Looking around the room, Murong Cang felt fatigue overtake him. Not on a physical level, but a mental one. 'All this chaos and bloodshed… With how they targeted the infrastructure of our serfs and servants, they must be trying to isolate us…'

  He let out a sigh, unwittingly having lost track of Jun Li. 'Who would take a contract to work on our estate after tonight…? What a mess…'

  "Ah, hey! Don't use that!" Deeper into the foyer, Jun Li walked carefully over the cluttered ground, calling out to a doctorally-garbed servant rummaging through the Medicinal Plants that adorned a wheeled table.

  "I can tell you're trying to make a burn ointment, but that Black Glasswort is too old!" As Jun Li approached, the servant looked over his shoulder at the unfamiliar woman with obvious irritation. "Huh? What… who is this!? Can't you see I'm busy, and what does it matter if it's old? People still need medicine, even if it's imperfect!"

  Not expecting such a strong pushback, Jun Li furrowed her brows in discomfort. From behind, Murong Cang approached, stroking his chin. "Ahh, Mister Gu. This here is a guest who was of some assistance during tonight's attack. She seems to be an aspiring alchemist, so if you don't mind, I'd be happy to hear her reasoning for interjecting with your work."

  When Murong Cang approached, this 'Mister Gu' stood at attention in a disciplined, almost militaristic instinct. "Ah, Young Patriarch, certainly I… could allow a brief interruption." Clearing his throat, the doctor properly looked towards Jun Li for the first time. "Now, what's this about 'too old?' I understand Black Glasswort doesn't take too kindly to aging, but even if it were to age into dust, it would never have become a poison."

  Jun Li quickly and carefully sorted her thoughts as she spoke, not wanting to overstep or overshare. "The nature of poison is… subjective. For most normal uses, even an aged Black Glasswort would be valuable, but for treating burns, it would be a terrible medicine, and a painful irritant… in all likelihood, it would cause intense pain and pronounced scarring.

  "Just… allow me a small piece of the Glasswort." Saying this, Jun Li reached over with a small pair of scissors produced from her Spatial Ring. 'Mister Gu' looked towards Murong Cang for a moment in distaste for Jun Li's actions, but seeing Murong Cang's visible interest, he simply remained still and allowed Jun Li to take a trimming from the valuable Medicinal Plant.

  "Here, the Black Glasswort should have a strong water-aspect, right? so… if I mix it with a piece of this fire-aspected Bloodrot Mugwort…" Jun Li produced a pill furnace and Medicinal Plant from her Spatial Ring, the scent of which raised an eyebrow from Murong Cang, and caused Mister Gu's eyes to widen slightly.

  Within a few seconds, Jun Li had ground the two plants together in her pill furnace with a pestle. "The result should be fairly inert, right?" Jun Li displayed the sodden pulp at the bottom of the furnace to Mister Gu, who nodded along. "Right, in even quantities, it should prove little more than a particularly unwieldy mass of energy, with no notable properties on its own."

  Jun Li, having allowed the man to speak himself into a hole, quickly sidled over to a candle sitting enclosed in a glass case on the cart of Medicinal Plants. Pulling the candle from its case, Jun Li tossed it into her pill furnace and held it at arm's length.

  Almost as soon as the candle entered, flames burst outward from the furnace, the pulped Medicinal Plants inside burning like oil and sputtering like grease. By the time Jun Li had re-lidded her furnace and snuffed out the flame, the older doctor's mouth was agape.

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  "But… how could that be!? I've never heard of Black Glasswort having such a property, how could it!?" The man seemed genuinely distressed and felt wronged at never having known that such a commonly used Medicinal Plant had such a property.

  "As I understand, Black Glasswort isn't so common that anyone can purchase some, but it's well known enough that any alchemist with capital would use it for burn ointments and salves." Jun Li spoke. "At least, that's what I've read, at least."

  "And those individuals tend to either purchase what they need, when they need it… Or they have storage methods to prevent Medicinal Plants from aging inconveniently." Jun Li let out a sigh and shrugged her shoulders. "Because of that, barely anyone actually encounters Aged Black Glasswort, which, over time, loses its water-aspected nature and undergoes a phase change to a wood-aspected nature."

  "Wood-aspected!?" Mister Gu stared intently at the Black Glasswort in his hands, looking for any evidence of Jun Li's words.

  "I never would have known… Heavens, the pain such a thing would inflict on a burn…!" He went pale at the thought of a wood-aspected ointment being applied to a severe burn, causing a feedback loop capable of baking someone's skin under the crust of an ointment.

  "There are a few signs. The smell goes from a sort of thick and festering aroma, to a sharp and acrid scent, the segmentation of the stem becomes more pronounced, and it loses the salty taste that young Glasswort has." With each word from Jun Li, Mister Gu recoiled as if he had been struck.

  Though it was not Jun Li's intent to hurt the man, such thoroughness was necessary in the field of medicine, especially with regard to alchemy.

  "Then… what am I to do? So many are in need, without proper medicine their burns will fester…" Neither this old doctor nor Jun Li considered an apology to be due. Tradition and suspicion were natural aspects of medicine, and Mister Gu's smooth transition from complete dismissal to polite, collegial inquiry was entirely normal.

  Off to the side, completely forgotten even by his own servant, Murong Cang was impressed. Although alchemy was not one of his talents, he could comprehend the prodigious nature of Jun Li's expertise. 'It seems recommending her to the Alchemist's Association could be good for both of us…'

  … … … … … …

  At the edge of the city, Little Yun carefully made its way up the steep, outer segments of the mountain, carefully navigating the stones and roots that served as footholds for any beast fearless enough to ascend into this city of humans.

  When the snake reached the top and laid on the wide, flattened path that covered the latticed walls of the city, it near-instantly noticed some nearby figures, looking up and into the city, towards the rising smoke.

  Both figures were garbed in bright red bindings and wore conical hats that concealed the majority of their features. What features stood out, even through their obscuring clothing, were strikingly unnatural.

  One had a single, long arm that hung down to the floor, even as they stood perfectly upright, and a thin, sweeping tail that flowed out behind them, covered in thin fur.

  The other had great horns that pierced through their own hat, and stood at nearly twice the height of their companion.

  Little Yun couldn't help but pause to take in the odd sight, driven by an odd impulse that it had not possessed before entering the Earth Dragon's Grave.

  After a brief moment, Little Yun continued on its path, brushing past the duo that observed the rising smoke.

  Glancing towards the snake, the shorter of the duo, the one with a single, long arm, was intrigued. "Huh… You catch that?" The bull-like man who loomed over spoke a reply. "A young cousin? Interesting body." He spoke in odd steps. "Like a snake. Like an alligator."

  "Hmm…" The long-armed man kneeled, his long right arm being partially sucked into his torso, a left arm extending outward from his other side, from a previously bare shoulder, as if the length of the two arms were linked in his torso.

  Kneeling down with his forearms on his knees, he looked towards Little Yun, who rushed into the city with little regard for them. "Looks interesting… hopefully they take the path of the Enlightened Beast, it'd be a shame to see such a promising kid turn into a Demonic Beast."