Jingliu and Dan Heng arrived at the Alchemy Commission without ceremony, stepping into a place that felt strangely different from the one Dan Heng remembered.
The last time he had seen this part of the Luofu, it had been a battlefield. Smoke had hung in the air, shattered structures had littered the streets, and the corpses of soldiers, Mara-Stuck abominations, and unfortunate civilians had been scattered throughout the Commission’s pathways. The memory of it had been unpleasant enough that he had expected some lingering evidence of the devastation, perhaps some collapsed buildings or damaged platforms that had yet to be repaired.
Instead, the place looked almost immaculate. Everything seemed to have been cleaned up. The corpses were gone, the destruction had been repaired, and even the lingering traces of blood had disappeared beneath whatever advanced cleaning methods the Xianzhou possessed.
Dan Heng found himself mentally noting just how quickly the Luofu could erase the physical evidence of a disaster. It was almost unsettling. Civilization had a remarkable habit of rebuilding itself over the scars left behind by catastrophe, until eventually someone could walk through the same place without ever realizing that people had once fought and died there.
He glanced toward the great cauldron towering above the Commission, its enormous structure serving as the most recognizable landmark in the area, but Jingliu did not head toward it.
Instead, she continued walking with the same quiet confidence she had displayed ever since they had left Stargazer Navalia, leading him farther through the winding paths until they stopped in front of a much smaller building.
Dan Heng looked at it, then at Jingliu, and his expression slowly became confused.
It was a clinic. Of all the places he had expected Jingliu to take him, a clinic had not been particularly high on the list.
"Why are we here?"
Jingliu offered no immediate answer. She simply approached the door and opened it, revealing a mostly empty interior that looked as though someone had attempted to organize it several times and failed every attempt. Shelves lined the walls, some containing neatly arranged bottles while others were cluttered with miscellaneous medical supplies. Various instruments had been left on counters, several pieces of paper were scattered across a desk, and a number of boxes had been stacked in places that seemed to serve no logical purpose.
The entire clinic had the peculiar atmosphere of a workplace that was functional solely because the person operating it had memorized where everything was.
There was nobody visible at first.
Jingliu stepped inside, while Dan Heng followed reluctantly, his eyes scanning the room.
Then, something moved behind the counter. A tiny head appeared. A moment later, a small figure came scurrying out from behind it with an armful of medical supplies, nearly tripping over her own feet before recovering with surprising dexterity.
She was a young Vidyadhara girl with purple hair matching the long dragon tail trailing behind her, white dragon horns protruding from her head, and eyes that seemed almost impossible to categorize at first glance, one shade shifting between mint green and yellow.
She was small, energetic, and unmistakably young, yet there was something about her expression that suggested she had already developed the exasperated personality of someone who had been forced to deal with patients far more troublesome than they had any right to be.
The moment those strange eyes landed on Dan Heng, however, they brightened immediately. The supplies were nearly forgotten as she hurried toward him.
"Dan Heng!? What a surprise! Are you not feeling well? Please, come this way."
Dan Heng sighed internally. There was something deeply uncomfortable about being greeted by a child who immediately assumed he needed medical attention. His mind wandered briefly toward the Xianzhou’s labor laws, or rather, the apparent lack thereof.
Then again, Bailu was a Vidyadhara. She wasn’t human, and despite her appearance, she was around Sunny’s age in terms of actual years lived. That distinction made the situation considerably less absurd, although not by much.
The Xianzhou Alliance had an unfortunate tendency to place immense expectations upon people who happened to possess the right bloodline, and Bailu was perhaps the most obvious outlier of that tradition.
She had been raised as a potential successor to Imbibitor Lunae, a role that traditionally belonged to the one Vidyadhara named Drinker Of The Moon.
Except there was only one person who carried that True Name, and it was not Bailu. Dan Feng was gone, and Dan Heng certainly had no desire to take his place.
So, the Vidyadhara had turned toward Bailu, attempting to shape her into a replacement despite the fact that her abilities and personality were fundamentally different from those of her predecessors.
From the things Bailu had told him during the chaotic period when he had first encountered the runaway Dragon Lady, her Aspect was associated with healing. That alone explained why she had been placed in a clinic.
Dan Feng and his predecessors had been trained in combat and Alchemy, wielding enormous power as both warriors and practitioners of the Vidyadhara’s Cloudhym Sorcery. Dan Heng, on the other hand, retained a certain degree of these skills thanks to the botched reincarnation cycle...
Bailu, on the other hand, had been given a healing Aspect, making medicine the natural direction for her training. Alchemy would probably be taught to her eventually, at least to some degree.
Combat, however, seemed likely to remain secondary. Dan Heng wasn’t sure whether that was a blessing or another example of the Luofu trying to fit a living person into a role that had been designed centuries before she was born. He was still contemplating that when he noticed Jingliu staring at Bailu with a strange expression. It wasn’t her usual distant calm. There was something almost amused in it.
Then Jingliu stepped directly in front of him.
Dan Heng’s eyebrows lowered.
"Jingliu?"
She ignored him completely. With a faint smile curving across her lips, she moved between him and Bailu, effectively blocking the girl’s view of him. She spoke, her voice suddenly taking on an almost theatrical quality:
"O’ Dragon Lady, I am the one here for a consultation. Won’t you ’treat’ me, instead?"
Dan Heng stared at the back of her head.
What was she doing?
Bailu blinked several times, clearly unsure how to respond to the sudden shift in attention. Her eyes moved around Jingliu, attempting to see Dan Heng behind her, but Jingliu seemed determined to prevent it. The young Vidyadhara eventually gave up and looked directly at the blindfolded woman, her enthusiasm noticeably diminished.
