Overwhelmed by shame and anger, Xiao Yi Xian's voice trembled slightly, and her eyes nearly reddened.
Xia Kong dreaded seeing women cry. He hurriedly softened his tone and offered an apology to soothe her.
"All right, all right, I was presumptuous. I'll wait outside the door, so put your clothes on. I imagine you don't want to keep talking to me like this either."
With that, Xia Kong flipped off the roof and landed below, then stood quietly before her door to wait.
Inside, hearing Xia Kong voluntarily withdraw and apologize somehow dispelled more than half of Xiao Yi Xian's anger. After all, anyone else presented with such an opportunity would surely have behaved like a beast. Even Mu Li, the handsome young leader of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, would have been no exception.
Still, getting dressed with a man just outside the door embarrassed her, even with both a door and a screen between them, so she remained where she was.
Xia Kong waited outside for a while. Noticing that there had been no movement within for some time, he raised a hand and gently knocked on the wooden door.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Keeping a friend waiting isn't the proper way to treat a guest."
"Who said you were my friend?" Xiao Yi Xian retorted through the wooden door.
"If you won't accept me as a friend, then we're enemies. And I never show my enemies mercy."
Xia Kong deliberately adopted a sinister tone and made as though he were about to push the door open.
The girl's heart tightened slightly, and embarrassment, anger, and grievance surged up once more.
"Shameless!"
"Heh, thank you for the compliment."
Xia Kong treated the petulant rebuke as a joke, accepting it readily with a faint smile.
"So, does that mean you accept me as a friend?"
Unable to do anything about the man outside, Xiao Yi Xian could only compromise for the moment, swallowing her grievances.
"Fine, but you're not allowed to come in right now! You should at least show a friend some basic respect!"
"Of course. I always treat my friends wholeheartedly!"
Xia Kong agreed and turned his back to the door as a show of sincerity.
A soft splash came from inside as the beauty emerged from her bath. Xiao Yi Xian quietly dressed, secretly prepared her poisons as a precaution, and hesitated for a long time before slowly opening the door and inviting Xia Kong inside.
The girl's features were delicate and refined. Dampness made her white dress cling to her curves, and a few wet strands of hair stuck to the side of her pale neck. Her skin still bore a faint blush from her bath, making her resemble a lotus rising from the water.
Xia Kong's gaze settled on her, and he murmured a word of admiration.
Xiao Yi Xian had only just labeled him "a lecher with at least a little sense of propriety" in her heart. Upon hearing his praise, she promptly tore the words "sense of propriety" clean off.
Still, after their earlier exchange, she did not wish to deliberately provoke him again. Silently, she lifted the teapot and poured him a cup of plain tea.
"How is Li Fei?"
Taking the opportunity as she handed him the tea, Xiao Yi Xian asked about her maid's whereabouts.
To Xiao Yi Xian, Li Fei was not merely her maid, but also her only assistant and friend in the Myriad Medicine Pavilion. Naturally, she was deeply concerned for her safety.
Apart from her maid, no guards were permitted to approach her residence in the inner courtyard without orders. With all the commotion just now, her maid should have arrived long ago.
"Without your permission, I naturally wouldn't do anything to her. I merely restrained her temporarily so she couldn't come and interrupt the pleasant business between us."
"Pah."
Xiao Yi Xian spat inwardly, grumbling to herself, As if you respect me so much. You uninvited bastard!
Xia Kong lifted his teacup and gave Xiao Yi Xian a meaningful look, inwardly sighing. The current Xiao Yi Xian was still far too inexperienced; every thought was written on her face.
An idea occurred to him, and he decided to test her and teach her a proper lesson.
Thus, beneath Xiao Yi Xian's nervous gaze, which also concealed anticipation, he slowly lowered the cup he had brought to his lips.
"Xiao Yi Xian, as a physician, you can save lives, so you must also be well versed in poison. After how presumptuously I've treated you tonight, I don't believe you'd be kind enough to pour me tea. My guess is that you poisoned this cup beforehand."
Xiao Yi Xian's heart tightened. Although she had not directly poisoned it, the tea she brewed already contained a small amount of poison. It normally would not take effect without another medicinal substance to trigger it. Even so, she felt the nervousness of having her intentions exposed on the spot. She managed to control it fairly well, however, and explained with a forced look of composure.
"We're already friends. Why would I poison a friend?"
As she spoke, she filled a cup for herself, tilted her head back, and drained it, revealing the graceful, captivating line of her snow-white neck.
"See? I drank it myself. How could it be poisoned?"
Secretly pleased with herself, Xiao Yi Xian silently calculated how long it would take for the poison to take effect.
Beyond the latent poison in the teapot, traps were hidden everywhere in the room. The incense, the bathing flowers, the teacups, the table and chairs-not a single thing inside was free of poison. Though she might look weak and easy to bully, she had never been someone others could twist around their fingers, nor would she easily let this intruder off. As far as she was concerned, Xia Kong had stayed in the room so long that he had already fallen into her web of poison.
"Good, then."
Pretending to let down his guard, Xia Kong brought the teacup to his lips again.
Within his body, the medicinal power of the Level Three Antidote Cucumber had been circulating all along, silently neutralizing the poisons around him. That was why he had dared enter Xiao Yi Xian's bedroom without any qualms. Knowing her methods beforehand, how could he possibly have failed to take precautions?
Before the tea reached his mouth, Xia Kong decided he had held out long enough. Suddenly, his head swayed slightly and his body staggered, as though the drugged incense had overcome him.
"Oh no, your incense is poisoned too!"
Xia Kong went limp and swayed unsteadily before finally collapsing onto the tea table, yet not a single drop of tea spilled from his cup.
Xiao Yi Xian did not notice this tiny flaw. Seeing Xia Kong fall victim to her poison, she could not keep a triumphant smile from spreading across her face.
"Ha ha, got you! Becoming a friend of mine isn't that easy!"
PS: Thanks for reading and for the recommendations. This is the trial period, so I'm asking for all the support I can get!!!
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