"Reinforcements! The reinforcements are here!"
"The bandits fled!"
"Quick! Put out the fire! Help the injured!"
Amid the clamor, the door to Steward Chen Yuqing’s room opened.
She held a short sword, her eyes sweeping over the ravaged courtyard and the rapidly approaching reinforcements. She whispered something to her maid, Cui, who was trembling in fear beside her. Then, she strode toward the front courtyard to meet with the leader of the reinforcements.
The apprentices and staff, who had hidden away and narrowly escaped the disaster, poked their heads out from their hiding spots. Still shaken, they cautiously gathered in the lit area of the front courtyard.
Li Lie approached, supported by two guards. A deep gash on his chest had peeled back skin and muscle, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His injuries looked severe.
Li Lie looked at Chen Yuqing, and then his gaze fell upon Chen Yue, flickering for a moment.
The crackling torches cast flickering light and shadow across their faces.
Chen Yue supported Lin Quan, who had just regained consciousness and was still unsteady on his feet. His gaze swept past Chen Lin as he directed the cleanup efforts, finally settling on Chen Yuqing at the front of the crowd. She was speaking in low tones with the leader of the Chen Family reinforcements.
She was still in her moon-white dress, though its hem was now smudged with dust. The short sword she’d been holding was already sheathed, and she showed no signs of having been in a life-or-death battle. Even her breathing was calm and even.
Chen Yue recalled Lin Quan mentioning in a private conversation that the new steward, Chen Yuqing, knew Martial Arts. ’For a woman to reach the Refined Flesh Realm is no easy feat,’ Lin Quan had said.
Lin Quan had been with the Chen Family for many years. He was a true veteran, and his access to information far surpassed that of any ordinary steward.
’The fighting just now was so fierce, and the bandits even broke into the Alchemy Courtyard, which isn’t far from Chen Yuqing’s quarters. Yet there were no sounds of a struggle from her direction?’
’She has the Cultivation of the Refined Flesh Realm, yet she completely avoided a direct confrontation with the bandits?’
Chen Yuqing finished her conversation with the reinforcement leader and turned around. Her cold gaze swept over the bewildered crowd, finally landing on Chen Lin.
"Steward Chen, take some men and assess the damages. Treat the wounded. The rest of the guards who can still fight will come with me to pursue the enemy. We must get back what they stole!"
"Yes!"
The guards answered in unison. Li Lie stepped forward, his chest wound crudely bandaged. His eyes were fierce, showing his bitter refusal to accept the night’s defeat.
Chen Yuqing’s gaze swept across the crowd, then suddenly stopped on Chen Yue.
"Chen Yue, we’re short-handed. Since you have the Cultivation of the Skin Refining Realm, you will join us in the pursuit."
Chen Yue was taken aback. ’She wants me, an Alchemy Master, to join the pursuit?’
An Alchemy Master’s value lay in Alchemy, not combat. This was a common understanding throughout the apothecary, and indeed, the entire trade.
Before Chen Yue could respond, Lin Quan’s expression darkened. He coughed twice. "Miss Yuqing, although Chen Yue is in the Skin Refining Realm, his Cultivation is still new, and he has little to no combat experience. It would be unwise to have him risk his life in a pursuit."
Lin Quan rarely contradicted a steward’s decision, especially not an upstart like Chen Yuqing, who clearly had the backing of the main family. That he was speaking up now was obviously because Chen Yue had just saved his life.
"Master Lin, I must disagree."
Chen Yuqing hadn’t even spoken when her maid, Cui, couldn’t resist stepping forward. "The apothecary has suffered a great disaster tonight," she said, her voice sharp. "This is a time when everyone, from top to bottom, must work together. Since Chen the Pill Master knows Martial Arts, it is his duty to help."
The atmosphere grew tense. Chen Lin glanced at Lin Quan’s displeased face, then at the inscrutable Chen Yuqing, and quickly tried to mediate.
"Miss Yuqing, Master Lin, pursuing the bandits is the priority right now; they can’t have gotten far. Why not let the guards go with you while Chen Yue stays behind? He can help take stock of the lost Elixirs, as he’s the most familiar with our inventory."
Chen Yuqing’s gaze lingered on Lin Quan’s determined face for a moment before shifting to Chen Yue, who stood with his hands at his sides, his expression unreadable. She said no more on the matter. With a wave of her slender hand, her voice turned cold. "We’ll pursue them first! Li Lie, can you manage?"
Li Lie gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand straight. "It’s nothing!" he growled. "We will catch those bastards!"
"Let’s go!"
Without further delay, Chen Yuqing’s figure blurred as she shot off in the direction the men in black had fled. The other guards, including the injured Li Lie, followed close behind, and they quickly vanished into the darkness of the street.
Chen Lin breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately began directing the now-calmer apprentices and staff to clean up the site, put out the small fires ignited by overturned lamps, treat the injured, and collect the bodies of the dead.
A moment later, another seven or eight guards arrived, clearly sent from the main Chen Family estate. They didn’t join the pursuit; their orders were to remain and bolster the apothecary’s defenses, preventing the bandits from returning or any other opportunists from looting in the chaos.
Soon, a preliminary damage report was compiled and brought to Chen Lin.
The front hall’s storeroom for finished Elixirs had been completely looted. The shelves were bare, save for a few crushed Elixirs scattered on the floor, caked in dirt and unusable.
The storeroom for precious medicinal ingredients had also suffered heavy losses; several priceless restorative herbs were gone. The monetary losses, however, were surprisingly light, as most of the silver had been deposited in a bank and the rest was well hidden.
But what made Chen Lin’s face turn ashen was the loss of personnel.
"Steward Chen,"
An injured guard reported, his voice raspy, "Wang the Pill Master, Sun the Pill Master, and the newcomer, Zhao the Pill Master... they’re all gone. Their rooms were ransacked. We fear they’ve been abducted."
Chen Lin’s vision went black. He swayed on his feet and was quickly steadied by the bookkeeper beside him.
Three Pill Masters abducted. This loss was far more devastating than any stolen Elixirs or ingredients. He hadn’t seen them earlier and had assumed they were just hiding in a panic. But this... this was a disaster.
Elixirs could be re-created and ingredients could be re-stocked, but finding new Alchemy Masters was no simple task. After tonight, the only people left in Huichun Hall capable of refining common Elixirs were Lin Quan and Chen Yue.
"It’s all thanks to Chen Yue!" Lin Quan said as he walked over, still leaning on Chen Yue for support. Hearing the damage report, he sighed again and again, his gaze toward Chen Yue filled with gratitude.
"If it wasn’t for this kid’s quick thinking and his solid Martial Arts training, he wouldn’t have been able to fight off the bandits who broke into my courtyard. If he hadn’t, I’m afraid this old man would’ve been dragged off to some godforsaken corner by now. I might never have seen another sunrise."
Chen Lin took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.
He looked at Chen Yue, his expression complex. He clapped him firmly on the shoulder and said in a heavy voice, "Chen Yue, you did very well tonight. You not only protected yourself, but you saved Master Lin as well. All that time you spent on your Martial Arts... it was well worth it."
A faint smile touched Chen Yue’s lips. "I was only doing my duty, Steward Chen. You praise me too highly."
Inside, however, he felt little joy. Instead, his mind was swarming with doubts. ’The bandits had clear targets and were well-organized. They weren’t just here to steal goods; they were here to abduct people. The crucial point is, they took the other Pill Masters. So why did they try to hack me to pieces instead?’
About an hour later, the light of torches reappeared at the end of the street. Chen Yuqing had returned with the pursuit party.