“Swish!”
She snatched up the rolled bamboo slip on the table and tucked it fiercely under her arm.
Carrying with her a biting chill, like the calm before a storm.
Bang!
She pushed open the heavy wooden door of the Alchemy Room.
Taking long strides, she charged straight toward the East Wing room.
“Knock knock knock.”
“Who’s there?”
Xun Xue’s clear, pleasant voice came from inside, followed by the door opening.
Seeing the white-robed youth outside, his face as cold as ice capable of cracking frost…
She seemed completely unfazed by the thunderous anger radiating off him, her eyes curved like crescent moons, smiling warmly like spring flowers blooming: “What are you standing there for? Come in quickly~”
Lu Qiancha felt as if something had scorched his heart.
That sense of trust and intimacy rooted deep in his bloodline spread uncontrollably like warm spring water.
The anger he had just gathered dissolved instantly, like snow melting in spring, and his expression softened without him realizing it.
Tsk, it was the side effect of the Bloodline Link being severed.
Lu Qiancha pursed his lips but found himself unable to feel any resentment toward Xun Xue.
“Sigh.”
A deeply stifled sigh replaced the cold, piercing question he had intended to hurl.
Lu Qiancha resignedly stepped inside.
“Smack!” The smoke-scented bamboo slip was slapped on the table with a hint of childish temper.
“Mother,” Lu Qiancha tried hard to keep his voice from sounding too gentle, “the Alchemy Room you gave me… has a problem.”
“The Alchemy Room has a problem?”
Xun Xue was momentarily stunned. She hurriedly picked up the bamboo slip and examined it carefully.
Her gaze swept over the neat, elegant characters line by line without a single mistake…
“There’s nothing wrong with the Alchemy Room.”
Xun Xue looked up, her deep blue eyes full of genuine confusion. “The process, the ingredients, the dosage… it’s exactly that formula, not a bit off!”
“How is that possible?”
Lu Qiancha stepped forward, his fingernail pressing irritably on the bamboo slip.
“Here! After the Wulin Flower comes the Yuxuan Stone directly—water and fire clash! No Wood Element Auxiliary Medicine for buffering! It’s only added later. Isn’t that a mistake?”
He tapped several other points in succession.
“Here, the roles of sovereign and minister are reversed, the auxiliary is stronger than the main ingredient, the priority is flipped! Also here, the main medicine, the Huàn Xíng Shí, is only added last. That completely contradicts the Dao of Pill Condensation!”
“……Ah!” Xun Xue listened, her previously puzzled expression suddenly lighting up like a bulb.
She slapped her forehead sharply.
Looking at her daughter, whose expression carried a touch of grievance, her eyes became amused and helpless.
“I get it now…” Xun Xue’s voice trembled with a hint of suppressed laughter.
“Get what?” Lu Qiancha narrowed his eyes.
“Pfft…” Xun Xue couldn’t hold back and let out a soft chuckle, then hurriedly composed herself, trying hard to suppress her smile as she enunciated each word:
“Xiao Qiancha, you read the Alchemy Room backwards.”
“Huh?”
Lu Qiancha looked utterly bewildered.
“Backwards?”
He repeated reflexively, voice filled with incredulity, “I… read it right to left? But the Alchemy Room is written left to right?”
“Yup yup! Exactly that!” Xun Xue nodded vigorously, confirming this absurd fact.
Lu Qiancha stared at the characters on the bamboo slip which made no sense reading right to left, but were perfectly smooth and logical when read left to right…
He grit his teeth, cursing silently: whoever wrote this Alchemy Room must be sick in the head.
Isn’t it normal to write right to left? You see, when writing on bamboo slips, the left hand unfolds the slips while the right hand writes.
If you write left to right, the right hand has to both hold the bamboo slip open and write, and the still-wet ink easily smudges the sleeve.
“So… the predecessor who wrote this Alchemy Room, why did they go against convention and write it from left to right?”
