Chapter 238 (Chapter Two Hundred and Thirty-Seven) The Herb of Relief

Yan Shi counted the five million in the first line of the paper again.

She had checked the exchange rate while strolling along the main street of Baiyujing. According to the official exchange rate, one spirit stone was roughly equivalent to nine to ten dollars in the world currency.

Five million spirit stones is fifty million.

How come Kunlun Mountain is so rich!

Besides, being an official is a lucrative career.

For Yan Shi, however, five million spirit stones were nothing more than something to look at.

Putting aside her background in the General Administration, the Baiyujing branch of the Bureau of Dissidents was not subordinate to the General Administration. Kunlun giving her money was, in essence, a leverage point.

The very fact that 50 million could be legally transferred into Yan Shi's bank account in the outside world is a problem.

How do you launder money to get 50 million?

Yan Shi tried his best to control himself from thinking about accepting bribes, which was a very serious and troublesome matter, and silently pushed the paper back to Shu Yao.

"What does Sect Leader mean by this?" she asked expressionlessly, her heart breaking inside.

Goodbye, her fifty million.

Suddenly, Ling Yanshi understood why ancient government officials loved to confiscate property—it was so easy to get rich quick.

Shuyao stopped Yan Shi from pushing the paper back: "Director Yan, it's just a tea gift list, whatever you like."

What an extravagant tea gift list!

Yan Shi withdrew his hand: "Sect Leader, you're too kind, there's no need."

Shu Yao frowned slightly.

The main problem was that she couldn't figure out what Director Yan was thinking. She didn't consider the gift list in front of her to be anything less than generous.

Spirit stones are scarce because high-concentration spirit stone mines are difficult to move and transfer. However, the spiritual artifacts, medicinal herbs, and alchemical products listed above are all absolute treasures.

There were even two items that made Shuyao feel a pang of heartache when she gave them away.

Ke Yanju merely glanced at it, showing no interest. And rightly so; with her abilities, she didn't need such external things.

Shu Yao sighed, feeling that things were getting a bit tricky.

She carefully reviewed her memories. The General Administration had been making a lot of big moves recently, but Bai Yujing had remained neutral under her control and hadn't interfered. The younger generation of Kunlun hadn't caused any trouble either.

So what exactly is the purpose of Yanju's special visit to Kunlun?

As she was pondering, she heard a faint scraping sound coming from the other end of the table from a porcelain plate.

Yan Shi slowly tasted the newly served pastries on the table.

The pastries from Kunlun Mountain are beautifully made, but their taste, like the tea, is hard to describe. They're either slightly bitter or cloyingly sweet.

It is reasonable to suspect that the sect leader was only being polite on the surface, but actually wanted to use the extremely bitter tea and snacks to get rid of her.

With nothing to do, Yu Youguan didn't send her a message for a long time, so Yan Shi could only stall for time with tea and snacks.

She reached for the bottom shelf of the tea and pastry stand.

The bottom plate of tea snacks was the only one that wasn't very refined. They were just ordinary round mooncakes, with no patterns on the surface, just a bare sheet.

The color was also a bland, almost grayish green.

It stood out awkwardly among a pile of exquisitely crafted and intricately decorated pastries.

Yan Shi tilted his head and thought for a moment, then finally picked up a piece.

Considering that she entered Kunlun Mountain Gate openly and legitimately, the sect leader had no need to poison her in front of countless eyes.

Yan Shi took a bite with complete peace of mind.

Hmm, the taste is actually normal, it just has no flavor.

Shuyao was still carefully considering Yanju's intentions when she looked up and saw Yanju taking a bite of a very familiar pastry.

This color...

Shu Yao's eyelids twitched.

"Director Yan, I'm so sorry." She stood up abruptly, her sleeves billowing in the wind. "It must have been a disciple who took the wrong one. That was...that was from the Spirit Medicine Hall..."

"Hmm?" Yan Shi was chewing when he looked up in confusion.

"The herb that relieves worries!!!"

Shu Yao's voice was almost a shout.

"How could these people put this thing in the kitchen??? Are they all sleepwalking??" She couldn't help but curse on the spot, her anger causing sword energy to overflow around her.

It's too late.

Yan Shi swallowed it.

Shuyao watched as Director Yan's eyelashes fluttered, then he closed his eyes, slumped onto the table, and instantly fell into a deep sleep.

Shu Yao's vision went black.

It's over.

Countless eyes were watching Yan Ju enter Kunlun from the mountain gate.

As a result, Yanju fell into a deep sleep due to poisoning in Kunlun.

Shu Yao could easily imagine how many troublesome figures would use this opportunity to launch an attack on Kunlun.

But ironically, this is the herb that relieves sorrow. It's not poisonous, and there's no antidote.

The "Worry-Relieving Grass" is a special herb cultivated at the Kunlun Mountain Herbal Hall. It is known as a "dream-relieving herb" and is worth its weight in gold.

However, the medicine to relieve worries is not an aid to cultivation or spiritual refinement, but rather a remedy for inner demons. It is usually used only as a last resort for beings entangled in inner demons.

The Relief Drug will cause the user to fall into a dream, returning to the most profound memory—the moment when the inner demon was born. If the user can see through the inner demon and break free from their obsession, they can be reborn and advance their cultivation to a higher level.

But more often than not, they remain forever trapped in a dream, never to awaken.

It's a double-edged sword.

