The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 45

Furnace Explosion

Song Linlin didn’t feel much guilt. Anyway, the saliva all over her hand wasn’t hers; it was all produced by Chi Qianning below her. Wiping it back onto her should be perfectly reasonable, right?

At most, this counted as returning something to its original owner.

            

Chi Qianning looked at Song Linlin. Because she had just ingested the other’s blood, combined with the effects of her existing physical condition, she didn’t have much strength right now. Just moments ago, she could only let the other person reach out and smear something across her face, after which she felt a dampness there.

After figuring out what the wet stuff on her face was, Chi Qianning couldn’t quite describe her current feelings. There was the shame of realizing it was her own saliva, mixed with anger that the other person had actually wiped this onto her face, but even more than that was an indistinct, hard-to-pinpoint sensation.

However, her current state wasn’t right. Chi Qianning didn’t have the extra energy to pursue the matter with Song Linlin. She raised her hand and wiped the wetness from her face with her sleeve. Those red eyes looked at Song Linlin, carrying a hint of blame. If one ignored her still-flushed face, it might have held some intimidating power.

            

Song Linlin clearly showed no sign of regret. She looked at the person beneath her and could even manage a smile at Chi Qianning, saying with that smile, “Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose.”

These words obviously lacked conviction. Song Linlin said them so insincerely; anyone not a fool could see the amusement in her eyes. This clearly showed she had acted deliberately just now.

Chi Qianning was also provoked by the other’s smile. She was naturally thin-skinned; no one had ever dared to be so audacious as to wipe saliva on her face before. This sort of thing was too humiliating. Finally, she grabbed Song Linlin’s hand and bit down on it, fulfilling Song Linlin’s initial wish to be bitten.

            

Her palm was suddenly bitten. Chi Qianning didn’t bite down too hard; it was within Song Linlin’s tolerance. Anyway, it wasn’t a bite with sharp fangs, so being bitten like this really didn’t count as painful.

After a moment, Chi Qianning released her teeth. A clear bite mark remained on the held palm. Song Linlin looked at the mark, feeling she was a bit mentally abnormal​¹, actually finding being bitten quite comfortable.

Except for the first time she was bitten, when she felt some resistance and fear, she had become quite accepting of it afterwards.

            

Song Linlin pulled her hand back, her fingers rubbing the spot with the bite mark. Her eyes watched the person beneath her, making it hard not to think strange thoughts. However, she was clearly much more rational than the other person, unaffected by the scent of the Hehuan San.

Her actions just now were merely an impulse driven by the atmosphere; she didn’t really have the guts to do anything more.

Chi Qianning and Song Linlin looked at each other. Their current posture was also quite awkward. Finally, she spoke, “Get off.”

            

“Oh…”

Song Linlin obediently shifted her position, sitting down next to Chi Qianning. Chi Qianning also sat up. Having been pushed by Song Linlin earlier, she had ended up lying sideways across the quilt.

The two sat together on the edge of the bed. Song Linlin turned her head to observe the condition of the person beside her. Chi Qianning’s breathing was gradually calming down now, though the faint blush on her face and ears had yet to fade.

            

When she was bitten just now, all her attention had been on her palm, and she hadn’t paid attention to whether the other’s body temperature had dropped. Now, Song Linlin felt too embarrassed to reach out and touch Chi Qianning again.

She could only tentatively ask, “Are you okay now?”

Chi Qianning turned her head and gave her an exasperated look. If Song Linlin hadn’t gone to refine that Hehuan San and gotten contaminated with its scent, how could she have ended up in such a wretched state?

            

And yet this main culprit​² hadn’t behaved properly afterwards, doing those things, and could still ask such a question now.

Fortunately, that Hehuan San wasn’t a very high-grade medicinal pill. Moreover, Song Linlin was a complete beginner, so what she refined was just a defective product. Its medicinal effect wasn’t strong to begin with, and since it was just the scent, the effect would be further reduced.

Although Chi Qianning still felt it strongly, she could now initially control her body’s condition. The stronger a cultivator, the faster they could process such low-level pills.

            

Her strong reaction earlier was, of course, also due to Chi Qianning not having recovered her full strength, plus being in her heat cycle, her own desires were easily provoked—practically igniting at the slightest spark.

