Chapter 87: Brought Along an Alchemist

Among the refugees, a large number came from Zhongzhou, and many were children.

Some were brought by their parents fleeing, while others were orphans who banded together after losing their families.

Those children with parents to care for fared better, but those without families often starved to death on the road; those who didn’t starve nearly fell gravely ill.

At present, twelve children were sick, all with pale faces, cold sweat on their foreheads, occasional convulsions, vomiting, and sudden fits of violent biting.

One of them, named Qingwa, was the oldest among the children, around thirteen or fourteen, and also the most severely ill.

His forehead burned with fever, and his eyeballs had turned dull yellow.

A few people who had come with the children said the boy had been unwell since the start of their flight toward Shengjing.

The physician said he had never seen such an illness before, and even the pulse was intermittent.

“Where did they flee from?”

“Baihe Village, south of Qiling Mountain…”

“Again Qiling…”

Ji You murmured softly, lost in thought.

He still retained much of his modern mindset; upon seeing illness, his first thought was viral or bacterial transmission.

In the real world, he had once heard rumors that ancient viruses still slumbered in Arctic ice, any one of which could wipe out humanity.

Could this illness be an ancient virus, passed down from a relic?

But… it made no logical sense.

Relics contained no living things; even herbaceous plants could not be removed from them.

The demonic seeds could move, but they preserved only bloodthirsty malice—they were not truly alive.

Ji You looked at the children: “I’ll return to the Heavenly Book Academy and fetch someone to see if they can save them.”

Kuangcheng had been staring blankly at the pendant hanging from Qingwa’s collar; at the sound, he snapped back to attention: “Huh? Oh, alright.”

The physician beside them spoke up: “I am considered a master physician in the city; this illness is beyond the ability of ordinary healers. Don’t bother yourself.”

Ji You stood up: “I just met two alchemists the other day. Let’s bring them over and see if they can help.”

“Ah, this…”

The Yuan siblings had already left Budao Hall and arrived at the open ground before the Enlightenment Ground, surrounded by many noble youths from both inner and outer academies.

Alchemists of the Yu Danzong were weak in combat and poor at avoiding danger, so they rarely left their mountain, making them even more mysterious than ordinary Yu Danzong disciples, and hard to meet.

Especially alchemists of the rank of direct disciple or the sect leader’s daughter—such figures appeared only once in a hundred years.

Given such an opportunity, none of them would let it slip away.

This was precisely the scene the Yu Danzong elders and the Heavenly Book Academy’s high-ups hoped to see; hence both He Lingxiu of the Zizai Hall and You Buyu of the Jixiang Hall were present.

“Younger Brother Yuan, your sister says this is your first time in Shengjing. Later, let me take you to sample some local specialties.”

The speaker was He Lingxiu, direct disciple of the Zizai Hall of the Heavenly Book Academy, a woman with a slender waist and rounded hips.

Yuan Chen shook his head slightly: “I cannot accept. Please, spare me.”

Yuan Caimei frowned: “She’s extending a kind invitation—how can you be so rude?”

“She bullied Zhengxin Immortal, yet now pretends to be a kind older sister—it makes me sick.”

Yuan Caimei froze, realizing the “Zhengxin Immortal” referred to Wen Zhengxin, who had returned with them, but she didn’t understand the connection between her and He Lingxiu.

Yet Yuan Chen still remembered the conversation between Wen Zhengxin and Pei Ruyi deep within the relic forest that day.

【I competed for the Zizai Hall’s direct disciple position—and lost.】

【You didn’t beat her?】

【Her clan is far larger than my Wen clan.】

【What a terrible world.】

Yuan Chen’s attitude naturally left these well-known noble youths of the Heavenly Book Academy awkward.

Yet He Lingxiu showed no displeasure; instead, she added: “If you dislike fine food, tomorrow I’ll take you to the outskirts of the capital. I heard you love watching immortal disciples fight—I’ll arrange two to duel for you.”

Yuan Chen paused, then bowed respectfully: “I’ve just returned from the relic, exhausted from days without proper rest. I may not wake up tomorrow.”

“That’s fine. You can go when you’ve rested.”

Yuan Caimei was also deeply surprised, staring at her brother with confusion.

She knew her brother had been obsessed with immortal cultivation novels since the Zizai Mountain, always quietly watching whenever immortal disciples came to collect elixirs.

Now that someone was offering to arrange a duel for him to watch, he refused outright—even she couldn’t understand it.

Yuan Chen said nothing, only gazed at the setting sun, his expression melancholy.

In the novels, immortal cultivators wielded swords across a thousand li, walking the immortal path in snow-white robes.

Then he met Ji You, and instantly felt it was right—he assumed all the Heavenly Book Academy was like that.

But now that he was truly here, his fantasy was utterly shattered.

Because the immortal cultivators, whether inner or outer academy, were no different from ordinary people.

They stared at alchemists with burning eyes, even lowering their posture, with no flowing white robes, no free-spirited ease, no ethereal grace.

As he pondered, the Yu Danzong direct disciple suddenly heard a distant call.

“Yuan Chen, I need your help—come with me.”

Ji You was approaching from down the mountain, his white robe fluttering in the wind like snow walking toward them; he gazed for a moment at a slender female cultivator before waving at him.

