On purpose or by accident?

"You were sleeping so soundly this morning that I didn't wake you-don't worry, that girl Xiao Yi Xian is fine."

Xiao Yan: "..."

Honestly, this teacher of hers...

"Who did it? The people at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion?"

"Yes. They've put the little girl under house arrest," Apothecary replied.

Sure enough, a woman's intuition... ahem.

Mostly, this "Mr. Yao" was simply terrible at lying. The excuse he'd come up with was rather insulting to her intelligence.

Of course, Mr. Yao might also have been gambling on the chance that Xiao Yan didn't care all that much about Xiao Yi Xian.

As the "boss" of the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, Mr. Yao couldn't bear to let Xiao Yi Xian leave. Xiao Yan could fully understand that.

After all, an attractive receptionist was practically a money magnet for a "company"... hmm, something strange seemed to have slipped in there.

That wasn't important.

From what she'd seen yesterday alone, Xiao Yan could imagine that whenever those mercenaries got a bump or a scrape, their first thought was probably to visit Xiao Yi Xian at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

Without Xiao Yi Xian, the Myriad Medicine Pavilion would lose a huge number of "regular customers," and its monthly "revenue" would definitely fall.

Mr. Yao absolutely didn't want to see that happen, so he would try every possible way to keep Xiao Yi Xian there.

And that was only the most superficial reason...

Although Xiao Yan understood Mr. Yao's position, that didn't mean she supported him, especially when he was using and exploiting a girl like this.

It was like a gifted girl from some mountain backwater in her previous life catching the eye of a renowned professor, who recognized her talent and wanted to fund her education elsewhere.

Only for the village convenience store owner to lock her up and refuse to let her leave, wanting her to keep making money for him.

If that professor really got hoodwinked into leaving by the store owner, the girl would be trapped in that little village for the rest of her life.

Her once-brilliant future would rot away in the mud.

Just putting herself in that girl's shoes sent her blood pressure shooting up...

Xiao Yi Xian was going away to "study abroad," not dropping dead. Besides, learning alchemy from an Alchemist would, to ordinary people, promise an absolutely brilliant future.

If the people at the Myriad Medicine Pavilion treated Xiao Yi Xian well, she would surely repay them once she returned after completing her studies. Mr. Yao would probably be eager for her to become an apprentice.

Even if Mr. Yao truly couldn't bear to lose this "living advertisement," there was no reason to resort to such extreme measures.

But his current terror of Xiao Yi Xian "running away" suggested he hadn't treated her all that well to begin with and had a guilty conscience.

All she could say was that this ball of flesh was probably both stupid and rotten...

Just as Xiao Yan was considering how to make sure Mr. Yao got his "just reward for being a good person," Apothecary's voice continued to ring out in her mind:

"Well, girl? Going to play the 'hero rescuing the beauty'?"

"If you rescue that little girl and 'elope' with her, she might just 'offer herself to you in marriage'..."

"Teacher, where is Xiao Yi Xian?" Xiao Yan asked.

Although her soul power wasn't weak, its sensory range was limited. Using it to locate Xiao Yi Xian wasn't particularly realistic.

After all, they had only met once yesterday. She hadn't even memorized Xiao Yi Xian's "aura."

Apothecary was different. With her current soul power, sensing the whole of Qingshan Town was no problem at all.

"Find her yourself. You ask me about everything-what will you do without me someday?"

"When you're out in the world, don't spend all day calling for your teacher. You're a grown girl now. You need to learn to solve your own problems..."

"..."

Xiao Yan choked on her words, but didn't argue.

Before she had even left the Xiao Clan, Apothecary had told her that unless her life was in danger, she wouldn't casually clean up her messes.

Now, Apothecary was laughing and joking in her mind without showing the slightest intention of intervening. Clearly, she was treating this as a "test."

Automatically tuning out the rest of Apothecary's nagging, Xiao Yan began considering possible solutions.