Chi Qianning shook her head and said to Song Linlin, “Go to sleep. I’m fine.”

“Alright.”

            

Since the other person said so, Song Linlin could only nod. She slipped into the quilt, spending a peaceful night with Chi Qianning.

Early the next morning, Song Linlin opened her eyes right on time.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and first sat on the bed contemplating life for a while before turning her head towards Chi Qianning’s direction.

            

As usual, she couldn’t see Chi Qianning’s face, only her silver hair spread out on the pillow. This person really liked to curl up in a corner and sleep completely covered by the quilt.

Every morning, Song Linlin would lift the quilt off her head. According to Song Linlin, it was to let Chi Qianning get some air. Whether it was simply because she herself was awake and wanted to wake the other person up was unknown.

Reaching out, she checked the other’s temperature with a touch. It was the same as always—cool.

            

Only then did Song Linlin retract her hand, relieved. She put on her outer clothes. Chi Qianning opened her eyes, raised her head to look at Song Linlin, her voice still a bit groggy, “What were you just doing?”

At this moment, Song Linlin was sitting on the edge of the bed, bending over to put on her shoes. She said, “I was just checking your temperature, seeing if you were better.”

Chi Qianning, on the bed, was speechless for a moment, even wanting to roll her eyes at her. After several seconds, she finally said, “Song Linlin, even if someone really took Hehuan San, after a whole night, the effects should have worn off.”

            

“Ah, is that how it works?”

Song Linlin finished putting on her shoes. Thinking about it carefully, it did seem to be the case. Hehuan San wasn’t some high-grade aphrodisiac; its effects probably only lasted one or two shichen​³. If one wanted it to last a day or two, they’d likely need a high-grade medicine.

She could only nod and say, “Then I must have been muddled from sleep, my head wasn’t clear.”

            

After washing up, Song Linlin was about to leave. She turned her head to Chi Qianning and said, “I’m heading out for morning class.”

Sensing the other seemed to want to say something but was hesitating, Song Linlin continued, “I know, I won’t go refine those weird pills with Zhang San again today.”

Seeing that the other had said what she wanted to say, Chi Qianning nodded, “Go on.”

            

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For the next few days, Song Linlin was indeed much more settled. During the day, she obediently stayed within Ziting Residence​⁴ learning to refine the most basic pills, although her progress was worrying.

Having finally managed to learn the few basic pills Zhang San had mentioned before, today Song Linlin was finally going to start learning how to refine a first-grade pill.

Song Linlin looked at the formula in her hand. Today she was learning a pill called Jinqi Wan​⁵. Taking it could temporarily increase a person’s strength, allowing them to exert greater power. This belonged to the simplest batch among first-grade pills, but the steps were much more difficult than what Song Linlin had refined in the previous days.

            

Looking at this formula gave her a headache​⁶.

Chi Qianning also came over today. Ever since discovering that what Song Linlin was learning from Zhang San was how to refine Hehuan San, she would occasionally come along with Song Linlin, ostensibly to watch over her and prevent her from learning those messy, inappropriate things again.

“Alright, let’s begin!” Zhang San encouraged Song Linlin from the side.

            

Zhang San had already explained the specific refining process clearly to her; refining pills still relied on Song Linlin herself. Usually, because Song Linlin learned slowly, most of the time Song Linlin and Zhang San would each work on their own refining. Only when Song Linlin had questions would Zhang San go over to take a look.

Song Linlin nodded. Although she had now learned how to refine three types of pills, starting to refine a first-grade pill was still quite challenging for her.

She followed the steps, lit the furnace fire, and then began placing the required herbs into the furnace one by one. As Song Linlin put in the fourth herb, the flames inside the furnace suddenly surged violently. The herbs were burned to ashes, and the smoke choked Song Linlin.

            

Song Linlin coughed several times, but she was already used to it. Many herbs had been ruined these past few days. Luckily, they were all cheap; otherwise, she really couldn’t afford to waste them like this.

After struggling with the furnace all morning, Song Linlin finally managed to complete the first step of processing the herbs. Next was purifying the herbs inside the furnace, removing the impurities.

Reaching this step, Song Linlin didn’t dare to slack off. However, as she continuously poured in spiritual power, why did she feel things were developing strangely?

