Chapter 6 – A New Partnership (Patreon)

The arrival of autumn brought a slight improvement to the lives of the mortals at the foot of the mountain.

The season was dry and sunny, and the trees were laden with fruit. The animals, preparing for winter, were plump and full of fat. For the lucky ones, catching even one was a feast for the senses.

Lynn Naya didn’t know how everyone else was faring, but she knew that one day, someone in the mortal zone was rendering lard. The savory scent filled the entire area all night, making countless people stand and sniff the air. The path to that family’s door was packed solid from all the foot traffic.

Rumor had it that the family, too embarrassed to keep all the lard to themselves, ended up giving away half a bowl of cracklings. This made Lynn Naya regretful; she wished she had gone to join the crowd. Not for the cracklings, but just to see how lard was made.

Lard was a luxury Lynn Naya couldn’t afford, but she wasn’t without her own gains.

First, her Mud-Root Gourds had ripened. And second, she had received a large number of wild fruits. The wounded, both those she knew and those she didn’t, would always give her the inedible, hard-to-store fruits as payment.

This made Lynn Naya seriously suspect that the reason for the sudden increase in patients was because she didn’t turn down these “gifts.” Regardless, she was now drying them in the sun and roasting them in the rain. She had already filled sixteen bamboo tubes, a foot high each. At this rate, she had enough vitamins for the next half a year.

Speaking of the Mud-Root Gourds, there was a funny story that went along with them.

Ever since Lynn Naya had put Fan Shi in her place, the woman had a grudge against her. But because everyone else in the courtyard was friendly with Lynn Naya, and Uncle Wang was always polite to her, Fan Shi had no outlet for her anger.

Perhaps because of her bottled-up anger, Fan Shi actually stole three of Lynn Naya’s Mud-Root Gourds while she was out one day.

When Lynn Naya returned in the evening and saw her gourds were gone, she went straight to Fan Shi’s door to confront her.

Fan Shi, who had prepared for this, insisted she had been away from the house all afternoon and swore she had no idea what happened. She even tried to turn the blame on Lynn Naya, saying she must have offended someone who was now seeking revenge.

Ever since Lynn Naya broke through to the first level of Qi Condensation, she had gained a spiritual sense. This allowed her to perceive the expressions and movements of those around her, as well as things hidden from sight. Even as Fan Shiwas still denying her guilt, Lynn Naya had already located the fresh Mud-Root Gourds.

Too lazy to argue with her, Lynn Naya walked directly to a spot she had already “seen.” As Fan Shi screamed and tried to stop her, Lynn Naya “accidentally” flipped over a wooden basin, revealing the hidden gourds.

“I remember your gourds weren’t ripe yet, were they?” Lynn Naya asked, ignoring the shocked and complicated looks from her neighbors. She then walked away with her precious gourds.

Afterward, as expected, Uncle Wang came to apologize and gave her five more Mud-Root Gourds as a peace offering. Lynn Naya accepted them all without a word.

That night, she roasted all the gourds and ate them with the two children from Xue Yong’s family on her doorstep. The air was filled with the delicious aroma.

After that incident, whenever it was Uncle Wang’s turn to watch the houses, everyone would ask if it was really him. Their tone implied that if it wasn’t, they would just watch their own houses. The questions made Uncle Wang’s face flush with embarrassment.

Uncle Wang was the main breadwinner of his family, so if he stayed home, the work would fall on Fan Shi. Fan Shicomplained endlessly about this, but every time she did, Uncle Wang would scold her and tell her to leave if she wasn’t happy.

While Lynn Naya knew Uncle Wang was probably just saying this for their benefit, she and the other neighbors were still appreciative. They remained wary of Fan Shi but continued to be friendly with Uncle Wang.

One day, as Lynn Naya was roasting her dried fruit, Xue Yong came to find her and asked if she had any more of the Detoxification Pills from last time.

“I don’t have any right now, but I can make more if you need them,” Lynn Naya said with a gentle, harmless smile. “Since you didn’t mention the medicine again, I thought it wasn’t good, so I didn’t prepare any ahead of time.”

She had deliberately not prepared any. It was more cost-effective to acquire her own ingredients than to exchange for them using contribution points at the Dao Palace.

“That’s my fault,” Xue Yong said, not looking disappointed. “I had already bought a bottle of Detoxification Pills, and we hadn’t finished it. We just used your pills today.” It was only today that he realized her pills were very different from the ones he had bought before.

Xue Yong looked up at the beautiful, delicate young woman in front of him. When his eyes met hers, he felt a sudden strange feeling. If, as she said, this was her first time making the pills, she shouldn’t be so calm and collected after hearing his feedback.

Unless… she already knew how effective the pills were and was just waiting for him to come to her?

With this in mind, Xue Yong looked at her again and probed, “If I order some Detoxification Pills now, how many days will it take for them to be ready?”

Lynn Naya smiled, picked up her bamboo cup, and ran her finger along the rim. “That’s hard to say.”

When he saw her not refusing but also not giving a clear answer, he knew she was waiting for him to make an offer.

The young woman in front of him suddenly became a stranger in Xue Yong’s eyes. Before, he had only seen her as a bit solitary. Now, it was clear he didn’t know her at all.

Of course. In a world like this, who could ever afford to stay a child?

Realizing that the person he was talking to was no longer the frail girl he remembered, Xue Yong quickly changed his attitude. “Lady Lynn, to be honest, the effects of your medicine are much better than the other detoxification pills. The other healers I’ve been to sell their pills for one contribution point for three pills. I can offer you a higher price—one contribution point for two pills.”

