Roaring Dragon-Chapter 44: Something’s Wrong

The next day.

Ning’an Street, Lin Family Clinic.

Lin Zisu stood on a small stool, carefully using tongs to retrieve a golden dish filled with vermilion pills from the alchemy furnace. After checking them, she found the heat wasn’t enough, so she put it back in and continued managing the fire. Meanwhile, she sneaked a glance at the table in the corner.

Her national-beauty-level little aunt sat upright on a round stool, the curve of her waist and hips sketched into an arc that Zisu envied.

But the enticing eyes behind those gold-rimmed glasses were currently glazed over, dazedly staring out at the autumn scenery outside the window. She hadn’t moved for half an hour.

Ever since going out two days ago, Lin Wanyi had been like this, as if she had bumped into something spooky outside.

Lin Zisu guessed it was related to Young Master Xie.

She had seen plenty of senior sisters at the academy act the same way when love first budded — zoning out right in the middle of refining pills.

Sigh~ Women...

Lin Zisu secretly shook her head with a sigh, understanding her little aunt all too well. After all, her aunt had been single for so many years. Meeting someone she liked wasn’t easy. If she didn’t marry soon, that nice big butt would go completely to waste, wouldn't it?

Besides, if Young Master Xie married into the Lin family, Big Coalball would naturally come along as a dowry gift. As the eldest miss, wasn’t it only fair for her to just hug Coalball and claim him?

Thinking along those lines and seeing that her little aunt still hadn’t snapped out of it, Lin Zisu got a little bored. She deliberately looked out the window and cried:

"Young Master Xie?!"

Clatter~

Lin Wanyi, who had been daydreaming on the spring stool, immediately jolted awake at the sound, poking her head out to look...

Where was he?

Realizing she had been tricked, Lin Wanyi’s gaze instantly turned a little fierce as she glared at the mischievous girl:

"Zisu!"

"Pfft~ Hahaha..."

Lin Zisu clutched her belly and giggled, teasing:

"Little Aunt, if you miss him so much, just go find him. A big girl can’t be kept at home forever — I wouldn’t laugh at you."

Recently, Lin Wanyi had been constantly rescued by Xie Jinhuan. He was flawless in every way, and both unmarried — it was natural for thoughts to wander.

But facing her niece, Lin Wanyi couldn’t possibly discuss men openly. She got up with a stern expression and said:

"I’m just worried about the patient’s health. Xie Jinhuan took the pill you refined the day before yesterday and hasn’t shown any movement since. He lives alone. What if something happened to him at home? I’ll go take a look."

Lin Zisu had full confidence in her own handiwork. As long as she didn’t screw up the formula, Xie Jinhuan couldn’t possibly drop dead. But she still showed understanding:

"Good idea. There’s enough pills for seven days already. Little Aunt, take them over — and if you don’t come back tonight, that’s fine. Tomorrow we can just go to the Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival together."

"How could I not come back? Keep talking nonsense and I’ll spank your butt!"

"Hee~"

...

After a few stern words, Lin Wanyi neatly packed seven small porcelain bottles into a wooden box and headed out alone.

Ning’an Street wasn’t too far from the academy, and it was just a few minutes to Qingquan Alley.

Lin Wanyi took a shortcut through the back alley, passing by Deputy Constable Yang’s residence halfway through. She even spotted a delicate lady standing at the door, hands on her hips, mumbling to herself like a stone statue waiting for her husband.

"Big Sister Yang?"

"Eh? Lin Family girl?!"

The Yang family sister-in-law quickly noticed the women’s best friend, Doctor Lin, and hurried over:

"What are you doing out alone? The city’s a mess lately. You’re so beautiful — what if some demon thief sets eyes on you?"

I’m the demon sect witch myself. Out here, it’s more about who’s targeting who...

Lin Wanyi thought silently but smiled warmly on the surface:

"Just strolling. It’s all neighbors around here, Big Sister Yang, no need to worry."

Big Sister Yang immediately latched onto her arm and started dragging her toward the house, glancing at the box in Lin Wanyi’s hands halfway:

"Delivering medicine to some lady on Wencheng Street? What kind? Is it potent?"

"Just some common prescriptions, not what you’re thinking..."

"You can even write normal prescriptions?"

"Uh..."

"I heard you gave the Liu family sister some medicine the other day? I visited her yesterday — she was glowing red like she’d swallowed a whole ginseng root. What did you give her?"

The Seven Times A Night Pill...

Lin Wanyi found it hard to respond and casually brushed it off. But Big Sister Yang was too enthusiastic, clinging to her arm and chatting non-stop. Soon, two full quarters of an hour had passed, and she was still going strong.

The topic quickly shifted from prescriptions to various gossip about ladies and who was keeping mistresses outside...

...

