"Dan! Xi! Maoyi! Weiwei! Chunchun!" A cheerful voice exclaims as her friends step into the kitchen one after another. "Look, Yuyu peeled all of them!"

Seeing the girl proudly showing off the large tray of fruits before her, Xi and Maoyi relax their brows to put on their best expressions. They make their way past Dan and across the room towards the little girl, smiles decorating their previously troubled faces.

"Oh, hi, Uncle Ming!" Yuyu places the orange in her hand onto the tray before turning to bow towards Mingcui. While the girls keep Yuyu’s attention, Chunhua hands his sword to Wei before closing the double doors. After the doors shut, he unfastens his sheath from his sash, sliding it through the two door handles.

As soon as Chunhua confirms the door is secure, the two turn towards the dining table and take a deep breath. As they exhale, the crinkle between their eyebrows disappears. They make their way side by side towards the desk. Wei keeps the blade straight behind his back, hiding it from Yuyu’s view as he passes it over to Chunhua. Mingcui watches with sharp eyes, stroking his chin as he observes the silent cooperation between the students carrying out Sun’s request.

"Sit, sit!" Yuyu scuttles towards the rosewood table, pulling out chairs one by one with much effort. "Ehhh?! There’s only six chairs."

"Uncle Ming will stand." Mingcui fakes a chuckle, joining in with the facade to keep Yuyu out of the loop.

"Oh, okay!" The little girl pays no further attention to Uncle Ming, opting instead to scuttle to retrieve the tray of fruits. Setting the tray on the table beside Dan, she picks up a segment of orange and stuffs it into Dan’s mouth. "Mister says that eating lots will help Dan recover faster!"

Chunhua, seeing Dan receive extra attention, leans over the table with his mouth open, signaling for Yuyu to feed him as well. Just as a segment of orange enters his mouth, a slap to the back of his head causes him to spit it back out.

"Hey! I’m injured too!" Chunhua yells as he turns towards the girl beside him. He lifts his finger and points it at her nose, wagging with much exaggeration to express his anger. "Look here, Maoyi. I will not sit by while you bully me an-"

Maoyi grabs the finger in front of her nose and bends it upwards while pushing his hand towards the table, causing Chunhua to wail in pain. She and Xi giggle at his overly dramatic crying, knowing full well from his finger wagging that Chunhua’s hands work just fine.

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As the final rays of light disappear beneath the horizon, an elderly man soars eastwards beneath the newly dim night sky. In the distance, a cluster of lights grows increasingly bright in response to the disappearing sun. Amidst the cluster, the elderly man fixes his gaze on a tall tower bathing in golden glows.

Drawing closer to his destination, a sudden distortion in the air above the tower causes his eyes to widen with shock. Recognizing the familiar pressure crashing onto the tower, he exerts himself, pushing his aura to the limit as he tears through the air.

Moments later, he lands at the corner of the balcony, paying no attention to the Resting Crane Tree’s strict rules regarding proper entry. As he cautiously steps toward the open hallway, a thick stench of blood assaults his senses, setting him on high alert. He sends his aura outward, trying to scout for danger.

“It’s just me, Grandmaster Yi.” A voice calls out from around the corner, allowing the elderly man to breathe a sigh of relief.

Grandmaster Yi steps into the hallway, alarmed by the sight before him. Almost immediately, he realizes that perhaps it was a mistake in the first place to involve this man—perhaps it was a mistake to involve the dragon who slumbered.

He makes his way deeper through the crimson hallway, carefully weaving his steps past the corpses. Upon passing a group of bodies flattened into a paste, he realizes that this wasn’t an act of rage. Judging from the lack of damage to the floor, Grandmaster Yi surmises that this was an act executed with carefully calculated force.

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Turning around the corner, Grandmaster Yi sets his eyes upon a man, covered from head to toe in blood. Although the crimson figure could invoke the deepest fear in anyone who set eyes upon it, he felt the opposite.

“I came as soon as I could.” Grandmaster Yi says, glancing at the pristine doors beside the crimson figure. “Child, what happened?”

“Let’s talk later.” Sun wipes the blood from his face with his hand and flicks it towards the floor. He turns towards the double doors, placing one hand on each door, withdrawing the protective barrier before pushing it open. “We don’t have much time. Anning is…”

Upon seeing the blood-drenched figure beyond the doors, Lianyi instinctively infuses her palms with aura. Recognizing him only by the earrings beneath his ears, she breathes a sigh of relief, relaxing her stance.