Lu Qiancha’s voice was dry as he couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh,” Xun Xue blinked, her tone casual, “because he was left-handed.”
Lu Qiancha:
That was an unarguable reason.
The last trace of frustration Lu Qiancha had toward Xun Xue dissolved quietly and completely.
Instead, a heavy, stifling feeling pressed down on his chest like it was stuffed with damp cotton—heavy and helpless.
He looked at Xun Xue and asked, “Mother, do we still have the ingredients for the Transformation Pill…?”
“No, I only prepared one batch.”
Xun Xue shook her head.
The last spark of light in Lu Qiancha’s eyes… suddenly went out with a soft puff.
It was as if all her strength had been drained, even the will to maintain her facade vanished completely.
Swish!
Her form shimmered faintly.
The disguise rippled away like water, revealing her true self—a small wolf loli with deep blue fur, drooping and dejected.
Two furry paws rested miserably on the cold, hard table, holding up a face full of “I’m shutting down” despair.
Her fluffy tail thumped irritably on the floor with a “pat pat pat.”
Xun Xue carefully sidled over and tentatively reached out with cool fingertips to stroke the slightly ruffled blue fur caused by frustration. “Xiao Qiancha, are you angry?”
A soft nasal sound.
“Umm~”
The deeply sulky blue furball, like a well-petted puppy, squinted her eyes in reluctant submission and let out an impossibly soft sound.
Next moment!
Lu Qiancha suddenly leapt sideways as if burned.
She scrambled to put some distance between herself and the damn comfortable feeling brought by the bloodline resonance.
Rubbing the tips of her ears that had just been touched and had gone hot, she forced a smile and shook her head hard. “I’m not angry… really.
The ingredients are Mother’s, the Alchemy Room is Mother’s, how could she be angry?
I’m just a bit frustrated with myself for not thinking it through and blindly following the wrong method.”
At this moment, Lu Qiancha stared at the white wall nearby and surprisingly had the urge to scratch it with her little paws to vent…
She shook her head and threw the ridiculous thought out of her mind.
Xun Xue looked at her daughter’s forced calm yet desolate figure with some pity, a sharp sting pricking her heart like a needle.
Her deep blue eyes suddenly filled with thick, unshakable guilt and sorrow.
Her voice dropped low: “It’s all Mommy’s fault for not telling you in advance where the problem with that Alchemy Room was.”
“It’s not Mother’s fault.”
Lu Qiancha’s voice was filled with sincere helplessness as she shook her head and sighed heavily. Even the flick of her tail’s tip carried a resigned melancholy.
Xun Xue pursed her lips, looking at her sensible daughter with heartache.
Suddenly, a bright spark lit up in her blue eyes.
Since her daughter was feeling down, taking her out to play and letting joy dispel the gloom was the best remedy.
“Xiao Qiancha!”
Xun Xue’s smile bloomed like sunlight breaking through clouds, her voice rising eight tones with irresistible allure: “How about Mommy takes you to the seaside for a break?”
“Huh?”
Lu Qiancha blinked in surprise. “To the seaside?”
“Yes! To the seaside!”
Xun Xue ignored her daughter’s stunned look and enthusiastically gestured: “Golden sand! Huge waves that swallow all your worries!
“Soft, warm sand underfoot! Catching silly stranded little fish! Flipping over rocks to grab hiding little crabs!
“When you get hungry, roast the freshest seafood! Feel the salty breeze…”
Xun Xue’s vivid description practically let one smell the sunshine and sea salt.
Her sparkling eyes were filled with careful hope…
Lu Qiancha looked at Xun Xue’s eager face and that pleading, apologetic look. She couldn’t find it in her heart to say no.
Honestly, forcing herself to cultivate with such a heavy heart would likely make her energy fluctuate wildly.
It was better to get some fresh air with Xun Xue, dispelling worries and gloom.
Lu Qiancha nodded reluctantly, her voice flat, but the tip of her tail honestly twitched upward.