Sounds of repair work echoed through the greenhouse early that morning.
Since early morning, several workers had arrived carrying folding ladders, toolboxes, and sheets of replacement glass.
The sound of hammers and scraping wood echoed through the Lin family’s backyard in turns.
The greenhouse door, which had nearly been forgotten for years, was now fully open again.
Qingyu stood near the entrance, quietly watching them work.
The greenhouse air was warm and damp, carrying the scent of soil and leaves.
Sunlight entered through the glass panels that had begun to be cleaned, turning the drifting dust golden beneath the sunlight.
Several parts of the greenhouse were indeed too old.
The door hinges had rusted, the lower wooden shelves were beginning to rot from dampness, and the roof vents could barely open anymore.
Lin Feng had clearly been serious when he gave permission for this place to be used again.
Everything damaged was being repaired at once.
One worker was replacing an old vent with a more modern model when Xiao Lan entered, carrying two bottles of cold water.
“Miss, drink first,” she said.
Qingyu accepted the bottle.
“Thank you.”
Xiao Lan smiled before turning back to watch the workers with open curiosity.
“I didn’t expect this greenhouse to be so big,” she murmured.
“If it’s properly cleaned up, it’ll be really beautiful.”
Auntie Yue, who was cleaning the old wooden table in the corner of the small kitchenette, looked over as well.
“Your mother used to spend a lot of time here,” she said softly to Qingyu.
“She could stay here for half a day.”
Qingyu listened without asking much.
Her eyes swept across the entire space again.
The longer she stayed in this greenhouse, the clearer it became that this place held too many unusual things.
Not only plants, but traces of someone who had once lived between two worlds.
By late afternoon, the workers finally finished.
The new glass had been installed, and the wooden shelves had been repainted in a soft natural color.
Small hanging lamps were placed at several points, bright enough without making the greenhouse feel cold.
The air inside also felt much more comfortable than before.
After the workers left, Qingyu, Xiao Lan, and Auntie Yue stayed longer to tidy the interior.
They moved pots, rearranged plants, and cleaned corners that had long been covered with dust and dry leaves.
When everything was done, the greenhouse felt different.
Still simple, but alive.
Qingyu finally sat on a low wooden bench near the small kitchenette inside the greenhouse.
Her body was a little tired, but her breathing remained stable.
On the small table before her was a dark clay pot.
The plant inside was short, with broad, dark-green leaves.
Faint red veins appeared only when the light struck the leaves at certain angles.
Qingyu’s gaze lingered on the plant for quite some time.
Bloodroot Leaf.
A second-grade plant.
In Azura, it was not difficult to find.
But on Earth… this plant should not exist.
Qingyu was becoming increasingly certain that Lin Qingyu’s mother had not been an ordinary herbalist.
Several plants she had found in this greenhouse clearly came from an energy system different from Earth’s.
These plants could not have grown normally in ordinary soil.
Her fingers touched one of the lowest leaves.
It was darker than the others.
This part had the strongest medicinal effect.
“I’ll make a simple decoction from this,” she said.
Xiao Lan immediately looked over.
“For Miss’s body?”
Qingyu nodded.
Auntie Yue, who had been silent until now, seemed to understand at once.
“Should it be boiled?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Auntie Yue did not ask anything further.
She carefully took the leaf and brought it to the small kitchenette.
Her movements looked practiced.
Qingyu watched in silence.
Perhaps Auntie Yue had often helped Qingyu’s mother prepare herbs in this place before.
The Bloodroot Leaf was washed carefully, then boiled in hot water for several minutes.
A bitter scent soon filled the room.
Even Xiao Lan grimaced.
“It smells like the bitterest medicine in the world…”
Auntie Yue poured the boiled liquid into a small ceramic cup.
Its color was dark green, almost black.
Qingyu accepted it without hesitation.
“Miss, are you sure?” Xiao Lan asked again, this time more worried.
Qingyu only nodded.
Then she drank it all at once.
Bitterness immediately filled her mouth.
The true effect appeared a few seconds later.
Heat spread rapidly from her throat to her chest.
