'Waking up with my face pressed against the cold, hard floor is never going to be a pleasant experience,' a groggy Xiao Hong thought to herself as she pushed herself off the floor and sat upright.
'Also… Why was my face smooshed against the floor again…?' She rubbed her cheeks, her brain struggling to boot like a 2000s-era Desktop PC.
Then, it came crashing back to her: the blood, the deaths, fear and… loneliness.
Her breath hitched. For a brief heartbeat, her surroundings blurred, and an all-consuming red void seemed to devour her. She pressed a hand to her chest until her pulse steadied again.
Her head snapped to the calendar.
10, 1st Month, Year 1589 of the Modern Era.
"Three days…" she sighed in relief. "Good thing I used the time dilation mode; otherwise, I'd go from being a jade beauty to a jade skeleton."
The morbid joke went unanswered by the silent room.
But as she inhaled, she noticed something incredible: the air wasn't just air anymore - it moved.
Well, it had always moved… but now she could somehow sense it?
She could feel the faint eddies of spiritual energy swirling through the chamber. The currents of Qi flowing within her that used to feel dull and distant now shimmered vividly at the edge of her awareness, ready to jump into action.
Her Spirit Sense reached out unconsciously.
Five meters… six… seven.
"…It expanded?" she murmured, blinking. Her heart skipped a beat, then quickened. She retracted it, then pushed out again. Her eyes lit up, "It really expanded."
Moreover, within that radius, her Spirit Sense had gained a clarity unlike anything she had ever experienced. The world no longer came to her as vague silhouettes or shifting outlines, but in crisp, detailed impressions - each object distinct, its edges sharp, its presence tangible, as if her mind were tracing every contour.
When she guided her Qi, it responded smoothly and obediently, requiring almost no conscious effort. If I told it to go east, it would never go west~! The chaotic weirdo living in her brain arbitrarily threw out a cliche Xianxia line.
A small smile touched her lips. So being driven half mad had some benefits after all.
She stood, stretching, joints popping one by one. The world outside the Enlightenment Palace felt almost overwhelming now - wind, warmth, birdsong, even the smell of Spirit-Stabilising incense in the air. So much noise. So much life.
It was astonishing how much the mind ignored, until silence made you crave every sound.
Her stomach, however, had no interest in spiritual revelations. It rumbled so loudly, it echoed off the walls. "Yes, yes, I know, I know. I'll feed you. Stop growling like a feral beast," she patted her abdomen as if to appease a small, angry beast.
Her stomach growled again, apparently doubtful.
"Food first," she decided aloud. "Existential dread + wonder later."
With that, she directly left.
***
Chen Ruoxi had barely sat down to polish her knives when her door slammed open.
"Lunch," Xiao Hong announced.
Ruoxi: "???"
She blinked. Then, she looked out the window. The sun had just risen above the buildings.
"What on-"
"Lunch. Now. Let's go." Xiao Hong's intense eyes bored into her own.
"I - A'Hong, it's barely past sunrise."
"All the more reason to get there before the rush," Xiao Hong said briskly, grabbing her arm and dragging her along.
"Eh? Ehhhh…?" A nonplussed Ruoxi could only be dragged away by the unusually assertive Xiao Hong.
***
Grandmaster Savoury's Stall was one of the City's most popular restaurants, never lacking patrons; disciples, merchants, even the occasional Deacon could be seen feasting. It was never not busy. And today, something incredible was happening. Because in one of those tables sat Xiao Hong, the No.1 Beauty of the Outer Sect.
Ruoxi shifted in her seat uncomfortably as an incredible number of eyes focused on them. Well, they were mostly focused on the girl sitting across from her, but she got in the way for a few. "Okay, whose idea was this again?"
"Mine," a swift reply came from across the table.
"Right." Ruoxi set her chin on her hand, studying her friend, who was scanning the menu like it was some Profound-tier Cultivation Technique. "You, of all people, dragged me out to one of the most crowded restaurants in the City."
"Mm-hm."
"You, whose philosophy is 'Plagues are safer than crowds, Magical Beasts are better company than humans'?"
"Sounds about right."
Ruoxi: "..."
