Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
<b>Chapter 58: Making Medicine (1)</b>
Mi Wan had never experienced the joy of crossing a vine bridge, especially one that was specifically constructed for her. Without wearing her shoes, she leapt out of her window barefooted and walked along the bridge. When she reached the center, she cheekily hopped and wiggled, causing the vine bridge to squeak, awarding herself with a helpless look from Fan Chen.
“Hehe… This is so much more convenient than climbing over walls.” Reaching the window, Mi Wan gave her personal review of the vine bridge.
“Come in.” Fan Chen was clearly uninterested in her review as he moved aside to allow her in.
“Help me down.” Mi Wan reached over, her fleshy arm held out right before Fan Chen’s eyes.
Fan Chen hesitated before finally moving over to help Mi Wan. Borrowing his strength, Mi Wan jumped right through the window and into the house.
So cold.
It was so cold that she could not help but breathe out a chilly mist. Mi Wan consciously felt all ten of her toes curl.
It was nearly the end of autumn now, and the Mi family’s old residence had turned on the floor heating, but Fan Chen was a demon, and therefore, immune to the temperature fluctuations. What little body heat Mi Wan had on her was mostly depleted when she made her way across the vine bridge, and now that her bare feet touch the floorboards, the freezing sensation caught her off guard.
“Where’s the Bingya grass?” While Mi Wan did not show her discomfort on her face, as she purposely shifted towards the carpet next to the bed.
“It’s in the living room downstairs.” He had no intention of discussing these things in his bedroom.
“Let’s go then.” Mi Wan turned to head downstairs.
“Wait…” Fan Chen stopped Mi Wan and waved his right hand towards the window. A single green vine wrapped around something pink flew through the window and placed the object by Mi Wan’s feet.
My rabbit-ear slippers?
Mi Wa was pleasantly surprised. Her two feet quickly slipped into them and just as she raised her head to thank him she saw that Fan Chen had already turned and left.
Mi Wan hastily chased after him, thumping down the stairs as she ran down and immediately saw the Bingya grass sitting on top of the coffee table in the living room. Bingya grasses are not large; they get to about the height of half a finger and are faintly colored. Those were stored in a vase the size of a soup bowl; the tips of the grass blades contained a string of dew drops. There were at least a few dozen Bingya grass in that densely packed batch.
“Why did you bring back so many?” It was mentioned yesterday that Bingya grass was difficult to come by, so why did he return with dozens of them? And that too in all different ages.
“I was afraid that the 10-years-old ones would not be effective enough, so I brought a few other varieties back.” Fan Chen pointed at the vase of Bingya grass and continued, “From left to right in ascending ordering, every batch is 5 years apart.”
“So these are 70-year old batches?” Mi Wan pointed on at the patch of grass that was furthest to the right.
“Mmhmm.” Fan Chen nodded.
“Didn’t you say that Bingya grass had difficulty surviving? There are even 70-year old ones.”
“I went to Antarctica to get these.” Fan Chen explained, “And these are the only ones left.”
Antarctica? That’s a place where humans have not fully explored. Even amongst demons, few were capable of surviving the fog and wildlife in Antarctica’s frozen tundra.
“Why did you pick them if they are so rare? Should have just let it grow.” Mi Wan felt a slight sense of loss as she looked at the patch.
“No loss.” Fan Chen was unaffected, “If I left them as they were, they would have withered away in two years due to insufficient spiritual energy.” That was also the reason why he took a special trip to Antarctica. Bingya grass that has not reached a hundred years of age would soon lose its effectiveness. Rather than leaving it to waste away, it was better to let Mi Wan use it to make medicine.
“Oh~~” Mi Wan did not expect there was another variable to consider, so after acknowledging his logic, she pointed at the 10-year-old Bingya grass that was furthest to the left and said, “I should attempt with the 10-year Bingya grass to start with.”
