Mist weaved around Li Wei legs like the tails of specters, clinging and cool as he stepped alone back toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The Poison Douluo had left him in silence after showing the nearby house—a modest structure made of dark-hued stone and deep green tiles, built into the side of the cliff, overlooking the twin wells. It was a house of seclusion, yet within its walls glimmered life and resistance.
Dugu Yan was inside.
Li Wei stood outside the wooden door for a moment, fingers trailing along the jade serpent token in his palm. The morning fog curled in soft spirals, neither threatening nor inviting. He inhaled deeply, the air still tinged with faint toxicity, but less oppressive than before.
He knocked.
No answer.
Li Wei stepped inside gently, his boots silent on the polished wooden floor. The scent of dried herbs and medicinal pastes filled the room, heavy and pungent. A pot of water simmered on a clay stove in the corner. Soft sunlight filtered through bamboo-shuttered windows, casting golden latticework across a lone bed near the wall.
Dugu Yan sat cross-legged on that bed, her eyes closed, teal hair tumbling down her back like riverweed. Her aura was steady but fragile—like a candle barely resisting the wind.
Li Wei said nothing. He simply stepped aside and sat near the window, careful not to disturb her rhythm. He pulled the jade token from his robe and held it in his lap. A custodian now. A guardian of this poisonous paradise. It was a weight that did not suffocate, but it settled into his bones.
After a while, her breathing shifted. She opened her eyes, pupils like sharp emeralds. Surprise flickered across her features, quickly replaced with guarded composure.
"You're still here," she said, voice low and hoarse. "I thought you'd be gone from this place with the others."
Li Wei met her gaze. "I promised your grandfather. And more than that, I gave my word to myself."
She scoffed lightly, but her lips softened. "Is that so? So what your name? My name is Dugu Yan."
Seeing that she introduce herself to him , as a courtesy he also need to introduce himself. "Is that so. Nice to meet you Dugu Yan. My name is Li Wei."
"If you know about my grandfather, you should know the effect of been close to us." She know that because of her constitution many thing cannot be done. Even holding hand with others as that can even poison them.
"Because you're not," he replied simply. "Poison is only one side of the coin. It can kill—but it can also protect."
Her eyes widened, and then—unexpectedly—she smiled. "He said the same once. Long ago. Before it started eating him alive."
Li Wei lowered his gaze. "I saw the effect the toxin had on him. But I also saw what it did to you." He lifted his Diendriver and tapped the BuffRide: Ex-Aid card still in the side slot. "Let me help. At least... let me ease the pain."
She stared at him, mistrust warring with hope. Then she nodded.
He activated the card, aimed the Diendriver, and whispered.
[BuffRide: Ex-Aid.]
The pink glow burst forth, enveloping her in gentle warmth. Her eyes fluttered. Her breath deepened. For a moment, the constant tension in her muscles unwound.
She let out a soft exhale. "This... this is the first time I've felt this light in years."
Li Wei nodded. "It's not a cure. But it's a start."
She lay back, blinking at the ceiling. "So, you really plan to stay here? This place is not good for staying a long time if you go to the centre. Just stay farther away if you do not have anything to do from the centre."
He stood slowly. "I don't plan to be alone. Not if I can help it."
He walked to the door, pausing only to glance back. "Rest. I'll be nearby."
Outside, the mist had begun to lift, revealing the terrain more clearly. The valley unfurled before him—twisting cliffs, pools of venomous water, rare herbs hiding between blackened roots. He walked carefully down toward the perimeter of the spring, where the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well steamed like the breath of two sleeping dragons.
The ring of scorched and frozen earth around the well buzzed with spiritual resonance. Flowers of every color and shape blossomed around it—plants that should never grow side by side, yet flourished in paradoxical harmony. It was overwhelming.
Li Wei narrowed his eyes.
His gaze flicked from stalk to stem, from petal to leaf. He reached within his memory, drawing out Yue Guan's teachings, the voice of the Chrysanthemum Douluo echoing through his thoughts.