After Li Zixian was arrested yesterday, the yamen (magistrate office) interrogated him all night. Even the Dan Prince stayed at the yamen through the night.

Everyone was working overtime. Since Xie Jinhuan had participated in the case, sneaking off halfway would be inappropriate. After dinner, he and Mo Mo returned to the yamen to continue serving as the jury.

The interrogation lasted the whole night.

Li Zixian proved abnormally stubborn. Knowing that confessing to live burial would bring heavy sentencing, he clammed up under torture.

Xie Jinhuan saw the case stalling. Although it wasn’t nice to gloat, he did feel a lot less pressure.

Now, carrying the sleeping Coalball on his shoulder, Xie Jinhuan walked down the street, flipping through The Golden Orchid Tales seriously, searching for clues about the ghost bride:

"Exchanging tongues, salivating lips ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ and teeth... that's basically a French kiss. You sure you don’t remember any of this?"

Ye Hongshang strolled beside him with her red parasol, giving a little shrug:

"Big Sis likes men — especially tender little ones like you. That loser scholar just made it all up. You still take it seriously?"

Frankly, after reading half the book, Xie Jinhuan also felt the second female lead didn’t seem like the ghost bride. She was too reserved and conservative.

If she really was the ghost bride, she would have already pinned Realman Qixia down by chapter three and started playing twin-headed fox tail tricks by chapter five...

Yet this book not only censored the romance but didn’t even have a single explicit scene...

Ye Hongshang, seeming to read his mind, sneered as she saw Xie Jinhuan frowning:

"These loser scholars make a living writing smut, but still act all high and mighty, scared to show some skin. No guts, no shame. Wasting everyone’s time. Look at Spring Radiance, now that’s refreshingly honest, right~?"

"Well, it’s not that bad. Proper novels need a little foreplay too. Maybe it gets spicier later..."

Xie Jinhuan continued seriously flipping through the yuri novel, still hoping to find some clues. As he reached the alley entrance, he suddenly spotted two women standing outside the Yang residence.

One should be Big Sister Yang, passionately talking.

The other was a national beauty with glasses, eyebrows raised in a gossipy "Oh my~ tsk tsk~" expression.

Xie Jinhuan saw that Lin Wanyi was carrying a medicine box and figured she had come to deliver pills. He quickly stepped forward:

"Big Sister Yang, Doctor Lin."

Big Sister Yang had naturally heard her husband mention Xie Jinhuan before. Seeing him return, she quickly tucked away her gossip, straightening up with a graceful salute:

"Young Master Xie, you’re back. Are my husband and father-in-law still at the yamen?"

Xie Jinhuan found her quite proper and demure — far more reserved than Liu Qingzhi’s wife. He returned the salute:

"Official business at the yamen piled up. The Prince himself stayed up all night. Uncle Yang and Brother Dabiao probably won’t be back today."

"Oh."

Big Sister Yang was already used to her man not coming home at night. After a few polite words, she shuffled back into the courtyard.

Lin Wanyi, seeing this overly prim and proper lady, couldn’t help but tsk tsk in her heart. But on the surface, she too stepped forward gracefully and said, with gentle sophistication:

"I’ve finished a batch of pills. Since you didn’t come to the clinic yesterday, I thought I’d bring them over."

Xie Jinhuan took the box and glanced over it:

"Something came up at the yamen yesterday, so I was running errands all night. Missing one day of pills won’t matter, right?"

"No problem. But for body strengthening, you shouldn’t miss doses often. Make sure to always carry them with you."

As she spoke, Lin Wanyi grabbed his hand and pressed two fingers to his wrist, checking his pulse.

After soaking in the medicinal bath, Xie Jinhuan indeed felt brimming with energy. His strength was already at the peak of Fourth Grade, just a step away from Third Grade.

However, crossing from Fourth to Third Grade was a huge leap. Fourth Grade represented the peak of supple refinement — ‘bones bending like water, the body as flowing as a river’ — while Third Grade marked the initial mastery of controlling qi with the mind.

He needed to temper his body to flawless perfection first. Eating the Dragon Blood Pill would guarantee the breakthrough, but whether he could achieve it early was still uncertain.

Seeing Lin Wanyi so serious like a lady doctor, Xie Jinhuan thought for a moment and asked:

"Tomorrow’s the Mid-Autumn Festival. I heard Danyang’s Lantern Festival is spectacular. Are you going?"

?

Is he trying to ask me out? Lin Wanyi blinked and hesitated to reply:

"You’re planning to go?"

"I’d like to check it out... but things have been crazy lately. Not sure if I’ll have the time..."

"Then why bother asking..."

Xie Jinhuan was just about to respond when the ever-present ghost bride whispered in his ear:

"Be careful. There's a blood fiend aura inside the house."