"Uh, well... what are your symptoms? Does it have to do with your eyes?"
Jingliu’s smile widened.
"You misunderstand. This covering of mine is not meant to conceal my gaze from others, but to conceal them from myself. To avoid seeing that which reminds me of my past and to avoid riling my... inner demons. My thoughts have been disordered lately, and my nights are filled with terror... perhaps, you may soothe me, O’ Dragon Lady?"
Dan Heng stared at Jingliu.
Something was wrong.
He couldn’t explain it, but every instinct he possessed was telling him that Bailu was in danger.
Bailu seemed to sense the same thing. Her lips pursed into an extremely thin line as she studied Jingliu, and for several moments the clinic became completely silent. Eventually, however, professional responsibility won over common sense.
"Not really my area of expertise, but sure, I’ll check you out. Just take some translucence worms first so I could see your guts."
Dan Heng’s expression went blank.
Outside the clinic, there was a sudden scream.
"WHY WOULD ANYONE EAT WORMS?!"
Dan Heng recognized that voice.
He chose not to acknowledge it.
Jingliu, meanwhile, simply reached toward the container Bailu had presented and picked up several translucent worms between her fingers. She examined them for a moment before calmly placing them into her mouth.
Dan Heng watched in silence as she swallowed them without the slightest hesitation. There was no gagging, no disgust, and no visible discomfort. Moments later, her body began to shimmer. Her skin became translucent, revealing the faint outlines of bones, organs, and various internal structures beneath it.
Bailu immediately became more focused, leaning forward and examining Jingliu’s body with the practiced seriousness of a physician. She moved around her, scanning different sections and occasionally making small noises of concentration.
Dan Heng couldn’t help but feel that this was possibly the strangest medical examination he had ever witnessed. Eventually, Bailu reached the conclusion that Jingliu’s internal organs appeared perfectly functional. She then checked her pulse.
Her expression changed immediately.
"...Hey, Dan Heng?"
Dan Heng looked toward her.
"Why is your friend really cold?"
She glanced at Jingliu.
"And doesn’t have a pulse?"
Dan Heng frowned.
"Can’t you ask her?"
"I would, but she’s creeping me out."
Dan Heng looked at Jingliu.
Jingliu was smiling. It was a very strange smile. A smile that belonged on the face of someone who had just remembered an exceptionally entertaining secret.
Dan Heng silently agreed with Bailu.
Jingliu answered regardless.
"I’m Mara-Struck."
Dan Heng’s eyes widened.
Bailu raised one eyebrow.
"You seem pretty sane to me."
Jingliu explained casually.
"I made a deal that allowed me to retain what life I had left in me. I may be sane, and I do not experience the Abundance as I should, but my mind and body are both at their limits."
Dan Heng blinked.
As Sunny would probably put it, that meant she was a zombie.
Wonderful.
Apparently, he had spent the last several hours traveling around with an undead Saint who had been making ominous promises about cutting down stars and now wanted a child doctor to examine her. Dan Heng was beginning to suspect that his life had become a sequence of increasingly absurd decisions made by people around him.
Bailu, meanwhile, placed a finger against her chin and adopted an exaggeratedly thoughtful expression. She stared at Jingliu for several moments, apparently attempting to formulate medical advice for someone whose condition was so strange that even she didn’t know where to begin. Eventually, she shrugged.
"Well, if it’s a mental problem, just forget about the past... or something. Maybe become an alcoholic."
Dan Heng’s face twisted.
What terrible advice.
Jingliu, however, laughed softly. The sound was quiet, but genuine. She reached out and gently patted Bailu on the head before immediately pulling her hand back, as though remembering something.
"I doubt I can do that... but thank you for your advice, Dragon Lady. Meeting you has provided more healing than any kind of medicine or remedy."
Bailu stared at her.
Dan Heng stared at her.
And from somewhere beyond the door, Sunny was undoubtedly staring at her too.
Jingliu ignored all three reactions with impeccable composure. Instead, her attention shifted toward Bailu once again.
"By the way, among those you’ve treated in recent days, did you notice a person in bandages?"
A cold sensation ran down Dan Heng’s spine.
He knew exactly who she was talking about.
At least, he thought he did.
There was only one person Jingliu could possibly be searching for under those circumstances. A tall man. A sword. An ominous presence. Bandages. Blood. A person who wandered into clinics despite apparently refusing treatment.
Bailu tilted her head.
"Bandages? That’s a vague description, y’know... I’m not sure. This is a clinic."
Jingliu seemed to consider the criticism fair. She adjusted her posture slightly.
"The person I’m inquiring about is tall, with a serious expression. He also carries a crude sword exuding an ominous presence with him at all times, not even bothering to dismiss it. Have you seen someone like that, Dragon Lady?"
Bailu hummed thoughtfully.
"Hmm..."
She tapped her chin.
Dan Heng’s heart sank.
"Oh! Yes, someone came by today that matches that description! He must’ve suffered some kind of sword wound — he had a strong scent of blood... though from the way he behaved, it must have been fairly minor. He didn’t even take the medicine I prescribed."
Silence descended upon the clinic.
Dan Heng’s expression became progressively more horrified.
Jingliu, meanwhile, merely nodded.
"Hm. He’s probably looking for a different kind of medicine."
She turned her head toward Dan Heng.
"Well then, it would seem that everything is in place."
Her smile returned.
"Let’s go and meet our old friend."
Dan Heng wanted to cry.
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