"Jade Spirit Cleansing Flower. Pearlescent stem, five translucent petals edged with a pale silver, and a subtle internal glow. It grows only where extreme yin and yang converge—anywhere else, and it wilts within hours."
His eyes locked on a patch nestled between two rocks where frost met flame.
There it was.
A flower no taller than his hand, glowing faintly with internal light. The stem shimmered like moonlit jade, and its petals curved with perfect symmetry. It looked too delicate to survive this place, and yet—it thrived.
His heart skipped a beat.
"That's it," he whispered. "The one I need."
He knelt and examined it closely. The petals pulsed in rhythm with the well's aura. The flower had adapted, synchronizing itself with the chaotic energy of the spring. If harvested wrongly, it would shatter like spun glass.
He smiled. "But I won't harvest you. No... I'll help you grow stronger."
He took out a small notebook from his sleeve and began sketching the plant's features, noting the soil texture, the proximity to both spring halves, the fungal growth near the roots. Each detail mattered. Each variable needed understanding.
He would create a cultivation matrix for it—replicate its growth conditions in isolated plots near the spring. One was not enough. If he could multiply them, he could provide healing to others… perhaps even purge the poison from Dugu Yan and her grandfather completely.
A low cough interrupted his thoughts.
Dugu Bo stood at the edge of the spring, arms folded, his expression unreadable.
"You found it quickly."
Li Wei stood and bowed. "Thanks to Yue Guan lessons. I recognize it. The Jade Spirit Cleansing Flower."
The old man grunted. "It doesn't bloom every year. This one's been here for almost a decade. Still hasn't been picked because I feared it would die. You're saying you can cultivate it?"
"I want to try," Li Wei said. "If I replicate its conditions on a smaller scale, I might be able to propagate it without disturbing the main plant."
Dugu Bo stared at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, a wry smile broke across his face.
"Spirit Hall really did send me a strange boy."
Li Wei smiled back. "They didn't send me. I chose this."
A long silence settled between them. The steam hissed, and somewhere in the trees, a spirit beast gave a distant, lonely cry.
Finally, Dugu Bo nodded. "Very well. I'll assign you one section of the ring. Test your theories. Fail quietly."
Li Wei gave a small bow. "Thank you."
Dugu Bo turned to go, but paused. "Yan is... quieter when you're around. I don't know what that means. But I'll allow it."
As he disappeared into the mist, Li Wei exhaled slowly.
This was more than just a research site now.
It was a home.
—
That evening, Li Wei sat on the roof of the small house, legs dangling over the edge, notebook in his lap. The moon hovered low, casting silver light over the valley, which shimmered in poisonous hues of green and violet.
Dugu Yan joined him silently, climbing up with a faint wince.
"You should rest," he said without looking.
"I rest enough," she replied. "The pain comes whether I sleep or not."
He handed her a warm herb tea he'd brewed earlier. "This might ease it. Slightly bitter."
She sipped it with a scrunched nose. "You weren't lying."
Silence fell.
Then she asked, "Why do you care so much? We're not family. Not even friends."
Li Wei closed his notebook.
"Because I've seen people suffer, and no one should bear it alone. You and your grandfather—both chose isolation to survive. I want to change that. Even if only slightly. And I do not want an entire family to disappear because of their martial spirit."
She stared at him, stunned.
"…You're a fool," she murmured, setting the cup down. "But maybe... the right kind of fool."
They sat in silence again, watching the twin springs below—two elements forever clashing, yet never fully consuming one another.
"Will you name your flower grove?" she asked suddenly.
He thought for a moment.
"Yes," he said at last. "Sanctuary."
She blinked, then smiled faintly. "Sanctuary... I like that."
As the night deepened, the poisonous mist seemed to thin for a while. Under the moonlight, in that quiet house above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, two lives touched by venom found the first warmth of something new—something not yet love, but no longer loneliness.
And down by the roots of a glowing jade flower, the pulse of rebirth quietly grew stronger.
I will save them all and kill the one that cause this situation for their amusement. The entirety of them.