Zhou Lihua managed to refine roughly three hundred pills. Wu Jian and Hou Jingshu came by on the fourth day to discover the woman sitting before her cauldron, black bags under her eyes as she stared dazedly into the distance. It looked like she hadn’t slept a wink.
She wasn’t alone. Standing beside her was a middle-aged man with graying sideburns and dark eyes. He wore a silver alchemist robe with blue accents. Wu Jian recognized him from the time when he, Wu Meiying, and Hou Jingshu accompanied Zhou Lihua to Dahua City.
“Master Wong,” Hou Jingshu greeted, placing the fist of her right hand into the palm of her left. “I did not realize you would be here. I heard you were busy.”