She eyed Xiao Hong, who was placing her order with a bright, open smile - the kind that could dazzle mortals and Cultivators alike. The poor waiter, caught squarely in the blast radius, stammered through every word of his response, blushing like a boy caught in a love spell.
Ruoxi was utterly baffled.
Since when did the No.1 Beauty of the Outer Sect smile at anyone? Especially when the other party was an unfamiliar man?
The longer she watched, the more her confusion deepened. Xiao Hong's words - usually weighed and measured with surgical precision to avoid causing even the slightest misunderstanding about affection - now flowed freely, unguarded, almost cheerful.
Her hands, once still and composed, gestured animatedly as she described in excruciating detail exactly how much stuffing her dumplings should have.
It was as if she were alive. Like never before.
"... Did you suffer Qi Deviation during seclusion and damage your brain?" She couldn't help but ask after the waiter left reluctantly.
Xiao Hong fell into deep contemplation for a few moments. Then, she nodded very seriously, "Quite possibly."
Ruoxi was struck speechless again. It was only after the food had arrived that she managed to shake it off. She leaned forward curiously.
"You know," she said slowly, "I thought you'd stay in secluded cultivation for much longer with how much of a shut-in you are. But now…" She eyed the girl curiously, "You seem almost happy to interact with others."
Xiao Hong chuckled. "After being stuck in silence for days, even noisy disciples sound heavenly."
Ruoxi blinked. "So… you missed human contact? You?
She gasped dramatically, slamming a hand over her heart. "That can't be! The only way that's possible is that the original Xiao Hong suffered from Qi Deviation and died, and then some ancient, otherworldly Spirit possessed her body!
"Am I actually talking to some old monster masquerading as Xiao Hong?!
"By the way, Venerable One, you can just hand me some supreme Immortal Techniques and I'll keep this whole thing quiet! I'll even swear an Oath on my Dao Heart!"
Xiao Hong nearly choked on the first bite of noodles. "The first thing you do is demand Cultivation Techniques instead of reporting to the Sect or taking revenge?"
Ruoxi nodded with complete seriousness. "Naturally. I need to become strong enough before I can avenge you."
Xiao Hong could only stare, utterly defeated by that logic. With a sigh, she chose the wiser path: ignoring the weirdo and focusing on the array of delicacies that were laid out before her.
After watching her eat for a while, Ruoxi's eyes glinted, "So, how are the Alchemy lessons coming along? Did my brother trouble you? I'll give him a talking to if-"
"No, no, no," Xiao Hong waved her free hand. "Senior Brother Chen has been nothing but polite. He's a great teacher! His directions, his explanations and demonstrations are always on point. I couldn't ask for a better teacher. His lessons have helped me make tremendous progress…"
Then, her voice lowered, "It's just that…"
"Just that?" Ruoxi urged.
"I… I was just wondering," Xiao Hong paused, before letting out a long sigh, "Can I really do it? In a mere six months? Alchemy - it is vast. Even if I manage to memorise everything, it will never translate to experience and understanding."
Chen Ruoxi fell silent. In fact, she didn't believe it was possible.
Alchemy wasn't just memorisation - it was precision forged through training, it was intuition honed through countless failures, it was control gained through unrelenting effort. Most of the sect's Alchemists had failed their Tier 1 certification for years, some even decades, unable to grasp the fine nuances of balance between materials, flame, and Qi. Even her brother struggled for two years.
Xiao Hong, no matter how fast she learned, was only human.
But she couldn't bring herself to say that out loud. She tapped her fingers lightly against her cup, her plans quietly slotting into place once more.
She shrugged, "Maybe? I wouldn't know - I'm a novice at Alchemy."
Then, she smirked as she leaned forward. Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she whispered, "Hey, hey, why don't you seduce my brother? I'm sure you could get him to spill all sorts of tips and tricks!"
Xiao Hong froze mid-bite, a stray noodle dangling from between her lips.
Her eyes slowly rose to meet Ruoxi's.
"Ruoxi," she said, voice flat as a pond on a windless day. "Have you been sniffing Immortal's Bliss or something?"
"I've been clean since the last festival."
"Then what's with - wait what?! You've done that shit?!"
