Peace of mind

Mr. Dan fell into self-doubt, flipping through his notes and mumbling something frantically.

"Ahem," Xu Shulou cleared his throat, "Sir, I was just teasing you."

“…”

Xu Shulou smiled at him, and all the arrogance in his body was gone: "You just said 'I can't make the elixir to restore your body', weren't you just teasing me?"

"Be serious," Mr. Dan stood up helplessly and said to Bai Roushuang, "You, use your sword on her."

Bai Roushuang hesitated and did as she was told. She didn't use any sword moves, but thrust her sword out flatly. Xu Shulou jumped onto the tip of her sword and posed like a roc spreading its wings. "It's useless. I know my junior sister won't hurt me."

"Then I'll do it," Mr. Dan borrowed Bai Roushuang's sword, "Remember, I won't show mercy."

Xu Shulou asked hesitantly: "Do I need to show mercy?"

“…”

Mr. Dan was famous for his alchemy, and was usually obsessed with studying all kinds of elixirs. His sword skills were indeed not necessarily comparable to the battle-hardened Xu Shulou. Hearing this, he was not annoyed, and just stabbed out with his sword.

Xu Shulou tapped the ground with her toes and began to retreat. It was just for the sake of testing the medicine, so she would not draw her sword to fight back against Mr. Dan. It was indeed a bit of a hindrance to the fight after becoming smaller. The distance she could jump back was far less than before, but it was enough to cope with it. She flexibly dodged in the air and avoided the sword light that was like a pool of autumn water.

Mr. Dan raised his sword again and stabbed at her throat. Xu Shulou raised her finger and flicked the sword, but her body was too light now, and she didn't flick the sword, but instead flicked herself out.

But no matter which side was bounced off, the attack was avoided at least.

Mr. Dan nodded, stopped attacking, and returned the sword to Bai Roushuang: "That's enough. Your reaction before the battle shows that you are not afraid."

Xu Shulou flew in front of him and said, "I have fought countless enemies since I entered the world of cultivation. How could I be easily afraid? No matter how much my temperament changes, this shouldn't change."

"You are not afraid of my attack, and you know that my junior sister will not hurt you," Mr. Dan fell into deep thought, "If you want to completely change your temperament, should the pill also add the effect of memory confusion or emotional isolation..."

"I think this idea is correct. A person's memory and experience are the most important part of shaping his character," Xu Shulou nodded in agreement. "Without some memories of the past, one is most likely to change his character."

"In that case..."

"Sir," Xu Shulou interrupted him, "In my humble opinion, I think you should not continue to research this kind of elixir."

"Why? With this medicine, the cowardly can become brave, and the weak can become strong..." Mr. Dan asked seriously, and it was obvious that he really wanted to seek advice.

"Everyone will choose the most beneficial qualities, and they are all the same," Bai Roushuang said softly, "and their memories and emotions are blurred. It feels like a group of puppets were created out of thin air."

Mr. Dan thought for a moment and said, "There are all kinds of flaws in people's nature. Wouldn't it be better to correct them?"

"Not all defects require a solution," Xu Shulou advised, "sometimes, we just have to...accept the defects."

"Do you accept the flaws?" Mr. Dan was stunned and waved his hand at the two of them, "Let me think about it carefully."

He fell silent, and Xu Shulou and the other two did not want to disturb him, so they quietly walked to the nearby shore and played skipping stones on the water.

Xu Shulou hit ten floats and was about to announce his victory, but he saw his junior sister looking at the lake in the distance: "It seems that another boat is coming."

"There is indeed a boat coming." Xu Shulou had already heard the sound of water and looked over with his junior sister. "Hey, the people on the boat seem familiar."

"I think so too." The two looked at each other in silence for a long while, neither of them could dig out this face from their memory. They had to give up temporarily and turned back to look for Mr. Dan.

The latter's train of thought was interrupted, and he reluctantly went to the shore to take a look, frowning and saying, "It's someone from Xuanwu Tower again."

Xuanwu Tower? Bai Roushuang and the others suddenly realized that the person on the boat was the elder of Xuanwu Tower. When the real and fake tower owner happened, this person had been in the crowd, calling Gao Ming and Xu Shulou's group "nonsense". They didn't expect to meet again in such an occasion.

"What are the people from Xuanwu Tower doing here?"

Mr. Dan shook his head: "Isn't it to seek medicine to prolong the life of their host whose meridians are broken?"

"Owner? Gao Ming?"

"That's right. In just a few years since the current owner Gao Ming took office, he has led Xuanwu Tower to a whole new level," Mr. Dan looked at the boat in the lake. "Unfortunately, his meridians are broken and his health is not good. Now the people in Xuanwu Tower are looking for spiritual herbs and elixirs to nourish him and prolong his life. They are afraid that after he passes away, Xuanwu Tower will lose its source of income."

Xu Shulou and Bai Roushuang looked at each other and remembered the young man in the wheelchair. Has he reached this level now?

Xu Shulou recalled the look of the soft-hearted young man whose brows gradually became fierce and ambitious. He didn't know whether to be happy or sad for him. But in any case, he must have gotten what he wanted.

The two men had no intention of meeting the elder of Xuanwu Tower, so they walked away before the boat reached the shore.

———

It would take some time to refine the elixir, so Xu Shulou and the others stayed here temporarily. Occasionally, when Mr. Dan didn't have the patience to meet someone, he would let Bai Roushuang deal with it. In order for Mr. Dan to concentrate on making medicine for her senior sister, she patiently persuaded many people to leave, making everyone think that Mr. Dan had accepted a little disciple at some point.