            

Logically, when removing impurities, the herbal liquid in the furnace should fuse with the powder and then condense. Why did it now feel like the liquid mass was like boiling water in a large pot, brought to a boil by her, and still bubbling continuously?

Soon, the commotion grew louder and louder. Even the alchemy furnace began to shake slightly. Zhang San, off to the side, noticed the disturbance nearby and turned her head to look at Song Linlin’s furnace.

She wouldn’t have known without looking, but one look startled Zhang San immediately​⁷. She sucked in a sharp breath, looking at Song Linlin with utter shock, “What did you do?!”

            

“Ah?” Song Linlin hadn’t yet realized the severity of the situation, still a bit dazed about why the furnace had started shaking.

Zhang San immediately shot up, backing away while shouting loudly, “Song Linlin, run! Your furnace is going to explode!”

“Huh?!”

            

Now Song Linlin was startled too. She looked closely at the alchemy furnace and only then discovered that faint cracks had actually appeared on its surface. Furthermore, as it shook, the cracks began to grow larger and larger. It was obvious it would explode soon.

“F%ck!”

This really gave her a fright. Song Linlin immediately scrambled up using both hands and feet, not forgetting to run over and pull Chi Qianning, who was sitting on a chair, up with her, dragging her along as they ran out of the courtyard gate.

            

The three stood outside the gate, staring at each other blankly. After a short while, they heard a loud bang from inside the room. The furnace had probably been blown to bits​⁸.

Zhang San was the first to push the door open, poking her head in to look. The room inside was a complete mess. Furnace fragments littered the floor, and the impact from the explosion had knocked many things over.

“Is the main room okay?” Song Linlin asked from behind.

            

If the building itself was damaged by the explosion, she wouldn’t be able to afford the compensation.

Zhang San shook her head, “It’s fine… it just means we probably won’t have time for lunch.”

Song Linlin walked into the main room, saw the situation, understood her meaning, and began diligently cleaning the room.

            

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“Phew, finally done.”

Song Linlin lay on the floor, which had been wiped gleaming clean. The three of them had been busy all noon and finally managed to clean the main room. It seemed that sometimes living in too large a place wasn’t necessarily a good thing; at least wiping the floors was exhausting.

Song Linlin never would have thought that she’d actually cause a furnace explosion with that batch of herbs. When she saw the liquid boiling, she had assumed it was just because the medicinal power of a first-grade pill was greater, not on the same level as what she’d refined before, and that’s why the furnace started shaking.

            

Who knew it turned out to be on the verge of exploding.

Chi Qianning tossed the rag into the water basin and put down the vase she was holding. Even she, who had never done housework, had been forced to start wiping vases.

Zhang San was also lying on the soft couch, not wanting to move. Bending over to wipe the floor had made her back ache; right now, she just wanted to lie down.

            

“Alchemy is really dangerous…” Song Linlin said.

It seemed she didn’t have the talent for it. Being able to blow up a furnace… she was really something else.

Her dream of becoming an alchemist shattered, Song Linlin now felt it was happier to just obediently be a slacker​⁹ within the sect.

            

“Are you going to refine more later?” Zhang San asked.

“No more learning, no more learning!”

Song Linlin hastily refused. Experiencing a furnace explosion once was enough; she couldn’t handle it happening again.

            

Besides, she felt she definitely had no talent in this area. She had already wasted several days just learning those three simple pills; the subsequent ones would surely be even harder.

This feat of actually blowing up a furnace was something Zhang San had never seen before either. She couldn’t find any words of comfort right now.

“Sigh!”

            

Zhang San sighed, “I’ve figured out the rest of the formula for that bottle of poison, but it’s missing an important ingredient. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until we return to the sect to start putting it into practice.”

“Hm?” Song Linlin, lying on the floor, turned her head and asked, “What’s missing? Can’t we buy it here?”

“We’re missing an herb called Purple Mist Leaf. This kind of herb usually grows near the lairs of poisonous demonic beasts. I haven’t seen it available for exchange here at the Xuanyun Sect.”

            

Song Linlin sat up, rubbing her chin, “Is that so?”

“Then let’s just go down the mountain and look for it!”

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The author has something to say:

            

This chapter is a transition chapter; we’ll be changing maps​¹⁰ later. Going down the mountain naturally means playing around everywhere; there probably won’t be much of that particularly serious plotline from before.

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