Two Matters, One Open and One Hidden

Zhang Xiaohua set up both pill furnaces. Only after watching the spirit herbs gradually refine into medicinal liquid did he slip out of the pill room, conceal himself, and head for Zhang Xiaohu's place.

Ever since parting with Zhang Xiaohu at Misty Manor a few days ago, Zhang Xiaohua had not dared let his attention wander in the slightest while refining the Spirit-Awakening Pill for Ou Yan. He had not even stepped out of the pill room. After several days apart, he had no idea how things had gone for Zhang Xiaohu at Misty Manor that day.

When Zhang Xiaohua arrived at Zhang Xiaohu's small courtyard, he found it empty, without a soul in sight—just as it had been the last time.

"Could it be that Second Brother's stock has risen? Is he spending all his time at Misty Hall now?" Zhang Xiaohua muttered as he headed toward the rear courtyard.

Sure enough, He Tianshu was still there. But instead of lying on the bed, he was comfortably reclined in a lounge chair, squinting as he basked in the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Captain He?" Zhang Xiaohua called softly as he entered.

"Xiaohua?" The moment He Tianshu heard that form of address, he immediately opened his eyes and answered with a smile. Indeed, in the present-day Misty Sect, Zhang Xiaohua was likely the only one who still called him "Captain He."

"I haven't come by these past few days. How have you been recovering, Captain He?" Zhang Xiaohua asked with a smile.

"Very well!" He Tianshu said, his brows rising. He was only missing a thumbs-up. "My dantian and meridians are warm, just like the feeling after breaking through a bottleneck when I used to practice martial arts. All the joints in my body are tingling and itchy too.