Chapter 63: The useless trash defies the natural order
Once he saw that Han Yunxi had no intentions of leaving the courtyard, Pill Fiend couldn’t help but to grow suspicious. In the end, he still couldn’t believe that she’d found those three plants. He’d racked his brains to think them up, and all of them were growing in this very courtyard. No matter how smart a person was, they wouldn’t think to look here immediately. Moreover, even if Han Yunxi suspects that the plants are here, she still has to find them!
Pill Fiend’s thoughts drifted as his gaze settled on the plant diagrams in Long Feiye’s hands. Han Yunxi hadn’t even flipped them open. Even if she thought the plants were here, she still needed time to look them up. There was no guarantee that she’d find them even after that. Much more relieved, Pill Fiend relaxed. He still had plenty of confidence in his choice of plants. He shot another glance at the expressionless Long Feiye as his pretty eyes flashed with a devious smile. I’ll see how arrogant he gets. If Han Yunxi takes longer than three days to find the plants, he’ll have to beg obediently for his medicine
But just when Pill Fiend was feeling smug, he felt a prickle run down his back. Turning around, he saw Han Yunxi’s eyes full of laughter. He gave a little start, bewildered. Unexpectedly, Han Yunxi’s beautiful eyes looked around before her dark pupils rested on the stone steps behind and to his right. There was a patch of moss growing by the steps, next to a cluster of dogtail grass. Pill Fiend followed Han Yunxi’s gaze to rest on the dogtail grass, his heart skipping a beat as it narrowly avoided stopping altogether.
His Seven Deaths Hawktail was mixed in with that clump of dogtail grass!\nIt couldn’t be…
If someone could see Pill Fiend’s face now, they’d notice the deep furrows between his eyebrows. No, no, this had to be a coincidence. Han Yunxi’s a good-for-nothing so there’s no way she recognizes the Seven Deaths Hawktail. After all, quite a few pill masters had no idea what it even looked like! Pill Fiend hastily withdrew his gaze, a ruthless look flashing past his eyes. He firmly believed that Han Yunxi couldn’t find it!
But then Han Yunxi rose to her feet and walked over. This time, Pill Fiend hurriedly chased after her, only to see Han Yunxi accurately pick out the Seven Deaths Hawktail from the cluster of dogtails, preparing it pull it up by the roots.
“Stop it!” Pill Fiend cried in alarm. There was nothing strange or eerie about his voice right now. Neither did it sound deep and ancient–only very fierce and angry, with a hint of his true voice hiding beneath it.
Han Yunxi didn’t let go, but simply smiled. “Seven Deaths Hawktail, right?”
Though she was holding it in her hands, hearing her say the name was still hard for Pill Fiend to bear. Was this useless trash trying to defy the natural order of things? Pill Fiend narrowed his eyes and didn’t reply.
Han Yunxi shrugged and prepared to pull, forcing Pill Fiend to cry out, “Yes!”
These words caused the Duanmu Baiye sitting on the side to stand up in disbelief. “Han Yunxi, you…”
“Han Yunxi, how did you know the Seven Deaths Hawktail was in this courtyard? And how did you find it?” Pill Fiend was curious as well. This woman hadn’t even studied at the plant diagrams before finding it with a glance. She didn’t even use time to search but pinpointed it with one look.\n“Because I’m smart,” Han Yunxi smiled as she let go. This Seven Deaths Hawktail was still very young. She liked medicinal plants, so she wouldn’t waste the products of nature. Of course, the more important reason was that she couldn’t pay back Pill Fiend if she did.
“Smart? I think you’re practicing fraud! You’re clearly useless trash, so how could you recognize the Seven Deaths Hawktail?” Duanmu Baiye spoke with biting sarcasm.
“Someone just said that this competition was fair. Why are you acting shamelessly now? Crown Prince Ye, I’ve only found one plant so far. Have more faith in your sister,” Han Yunxi teased.
Her words left Duanmu Baiye unable to retort. If he spoke any more, he’d be slapping his and Yao Yao’s faces.
“Hmph! This crown prince doesn’t believe you can find a second plant!” Duanmu Baiye snarled.
“This excellency doesn’t believe you can find a second plant either…” Pill Fiend’s eyes had never stopped staring at Han Yunxi, his voice and eyes faint. Even if Han Yunxi had only found the Seven Deaths Hawktail by coincidence, it didn’t mean she could find the Simple White Yimi too.
He wouldn’t believe in something so odd!
But Han Yunxi only smiled as her crafty eyes wandered around the courtyard, finally settling on the grass beneath the railings in front of her. After what happened the first time, even Duanmu Baiye’s eyes followed her gaze, but he couldn’t understand any of what he saw. Yet Pill Fiend suddenly sucked in a cold breath, his eyes turning serious. Even without following Han Yunxi’s gaze, he knew what was beneath the railings. That cluster of grass had a few scattered wildflowers, one of which looked white and unassuming. That was the priceless Simple White Yimi worth the value of several cities!\nIt couldn’t be that Han Yunxi had found the Simple White Yimi as well?
Han Yunxi looked back at Pill Fiend’s stiff reaction and gave a brilliant smile. “Do you want me to point out the Simple White Yimi?”
Pill Fiend didn’t answer, but stared as if his eyes were nailed to her. He’d never lost in the art of medicine, nor was he participating in the competition today. But this was his challenge. He never planned for anyone to find his plants, yet Han Yunxi had taken less than an hour to uncover two of them. Although they’re supposed to hunt for them, she hasn’t searched at all, all right?!