Seeing this, He Lingxiu turned first, frowning slightly—how could someone shout at a Yu Danzong direct disciple like that?

But to her surprise, Yuan Chen instantly beamed, lifted his robe, and sprinted downhill, bouncing eagerly.

“That person…”

“I recognize him—he’s Ji, a disciple of the outer academy.”

“Oh, him—the one who saved the Yu Danzong siblings. That explains it…”

As the words faded, everyone standing with Yuan Caimei froze.

For they saw Ji You in the Enlightenment Ground suddenly reach out, grab Yuan Chen by the collar, and with a surge of spiritual energy, lift him like a chick and carry him out of the Heavenly Book Academy.

This…

He Lingxiu frowned slightly—even if it was a life-saving debt, this was far too disrespectful.

She turned to Yuan Caimei, intending to apologize for her academy disciple’s rudeness, but found her expression unchanged—as if she were used to it.

Well, if the brother-in-law treated his brother-in-law like that, it wasn’t unreasonable.

“Miss Yuan, since your brother won’t come, shall we just stroll around? After all, it’s arranged by the sect.”

You Buyu spoke up suddenly, looking at Yuan Caimei.

On the Qingyun Continent, noble clans were countless, rising and falling unevenly.

The You clan was originally a second- or third-tier clan, but after You Yingqiu became the head of the Jixiang Hall, the clan began to flourish.

You Buyu was You Yingqiu’s nephew, received her direct transmission, and at a young age had already reached the Rong Dao realm.

The scent of chaos was spreading; the Yu Danzong seemed to have changed its strategy toward small clans, now seeking to bind itself more deeply with the Heavenly Book Academy.

The elder who came this time, Dan Qiongzi, was her own uncle, seemingly arranged to have You Buyu meet her.

Yuan Caimei stared at the fading white robe, silent for a long while, then followed the group.

Her brother was safe with him—no need to worry.

“Brother-in-law, what’s happened?”

“The greatest of immortals serve life and the people—today, you are the protagonist.”

Ji You understood this boy perfectly; one sentence struck right at his heart.

True enough, Yuan Chen’s chest swelled with excitement the moment he heard it.

He had thought seeing one meant seeing them all, seeing the whole mountain.

But now that he’d seen many, seen the whole mountain, he realized that one was just one.

Moments later, Yuan Chen was already outside the city, having learned he was to treat these children.

Before all eyes, he rolled up his sleeves, crouched before the children, and a shimmering rainbow-white alchemical light flashed from among the refugees.

“Is he really an alchemist?”

“Definitely an alchemist—but why was he dragged here…?”

Yuan Chen observed Qingwa for a long time, alchemical energy surging, then frowned: “The black qi enters from outside, striking directly at the five viscera and six bowels—no clear lesion, yet the destructive power is extreme. I’ve never seen such an illness.”

Ji You crouched beside him: “I don’t understand. Can you save them?”

“I must first stabilize the children’s qi, use alchemy to expel the black qi, cut off a segment, then refine a pill tailored to its nature. Brother-in-law, all these people need to be quarantined separately—those exposed and unexposed must be grouped and isolated. I fear contagion…”

Ji You nodded: “Whatever you say, I’ll follow your lead.”

Yuan Chen nodded and swiftly used alchemy to dispel the black qi from the twelve children, but found the black qi automatically spread, replenishing itself after each expulsion, constantly filling the organs.

This cycle repeated for a long time, until beads of sweat dripped from his forehead before it finally ended.

Instantly, the twelve children’s complexions improved dramatically; some with mild symptoms even opened their eyes, filled with confusion.

Qingwa, the most severely ill, stopped sweating profusely, his breathing growing steady.

The refugees were common folk, the poorest and most downtrodden—they had seen nothing like this. At once, they cried out: “Divine physician!”

Yuan Chen was stunned, but said nothing.

Wei Rui had watched with intense tension; now she finally exhaled, then realized she’d been gripping something tightly—she suddenly released her hand.

Kuangcheng stared at his fingers, silent for a long while.

“I think… I won’t wash my hands for a very long time…”

“?”

Wei Rui pressed her lips shut, her face instantly flushing red.

Ji You crouched beside them, hearing Kuangcheng’s involuntary murmur, couldn’t help but exclaim.

A righteous gentleman suddenly acting so alluring—truly a little deadly.

Tonight, when you go to the Wu Dao Heavenly Book, give the little master of Lingjian Mountain a full set too, and test the effect.

Yuanchen had now returned to Ji You’s side: “Brother-in-law, it’s under control. I’ll try firing the furnace tonight.”

“Where’s the black qi you cut out?”

“Inside me.”

Ji You frowned, thinking: Are you Shennong? “Is it dangerous having it inside you?”

After hearing this, Yuanchen paused slightly, then said: “Probably not. I have dan qi protecting me. If even this poses a threat to me, then everyone in the world would be dead.”

“That’s still too risky. It should be inside Chu He.”

“Chu He?”

“A good man who gave me his sword. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Yuanchen knew his brother-in-law was talking nonsense again, but changed the subject: “This feels pretty rewarding, look at how they’re looking at me.”

Ji You smiled after hearing this: “Have you ever considered that when the Dao originally passed the Honglu to you, it was meant for you to cure diseases and purge evil for the common people—but you strayed, and now you only make pills for cultivators?”

“?”

(End of Chapter)