"What can I say? I was young and reckless~," she shrugged before steering the conversation back. "So? What d'you say? Isn't it a good idea? I mean, you get all sorts of goodies! Just blow him a flying kiss and he'll happily carry your cauldron for the next year."
Xiao Hong just rolled her eyes. "I prefer asking questions to eyelash-batting." She quipped.
"Yes, but he's a man. Men respond faster to fluttering eyelashes. You should know - that lunkhead shield of yours was the perfect example."
"Can we switch topics?" She practically pleaded.
"No." Came the immediate reply.
"Please?"
"Nope."
There was no way she was gonna let it go! 'My poor brother's future depends on it!' Ruoxi thought.
Indeed! Chen "Matchmaker" Ruoxi had already hatched a Nine-part Heavenly Plan to bring together her best friend and her brother! 'Perfect win-win scenario,' she thought smugly. 'Brother gets the chick, friend gets a shield!'
She swirled her glass of water lazily, lips curling.
Fake it till you make it! That was the core of her plan.
If Xiao Hong couldn't become an Alchemist in six months, then having her brother, Chen Yu, act as her "pretend lover" would keep Mo Tong's filthy paws away. And once the fake started… Well, love had a way of becoming real~. She just had to nudge them along and create opportunities. She was backed by countless romance novels!
Xiao Hong just rolled her eyes again and focused on her noodles.
'She really thinks I'm joking,' Ruoxi mused, taking a careful sip. 'But my dear, lovely A'Hong, I'm very, very serious.' She hid a smirk behind her glass.
'Step 1: Recon.'
She didn't lunge - she circled, slowly probing Xiao Hong's attitude. She let the conversation meander, which Deacon had scolded which hapless junior, which street vendor's kebabs were made of ordinary mortal chicken, why Alchemy was actually the mainstay of the Sect's profits… And casually slipped in anecdotes about her brother.
"You know," she said, "my brother once helped a junior refine her batch after she overcooked the herbs. Spent the whole afternoon guiding her."
Xiao Hong nodded absently, savouring her second dumpling. "That's kind of him."
"Kind, yes," Ruoxi said, swirling her tea, "Even now she visits him, bringing gifts to thank him..."
Xiao Hong paused and nodded approvingly, "She sounds like a grateful person."
Ruoxi: "..."
Oh, Heavens~
How did this thing even manage to seduce Lin Fan? She doesn't have the slightest inkling about feelings! She eyed the girl across the table, who was shovelling rice into her mouth like she was trying to fill up a landfill and somehow looked pretty doing it.
The bright gleam in her eyes gave her an untouchable liveliness, the kind that drew attention without effort. Even as she inelegantly stuffed another spoonful of rice into her mouth, she somehow made the act look adorable rather than crude.
'... Right. She doesn't even need to try,' Ruoxi's eye twitched, 'A casual smile would have boys eating out of her hand.'
'You have a long road ahead of you, brother…' she sighed inwardly, watching the way Xiao Hong's eyes sharpened whenever the topic returned to gossip. 'Currently, you rank far beneath Senior Sister Leng's three boytoys.'
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Xiao Hong asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I'm counting the number of spoons of rice you've stuffed into your mouth," Ruoxi lied smoothly. "Five already."
Xiao Hong's hand that had reached up to deliver the sixth spoon froze. A faint red colour her cheeks. Then, she shook her head and stuffed it in anyway, and started chewing away happily, looking every bit the gigantic version of her squirrel neighbour.
"And that's the sixth one~," she grinned, swallowing down all six spoons' worth of rice.
Ruoxi felt an imaginary arrow pierce her heart.
'Dang it! Why are the Heavens so unfair?!' She screamed inwardly.
After filing a lengthy complaint about Heaven's lack of fairness in distributing charm points, she leaned back with a sigh, waving at the waiter for the bill.
Xiao Hong, blissfully unaware of her friend's inner crisis, happily demolished the last dumpling. Watching her eat, Ruoxi's lips curved again. 'All right,' she thought, '"Step 1: Recon" is complete. She doesn't suspect a thing.'
And as Xiao Hong declared, "Next time, breakfast is on me!", Ruoxi smiled sweetly. "Of course." She added inwardly, 'But the money might still be leaving the Chen Family's coffers~'
***
Alchemy Lab.
