“This is unfinished medicine,” Liu Yan’s palm covered the teacup opening, his voice low. “You need to think clearly. Perhaps you can still live for a few months, perhaps only a few days. But if you drink this cup of medicine, you might die immediately.” He asked ominously, “Do you want to live hopelessly for a few more days or months, or die right now?”

Yu Tuan’er looked at him with wide eyes, seeming quite surprised. “Maybe if I drink it, not only won’t I die, but my illness will be cured? You’re refining medicine to treat illness, aren’t you? You’re so confident—how could you fail?”

Liu Yan released his hand and turned his head away. “Then drink it.”

Yu Tuan’er held the teacup. “Before I drink it, can you tell me who exactly you’re angry with?”

Liu Yan trembled slightly. “What…”

Yu Tuan’er stared at him intently. “I’m very curious. If I drink this and die, I’ll never hear the answer, will I?”

Liu Yan fell silent again for a long time, then said impatiently, “I’m not angry.”

Yu Tuan’er exclaimed, “You’re lying! If you’re not angry, why won’t you eat?”

“I’m not angry,” Liu Yan said flatly. “I just… suddenly remembered someone.”

Yu Tuan’er asked curiously, “Who?”

Liu Yan said slowly, “A servant who attended to me.”

Yu Tuan’er was stunned and suddenly fell silent too. After a long while, she asked softly, “Was she your maid?”

Liu Yan nodded. Yu Tuan’er said in a low voice, “She… she must…” She suddenly felt wronged. What kind of person was this maid who could make Liu Yan remember her? “She must be prettier than me.”

“She is indeed far more beautiful than you,” Liu Yan said coldly. “And gentle and considerate, submissive and obedient. When I wanted to slap her face, I slapped her face. When I wanted her to live, she lived. When I wanted her to die, she died. Absolutely not annoying like you.”

Yet Yu Tuan’er said, “I want to be good to you too, but whenever I’m good to you, you get angry.”

Liu Yan said, “She was a clever woman, not like you with your empty head, incredibly stupid and obstinate.”

Yu Tuan’er asked again, “Did you ever teach her martial arts?”

Liu Yan was startled. “No!”

She said happily, “But you taught me martial arts! You’re also very good to me.”

Liu Yan said impatiently, “She didn’t know martial arts…” Suddenly realizing he’d gotten completely off-topic with Yu Tuan’er, he immediately shouted, “Drink it!”

Yu Tuan’er picked up the teacup but hesitated without drinking immediately. Liu Yan sneered, “Afraid?”

Yu Tuan’er shook her head. “I’m wondering if I’ll be able to see my mother after I die.”

Liu Yan said, “When you’re dead, you’re dead. You won’t see anything. Don’t harbor foolish fantasies.”

Yu Tuan’er sighed softly and drank the liquid in the teacup. Liu Yan watched her intently. Yu Tuan’er’s complexion showed no change. After drinking, she sat on the ground. The two stared at each other for a long moment, but nothing happened.

“It seems this medicine won’t kill anyone,” Liu Yan said coldly. “Very good.”

Yu Tuan’er touched her face and body with her hands. “I… I don’t feel anything.”

Liu Yan took out a handkerchief from his robes, then retrieved another cup of liquid from beneath the ceramic jar. He soaked the handkerchief thoroughly, slowly bent down, and pressed the liquid-soaked handkerchief against her face.

“Don’t move,” he said.

“But… you haven’t eaten yet. Will this take long?” She remained motionless, yet worried about other matters.

He suddenly felt somewhat amused, somewhat annoyed, and somewhat agitated. “Just because the poison didn’t kill you doesn’t mean you’ll definitely recover. Worry about yourself.”

“Oh.” Yu Tuan’er sat quietly. Liu Yan’s slender, snow-white fingers with few wrinkles covered her face. Through the edge of the handkerchief, she could see his wrist. His wrist bone was delicate, his arm lean and straight—an exquisitely beautiful hand. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see what he looked like before his face was ruined, didn’t know if his face was as beautiful as his hands. However, though this hand was beautiful, it always carried a kind of gloomy, melancholy whiteness, like damaged white porcelain. Her cheeks gradually warmed under his hand’s heat. She blinked, but he pressed her eyes closed, not letting her open them. Soon even her eyelids grew warm. She fantasized about whether she would die or live tomorrow. The warmth of the fingers on her face made her feel that Liu Yan was actually a very gentle person… He wasn’t really too bad, just very much wanted to become very bad. There must be some reason.

After about half an incense stick’s time, Liu Yan removed the handkerchief. Yu Tuan’er’s old woman’s face showed no change. He looked at her coldly. She still hadn’t opened her eyes. “What are you dreaming about? You’re still the same old appearance.”