Mi Wan did have the same confidence she displayed last night. If the heaven and earthly spiritual energy had weakened to the point that Bingya grass would wither after 70 years, then there’s no telling if 10-years-old Bingya grass might be as effective as they were 500 years ago.
“Do you have an electric induction cooktop?” Mi Wan raised her head and asked.
“No.” Fan Chen asked curiously, “Why do you need an electric cooktop?”
“For cooking the medicine.” Mi Wan answered matter-of-factly.“With an electric cooktop?” Fan Chen had a look of fascination.
“Yeah. Let me tell you. Electric induction cooktops are the bomb because they can maintain the exact temperature however hot you need it. It’s useful as heck. Do you know just how amazing this function is to medicine cultivators?”
If she had an electric induction cooktop 500 years ago, would she need to constantly watch over the fire?
“…I don’t.” Fan Chen hesitated before saying, “I’ll go buy one.”
“The stores are all closed by now.” There’s the 24-hour convenience store, but who buys an electric induction cooktop from convenience stores? “Do you have anything else that can make a fire? I will make do.”
Fan Chen silently pulled out a small charcoal stove and a medicine pot. There’s not even a gas stove in this house?
Luckily, Mi Wan was an ancient person from 500 years ago who had experienced enough struggles; she knew how to carry the charcoal stove to the courtyard and pick a few dry branches to make a fire. If not, she would have climbed over the wall and went back home to steal an electric induction stove.
Fan Chen could not help with anything when it came to cultivating medicine, but he did not leave. He sat quietly on the side and watched Mi Wan.
In her first attempt at the medicine, Mi Wan used 10-years-old Bingya grass. Bingya grass had a natural bland and indiscernible flavor, but after being concocted into medicine and infused with Mi Wan’s spiritual energy, its hidden medicinal fragrance was utterly released. The strong medicinal smell perforated in the air, alerting the senses of humans and demons alike.
A light flashed across Fan Chen’s dark pupils as he watched the medicine pot in anticipation.
After another 5 minutes, Mi Wan stopped her hand movements, picked up the medicine pot, and discarded the contents into the soil.
“It didn’t work?” Fan Chen looked at the discarded medicine in disbelief. The fragrance was clearly distinct.
“Didn’t work.” Mi Wan replied in frustration, “Looks like the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy not only affected the Bingya grass’s lifespan but also affected its medicinal potency. We are going to swap with the 15-year ones and try again.”
Fan Chen was a little disappointed by the conclusion, but it was to be expected, so he picked from the second batch of Bingya grass and handed it over to Mi Wan.
After the first failure, Mi Wan became exceptionally attentive to the process and she was far more cautious; whether it be adding the ingredients on time, controlling the heat, or adjusting her spiritual energy. Mi Wan focused and trained her eyes on the changes in the Bingya grass in the medicine pot as one hand maintained the heat dispersion and her other hand fused in her spiritual energy. She was too focused on the task to realize that her hair that was tucked behind her ear had cascaded down to her chest, and a strand of it was about to touch the fires of the stove from her movements.
Fan Chen flicked a finger and stealthily sent over a small breeze to blow that strand of her back. Except, just as he blew it back, the same strand of hair soon came floating back once again. Fan Chen pursed his lips. Seeing that Mi Wan was still absorbed in concocting the medicine and did not notice what he was doing, he moved his hand again to help.
Sending a small tinge of demonic energy, he gently twirled his finger, causing a thin vine to appear out of thin air and curled around the loose strands of hair, and slowly pulled it back into place to prevent it from falling in front of her chest again. Satisfied with his contribution, Fan Chen quietly rescinded his demonic energy and continued to watch Mi Wan make medicine.
Not long after, another burst of medicinal fragrance entered his nostrils, and it smelled more potent than the first batch of medicine.
“Are you done?” Seeing that Mi Wan did not immediately dispose of the medicine like she did the first time, Fan Chen could not help but ask.
“I think so.” Mi Wan sounded unsure.
