Since the night market incident, Ling Qingxue and Ye Meier have indeed behaved themselves a lot, and have become somewhat wary of the "law" and "police" that Zhang Shaozhong mentioned.
But big shots are big shots; their way of calming down is often accompanied by new ideas for causing trouble.
That day, Zhang Shaozhong noticed a strange smell permeating his home, like a mixture of a burnt smell and the smell of a traditional Chinese medicine shop.
His heart tightened, a sense of foreboding washing over him. He followed the smell into the kitchen and, sure enough, witnessed a scene that sent his blood pressure soaring.
In the kitchen, Ling Qingxue stood seriously in front of the gas stove, staring at the clay pot that Zhang Shaozhong used to make soup?
A suspicious, dark brown, viscous liquid was bubbling and churning in the casserole, emitting a pungent fumes.
Meanwhile, Ye Meier was frantically fiddling with... the oven?
"You two ancestors! What the hell are you up to now?!" Zhang Shaozhong rushed forward, almost choking on the smell.
Without turning her head, Ye Meier excitedly shouted, "Kid, you've come at the perfect time! Come and see if the temperature of my 'Samadhi True Fire - Simplified Version' is high enough? How was it set again? Fake Qinggao and I are researching alchemy!"
"Alchemy?!" Zhang Shaozhong's voice changed drastically. "Using my clay pot and oven to refine pills?!"
Ling Qingxue glanced at him with a look that said, "How could you mortals know such profound mysteries?" and explained indifferently, "It's not alchemy, but merely an attempt to refine the most basic 'Bigu Pill' and 'Hemostatic Powder'. The spiritual energy in this world is depleted, and rare and precious materials are hard to find, so I have to make do with what I have and use ordinary medicinal herbs and cooking utensils instead."
Zhang Shaozhong then noticed that the kitchen counter was filled with various things: a bag of red dates, goji berries, and astragalus bought from a pharmacy, a few ginseng roots of questionable quality, dried longan and rock sugar for Zhang Shaozhong to make soup, and even a bag of flour and half a bottle of honey!
"You...you use these things to refine pills?" Zhang Shaozhong felt his common sense was being challenged.
"Otherwise what?"
Ye Meier said confidently, "The main ingredients of our Bigu Pill are things that contain essence, such as Polygonatum, Poria, and Bigu Grass."
These things look pretty much the same; they're all for replenishing qi and nourishing essence! Besides, we can't refine real elixirs anyway, so let's try the lowest-grade version!
Ling Qingxue added: "I have tried my best to follow the principles of monarch, minister, assistant, and guide. Red dates are the monarch, which nourishes qi and blood; astragalus is the minister, which strengthens the foundation and nourishes the source; wolfberry and longan are the assistants, which harmonize the medicinal properties... Honey is used as a guide to condense into pills."
She spoke with great conviction, if one ignored the increasingly asphalt-like substance in the casserole.
Zhang Shaozhong sighed, "Fairy, putting aside whether the herbs are right or not, you're using a clay pot to simmer this... isn't the heat too high? It's almost turned into burnt rice!"
Ling Qingxue frowned slightly: "Ancient books say, 'The alternation of civil and military fires refines the essence.' I have tried my best to control the size of this 'fire,' but the firepower of this device is too strong and difficult to control precisely."
Meanwhile, Ye Meier's "Oven Alchemy" also entered a critical moment.
She mixed some ground medicine powder with flour and honey, rolled it into several crooked little balls, and placed them on a baking tray.
"Mine is much simpler!"
Ye Meier said proudly, "Bake it directly at high temperature to remove impurities and solidify it into a pill! Behold my 'Secret Recipe of Demonic Flame - Bigu Pill'!"
She set what she thought was a suitable temperature and time, and pressed the start button.
Zhang Shaozhong was speechless with frustration; all he could do was pray that the oven wouldn't explode.
He asked cautiously, "Um... you two esteemed figures, what effects are you expecting from this 'basic' version of the pill you've refined?"
Ling Qingxue pondered: "According to the records, a proper fasting pill can satisfy hunger and thirst for several days. Our version uses simple ingredients and has a rough process. If it can satisfy hunger for half an hour, then it can be considered a success."
Night Enchantress was more practical: "As long as it's filling, that's fine! The key is that it has to taste good! I added honey!"
Zhang Shaozhong: "..." He had no hope for the effect, he just hoped that no one would die from it.
After a while, Ling Qingxue's casserole made an ominous "sizzling" sound. The dark brown liquid had completely boiled away, and a thick, black crust with a burnt smell had formed on the bottom of the pot.
Ling Qingxue looked at the layer of "residue," remained silent for a moment, and calmly analyzed: "The heat was too intense, the medicinal properties were completely lost, and it has become rotten. This pot... may be difficult to clean."
Zhang Shaozhong's heart was bleeding; his soup-making wonder device!
Just then, the oven dinged. Night Enchantress excitedly put on oven mitts, showing at least some safety awareness, and pulled out the baking tray.
On the baking tray lay several small balls of varying shades and irregular shapes, most of which had their edges charred black and emitted a strange smell that was a mixture of caramel, medicine, and flour.
"Uh...it seems a little overcooked?"
Ye Meier poked it with her chopsticks; it was rock hard.
Zhang Shaozhong suppressed a laugh and suggested, "How about... we try some?"
Ling Qingxue carefully scraped a small amount of the not-yet-fully-carbonized, dark brown paste from the edge of the casserole with chopsticks, put it in her mouth, and savored it.
Her brows furrowed slightly at first, then slowly relaxed, revealing a rare, somewhat uncertain look of surprise: "Hmm... Although it was bitter and irritating to the throat, after swallowing it, there seemed to be... a barely perceptible warm current lingering in my dantian for a moment? Could it be... that there is a trace of residual medicinal effect?"
Zhang Shaozhong and Ye Meier both stared wide-eyed.
Ye Meier quickly picked up a "Bigu Pill" that looked slightly better, blew on it, and took a small bite.
"Snap!" The sound was crisp.
She chewed it twice, then her face instantly scrunched up like a steamed bun: "Ptooey! It's bitter, hard, and mushy! It's only slightly sweet, it has no effect whatsoever! You're just pretending to be high-minded and lying to me!"
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