Yu Tuan’er opened her eyes, got up and looked in the bronze mirror. The reflection still showed an old woman’s face. Yet she didn’t seem very disappointed. She patted her cheeks and suddenly said, “Actually, I think you’re not bad—not like what Brother Shen said about you being an irredeemably evil villain.”

Liu Yan pushed his wheelchair to face the wall, saying coldly, “Go out. Tomorrow morning, bring the handkerchief yourself to apply to your face. If you find the medicine too bitter to drink, ask Fang Pingzhai to buy you candy.”

Yu Tuan’er acknowledged, then suddenly said, “I want you to buy me candy.”

Liu Yan was slightly startled and didn’t answer. “Go out.”

Yu Tuan’er closed the alchemy room door, in excellent spirits, her face beaming with smiles. Fang Pingzhai stood by the door, his figure pacing back and forth, red fan waving. “Hmm…” She turned around, looking at him with a bright smile. “Hey, I think he’s in a good mood now.”

Fang Pingzhai scratched his head. “Uh… this… forget it. Fang Pingzhai, oh Fang Pingzhai! To think you’ve dominated the world without meeting a worthy opponent—seeking a master isn’t something shameful. How could you retreat at this moment? What strange psychology—” With that, he stepped into the alchemy room. “Brother Hei! To think that I, Fang Pingzhai, have lived a carefree life, and now I’ve been working like an ox and horse for you for quite some time—without complaint, without regret, willingly and gladly. When will Brother Hei teach me the art of sonic killing?”

Liu Yan faced the wall and seemed to smile. Fang Pingzhai had known this person for quite a while but had never seen him smile. Greatly curious, he wanted to go around front to take a look, but Liu Yan faced a wall, and besides, whether a person with a mangled, bloody face was smiling probably couldn’t be distinguished clearly anyway. So he waved his fan behind his back. “Brother Hei—in consideration of my master-seeking heart that moves heaven and earth, and my thirst for knowledge as high as mountains and long as waters, please teach me!”

Liu Yan said in a low voice, “Haha, sonic killing isn’t something everyone can learn. If you’re only learning it to kill people, you’ll never succeed.”

Fang Pingzhai smiled. “Oh? Then what should one learn it for to reach Brother Hei’s level?”

Liu Yan said flatly, “For nothing.”

“For nothing?” Fang Pingzhai moved to Liu Yan’s side. “What a marvelous state! Iya, really can’t let me try? Maybe—I’ll be a once-in-a-century genius!”

Liu Yan pushed his wheelchair, slowly turning around. “To learn sonic killing… first you must at least know one musical instrument. Do you know any instruments?”

“Musical instruments?” Fang Pingzhai’s eyes moved. “I know… aiya, I don’t know anything.”

Liu Yan closed his eyes. “Then there’s nothing more to say.”

Fang Pingzhai paced several steps in the alchemy room. “But I can sing!”

Liu Yan’s eyelids lifted slightly. “Oh? Sing for me to hear.”

Fang Pingzhai burst into song: “Little bronze gong, little wooden drum, little chickens, little ducks, little wooden house. Lotus flowers bloom on water at dusk, behind the house there’s also a pig…” His singing was crude, soaring to the clouds, shaking leaves to fall all around outside. Lin Bu, still eating, was startled, and Yu Tuan’er cried out in alarm—what a shock!

In just moments, Fang Pingzhai had finished that chaotic children’s song, pointing with his red fan. “How was that?”

Liu Yan said flatly, “Not bad.”

Fang Pingzhai hummed, seeming even he was surprised. “You’re not joking?”

Liu Yan said, “No.” For the first time, he looked directly into Fang Pingzhai’s eyes, his gaze very calm. “Perhaps… you really are a once-in-a-century genius.”

Fang Pingzhai was speechless. The hope he’d held for many days was suddenly realized, and even he seemed unable to accept it. “Was my singing just now really that good? Aiya! I always thought only rocks would listen to me sing because—they don’t have feet and can’t run away.”

“You sang with great involvement and confidence,” Liu Yan said in a low voice. “Though there are many flaws, they’re not unchangeable… Haha, teaching you sonic killing—perhaps someday you can help me kill that person.” His eyes suddenly blazed with heat in their depths. “After half a year, you must master one musical instrument. If you cannot, don’t blame me for losing patience with you.”

Fang Pingzhai laughed heartily. “Half a year from now—your expectations of me are quite high! But I still don’t know which instrument you want me to practice? Let me say in advance, I’m someone who makes ghosts cry when playing qin, makes gods hang themselves when playing xiao, and with one piece on pipa makes fish sink and birds fall—I’ve harmed quite a few small animals!”

“If the instrument isn’t mastered, the sound won’t be accurate. If the sound isn’t accurate, it won’t form music,” Liu Yan said flatly. “With your conditions, you could try drumming.”