“You think?”
“This is my first time making it.” Mi Wan replied innocently, “Based on the colors, it looked successful, but to know how effective it is, we would need to test it out.”
“This is your first time making it? You haven’t even tested its effects?” Fan Chen fired one question after another, clearly showing how shocked he was.
“Yeah. When the medicine recipe was just created, my sect became afraid that this medicine would increase the powers of the demonic race, so they destroyed it on the spot. My Master allowed me to stick around during the process of developing this prescription. Thanks to that, I was able to recall all of it.”
“They destroyed it?” The thought of someone destroying a prescription that could recover one’s demonic source made Fan Chen’s heart hurt, and he became a little furious.
“As long as your demonic source is intact, you would not die easily. If you also acquired the prescription to repair your demonic sources, how would we be able to continue fighting in that great war between humans and demons?” After saying that, Mi Wan eyed the medicine in front of her slightly anxiously, “Say, if I’m able to successfully create this medicine, and the demonic race become more powerful, would it cause another war between humans and demons?”
“It won’t.” Fan Chen looked directly into Mi Wan’s uncertain gaze and replied, “Doesn’t this medicine require the spiritual energy of demon hunters?”
“That’s true.” Mi Wan smiled knowingly, “Only us demon hunters can concoct this medicine, besides…the efficacy of Bingya grass has weakened considerably. Even if I used my spiritual energy to make it, it would not heal high-leveled demonic sources. Medicine cultivators limit the efficacy of the final product. To some extent, the levels of demon hunters and demons are on par with each other. Unless…”
Mi Wan looked over at Fan Chen and became quiet.
“Unless what?” Fan Chen asked.
“Unless a demon boss like you decides to destroy the world.” Mi Wan smiled.
“Don’t worry, I won’t.” The girl was smiling, but seeing the worried look on her face, Fan Chen made it clear to her, if he wanted to destroy the world, he would not have just sent a Celestial Vine during the great war between humans and demons. “Go test out the medicine.”
“I’ll try it tomorrow.” Mi Wan shook her head, grabbed a thermos cup on the side, and carefully stored the medicine inside.
“Why? Isn’t the cat demon in your room?” Fan Chen did not get it.
“I haven’t negotiated a price yet, how can I just give out the goods?”
“…”
Carrying the thermos cup and pink slippers, Mi Wan climbed the vine bridge once again. Before she left, she pointed at her hair and expressed her gratitude to Fan Chen, “Thanks for that, or else my hair would have burnt to a crisp.”
“You’re welcome.” Fan Chen replied plainly.
Waving her hand, Mi Wan quickly walked barefoot across the vine bridge to her bedroom. The moment she leapt off, the vine bridge behind her unwounded back into multiple vines and returned back into the soil. By the time Mi Wan turned to glance behind her, the window across from her room had closed, and she was only able to catch a glimpse of Fan Chen pulling the curtains back into place.
Oh no, I forgot to get his phone number again.
“Mew~~” The still awake little cat demon popped its head out of the covers.
(Big sister, did you come back from your date?)
“What date? I was cultivating medicine.” Mi Wan set the thermos cup on the table and went back to the dressing table to apply her beauty products. She had left right after her shower, and forgot to spray perfume on herself.
Mi Wam was too lazy to wash her face again. She just wiped her face once over, applied a layer of lotion, and tidied her hair a bit. Looking at the tiny leafless vine in her hand, Mi Wan could not help but complain, “You are a straight guy who lived this long, but doesn’t have the sense to bloom a flower for decoration?”
Mi Wan threw the vine in her makeup box, and walked to her bedside, and opened her covers.
“Mew~~” The little cat demon sniffed the perfume on Mi Wan’s body.
(Big sister, what kind of medicine did you make? It smells so comforting.)
“Sleep first. You’ll know tomorrow.” Mi Wan turned to rub the cat’s ears and fell into a deep slumber.