He had originally intended to pay the same price as everyone else.

But Lynn Naya wasn’t satisfied with his offer. She went right to the point. “If they’re both for detoxification, but you’d rather buy my more expensive one, it must be because my pills have other special uses.”

Seeing Xue Yong’s brow furrow, Lynn Naya stopped playing games. “I’ve heard that there’s a Peach Blossom Forest to the southeast, and it’s filled with miasma, so no one dares to go in.”

Hearing this, a look of shock flashed in Xue Yong’s eyes. He didn’t understand how Lynn Naya knew about the Peach Blossom Forest. He wanted to deny it, but the young woman suddenly said, “Brother Xue, I remember once last year when I was being harassed, you and your wife came to help me. I have always been grateful for that. Now, it’s finally my turn to repay you. When I made this medicine, you were the first people I thought to partner with.”

The young woman’s words made Xue Yong feel a little awkward. It was true. The medicine was hers, and the initiative had never been with him. He had been trying to take advantage of her.

Seeing that Lynn Naya knew everything, Xue Yong knew he had to prove himself now if he wanted to be the sole recipient of her pills.

“There are a lot of animals in that forest,” he said carefully. “But because of the miasma, we’ve never been able to enter. I’ve just discovered that your medicine can neutralize the miasma. As for the price, I’m not sure what would be fair. Why don’t you make a suggestion, and we can work from there?”

“I don’t know much about the prices out there,” Lynn Naya said. She just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t fool her. The price itself was a test for Xue Yong, and she would naturally have to see how he handled it. “Brother Xue, you can just give me whatever you think is fair.”

“How can I do that?”

“You can. Let’s just leave it at that. As for the pills, as long as you have the ingredients, I can make a batch in about three days.”

Xue Yong saw that she wouldn’t argue about the price. After a moment of thought, he said, “What ingredients do you need? I can try to find them.”

He then seemed to realize that he was prying into her secret recipe and quickly added, “If you can buy them yourself, that works too. I can give you the money.”

“You know more people than I do, Brother Xue. It’s more convenient if you handle it.” Lynn Naya handed him a list she had already prepared. The main ingredient was not on the list. “But, you know that a treasure in hand is a crime to others. Let’s not let anyone know about this. It’s better to make money in silence.”

Xue Yong looked at the list in his hand and instantly knew she had been waiting for him to come to her.

He looked at the list with a complicated expression. He knew this wasn’t the complete list of ingredients, but no matter what, he had achieved his goal. “I understand. I’ll handle the ingredients properly.”

Xue Yong had been in Lynn Naya’s hut for a while, and staying any longer would attract attention. Since the most important matter had been settled, he quickly left.

Watching Xue Yong walk away, Lynn Naya looked forward to the next clear day.

*

Xue Yong wasn’t slow in gathering the ingredients. Two days later, Lynn Naya received her first batch, and two days after that, she received three more.

This speed showed Lynn Naya how much he needed the medicine. She didn’t waste any time and immediately began making the pills.

After autumn came the harsh winter. Everyone wanted to stock up on as much food as possible to get through it.

Three days later, Lynn Naya gave the pills to Xue Yong. The next day, he and his wife gave her a massive gift—half a rabbit, still with the hind leg attached.

The rabbit was tightly wrapped in lotus leaves, so not a single wisp of its fragrance could escape. But when she opened it, the fat had stained the leaves.

“Was your harvest that good today?” Lynn Naya was genuinely surprised.

Xue Yong’s wife had brought the meat. It seemed she had been instructed on what to say, and she didn’t hold anything back. “My husband and I had discovered the Peach Blossom Forest a while ago, but because of the miasma, we never dared to go in. Because of your medicine, we took a risk today. We found a farm on the other side of the forest. Most of the things in the farm are gone, but there are a lot of rabbit burrows.”

“Unfortunately, we weren’t prepared and only managed to catch three after working all day. My husband said we would use one to pay for your medicine and divide the other two between our four families. He hasn’t told anyone that you gave us the medicine, and just said he bought it from someone else. From now on, we’ll divide our harvest equally between our four families.”

“We already prepared the meat for you. As for the rabbit fur, it would be a shame to cut it, so if you want the other half of the rabbit, we’ll give it to you. If not, we can buy it from you.”

A farm behind the Peach Blossom Forest? That was an unexpected surprise.

The Dao Palace’s jurisdiction had shrunk to only the main peak. But in the past, everything she could see from here was once Dao Palace territory.

The farm Xue Yong mentioned was likely one of the businesses that a former disciple had managed. She wondered if there were still any good things left in there.

The thought had barely crossed her mind before she dismissed it.

Cultivators went down the mountain every month. If there was anything good, it would have been cleaned out long ago.

“I see.” Lynn Naya said, nodding. She knew Xue Yong’s wife was telling her this under his instruction. This was good. A clear division of profits was the foundation of a good partnership.

From the excitement in her eyes and the information she shared, it seemed there were a lot of animals on the farm behind the Peach Blossom Forest. If Xue Yong and his family went all out, today might have been the smallest harvest they would ever have.

A small harvest meant they would be hungry, but a large one would attract too much attention, which could lead to trouble.

Although these thoughts crossed her mind, Lynn Naya didn’t tell Xue Yong’s wife. First, she was in the Dao Palace and wouldn’t go into the wild, so they might not listen to her anyway. Second, she wanted to see what Xue Yong would do.

She had a feeling he wouldn’t let the short-term gains cloud his judgment.

Xue Yong had been risking his life for years. He would know that a full stomach now was not worth the price of a full stomach for the rest of their lives.