Chapter 11 – The Bitter Taste of Medicine (Patreon)

In fact, the outside world’s guesses mostly leaned toward a gang conflict. After all, over the past few years, while ordinary people struggled to make a living, conflicts between the gangs over profits had never stopped.

Night raids, masters, and an assassination without a trace—it all looked like a covert provocation.

So, the shantytown became tense. People often gathered in small groups, wary of something. But no one else died, and there was no news of a fight breaking out.

It seemed everyone still had their concerns and didn’t want to be the first to start something.

This tense atmosphere lasted for a month. After that month, the peace that followed caused the murder case to gradually fade from people’s minds.

With the New Year approaching, the festive atmosphere slowly washed away the oppressive feeling that had been hanging over the shantytown.

It was at this time that Lynn Naya, the one who caused it all, left her house with a bulging token.

She didn’t go to the exchange to trade for things; it was too conspicuous. Instead, she went to the medicinal fields on the mountain.

Over the past month, Qian Baolin had been losing herbs, so she came to the fields almost every day. Since Lynn Naya was also diligent and came every day, she ran into her five out of seven days. As they saw each other more often, they became friendly and could now hold a conversation.

With their current “friendship,” she could finally do what she needed to do.

Lynn Naya arrived at the fields, and sure enough, Qian Baolin came a short while later.

They greeted each other as usual, but then Lynn Naya suddenly bent over and coughed violently. Her pale face flushed with an unhealthy redness.

“Is your illness getting worse?” Qian Baolin asked with concern. Lynn Naya had been coughing a lot in front of her lately. Qian Baolin had thought it was a small issue, but now it seemed to be getting worse.

Lynn Naya waved her hand and said with a bitter expression, “It’s an old illness. I start coughing whenever I get cold. Sometimes, I even cough up blood.”

“Aren’t you a healer? Why don’t you just treat yourself properly?”

“I have, but ordinary medicine doesn’t work.” Lynn Naya sighed. “I deliberately nourished myself a few days ago, thinking that since I’d gained some weight, I would get better. But as soon as I got cold yesterday, I couldn’t stop coughing. I’m afraid I’ll be coughing for the rest of my life.” She covered her mouth and coughed violently again.

Qian Baolin couldn’t do anything but pat her back.

After a long coughing fit, Lynn Naya wiped her mouth and looked at Qian Baolin. “I really envy you, Madam Qian. You’re so healthy. It doesn’t even look like you’ve suffered at all, and you’ve even had two children.”

“I was about to die at one point, but I just took care of myself properly,” Qian Baolin said, not suspecting a thing. “It’s not like it used to be. There’s no medicine now. Getting sick is a hurdle, and if you’re not careful, you die.”

“It’s true.” Lynn Naya agreed, subtly steering the conversation in the direction she wanted. “Speaking of which, which healer helped you get so healthy? I want to try them out, too.”

“It wasn’t a healer. I took the Qi-Blood Pills that Senior Xie gave me.” It wasn’t a secret, so Qian Baolin didn’t mind telling her.

“Senior Xie’s pills?” Lynn Naya immediately looked like she understood. “No wonder.”

She knew who Qian Baolin was talking about. Or rather, the most useful person in Qian Baolin’s network was this Senior Xie.

The Dao Palace had alchemists, and the herbs that Lynn Naya and the others grew were for the alchemy room.

Each alchemist had their own apprentices. The apprentices were also cultivators, and they had servants to do all the little chores. The Senior Xie that Qian Baolin knew was a servant to one of the apprentices.

Working for a cultivator had its drawbacks, but the benefits were obvious. For example, some of the lower-quality pills the apprentices made would be sent down the mountain for the mortals to exchange, and some would be given to the servants as a reward.

Because of this, Senior Xie was living a very comfortable life in the mortal zone.

“I want to buy a Blood-Vitality Pill, but the price is too high. I only have enough to buy half of one.” The Blood-Vitality Pill wasn’t a real pill, but its effects were as good as a divine medicine.

The cheapest one at the administrative hall cost 80 contribution points, which was equal to eight months of her salary. Even with a steady income, she couldn’t afford it, let alone others. So, the pills there had been piling up.

Because the official price was so high, the pills sold privately were about 20 contribution points cheaper. There was no other choice; if the item was too expensive, it wouldn’t sell. People had to eat and drink, and a pill that didn’t sell couldn’t be used to buy food.

“You have that many contribution points?” Qian Baolin was a little surprised. Half a pill was 40 contribution points, and she didn’t even have that much.

“I don’t have that kind of skill. My parents saved it all for my dowry… Forget it. I just hope the price of the pill goes down a little. I’ll ask my neighbors to see if I can borrow some money. Otherwise, it’s just so miserable to be sick all the time.” Lynn Naya said.