Occasionally, she would sigh to her senior sister, "I've seen quite a few people come to ask for medicine these days, and I just realized that there are so many people who want to forcibly improve their cultivation through elixirs. They know that Mr. Dan is unwilling to make this kind of medicine, but they still want to try their luck."

Xu Shulou was lying by the lake, turning over to continue basking in the sun, and said, "Shortcuts are too tempting."

"Yes," Bai Roushuang made a small bed for her sister out of sand, and made a small sunshade for her out of leaves, standing beside the bed, "How many people are willing to work hard when they can be lazy? Even if they know that shortcuts will hinder their future cultivation, they can't help but hope for the best..."

She looked into the distance, as if recalling some past events.

Xu Shulou raised his eyes to look at her: "If those who come to ask for medicine are rude to you, I can beat them away."

"I know," Bai Roushuang laughed, "Senior Sister, you should recover first, and then worry about me."

"Okay," Xu Shulou also smiled at her and asked again, "By the way, what did you say to Mr. Dan a few days ago? I saw that he seemed to be lost in thought again."

"I went to report to him about the situations of those who came to ask for medicine, and he asked for my opinion. I said that the medicine that changes temperament should not be made any more," Bai Roushuang thought for a moment, "I used myself as an example. I said that when I first entered the cultivation world, I only wanted to flatter and depend on others, and even wanted to snatch my senior sister's fiancé, but later... In short, people do have the opportunity to become better and to correct their shortcomings, but it shouldn't be through a pill. Only one's own experiences and inner touch can truly change a person."

“…”

“You see, I have been changed.”

"You have grown up."

"If this is what it feels like to grow up, then it's great to grow up," Bai Roushuang smiled, "to be able to distinguish right from wrong and to live freely."

The two were chatting casually when Mr. Dan suddenly appeared on the lakeshore and asked Bai Roushuang to come over to help him make the elixir.

She stood up swiftly and brushed off the sand on her collar: "Aren't you afraid that I will steal your skills?"

"How can alchemy be so easy to learn?" Mr. Dan walked in front with his hands behind his back. "Besides, if I find out that you have bad intentions, I can always poison you and make you lose your memory before you leave."

"..." Bai Roushuang turned around and made a face at her senior sister, indicating that she was under tremendous pressure.

Xu Shulou understood what she meant and gave her an encouraging gesture with a smile.

———

In the following days, Bai Roushuang had to deal with people asking for medicine and help with refining pills, so she was extremely busy.

Xu Shulou's appearance was not convenient for meeting people, and Mr. Dan did not want her help when refining the elixir, because he thought she was not much bigger than a pill, and he had to remember not to throw her into the furnace. As a result, Xu Shulou was always very idle. He had not seen his busy junior sister for several days.

Mr. Dan dared to drive people away with a cold attitude, but Bai Roushuang was there to help, and it would be bad to offend people in Mr. Dan's name without permission, so it was a bit difficult for her to deal with those who came to ask for medicine.

What's more, those people didn't dare to offend Mr. Dan, so they were not so polite to her. On this day, there was an especially difficult guy who, under the pretext of suspecting that she had kidnapped Mr. Dan, insisted on breaking in to make sure he was safe.

Bai Roushuang had just helped Mr. Dan guard the alchemy furnace for half a day today. It was getting late now, and she just wanted to go back to her room to rest. Unexpectedly, the other party suddenly broke in. She hurriedly drew her sword to stop him, but she didn't know when the man had hidden a strange magic weapon in his hand. He raised his hand and a golden chain wrapped around her like a snake, locking her legs.

The other end of the chain was held in the hand of the person seeking medicine. He looked at Bai Roushuang and smiled contemptuously, as if mocking her for overestimating her own abilities.

"Bastard!" Bai Roushuang gritted her teeth. She tried to break free, but the more she struggled, the tighter the chains became.

"If you keep scolding me, I'll hang you upside down on a tree." The man pretended to pull the end of the chain and was about to drag Bai Roushuang down, but unexpectedly a sword fell from the air and nailed his chain to the beach.

This sword was not a wooden sword, but a truly famous sword. It came rushing forward under the moonlight. The sword body reflected the moonlight, and the cold light of the sword illuminated people's eyes, as if a bright moon suddenly fell into the beach.

Bai Roushuang looked up suddenly and saw a woman in red standing on the roof not far away with her back to the moon. In the darkness, neither of them could see her face clearly. They could only see her black hair and red robe fluttering in the wind, which made her look very elegant.

The medicine seeker tried to take back the magic weapon, but the chain refused to obey him. The woman in red on the rooftop had already said, "I will take away one of your magic weapons as the price for your disrespect to my junior sister. Fellow Daoist, please."

The man knew that he had met a tough guy today, so he clenched his fists and didn't dare to act rashly. He glanced at the chain on the ground, turned around and left.

Bai Roushuang had no time to care about where he was going, she just flew towards the roof: "Senior Sister! Are you recovered?!"

The woman in red smiled and nodded at her.

Bai Roushuang jumped onto the roof: "Why didn't you tell me in advance that the medicine was ready?"

"I wanted to give you a surprise."

Bai Roushuang stepped forward and hugged Xu Shulou, her voice choking with sobs: "Senior Sister..."

Xu Shulou patted her on the back: "What happened?"

Bai Roushuang's nose felt sore. No matter how cute her shrunken senior sister was, she always felt at ease when she saw the familiar Xu Shulou.