“Do you take me for a fool?” The Old Witch roared; “What talented Apothecary with great potential? Ah pei! None of these are pills to cure blindness!”

Her verbal insults greatly damaged Fei Fei’s pride, but she was smart enough to hold herself back this time, lest the Old Witch release another shock-wave. Prince Zhao was too stunned by the Old Witch to even defend against her accusations.

Suddenly, the parade of insults ceased and a wicked laughter erupted in the air. “Fine, fine. Both of you will stay here until she can find a way to cure my blindness.” The Old Witch pointed the tip of her wooden cane at Fei Fei before she tilted her head in the direction of Prince Zhao; “Since she’s so enamored with you, make sure to put in good effort at persuading your girl to work hard!”

It was guilty by association! Prince Zhao wanted to cry but had no tears; he could only send a hateful glare to his fiancé. Out of this whole situation, Fei Fei felt the most wronged.

Originally, it was due to greed that Prince Zhao suggested to have her refine some beginner pills to easily pass this trial instead of forfeiting two precious pills from the elixir jar. After searching high and low in the messy garden for the necessary components to create the pills, Fei Fei had finally managed to refine two energy booster beginner pills.

Who knew the Old Witch suddenly started throwing a tantrum when Fei Fei handed them over, insisting that she was hiding high quality pills that could cure blindness and speaking of her family’s connection with the mermaids. Not only did the Old Witch confiscated the two energy booster beginner pills, but the blind woman even stole her elixir jar!

The precious pills her father handed over to her was gone just like that! Clearly, Fei Fei had completed the prerequisite to leave with Prince Zhao, but instead of being granted freedom, she was beaten black and blue and suffered a huge loss. Fei Fei got a belly full of anger, but nowhere to vent it.

With a loud humph, the Old Witch walked toward the direction of her dilapidated hidden room, but after taking two steps, the tapping from the wooden cane stopped. “The two cockroaches on the ground, because of you my home is destroyed. Both of you will also be responsible for rebuilding my cottage, or else don’t even dream of leaving!”

The couple on the ground turned stiff, their expressions were extremely comical with their jaws agape and bulging eyes. How noble was their status? And this Old Witch wanted the two of them to do manual construction labor? They would be the future rulers of the Feng Empire! Where would they put their face if others found out about this?

Just as the Old Witch was about to leave, she stopped once more, looking toward the direction of Baihe and Fenglong. “My most honorable guests, if you cannot refine any pills for me, then both of you can stay here forever and keep me company,” the Old Witch chortled loudly as she strolled away.

Baihe felt her lips twitched. Keep her company? More like adding their corpses to the Old Witch’s collection with a phoenix nugget as a bonus.

The good news was, Baihe successfully duped the Old Witch into keeping Fei Fei and Prince Zhao hostage; this way, she would have two extra cannon fodders.

The bad news was…she couldn’t refine pills for the life of her. No fucking innate talent bullshit! Baihe tried to discreetly touch her Afro hair — the proof of her incompatibility with apothecary practice. Her action triggered a low chuckle from Fenglong.

Baihe glared at the hateful man. “You were being a sloth the entire time and you still dare to laugh at me?”

Amusement twinkled in Fenglong’s eyes when he saw her angry face; somehow, he found Baihe’s red face flushed with anger kind of adorable. “Start mediating in a lotus position; otherwise it won’t be good for us,” Fenglong warned as his eyes glazed over with a touch of seriousness.

At once, Baihe understood the meaning of his words. From the moment they’d entered the backyard garden, there was a weird scent lingering in the air; Baihe was now positive it was some sort of poison — one capable of draining internal energy.

Fenglong lifted his lips to an incomparable brilliant smile; he was pleased with how quick witted Baihe was. “It’s colorless miasma. The longer we breathe it in, the weaker our body will become. Only by constantly mediating would one be able to expel the poison and combat the miasma.”

Baihe gave him a sincere smile, grateful for Fenglong’s warning. Although she was an expert at poisoning, this world had many different substances and new toxins not available in her old life; Baihe would need to set aside some time to familiarize herself with them.

Immediately the two of them sat down in a cross-legged position and started mediating.

♦

Seeing the thunderous black face of her fiancé, Fei Fei didn’t dare ask him for assistance; besides, she possessed the earth and wood elements. Fei Fei uprooted a tree from the soil and by slowly controlling her spiritual energy, she chopped them into logs.

It was weird, but Fei Fei felt like her inner energy was being drained and fatigue colored her face; Prince Zhao watching silently on the sideline was also slightly feeling sapped of energy.

Fei Fei stared at the pile of logs in front of her. What was she supposed to do with this? She doesn’t actually know how to build a cottage. After all, she was a noble daughter of a general — not a darn carpenter!

Looking around, Fei Fei spotted two familiar figures from afar looking like they were…mediating? In that moment, pure boiling anger clouded her eyes. She, a pampered noble lady, was here doing labor work and Huang Baihe was leisurely cultivating in a lotus position? Impudent!

Fei Fei trotted toward her arch nemesis, but before she could disrupt Baihe’s mediation, a pair of dark sapphire eyes fluttered open and glared at her. Her feet were immediately rooted in place. The icy glare from Fenglong was so cold, Fei Fei felt as if winter had arrived.

Wisely, Fei Fei quickly backed away; of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best — if all else fails, retreat. Although Fei Fei’s heart was not reconciled, her life was still more important.

♦

Fenglong watched Baihe’s soft lashes flutter like butterfly wings before she opened her eyes. After mediating for a full day, a cherry red glow was restored to her face and he heaved a sigh of relief. At that notion, Fenglong frowned.

Why was he so worried to the point he even sacrificed his own mediation half way to guard her against unwanted cockroaches? Was he about to fall into her beauty trap?

Feeling much more energized, Baihe was about to brainstorm what to do next regarding the Old Witch with Fenglong when he glowered at her with a cold glare before turning his back to her. What the fuck? She got stuck with a man diagnosed with a severe case of bipolar disorder!

Seeing how haggard Fei Fei and Prince Zhao was, Baihe didn’t hold it against him; she was already getting used to his irregular hot and cold mood swings and she was happy to detoxify the colorless miasma in her body even though more of them were currently being breathed in.

Her dark astute eyes analyzed the surroundings, the cogs in her brain rotating to find a solution out of this sticky situation since she couldn’t refine pills for shit. Suddenly, a cunning ray of light brushed pass her dark eyes and the corner of her lips curved up into a smirk.

Looks like those two cannon fodders can be put to good use…

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