Chapter 14
Repayment
Bai Fanxian's sudden words silenced the dining room. Tang Letong, who initially looked shy, frowned.
What did she mean by that? Did this woman think he would poison his own sister?
Before Tang Letong could say anything, Tang Xiuhan raised his hand to stop him. He turned to Bai Fanxian with a serious demeanor and asked:
"What do you mean, Lady Bai?"
Even though displeased, he still asked politely.
Seeing everyone in the dining room's attitude change immediately, Bai Fanxian glanced around. Her gaze stopped at Tang Xiuhan who held the position as master of this house.
She met the middle-aged man's eyes fearlessly.
"Vitality Restoration Elixir. Do you know its properties?"
She asked calmly.
Father and son looked at each other at Bai Fanxian's question. It was Tang Letong who answered instead.
"The Vitality Restoration Elixir has properties as its name suggests—restoring vitality to injured people or those in weakened states. Helping users recover quickly and become stronger."
The young man explained in detail.
Bai Fanxian nodded at his answer.
"Correct."
"Then why did you say my son wants Yeye to die, Lady Bai?" It was Tang Xiuhan who asked with suspicion.
"And do you know about its side effects?"
Tang Xiuhan, who was speculating, startled at Bai Fanxian's question. He quickly turned to his son for an answer.
"This medicine has no side effects. Grandpa already tested it on both animals and humans. The sick people didn't recover, but they all felt stronger." Tang Letong objected. When they did the experiments, he was there too. All the people who received this Vitality Restoration Elixir showed stronger attitudes and much more vigorous vitality.
It was like a miracle tonic!
It wasn't a cure, but it really could help make their bodies stronger!
The young man found Bai Fanxian's words quite displeasing.
"No side effects?" Bai Fanxian looked around. She was weighing whether to help them or not. When she glanced at little Hui'er, however, who was showing obvious concern, she sighed softly.
For the sake of how kind they were to my person.
"Do you think this elixir can truly restore life force?"
"The test results proved it. Everyone who took it became stronger." Tang Letong still had his own reasoning to argue back.
Seeing that each person still didn't understand, Bai Fanxian sighed softly.
"It doesn't restore life force. It drains it."
"D-drains life force?"
Bai Fanxian's words surprised everyone in the room. Tang Xiuhan sensed a strange implication in the young woman's words.
"Dried dew grass, jade dust branches, foam tree leaves, brown silkworm blood, and pure water. Do you think these ingredients truly have properties to restore life force?"
Tang Letong's eyes widened in shock. The young woman in front could state the ingredients used to refine this Vitality Restoration Elixir with complete accuracy. The publicly available records were open for anyone to read, but they weren't complete. His grandfather had only recently deciphered its ingredients and refining method.
So how did this young woman know?
Despite his shock, when he thought about all the ingredients the young woman listed, he realized something startling.
He was now a level 2 alchemist, and he'd been learning this discipline from his grandfather since childhood. So he was quite accurate about the properties of herbs and ingredients.
The ingredients used to refine the Vitality Restoration Elixir truly didn't have any restorative properties!
"Th-then why?" The young man murmured, confused.
In the test results, all the test subjects clearly showed improvement. Some who'd been bedridden for a long time even managed to sit up within a few hours.
"Vitality Restoration Elixir. Besides getting your vitality back, you also have to pay something in return."
Bai Fanxian explained. She turned her beautiful eyes to meet with Tang Xiuhan who swallowed loudly.
"Lifespan. The more critical your condition, the more lifespan you must pay in exchange. Normally this medicine would only be used in real emergencies or during war when you just need to struggle to survive."
"Normally they don't use it on children..." The young woman sipped her tea again when she finished speaking, unconcerned.
Whoosh!
Tang Xiuhan, hearing the last sentence, broke out in cold sweat. He stood up abruptly, unable to control himself. His wife Tang Xinlan's face turned pale in shock.
"Master! The young miss suddenly..."
The maid who normally took care of Tang Xiuhan's daughter came running in with an alarmed face. Her voice trembled slightly while her breath came in heavy pants.
"What happened!"
Tang Xiuhan grabbed the maid's shoulders and demanded.
"The young miss's condition looked good at first...b-but suddenly she started wasting away. She's suffering terribly!"
The maid hurriedly explained. Tang Xiuhan and his wife rushed up to the second floor.
A small girl lay writhing in agony in the spacious room fully equipped with medical equipment.
Her skin was rapidly withering. Within moments, the child's smooth white skin had aged beyond recognition.
"Dad..."
The little girl opened her eyes and saw her father's alarmed face as he rushed in. She murmured softly, her small hand reaching for Tang Xiuhan's large hand as if seeking support.
"Yeye! Yeye! What's wrong!?"
Tang Xiuhan asked frantically. Tang Xinlan and Tang Letong, who rushed in after, saw their daughter's condition and were in tears. She desperately wanted to hug her daughter, but with Yeye's physical condition, she feared even touching her would cause her to collapse.
"Yeye! It's my fault...it's because of me..."
Tang Letong clung to the bedside looking at his sister's body with a heart full of guilt. Before he went down, she'd had a smiling face, happily falling asleep. But now—even he could barely recognize his own sister.
"Brother..."
Tang Yeye murmured softly. Her eyes seemed to suddenly blur. She tried to raise her hand clumsily. Tears flowed from the corner of her eye in a small stream.
"...Am I going to die?"
The little girl's question struck a chord with everyone in the room. Tang Letong even burst into sobs beside the bed. If his sister really died, he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.
"No! Yeye, you can't die." Tang Xiuhan gripped his daughter's small hand, desperate to comfort her. His mind raced through various solutions.
"A doctor! Did you call a doctor?"
"I already called the doctor! He's rushing over now." The maid answered with concern.
"What about Father? Does he know?"
"I notified the Clan Head. He should arrive in a few minutes," Uncle Huang reported. He'd contacted Tang Tianjie as soon as he saw the young miss's condition.
"What do we do? What should we do, dear?" Tang Xinlan asked her husband through tears. The more she saw her daughter's condition, the more her heart ached.
"I brought the medicine box from the master's room!" A male servant ran into the room. His shaking legs and still panting breath showed how much he rushed.
"Bring it here quickly!" Tang Xiuhan waved urgently. They brought the large medicine box with many layers and placed it in front of him. He opened it and searched through all the pills, then pulled out one.
That pill was white like a pearl, with a faint aura of life flowing from it and a subtle special scent.
Tang Xiuhan fed that pill into his daughter's mouth without hesitation. Tang Yeye swallowed it. She could sense the herbal fragrance. Warm streams flowed throughout her body—like nourishing water sprinkled on parched land. The little girl's skin gradually became moist and supple again.
The little girl's agonized face gradually calmed. Tang Xiuhan, who was closest, sensed his daughter's breathing becoming steady. She had fallen asleep.
They breathed a sigh of relief.