Chapter 219

  Legend of the Sage Alchemist (I)

  What exactly did I need from the Sect Master?

  ... honestly, nothing? I mean, not nothing--he's far more versed in the alchemy than I am, and probably even Long Tao is, so maybe he does actually have a pill that could fix the girl, but that is supposing I know precisely what is wrong with her... and I really just don't.

  I mean, I have guesses, two of which really stand out, and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them turned out to be a culprit.

  One: it might be the Sages again. There was already that vine all the way at the summit of a freakin' mountain, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was one here, too, and it was sucking away at her vitality, making it seem as though she were ill.

  Two: it might be a curse. Just your average, standard-fare curse done by someone who resented her, or maybe purely by accident, I don't know. If that's the case, I still have the needle from way back when that will likely clean that up nicely, but if it turns out to be the vine?

  Hell, I don't know how to find it. Though, he actually might.

  "What did you two chat about?" Ugh. Though I know I have to talk to him, I really don't want to. He'd fallen behind the rest of the kids and joined me, and they, as though there was a universal understanding between them all, pretended not to have noticed it.

  "He offered to help," I said.

  "Oh. That's nice of him. Help with what? Master surely hasn't divulged something rather secretive to a man he's known for less than three days?" Ugh. Shut up. Seeing my expression, he merely smiled. "It was nice food."

  "Wasn't it?!"

  "Still not good enough to divulge something like that. How did you know, exactly, that it's not a disease?" Haah. Of course this asshole listened to us. Of course he did. It'd have been a miracle if he hadn't.

  "My sister taught me how to have a discerning eye. Before she ran away with a local horseshoe maker, never to be seen again."

  "..."

  "How did you know?" I asked back, ignoring the face of someone who looked ready to never speak to me again.

  "I went to see her," he shrugged and sighed. Hm? What did he just say? "That art your father left behind is certainly wonderful, to be able to hide me even here."

  ... yeah.

  I know you're lying, buddy. Sure, that art was great at the time, but one of two things happened: either you upgraded it so that it can hide you from far stronger cultivators than my original one could have, or you used something else entirely to sneak in.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  "What is it?"

  "She looked a lot like those people in the village with the vine."

  Figures.

  Haah. Seriously. Those Sages are really starting to piss me off. Is there not a place they haven't infected with their corruption?

  "It was odd, though."

  "... what do you mean?"

  "I didn't see anyone else infected."

  "No one?"

  "No one," huh. Alright. So, it might not have been the Sages after all and just someone mimicking their methods? Or maybe using those methods for personal gain? No, wait, listen to the bastard's words. He said that the only odd thing was that nobody else was infected--he didn't allude to anything else.

  So, what would be the reason if not a personal grudge?

  "Master."

  "Hm?"

  "You're running low on Spirit Stones, right?" Yes, twist the knife, won't you?

  "I... Master will find a way..." I mumbled vaguely. I really was running low--there were perhaps a few thousand mid-grade Stones left across the spatial rings and maybe fifty thousand or so low-grade ones.

  "I may have a way to earn a lot of stones quickly." Ooh, I both do and don't like the sound of that. Do because I desperately need the stones (why do I sound like that old man in that elemental movie screaming, 'Where are my stones?'), and don't because the tone of his voice is telling me we're about to do some proper scamming.

  "... and that is?" I asked defensively.

  "You mentioned that the Sect Master has offered his assistance, no?"

  "He did," I nodded.

  "So, ask him to recommend you as a healer," he said. "And to arrange the audience with the young girl so that you can attempt to cure her."

  "Aha."

  "Once you're there, just do some nice acting and pretending, and when I tell you to, drive an ordinary needle in-between her eyes--just a bit, though. Don't poke holes in her brain."

  "Right."

  "In the meantime, I'll locate the vine and sever it," he said. "No harm, no foul. The girl is cured, everyone's happy, and we replenish our diminishing spirit stones."

  "Right. Good plan. Just one problem."

  "What?"

  "I promised Sect Master that he can take credit for saving the girl."

  "... "Wow. Looks certainly can cut deep, I'll say that much.

  "I can just arrange it with him--he'll take the credit, and I'll take the stones. But, uhm..."

  "What?"

  "We, we might be able to take it further..."

  "Oh?" His eyes began to shine.

  "Didn't the girl's mom invite some big-shot alchemist over to heal her?" I said. "Big-shot alchemists, you know, they probably have stones falling out of their pockets with how full they are..."

  "Indeed they have," he grinned. "Wouldn't we be the nicest people if we liberated him from some of that weight? So that he can walk with more ease?"

  "He probably has far too many herbs, too. So many, in fact, that it takes him ages to locate the ones he needs while concocting pills..."

  "Indeed. We are such nice people."

  "... don't push it."

  "How exactly do you plan on doing it, however?" he queried.

  "I'm pretty sure I won't have to do anything."

  "Oh?"

  "Some random nobodies showing up at his doorstep claiming they can fix it in a way that he can't? If I know anything about proud people, it's that they do not enjoy having somebody they don't acknowledge stepping up to them. The only worry is that he might try to kill us instead of betting us. But I can just ask him if he's scared he'd lose, and he'll probably say 'Yes' before knowing what hit him."

  "And if he's not a wild ghoul from your fantasies?"

  "Then we're screwed?"

  "... haah, here," he procured something from one of his pockets. Oddly, he didn't actually carry a spatial ring with him despite me offering him one--he stared deathly daggers at me and looked like he was inches away from driving a sword through my neck, yes, but he didn't take it, just walking away.

  It was a small piece of paper with some names scribbled on it.

  "Show him that," he said. "And tell him you'll reveal the last two ingredients if you lose the bet. If he has any passion for alchemy, he will be unable to say no."