Chapter 88: The Expensive Little Pills

There was a great many white threads on Lin Shuang’s face as well, though not as many as on her body. Her whole body had already been tightly wrapped in those pale strands, making her look almost like a cocoon.

Xi Yan took out a small knife and cut through the white threads covering Lin Shuang, while Qing Yan brushed away the strands from her face.

The two of them carried Lin Shuang out of the dark square together and laid her on the ground. Her complexion was rosy, showing not the slightest sign of anything amiss.

“Do you know how to wake her?” Xi Yan asked as he rose to his feet after setting Lin Shuang down, turning to Qing Yan.

Just now, Xi Yan had not seen all the contents on the notice board, and he had no idea how to rouse the people in the dark square.

Qing Yan did not answer. Instead, she crouched beside Lin Shuang, lightly patting her shoulder and calling in a low voice, “Lin Shuang! Lin Shuang!”

Lin Shuang did not awaken at Qing Yan’s call, and at that moment another enormous spider appeared.

“Qing Yan, can we take Lin Shuang with us on the unicorn?”

“No, not a chance! Xiao Jin can’t carry two people to begin with. It’s already generous enough that it can take you. Don’t go imagining all sorts of nonsense!” Qing Yan rejected Xi Yan’s idea without mercy.

Xi Yan pressed his lips together. “If that’s the case, then leave quickly. I’ll use the card to hide the two of us.” This was the solution he had just thought of.

Qing Yan nodded and immediately mounted the unicorn to ride ahead. The spider was already charging toward the three of them, seemingly having discovered that its “lair” had been destroyed. Xi Yan could feel the creature’s fury; its rage was immense.

In the brief moment they had been speaking, the spider had already reached Xi Yan’s eyes. Xi Yan swiftly activated Farewell to You, hiding himself and Lin Shuang at once.

When the spider saw the person before it suddenly vanish, it froze for a moment, then continued after Qing Yan. But because of the ghostly maze, Qing Yan once again returned to the spider’s rear.

Only this time, the spider did not leave. It stood waiting at the spot where Qing Yan had disappeared, though it still had not learned to turn its head.

Qing Yan returned to the place Xi Yan had just stood. Xi Yan deactivated the card’s effect, revealing himself and Lin Shuang.

“Qing Yan, Lin Shuang’s face has turned even redder, and she’s developed lots of little spots. Look!”

Qing Yan immediately came to Lin Shuang’s side, crouched down to examine her carefully, and finally said, “She’s poisoned... It’s fine. I have medicine here. Just give it to her.”

With that, Qing Yan took out a very small porcelain vial and handed it to Xi Yan.

Xi Yan did not hesitate. He opened the vial at once and poured the medicine into his hand: a tiny black pill.

Holding the pill, Xi Yan looked up at Qing Yan and asked, “Is this made from traditional medicine?”

“Traditional medicine? What is that?” A rare look of curiosity appeared in Qing Yan’s eyes.

Xi Yan coughed awkwardly. “Nothing, just a kind of medicine. So how was yours made?”

“This one is very precious. It was made using the blood of many rare and valuable animals. One pill is probably worth ten thousand points. It can neutralize a hundred poisons.” Qing Yan spoke with casual indifference.

But when Xi Yan heard how many points the pill was worth, his hand trembled unconsciously. Ten thousand points! That was ten thousand points!

Still, thinking of Qing Yan’s earlier display of wealth, Xi Yan suddenly felt that perhaps it was not so expensive after all.

Without further thought, he fed the pill directly to Lin Shuang.

After taking the pill for not long, Lin Shuang woke up. Xi Yan returned the porcelain vial to Qing Yan, but Qing Yan refused to take it.

“Keep it. At least if you get poisoned someday, you won’t die without even knowing why. I’ve got plenty more anyway. Just think of it as me taking pity on you and giving it to you.” Qing Yan lifted her chin and said with an air of proud indifference.

Xi Yan smiled and put the pill away in his bag. Qing Yan was clearly worried about him, yet she insisted on acting as though she did not care at all, making herself look like the generous one instead.

...

“This is...” Lin Shuang slowly sat up, supporting herself with her hands. She looked around, then finally turned to Qing Yan and asked, “Qing Yan... why are you here...”

Qing Yan curled her lip and answered impatiently, “Not only am I here, Xi Yan is here too. And also, you just ate one of my all-poison-dispelling pills, so remember to transfer the points to me.”

The corner of Lin Shuang’s mouth twitched. “Fine... I’ll send it over in a bit. Fifty thousand points, right?”

“Fifty thousand?” Xi Yan frowned and looked at Qing Yan, but Qing Yan glanced away as though she could not hear him.

Seeing Xi Yan so shocked, Lin Shuang asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Is fifty thousand points not right? Just fifty thousand points is already priceless. That thing is worth far more than fifty thousand points.”

Xi Yan immediately opened his bag, took out the porcelain vial, and tried to return it to Qing Yan, but Qing Yan flatly refused.

“All right, I said I was giving it to you, so it’s yours. Besides, there’s only one pill left in it, and I still have a whole bottle. Stop dragging this out with me, understand?”

“Mm...” Xi Yan silently put the porcelain vial back into his bag, then remembered the matter at hand.

Now that Lin Shuang had awakened, they could ask her what had happened.

“Do you know how you got here? And what about Qu Ya?”

When Lin Shuang heard Xi Yan’s question, she rubbed her head, thought carefully for a moment, and then sighed. “Qu Ya is fine. He was rescued. Qu Ya and I were ambushed by that woman, and then we fell down here!”

“That woman?” Xi Yan looked at Lin Shuang in confusion. When they had come here, there had been no one else. The teleportation array had only sent the few of them.

“Yes! You know the woman I mean too—the one at the ninth teleportation point who said we were stealing places!” Lin Shuang said through gritted teeth, as though she wanted to tear that woman apart.

“Oh? How could it be her?” Xi Yan frowned slightly.

“Because of jealousy, of course. You really don’t understand women. I imagine she must have wanted to kill all of us at the time, but because Xi Yan and I weren’t standing with you, we escaped her plan,” Qing Yan analyzed.

Lin Shuang nodded, fully agreeing with her.

“Qing Yan is right. I heard that woman’s companion call her Bai Xingchen.”

“Another one with the surname Bai?” Qing Yan’s brows knit together in displeasure, and a fierce aura suddenly seemed to rise from her entire body.

“Mm. Could she be from the Bai family...” Lin Shuang hesitated.

“I don’t care whether she’s from the Bai family or not. It has nothing to do with me.” Qing Yan took a deep breath and slowly calmed herself.

Xi Yan stood to one side, watching Lin Shuang and Qing Yan trading words back and forth, understanding none of it.

The Bai family? What about the Bai family? What was it? Was it very powerful?

Countless question marks bloomed in Xi Yan’s mind, but no one could answer them. Still, Xi Yan had already learned to seek out clues on his own.