Ding! Dong~!
The second hand ticked forward a notch, immediately followed by the minute and hour hands. All three, each a different length, pointed to the same moment, overlapping precisely.
Midnight. 24:00.
As if this were a signal, at the microscopic level, the atoms making up Xu Yinsheng’s body suddenly shifted. In the quantum realm, countless vivid color blocks overlapped and vanished, then vanished and overlapped again.
One second she was the gloomy, ethereal Pencil Spirit in fluttering white robes; the next, she had become a beautiful girl with golden hair cascading over her shoulders, her body emitting a faint medicinal fragrance.
Xu Yinsheng picked up the small mirror on the table and looked at herself.
A clean, tidy short skirt, her calves wrapped in smooth, breathable white stockings that swayed gently, drawing graceful arcs in the air. On her shoulder hung a small cloth pouch sewn with many pockets, each slot holding a different colored vial of medicine. She looked like a doctor fond of folk remedies—or a character from a fantasy tale: the Apothecary Girl.
She carefully examined herself a few more times, picked up her ballpoint pen, and opened her diary to record the appearance of this latest new form.
Twenty years in the future, Witch Xu Yinsheng lounged on a spa chair with a facial mask on. She glanced at the message in her diary. With a thought, her ballpoint pen floated into the air, each stroke falling one by one onto the page.
“This form, hmm, Apothecary Girl, specializes in potion mixing. The character is from a certain fan creation. As for how to mix the potions, just remember one phrase: Willpower Can Change Everything.”
“Ah~ it’s late, already past midnight, time to sleep.”
“You get some rest too. I’m an unemployed bum who can sleep in, but you’re a secretary and still have to go to work with Old Zhao tomorrow.”
“Oh, right. The potions you mix will have an irresistible allure to the Apothecary Girl herself. Mind your limits. Don’t get yourself trapped.” Witch Xu Yinsheng seemed to be hinting at something.
On the other end, Xu Yinsheng scratched her head. “Willpower Can Change Everything?”
Usual day, morning.
Zhao Yicheng had made breakfast early—one plate of sandwiches with orange juice, and another plate also of sandwiches with orange juice. He came to Xu Yinsheng’s bedroom door and knocked.
Soon, the door opened, and out walked a sleepy-eyed girl with golden hair draped over her shoulders, dressed in a crisp short skirt and smooth, breathable white stockings. A small cloth pouch with vials of medicine hung at her side.
Zhao Yicheng wasn’t the least bit surprised—he’d long since grown used to such sights. He reached out and ruffled her head.
“Morning,” Xu Yinsheng yawned. “What’s for breakfast?”
“Sandwiches with orange juice,” Zhao Yicheng replied.
Xu Yinsheng nodded and sat down at the table. Just then, Zhao Yicheng received a phone call and stepped out onto the balcony.
At the large dining table, only Xu Yinsheng remained. She picked up the beautifully-presented sandwich and gazed at it. Although it was usually among her top three breakfast choices, today she had no appetite. A voice in her mind protested that such a breakfast was simply boring.
Suddenly, Xu Yinsheng recalled the information she’d gotten from Witch Xu Yinsheng last night. This form’s ability was to mix potions. So, could she concoct a potion to make food delicious?
As she thought this, in the next instant, a cauldron the size of a soup bowl appeared on the table.
It was pitch black and glossy, crystal clear, glowing with a mysterious luster like black jade, as if carved from obsidian that had rested for millennia—the Obsidian Cauldron.
Xu Yinsheng was as clueless as a Monk with No Clue.
Witch Xu Yinsheng hadn’t given any clear instructions last night. She herself was quite baffled now, only knowing her ability was potion mixing.
“Oh well, just follow my instincts.” She simply closed her eyes.
Xu Yinsheng calmed her breathing and focused.
A cold, indescribable sensation began to flow through her consciousness.
“Start with half a cup of orange juice,” the thought popped into her mind.
As she thought it, her hands moved as well, pouring half a cup of orange juice into the cauldron.
“A bit of sandwich, too.”
She tore off a corner of the sandwich and tossed it in.
As the sandwich dropped in, the orange liquid in the cauldron seemed to take on a special effect.
The calm surface began to boil, writhing like little snakes inside.
At this point, Xu Yinsheng suddenly paused strangely, freezing in place with her hand still poised in the act of tossing in the sandwich. Her brows knit together, as if she were an experienced sculptor staring at a half-finished work, uncertain of the next move.
Slowly opening her eyes, Xu Yinsheng suddenly realized she was missing something.
She hurried to the fridge, opened it, and found last night’s leftovers: coriander mixed with zhe’ergen.
With the addition of zhe’ergen and coriander, the liquid in the cauldron absorbed the essence—where once the orange fluid bubbled with strange froth, now it gradually stilled, suffused with an eerie, chilling green…
So, Gul’dan, what is the price?
The question popped into Xu Yinsheng’s head.
She shook it away, took an empty test tube from her cloth pouch, and poured all the dark liquid from the cauldron inside. Though the tube was only as long as a finger, it somehow held nearly 400 milliliters from the cauldron.
As soon as the potion was in hand, the Obsidian Cauldron turned into a streak of ink and vanished into Xu Yinsheng’s brow. She also snapped out of a kind of trance.
A sense of satisfaction and post-exertion weakness tangled together within her.
Just like the first time she used the Force of Spring Breeze, getting mercilessly drained by Little Daji; or after her gender swapped and her best buddy pinned her to the bed for a rough lesson; or finally, when she transformed into the Water Dragon King and flooded Mount Jinshan, only to be left exhausted…
Xu Yinsheng put one drop of the potion into each sandwich and orange juice—hers and Zhao Yicheng’s. If there was anything wrong with the potion, Zhao Yicheng could share her fate.
She picked up her own sandwich and took a tentative bite.
In the next moment, Xu Yinsheng’s eyes sparkled. The soft, slightly sweet bread, the crisp, refreshing vegetables, the fragrant, sweet sauce, and the crispy, molten egg inside…
It was—absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely delicious!!!!!!
Having finished his business, Zhao Yicheng hung up and returned, only to see Xu Yinsheng devouring breakfast, sandwich in one hand, orange juice in the other, eating with gusto and even licking the plate clean afterward.
He rubbed his chin.
Looks like my cooking has improved.
He sat across from Xu Yinsheng, picked up his sandwich, and took a bite.
Gag!
Zhao Yicheng doubled over, spitting everything in his mouth into the trash, along with a mixture of stomach acid and bile, a mess of rainbow colors, utterly disgusting.
His brows furrowed so tight they could squash a mosquito.
This stuff…
The taste of rotting fish and that indescribable coriander…