She even recognizes the Simple White Yimi? Where’s the so-called useless trash?
Even formidable pill masters were impressive enough if they could identify the Seven Deaths Hawktail. Simple White Yimi was even rarer than Seven Deaths Hawktail, and poisonous to boot.
“Your Excellency Pill Fiend, that little flower is Simple White Yimi. Do you want me to point it out? It’s that white one over there, there’s only a single plant,” Han Yunxi purposefully described it in detail.
Pill Fiend was taking deep breaths. The topics he’d racked his brains to think up were so easily analyzed and explained. As for the final Wall-Hitting Ghost, don’t tell him she’d found it long ago, too? Again, he didn’t reply, but Duanmu Baiye grabbed the diagrams that Long Feiye had set on the table until he found one of Simple White Yimi. He intentionally walked over to compare the two and was completely floored by the results. It really was Simple White Yimi!
“Crown Prince Ye, I’m not wrong, right?” Han Yunxi asked with a smile.
The diagrams fell to the ground as Duanmu Baiye rose to his feet, face frighteningly black. “You’ve found the last one, the Wall-Hitting Ghost, as well?”\nHan Yunxi’s crafty eyes lowered and looked to her right.
Duanmu Baiye acted on reflex and also looked to the right. When Han Yunxi turned to look at her left, Duanmu Baiye’s head followed along to the left.
“Hahaha, it’s right beneath your feet!” Han Yunxi laughed out loud.
Duanmu Baiye really did look down, causing Han Yunxi to nearly fall over with laughter. There was absolutely nothing by his feet.
Tch…he’d been played!
Duanmu Baiye’s face alternated between white and red as his hands clenched into fists. Meanwhile, Pill Fiend’s eyes had turned gloomy and complicated. He’d personally planted the Wall-Hitting Ghost on the rooftop, where it looked no different from the other weeds there. Don’t mention pill masters, but even elite poison specialists that dropped by had yet to find it! Since Han Yunxi tricked Duanmu Baiye, that meant she hadn’t found it yet, right? These thoughts gave him a smidgen of confidence.
He quickly regained his cool and reminded her in his strange voice, “Han Yunxi, you’ve found the Seven Deaths Hawktail and Simple White Yimi, but you can’t win without finding the Wall-Hitting Ghost.”
His words had barely landed when Han Yunxi’s gaze grew profound. Seeing this, Pill Fiend felt his heart turn flustered. But her significant look quickly faded as Han Yunxi gave a careless glance towards the roof. This simple glance made Pill Fiend much more jittery than her previous expression!
It couldn’t be that she found the Wall-Hitting Ghost as well?! Was she a genius? It took Pill Fiend three days and three nights in the mountains to find this Wall-Hitting Ghost and plant it on his roof!
Seeing Pill Fiend panic, Han Yunxi smiled indifferently and didn’t say a word. But Duanmu Baiye saw their exchanged glances and instantly understood: the Wall-Hitting Ghost was in this courtyard too!\nHow could this be?!
These were all rare plants. Didn’t Pill Fiend said there was only one Wall-Hitting Ghost in the entire valley? Where was Duanmu Yao supposed to find it outside? Duanmu Baiye had long stopped caring about the location of the third plant. He was more worried about his little sister. Though he often used cruel and treacherous methods against his foes, he still indulged his sister to the bones. He didn’t want her to suffer a bit of hardship.
“Pill Fiend, you and your blasted challenge!” Duanmu Baiye turned to leave, but Long Feiye appeared before him with a cold tone.
“The rules that were set prohibits bystanders from helping. Don’t forget.”
Duanmu Baiye was in a rage, but had no excuse to leave. With Pill Fiend on the scene, he didn’t dare act shamelessly, but could only sit down to stew in his temper.
This time, they were definitely going to lose.
Pill Fiend had no interest in Duanmu Baiye. Right now, he was completely focused on Han Yunxi, his eyes never leaving her side. He really wanted to know if Han Yunxi had found the Wall-Hitting Ghost yet and was waiting for her to answer. The helpless Duanmu Baiye was waiting as well so he could find Yao Yao after Han Yunxi announced her discovery. But Han Yunxi just sat there without a word, her eyes still.
—
Meanwhile, Duanmu Yao was searching all over Pill Fiend Valley for the Seven Deaths Hawktail. She looked at the diagram three or four times, along with its description, before cleverly deciding to find a patch of dogtail grass first. She landed as soon as she found a field of them and started carefully comparing each one with the picture in the diagram.
How would she know what had happened in the courtyard? As she searched, she couldn’t help but keep thinking about Han Yunxi. She figured that Han Yunxi would probably take forever to find a dogtail field of her own!\nAfter eliminating a big section of dogtails, Duanmu Yao’s light footsteps flew her to the next patch. Although the task was difficult, she was still full of confidence.
Soon enough, the skies began to grow dim…
By the time it grew dark, Han Yunxi still hadn’t pointed out the Wall-Hitting Ghost, but neither had she left the courtyard. Lanterns were lit while Duanmu Baiye paced back and forth, his face deathly pale as his heart burned with the fact that he couldn’t go out. Pill Fiend crouched in a raised flower bed on the side, dividing his gaze between the rooftop and Han Yunxi, suppressing his temper as he waited.\n