Fang Pingzhai staggered back several steps, hand covering his heart. “Drum… ming?”

Liu Yan closed his eyes. “Drums are also musical instruments, and not easy to practice.”

Fang Pingzhai turned around with his fan. “You want to teach me drumming?”

Liu Yan said flatly, “If you want to learn, I will teach.”

Fang Pingzhai hummed. “Drumming—I’ve never tried it. Maybe—it’s really fun. I’ll learn.”

Liu Yan waved his sleeve. “Then go find a drum first. We’ll begin in one month.”

Fang Pingzhai happily stepped out of the medicine room. Lin Bu had already instructed Auntie Ru to clear away the bowls and chopsticks. Seeing both Yu Tuan’er and Fang Pingzhai beaming with joy, he couldn’t help thinking that Brother Hei was truly no ordinary person. With a disfigured and disabled body, all martial arts lost, no money on his person, neither official rank nor family property, alone in the world, yet he could always make others feel joy and sorrow for him. When his mood improved slightly, everyone would beam with happiness—not only Fang Pingzhai and Yu Tuan’er, but even himself.

Inside the alchemy room.

Liu Yan sat facing the wall. Outside the door was joy; inside the door, silence.

He quietly looked at the blank wall, his chaotic thoughts having a moment of blankness. He actually wasn’t someone good at thinking. The more he thought about many things, the more confused they became, but not thinking wasn’t possible either. When he was a member of “Bronze Flute,” he was a gentleman, good at handling every fine detail, treating everyone with gentleness and kindness. He was a star praised by all media, the guitarist with the best image, but he wasn’t really a smart person with his own opinions. He was influenced by people around him, easily entangled in details, always acted on intuition and always thought he wouldn’t be harmed. These flaws were all clearly seen by the other “Bronze Flute” members, and he was very aware of them himself.

But he couldn’t change.

Just like now—he had agreed to teach Fang Pingzhai sonic killing, yet what kind of person Fang Pingzhai really was, he actually wasn’t clear about. Just like why he wanted to save Yu Tuan’er—to this day he couldn’t give the real reason. If he had to get to the bottom of it, he could only say… he was still a bleeding heart. He couldn’t firmly refuse others. When others asked something of him that he could do but refused, deep in his heart it felt like guilt.

That’s the kind of person he was—completely opposite to Tang Lici.

Liu Yan let out a long breath. The alchemy was gradually succeeding. After agreeing to teach Fang Pingzhai sonic killing, his heart had settled down a bit. Looking at the snow-white wall without thought or worry, after a moment a thought surged up: How… how is she?

After he left, they definitely wouldn’t spare her. He knew this clearly, but the defeat at Haoyun Mountain was beyond his expectations. At this moment, though he had worries in his heart, he no longer had the power to save anyone. But—but he believed Tang Lici would take action, because A’Shui was his woman, because he had adopted her son, so he would definitely save her. But he didn’t know that Tang Lici never saved people for such reasons. Such reasons for saving people were only Liu Yan’s, not Tang Lici’s. That Tang Lici saved A’Shui was, to a considerable extent, merely coincidence.

But Liu Yan’s intuition was still quite accurate. Though he couldn’t analyze the real reasons, he foresaw the result.

After being saved by Tang Lici, she would definitely be grateful to him, and seducing women was Tang Lici’s consistent trick. Liu Yan sat there facing the wall, suddenly becoming angry again. Did she… did she still remember him? Was her heart now filled only with Tang Lici’s romantic charm and gentle consideration? Did she only remember how he had shouted at and beaten her, manipulated and controlled her, thus harboring complete resentment toward him? Maybe she would think that abandoning her at headquarters, letting those women bully her, was all his idea, another means of tormenting her, making her hate him even more…

Liu Yan’s palm slowly clenched into a fist. A’Shui…

I actually… actually… didn’t deliberately torment you. Tormenting you brought me no joy. When I first took you from the Bing Mao Marquis residence, deliberately separating you from your son, it wasn’t because you were naturally alluring with incomparable beauty, wasn’t because you were a beauty rare in a hundred generations, but because…

Because you were the kind of person I once tried hard to become but couldn’t.

He looked blankly at that empty wall. You were gentle and composed, able to forbear without resentment, harboring goodwill toward everyone, yet able to remain detached and observant. Even when hurt, you could handle it well. Though your strength was meager, I deeply envied you—envied you to the point of jealousy. And because I was jealous, I didn’t know what to do, so I tormented you.

Maybe if we spent more time together, I could gain more of that peaceful feeling from you. Maybe spending more time together, you would sense that I actually… actually have many difficulties.

So please don’t fall in love with Tang Lici, okay?