“Sun, who were you ta-” Her eyes light up as Grandmaster Yi steps past the doors. “Uncle Yi!”

Grandmaster Yi nods towards Lianyi before focusing his attention towards Anning. Upon seeing the blue glow pulsing vibrantly beneath her eyelids, he taps his toes, vanishing and reappearing beside her. With his index fingers extended, he jabs at various acupoints, starting at her neck and working his way down towards her navel.

“Lianyi, needles.” Grandmaster Yi keeps his words simple, extending his hand towards his niece.

Lianyi reaches into her sleeve and pulls out a leather roll, held together by a stud passing through a hole on a thin strap. Grandmaster Yi’s hand blurs, flicking the strap free from the stud before unfurling the leather roll flat onto the bed. A set of needles, varying in thickness, line the interior.

Sun and Lianyi watch with anticipation as the blue glow pulses stronger with each passing second. After Grandmaster Yi pierces the last needle into the center of Anning’s abdomen, the pulsing suddenly weakens, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.

“How long since the last wave?” Grandmaster Yi asks as he turns towards Lianyi.

“Less than fifteen minutes… Before that, it was two hours.”

“The pill?” Grandmaster Yi poses another question immediately after, trying to catch up on the situation.

“I fed her it last night, about twenty-two hours ago. Four hours first wave, four second, four third, three fourth, three fifth, two sixth, two seventh, fifteen before the eighth.” Lianyi recites the information she had been carefully monitoring, trimming out unnecessary words to keep things simple. “The Alchemist Association is providing ingredients and equipment for me to make another, but at the current rate, we won’t make it. My success rate hasn’t improved one bit outside of the first success.”

“Go now. I’ll stay and stabilize her aura…” His voice trails off as he watches Lianyi dart past Sun. “Wait! Both of you, go together.”

“Uncle Yi!” Lianyi pauses her steps, turning towards her uncle. “Let Sun clean himself. I’m more than strong enough to protect myself.”

“I know that better than anyone, child.” Grandmaster Yi rises to his feet, stepping towards her. “The first time you made that pill, you told me you did so us-”

“Pure… Force…” Lianyi’s eyes grow wide with realization. She snaps her head towards the crimson figure staring at Anning.

“That’s right, child.” Grandmaster Yi reaches towards the sheets hanging from the support beam, yanking it loose. He steps towards Sun, wiping as much blood as possible off his face and hands in an attempt to make him barely presentable. “Both of you, go now.”

“The students are in the dining room.” Sun breaks his gaze from Anning and turns towards Grandmaster Yi. “Yuyu…”

“Worry not, child.” Grandmaster Yi places his hand on Sun’s shoulder, understanding his concern. “Leave it to me. Go now, time is of the essence.”

With a simple bow, Sun taps his feet and vanishes, reappearing beside Lianyi. She nods at him, allowing him to sweep her into his blood-stained arms. With another tap of his feet, the two vanish from the room with a gust of wind, leaving the sheets forming the makeshift curtains fluttering wildly.

Shortly after their departure, Grandmaster Yi turns towards the female attendant curled up, shivering violently, in the far corner of the room.

“Child…” Grandmaster Yi sighs as he slowly approaches her, bending his knees to meet her at eye level. He places his hands on her shoulders, before gently pushing her upright. “Perhaps you’ve heard of me by my honored title: Ghost Doctor Yi?”

The attendant nods, wiping the tears and snot from her face as she tries to present herself properly.

“Then you should know that everything is fine now. Just take deep, slow breaths. It’ll help you control your heart and mind.” Grandmaster Yi waits patiently, observing her breathing. Upon sensing a calm return to her erratic pulse, he smiles. “Good child. Now, this old soul needs a favor. Do you think you could help?”

The attendant hesitates for a moment, biting her lower lip as her pulse slowly grows erratic once more.

“Control your breathing, child.”

With the reminder, the attendant takes a deep breath, holding it for a moment before exhaling slowly. Feeling her heartbeat stabilizing, she lifts her eyes towards Grandmaster Yi and nods.

“Good child!” He exclaims with a smile. “Go find the manager and tell him that ‘Yi Zhenren’ demands his presence. Once you stand, keep your eyes towards the ceiling until you reach the stairs.”