Its cultivation is extremely difficult, requiring countless rare and precious herbs as fertilizer, and it only matures once every hundred years. Kunlun Lingyao Hall has painstakingly cultivated it for a century, and ultimately, no more than one hand's worth of branches can successfully survive.

Although I don't know how this year's ripe pastries managed to get mixed into the kitchen's pastries, and were even mistakenly eaten by Director Yan who came to visit.

Shu Yao now only feels that someone wants to harm her.

She paced anxiously back and forth twice, silently increasing the amount of tea as a gift for Director Yan, intending to give it to him as compensation after he woke up.

She knew that a twitching right eyelid first thing in the morning was never a good sign.

---

Yan Shi felt as if he had a very, very long dream.

The dream was like an endless river, flowing quietly, and she floated in it, not knowing where to go.

When she finally opened her eyes, the morning light was seeping in through the gaps in the curtains, falling on the embroidered pillowcase on the headboard. The air was filled with the aroma of cooking porridge, and dust motes danced in the sunlight.

The door was gently pushed open, and a gentle voice with a smile came through: "Lanlan, you're finally awake! If you don't get up, you won't have breakfast."

It's Grandma.

Yan Shi looked down and saw that she had short arms and legs, and her pajamas were all wrinkled. She raised her arms, which were chubby and fleshy.

That's not quite right.

She remembered that she wasn't like this.

She should have long arms and legs, and slender fingers. When wearing a shirt, the cuffs should slip down to her hand bones, giving her a clean and neat appearance. She would look very handsome in a suit.

Really? She was unsure for a moment.

"Lanlan?"

Seeing that she was just sitting there blankly, Shan Fengyang walked in and bent down to touch Yan Shi's forehead.

Not hot. No fever.

Dan Fengyang breathed a sigh of relief, picked up Yan Shi, and placed her on his lap. While dressing her, he murmured softly, "What's wrong with our Lanlan today? She's been sleeping too long and turned into a little silly. Wake up, you can't pretend to be stupid to avoid reading anymore."

Shan Fengyang's voice was gentle yet tinged with seriousness, "You've already rested for two days. No matter what, you have to go to class today."

Yan Shi nestled in her arms, smelling the scent of laundry soap with a hint of sunshine.

She reached out and gently hugged her grandmother. "No," she said softly, "it's just that I feel like I haven't seen Grandma in so long."

Dan Fengyang was taken aback for a moment, then laughed out loud: "Oh dear, I knew Lanlan was closest to Grandma. It's alright, I'm here."

She tidied Yan Shi's hair, which was a mess from sleeping, and her tone became cheerful, "Ish made your favorite matcha cakes today. We'll eat cakes after breakfast, and then we'll read for a little while longer. After that, you can go out and play with Lin Cai, okay?"

"One hour of study." As he spoke, Shan Fengyang had already dressed Yan Shi completely, then put on her little shoes, picked her up, and put her on the ground.

The shoes are light green with embroidered patterns, and the toes are slightly worn.

Yanshi stood obediently, looked up at his grandmother, and nodded: "Okay."

She felt she shouldn't hate reading.

The sun was shining brightly outside. The sound of metal clanging came from the kitchen; someone was clearing away dishes.

The Yishi mentioned by Shan Fengyang is a very handsome older brother with long hair. He lives next door and often comes to play with his grandmother, just like Yan Shi often goes to play with Lin Cai.

Ish makes delicious little cakes, especially the matcha flavor. He always smiles gently, but when he looks up at his grandmother, his eyes are always filled with sadness.

...No. What does "sadness" mean?

Yan Shi was a little confused. Was it a color? A flavor? Was it as delicious as matcha cupcakes?

She couldn't understand it.

Even after she sat down at the desk in the study, she was still thinking about this question.

Grandma brought in a thick book filled with dense writing, turned to the folded page and said, "Lanlan, we've finished explaining the theory. Today, let's put it into practice and see how to control spirits."

"The world is made up of points of light." She patiently went over the key points again: "Red points of light are fire spirits, green points of light are wood spirits, blue points of light are water spirits, golden points of light are metal spirits, and dark yellow points of light are earth spirits."

"Have you memorized everything?"

Yan Shi nodded obediently: "I'll remember."

"Next, you need to carefully observe which color of spirit likes you the most," Shan Fengyang continued. "Feelings are mutual, right? So if a spirit likes you, you should also like that color of spirit the most in the future."

"You must approach it, tame it, and finally use it." After saying that, Shan Fengyang took out several spirit stones from the drawer.

She bit her fingertip, and without a draft, she raised her hand and used her blood to draw an extremely complex array on the table, then placed the spirit stones one by one in the corners of the array.

The air suddenly trembled.

The array patterns lit up with a soft light, and different colored light spots lit up one by one along the array. Then, more and more of them emerged from the array and surged toward Yan Shi's side.

Yan Shi's eyes widened.

The world suddenly lit up.

She saw, just as her grandmother had said, that different colored points of light were intertwined.

The blue light spot was the most active, and it had already gently brushed against Yan Shi's fingertips.

Yan Shi tentatively touched the blue light spots, which gathered together and transformed into a stream of water that gently wrapped around Yan Shi's fingertips.

“Grandma,” Yan Shi said softly, “they like me.”

“Yes.” Shan Fengyang smiled. “The whole world loves our Lanlan.”

Author's note: Thank you everyone for your continued support QAQ

I'm so happy, so happy, so happy.

An extra chapter tomorrow, and red envelopes will be given out in the comments section today!