Actually, Apothecary was very protective of her own. Since she already considered Xiao Yi Xian her "prospective grand-disciple," she would absolutely keep her safe.

If Xiao Yi Xian ran into danger, Apothecary would probably "force a boot-up" on Xiao Yan and then "log into her account to play for her."

The Myriad Medicine Pavilion had "captured" Xiao Yi Xian without hurting her, merely putting her under house arrest. Clearly, they only wanted to stop her from leaving and keep using her to generate value.

So Xiao Yi Xian was definitely very safe right now.

But once Xiao Yan began her "rescue," that might no longer be true.

Although she was a Dou Shi with a yellow tier high grade cultivation method and quite a few high-end Dou Techniques, and could easily defeat a Dou Zhe, circumstances still mattered.

If there were too many enemies, she would be reenacting that classic scene-"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"

Then getting mobbed... ahem.

She wouldn't lose, but it would definitely take some time, and Xiao Yi Xian's safety couldn't be guaranteed during that interval.

After all, Xiao Yi Xian was a frail girl who wasn't even a Dou Zhe. Any random Dou Zhe could threaten her.

She had to win through wits, and finish it quickly.

Almost instantly, Xiao Yan came up with three plans-best, middling, and worst-and swiftly made her decision.

It took effort to explain, but running through it all in her head took only an instant. Xiao Yan immediately got into character.

After learning that Xiao Yi Xian had "no intention of becoming an apprentice," she first expressed a little regret, then "politely declined" Mr. Yao's perfunctory offer to "stay in Qingshan Town for a few more days."

"Where are you headed, esteemed Alchemist? Shall I see you off?"

Xiao Yan nodded noncommittally.

Mr. Yao "enthusiastically" escorted Xiao Yan all the way out through Qingshan Town's city... "town gates." Only after watching her enter the Magical Beast Mountain Range and disappear from view did he finally relax.

That was close! Someone nearly spirited Xiao Yi Xian away!

Because Xiao Yi Xian had ties of varying closeness with all the factions in Qingshan Town, he could look but couldn't touch. Even so, he would never allow her to leave the Myriad Medicine Pavilion.

And he couldn't afford to offend a Second-Rank Alchemist either, so he'd had no choice but to resort to this poor excuse for a plan.

Now it seemed this Alchemist didn't care too much about Xiao Yi Xian after all. He had managed to get through it...

Mr. Yao breathed a sigh of relief and headed back at a leisurely pace.

What he didn't know was that a certain Xiao had rounded a corner and was following him from a distance...

Putting away her "signature" Heavy Xuan Ruler and changing into a loose white robe, Xiao Yan instantly transformed into a "mere passerby."

Although Xiao Yan's current soul power wasn't particularly strong, she was still "far ahead of the competition" in this tiny Qingshan Town.

With his guard down, Mr. Yao never noticed that someone was following him.

She followed Mr. Yao along the road and around several streets, while the clamor gradually faded.

A little while later, a rather distinctive little courtyard appeared in Xiao Yan's field of vision.

Security at its entrance was quite tight. More than a dozen fully armed Dou Zhe mercenaries stood guard there.

Once she approached the courtyard, Xiao Yan's soul power detected a familiar... well, someone she had only met yesterday.

"Tsk, hiding a beauty in a golden... pfft, pfft, pfft. This mouth of mine."

Having found Xiao Yi Xian, Xiao Yan wasted no more time. She took a bottle of medicinal powder straight from her Storage Ring and silently scattered it into the air.

Soon, the "guards" at the entrance collapsed in a heap. Mr. Yao, who had only just arrived, wasn't spared either.

Wasn't this much more effective than fighting and killing?

Kicking Mr. Yao out of the doorway, Xiao Yan ran to the bedroom and pushed the door open. "Xiao Yi Xian, I've come to get... uh..."

Xiao Yi Xian was slumped over the table, sleeping very peacefully...

"Tell me, girl. Was that on purpose or by accident...?"

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