Xiao Hong held the flame at a steady blue, waiting for the right moment.
'Now!' Her eyes narrowed in absolute focus as she urged her Qi with her mind.
Unfortunately, she nudged her Qi a whisper too far. The heat stepped up a half-breath; the emulsion broke with a soft tsk.
"You pushed too far. Again." Senior Brother Chen said placidly. "Quite odd. Your control over Qi is excellent. Yet, you let it slip at critical moments." His eyes bored into her own, "That is not a positive trait for an Alchemist."
She bit her lip and let the flame die down. "I relaxed at the final moment, thinking that the most difficult step had been completed."
He nodded. "Master An calls it the 'Trickster's Bow' - the moment a mixture fools you into letting your guard down before blowing up in your face spectacularly." The reverence threaded through his voice was impossible to miss.
"Master An?" Xiao Hong asked despite herself. "Your idol?"
"He's the idol of most Alchemists in our Sect," he chuckled, "An incredible genius - apprentice to Grade 3 in a year! And he never failed a single Alchemist Grade assessment. His modifications enhanced the efficacy of the Grade 1 Healing Salve by a whole two percent!"
"... 2 percent? Uh, that's, uhm, amazing?" She didn't think much of that, but still tried to sound impressed and failed miserably.
He turned fully, expression suddenly solemn. "Junior Sister, even a fraction of improvement in Grade 1 recipes is an achievement I would be proud of. They have been refined so many times, perfected over so many generations, it is practically impossible to make them any better.
"In battle, two percent could mean the difference between life and death. Don't underestimate it."
"Forgive me, I was ignorant," she bowed her head.
"We all are, Junior Sister," he smiled with profound meaning, "It is what we choose to do about it."
She blinked. "Another of Master An's quotes?"
"No," he rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed, "That one's from the Main Sect's founder."
"Oh…"
After a bit more banter, she resumed her practice.
On the seventh attempt, a hairline crack in the burner's grate and the flame took advantage. A sudden lick of heat reached around the cauldron's belly and kissed Xiao Hong's wrist hard enough to raise blisters.
She hissed, frantically waving her hand before funnelling Qi to damp the pain. It helped, but only so much.
"Hold still," Senior Brother Chen said, voice lower than usual. He fetched a small jade box from somewhere. With practised movements, he scooped up the salve and applied it to her wrist.
The cool salve touched her skin, slowly easing her ache.
He worked with an expert healer's hands, the kind that convince wounds they're already halfway mended. That wasn't surprising since Alchemists often moonlighted as Healers.
But there was something else in his actions. A hint of care that was strictly not necessary.
A knot tugged somewhere under her sternum.
She wasn't an idiot. She could practically see the buds of affection bloom. Her previous incarnation had been in his place, so she understood it very well.
In the past month, the signs became increasingly obvious. The instruments she preferred were somehow always clean - arranged in the way she liked; the ventilation in the room was adjusted just right to make her comfortable; in their casual hangouts, her preferred tea leaf was always in stock - despite neither him nor Ruoxi actually liking the flavour.
She let out a very quiet sigh, only audible to herself.
Unfortunately, there was simply no chance. No matter how Ruoxi teased, no matter how caring he was, even after having accepted that she would be stuck in this body for life, she could not see her tastes extending beyond women.
He wrapped her wrist neatly, giving her hand a gentle tap. "Done."
"Thank you, Senior Brother." She flexed her fingers, feeling her skin shift beneath the bandage.
He nodded, "Can you guess what I used just now?"
"The Healing Salve?"
"Try smelling it."
She did.
"Hmm. There's the faint scent of… Golden Light Honeysuckle?" She sniffed deeper. "There's also Coptis… Hm. There's also Red Frankincense and Myrrh from the Healing Salve.
"The Grade 1 Healing Salve and Grade 1 Burn Cream? A compound recipe?"
"Not bad. You got it in one go," he grinned. "That is quite the progress you've made, Junior Sister!"
Xiao Hong also smiled. Yet, unbeknownst to Senior Brother Chen, concealed underneath that smile was also guilt. She decided not to make it clear… just yet.
***