Chapter 224

  Legend of the Sage Alchemist (VI)

  I'm sweating.

  Oh my God, I'm sweating.

  This woman is intense. Especially now that I'm left alone with her.

  We'd stepped out of the room and into the central hall as Gu Zhao went out to 'prepare', leaving the two of us on our own. She didn't speak, just intently stared at me while I had to smile and act as though everything was perfectly peachy.

  But it's not.

  This woman is terrifying! Dammit, Long Tao! Why do you keep entangling me with people I should not be interacting with? Haah. Whatever. Such is my fate.

  "Ah, greetings, Master Lu!" That was the third.

  Ever since Gu Zhao spread the 'good word' of my telling him of different methods, Elders of this sect would always greet me with a deep and reverent bow.

  And I don't like it. Not in the least because each successive greeting made the woman next to me stare even more intently, as though I'm a polished statue from an old master that she just had to study down to the last skin pore.

  "Master Lu, how do you do? Ah, Madame Zhu, welcome! You are as radiant as ever!" Hey, this one at least realized there's another person next to me!

  ... hmm? Did the intensity just drop?

  ...

  Seriously? That's it?! You were annoyed because they were greeting me but not you?! You are older than some freakin' countries, and you're still that petty? Nah. Make it make sense! How?! Is it some inherent human condition where, regardless of how long you live, you can still be a petty little shit over something as stupid as people not greeting you?

  ... I might just eat my words if I ever get to live a few centuries and then get pissed off for being ignored.

  Haah.

  Please, you old bastard, come back quickly!

  "You're quite an item," she finally commented after yet another Elder greeted me without acknowledging her.

  "They're merely being polite."

  "And yet the opposite towards me." Really? You're actually saying it out loud?

  "Good thing that Madame is truly magnanimous and doesn't mind."

  Okay, nice. That shut her up. She looked like she swallowed a bitter fruit, but at the very least she'll probably not mind it as much.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Where are you from?"

  "South."

  "Where south?"

  "Distant south."

  "What's the name of your hometown?"

  "Ah, my hometown is so small and inconsequential; Madame would not have ever heard of it."

  "I've heard of a lot of small and inconsequential places. I might surprise you." Wow, she is persistent. Glancing over at her, I was a bit surprised to find the look of genuine curiosity more so than anything else.

  "... I'm from the region south of the mountains," I said. "Madame might not know, but, just recently, the two dominant sects of the region were both destroyed practically overnight. With the potential fallout on the horizon, I decided to brave the mountains and cross here. Which is actually where I found the text."

  "Oh? In the Eternal Range?"

  "Near one of the summits, to be precise," I said. "And also why I know it will help your daughter."

  "How so?"

  "Because the text itself wasn't buried in some tomb," I said. "But rather used by the people in the village I'd stumbled upon. It just so happened that one of their own was having the same symptoms as your daughter, but they were lacking one particular ingredient that grew in far warmer climates... which I just happened to have. The young boy in question turned out to be the chieftain's grandson, which is how I ended up with the ancient text and how I learned to read it." Naturally, I had to prepare some bullshit story about not just how I came into possession of the thing, but how I knew to translate it.

  "Oh. Fascinating, the weaves of fate," she said.

  "Ha ha, indeed. So often, it feels curated," I genuinely did believe this, if only a little. At least when it came to me and the system, some things just seemed to be slightly out of bounds of cosmic coincidence. "As I read through the text, I realized it was an ancient alchemy textbook of sorts. That was why I came to this city in the first place, to see if I can trade it for a few things before moving on."

  "Both you and Gu Zhao mentioned it was kind of like a textbook," she said. "Why?"

  "The annotations on the sides of the pages," I said. "They sound an awful lot like student scribbles. Most boring thing ever, I wish Teacher Xiu would go extinct like this plant he keeps talking about, things like those."

  "Ha ha ha. I suppose some things never change, no matter the passage of time." Her laughter was rather pleasant, to be honest, though I hardly relaxed. "Isn't it rather dour?" she added after calming down. "That something that we consider unprecedented knowledge used to be part of any student's textbook, the contents that they grew bored of, even?"

  "There was a saying in my hometown," I said. "The only thing new in the world is the history you do not know."

  "... wise words," she said. "I grow increasingly more interested in the lands south of the mountains. Are they simply swarming by men like you?"

  "I'm afraid not," I said. "I'm by far the most handsome of the bunch."

  "..."

  "..."

  "You do say the darndest things, young man." She didn't laugh, though she did chuckle--albeit politely. "Beauty, you'll find, is a mirage that hides endless pits of rot. Do you wish to see what I look like beneath the mass of Qi?" Part of me was tempted to say yes, but I wasn't about to tempt any demons. And yet, I knew that the words of flattery here would simply backfire. So... I opted for honesty.

  "Truth be told," I said. "I'd rather remember you like this."

  "... ho ho, and I'd rather you remember me like this. Ah, old Gu, you're finally done?"

  "Indeed. You two look like you've had a spirited bout."

  "This young man's far more than meets the eye," she said, glancing at me and winking. "When all is said and done, perhaps I might consider taking him in as a husband."

  "Don't listen to her," he said as my expression likely betrayed my feelings. "She buried her husband two hundred and forty-six years ago and hasn't so much as held a man's hand since, let alone taken a husband."

  "Must you ruin everything, old man? Or are you still being petty over me rejecting your marriage proposal?" Oh, wow. Look at that. Old men can blush. You live and learn.

  "Khm," he coughed rather awkwardly, quickly changing the conversation. "Ancient history, ancient history. Now, let us depart. There is a life to save."

  "Hm. Just... uh, don't, don't be too aggrieved by Master Luo. I promised many things by bringing him here, and if it turns out he came for nothing, please let him flush his anger out on you. You owe me that much, at least."

  ... yeah. That's not a foreboding thought. Not at all.