Back at Li Mei's pill refining hut, the herbal fragrance of drying spirit roots and simmering concoctions filled the air. The two of them sat cross-legged at the low stone table in the middle of her courtyard, a kettle of medicinal tea gently steaming between them.
Han Yu had set down the neatly copied version of his test scroll on the table, and Li Mei was already poring over it with a focused frown.
She had been quite curious about what questions Han Yu had been asked. It had been a long while since she had given the test herself, so wanted to see if there had been any changes or if the test was harder than usual.
"So these were the questions, huh?" she murmured as her fingers traced the characters. "Most of it's pretty standard—herbal property balancing, theoretical flame progression, reaction timing in multi-tiered pills…"
She flipped through the pages slowly, her expression calm and unreadable.
Then she paused.
Her eyes narrowed.
"…Wait. This one."