“Oh…” When Lynn Naya said she could afford half a pill, Qian Baolin’s heart stirred, and a vague idea formed in her mind. Now that she heard Lynn Naya say she wished the price would go down, she hesitated for a moment but couldn’t resist the temptation. “Actually, if you really want it, I can help you.”

Seeing Lynn Naya look at her with surprise and anticipation, Qian Baolin tried to suppress her guilt. “My father-in-law is on good terms with Senior Xie. He often comes to our house to drink. I bought the pills from him. Because our families have a good relationship, he only charged us… 70 contribution points. If you really want it, I can help you out.”

Lynn Naya had been secretly observing her expression. She could tell by the price she was quoting that it wasn’t the market price. She didn’t mind, though. People would only do things for you if there was a real benefit for them.

“It’s that much cheaper?” Lynn Naya immediately looked interested. “This… I need to think about it.”

Seeing that Lynn Naya was tempted, Qian Baolin quickly tried to convince her. “What’s there to think about? Look how weak you are. If your body breaks down, you’re the one who will suffer. You can always earn more contribution points, but when your life is gone, it’s gone forever. If it’s not too serious, it’s fine, but if it gets worse, you might have to pay an even bigger price later.”

“You have a point, but…” Lynn Naya still looked hesitant.

“What ‘but’? Let me put it this way: if you get sick, do you think Supervisor Zhang will let you keep this job?”

Qian Baolin’s words seemed to hit a nerve. Lynn Naya’s face turned white and then green. After struggling for a while, she finally made up her mind. “Sister Qian, you’re right. I’ll go ask Brother Xue tonight. He owes my father a life debt, so he should be willing to lend me the money.”

The “life debt” was a lie Lynn Naya had come up with. She was confident that if anyone were to ask Xue Yong, he would be happy to go along with the story.

“That’s more like it. You need to learn to think for yourself.” Qian Baolin had heard Lynn Naya talk about her neighbor, Xue Yong. She knew that people with a craft were usually not too poor. “I’ll go talk to my father-in-law tonight. Don’t back out, or you’ll make me look bad.”

“How could I? I should be thanking you, Sister Qian.” Lynn Naya changed her form of address and looked grateful.

They chatted for a while longer. Seeing Supervisor Zhang coming their way, they each went back to work.

Not long after, Supervisor Zhang arrived at the three acres of land Lynn Naya was responsible for. He stopped and let out a surprised “Oh” then walked into the field to personally inspect the herbs.

When he moved aside a thick leaf and saw the wooden support at the base of the stem, a look of understanding flashed in his eyes.

“You put in a lot of effort,” Supervisor Zhang said to Lynn Naya.

Lynn Naya didn’t get arrogant. “I just do what I can.”

Supervisor Zhang nodded and walked away without saying anything else.

Lynn Naya didn’t care that he left without saying anything. As long as her work was recognized and she didn’t get fired, she was happy.

After her work was done, Lynn Naya said goodbye to Qian Baolin and went back to her hut. Qian Baolin couldn’t help but nag her about the contribution points again as she left, so Lynn Naya just put on a look of determination.

Even though she had made a deal with Qian Baolin, Lynn Naya didn’t rush to make the exchange the next day. She waited for three days, then another four or five days under Qian Baolin’s urging before finally making it seem like she had gathered all the contribution points she needed. She then asked Qian Baolin to take her to make the trade.

After all, this was a huge expense. If the pills were fake, it would be more than a little trouble.

Qian Baolin was a little upset that Lynn Naya didn’t trust her, but she also knew it wasn’t a small amount of money, so it was normal for Lynn Naya to be cautious.

So when they made the trade, she pulled a little trick. When she took Lynn Naya to her house—her father-in-law was a supervisor, so they lived in a three-room thatched house—she used the excuse that Lynn Naya was a friend and had her wait in her room.

When Senior Xie arrived at the agreed-upon time, she completed the transaction in the main room next door. After he left, she brought the bottle of pills to Lynn Naya.

Lynn Naya had used her spiritual sense to “watch” the entire process from the next room. She just wanted to make sure the pills were real and didn’t care if Qian Baolin took a cut.

After getting what she wanted, Lynn Naya let out a long sigh of relief. She had no desire to stay any longer, so she found an excuse and went home.

Once she was back, Lynn Naya couldn’t wait to take the pill out of her robe. It was a brownish-gray pill, the size of a longan, and it gave off a faint medicinal scent.

Thinking that it wasn’t truly hers until it was in her belly, Lynn Naya threw the pill into her mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed it before she could even taste it…