northernbook Chapter 506
Chapter 506
Li Yanran gripped the medicine bottle tightly; its cool touch quickly calmed her. She noticed several dark figures looming behind Dongfang Wan'er, indicating that the other party had come prepared. But she was no longer a weak woman at the mercy of others; a resolute flame ignited in her eyes: "No matter how deep the waters, I will stir them upside down."
Morning light slanted in through the carved window lattice, casting a line of light and shadow between the two. This new contest had begun.
The brass lock on the medicine cabinet gleamed coldly in the twilight, and the edge of the medicine bottle gripped tightly by Li Yanran ached in her palm. The shadowy figures behind Dongfang Wan'er gradually came into focus: three burly men draped in heavy black cloaks, the cold metallic gleam of their curved swords gleaming faintly at their waists. The leader had a grotesque scar on his forehead that snaked down to his eyelid; when he grinned, half a gold tooth was revealed, gleaming menacingly in the dim light.
"Li Yanran, you won't leave this pharmacy alive today." Dongfang Wan'er gently stroked the pearls on her nail guards, her brocade skirt brushing against the medicine grinder, making a harsh grinding sound. The thugs behind her fanned out, their heavy breathing mixed with the stench of sweat, almost drowning Li Yanran.
The scent of sandalwood mingled with sulfur filled the air. Li Yanran caught a glimpse of dried mugwort and pine resin piled in the corner. Her fingertips unconsciously traced the texture of the medicine bottle, recalling the flickering candlelight on the candlestick when she had just checked the herbs. Her heart suddenly raced. She took a deep breath, forcing a composed expression, and raised her chin: "Miss Dongfang, aren't you afraid the Marquis will be displeased by going to such lengths?"
"Blame me? Once you're a corpse, who can testify against me?" Before Dongfang Wan'er could finish speaking, Scarface had already drawn his curved blade, the whistling sound of the blade cutting through the air sending chills down one's spine. Li Yanran staggered backward, her back slamming into the medicine cabinet, causing the bottles and jars to shake violently. In the nick of time, she suddenly hurled the porcelain bottle in her hand at the candlestick!
With a deafening roar, the splattered medicinal liquid instantly ignited the dry mugwort. Flames, like greedy serpents, spread rapidly along the hanging medicine packets and draped silk fabrics. Thick smoke, carrying the pungent smell of medicine, assaulted the thugs, causing them to cough violently and wildly swing their curved blades in the air. Li Yanran covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, and taking advantage of a brief lull in the chaos, she stepped over the burning shards of porcelain and rushed towards the door.
Dongfang Wan'er's scream pierced the thick smoke: "Grab her! Don't let her get away!" Ignoring the stinging pain from the flames on his face, Scarface reached for Li Yanran's hair. In the nick of time, Li Yanran whirled around, grabbed a pestle from the table, and smashed it hard against the man's wrist. With a muffled groan, the curved sword fell to the ground, and she seized the opportunity to flee through the door.
The sound of a gong outside the corridor shattered the night. Li Yanran stumbled across the cobblestone path and bumped into a night patrol guard rushing towards her with a torch. Her skirt was still smoldering, and her hair clung messily to her face, yet she remained calm: "Quick, put out the fire! There's an assassin in the pharmacy!" The lead guard, seeing her disheveled state, immediately blew the whistle at his waist, its sharp sound piercing the night.
The fire raged ever brighter, casting flickering light and shadow on Dongfang Wan'er's face. She watched Li Yanran being escorted away by guards, her nails digging deep into her palms. "Go!" she commanded through gritted teeth, her gold-embroidered skirt sweeping across the smeared medicine residue on the floor as she turned. In the distance, shouts of battle rose and fell; this fire in the pharmacy was merely a small prelude to a much larger storm.
Supported by her guards, Li Yanran gazed at the towering flames and suddenly recalled her grandfather's words when he taught her to identify medicinal herbs: "The more dangerous the moment, the calmer you must be, like sandalwood, so that you can release the most intense fragrance in the flames." She gently brushed the ashes off her shoulders, her eyes growing even more resolute in the firelight.
The drizzle of late spring, carrying the smell of burning, seeped through the windowpane. Li Yanran slumped into a wicker chair, her knuckles still unconsciously rubbing her blackened cuffs. The towering flames of the pharmacy seemed to still dance before her eyes, and the crisp sound of exploding tiles and the chilling laugh of Dongfang Wan'er as she left echoed in her ears.
The sound of the copper ring knocking on the door startled her. The Marquis, who had entered at a gallop, his jade pendant still jingling, clearly had arrived on horseback. Seeing her disheveled hair and the medicine-stained hem of her skirt, his usually gentle eyes, usually so close to books, suddenly narrowed: "Yanran!" He strode forward, the wind from his dark robes ruffling the still-damp tea stains on the table. "What has happened?"
Li Yanran's throat tightened as she recounted how Dongfang Wan'er had set fire to the pharmacy and deliberately spilled the poisonous herbs. When she reached the part where the other woman sneered, "Even a successor of the Medical Immortal is nothing special," she instinctively gripped her skirt. The Marquis's face grew increasingly grim as he spoke, his knuckles turning white. Suddenly, he slammed his fist heavily on the sandalwood table: "Dongfang Wan'er dares to be so audacious! Does she really think the Marquis's mansion can't handle her?"
A thunderclap boomed outside the window, followed by a torrential downpour like a silver curtain. By the time the fire was completely extinguished, it was past midnight. Li Yanran, carrying an oil lamp, stepped into the ruins. Scattered among the scorched earth were broken medicine grinders and half-melted porcelain jars. Moonlight filtered through the crumbling walls, casting spiderweb-like shadows on the collapsed beams and pillars. Suddenly, her shoe struck something hard. Bending down to shovel away the ashes, she revealed a bronze medicine box engraved with strange patterns.
The dried herbs inside the box shimmered with an eerie indigo blue—the very "Nine Netherworld Orchid" she had been searching for for three years without success. This medicinal ingredient, which grew in extremely yin places, might be able to cure the "Cold Poison Attacking the Heart Syndrome" that had plagued her for so long. Li Yanran's fingertips trembled slightly as she carefully hid the medicine box close to her body. In the distance, the sound of a night watchman's drum came, and amidst the ticking of the water clock, she could hear her own heart pounding like a drum.
Meanwhile, the glass lamps in the west courtyard of the Marquis's mansion cast a long shadow of Dongfang Wan'er. As her personal maid tremblingly announced, "The Marquis has sent his secret guards to investigate you," she was slowly and meticulously applying makeup in front of a bronze mirror. Suddenly, a silver hairpin pierced her dressing case, splintering wood. She gritted her teeth and sneered, "Li Yanran, this score between us isn't over yet." She then rose, opened a sandalwood box, and took out a yellowed secret letter. The candlelight reflected a sinister glint in her eyes.
For the next two weeks, the rebuilt pharmacy was filled with the aroma of medicine. Li Yanran supervised the craftsmen repairing the beams and pillars while repeatedly studying medical books, adjusting the proportions of the Nine Netherworld Orchid with other medicinal herbs. Whenever she was writing at her desk, she would subconsciously glance out the window—she knew that Dongfang Wan'er would never give up easily, and that this war without gunpowder had only just begun.