Stronger than the Fire Tuber before.
Qingyu immediately covered her mouth and bent forward sharply.
Black liquid mixed with blood rose from her throat.
It carried a faint metallic smell, like rust.
Xiao Lan panicked at once.
“Miss!”
She nearly dropped the water bottle in her hand.
“I’m fine,” Qingyu cut in quickly, though her breathing had begun to grow heavy.
Her body started trembling.
Heat and cold mixed together beneath her skin.
Cold sweat appeared at her temples.
The meridians that had been blocked for so long felt as though they were being forced open by the herb’s energy.
Auntie Yue hurried closer, her face pale when she saw Qingyu’s condition.
“Miss Qingyu…”
“This is a recovery reaction,” Qingyu said through restrained breath.
“Help me back to my room.”
Auntie Yue and Xiao Lan immediately supported her from both sides.
As they crossed the backyard, Qingyu’s steps faltered several times.
Even so, her mind remained clear.
She could feel the poison inside her body beginning to move.
It had not disappeared completely, but it was being forced out little by little.
When they reached her room, Xiao Lan helped Qingyu sit on the edge of the bed.
“Miss, are you really alright?” she asked, her eyes almost red with tears.
Qingyu slowly raised her gaze.
“I’m fine.”
A moment later, her body became even heavier.
Heat rose quickly, and her vision gradually blurred.
“I’ll sleep for a while…”
The sentence had not fully ended before her consciousness sank.
That night, Qingyu’s fever rose and fell without pattern.
At times, her body became so hot that her breathing turned heavy.
A few hours later, her temperature would drop suddenly until her fingers turned cold.
Xiao Lan barely left the bedside that night.
She sat on the floor holding a cold towel, her face full of worry every time Qingyu moved even slightly.
Auntie Yue came in several times with warm water and fresh compress cloths.
“Her fever has gone down a little…”
“It’s rising again…”
Their quiet voices occasionally sounded through the night.
Outside the window, the city continued moving as usual.
Vehicle lights passed far away along the road.
But inside that room, something was slowly changing.
The Purple Dragon Stone kept near Qingyu’s pillow began giving off a very faint violet glow, pulsing softly.
The wooden bracelet from her father also felt warm around Qingyu’s wrist.
The thin flow of qi surrounding her body moved more steadily than before.
As if both objects were guarding her body throughout the recovery process.
Near dawn, Qingyu’s body temperature finally began to fall slowly.
Her breathing returned to normal.
And for the first time since night arrived, her face looked truly peaceful.
Qingyu opened her eyes when morning light began slipping through the gaps in the curtains.
Her body was still tired, but far lighter than before.
The heaviness that had long clung to her chest and back had eased considerably.
She slowly sat at the edge of the bed.
The bruises on her arms were still there, but the color had begun fading around the edges.
Her blood circulation had improved greatly.
When she guided a thin stream of qi through her main meridians, the flow moved more smoothly than before.
Her qi level had reached ten percent, still weak, but far steadier than before.
And for an ordinary human body, that was already a major change.
Qingyu lowered her gaze to her hands for a while.
The poison inside Lin Qingyu’s body was indeed no ordinary poison.
It was far too subtle.
If it had not been treated early, a person could die years later without ever knowing the true cause.
Her thoughts returned to the patient at the hospital yesterday.
That victim had been affected by a different version.
A rougher and more aggressive type.
“They’re still developing the formula…” Qingyu thought calmly.
One version to control slowly, another to test immediate effects.
Two different poisons, but from the same system.
Beside the bed, Xiao Lan had fallen asleep with her head resting against a small chair.
Auntie Yue was still sitting near the window with her eyes half closed, a warm cloth still in her hand.
Qingyu looked at them for a long time.
A strange warmth filled her chest.
It had been too long since someone had guarded her like this.
Even in Azura, after she grew up, very few people had truly stayed by her side without hidden interests.
Qingyu drew in a slow breath.
Then, for the first time since arriving in this world, a simple thought appeared in her mind.
Perhaps…
She was no longer truly alone.