Somber Spirit Pharmacy

Chang Liuyun sat at a table together with 6 other workers, a pile of herbs in front of them.

They methodically grabbed one herb after the next and separated it into its different parts.

Quickly, the leaves, roots, blossom, seeds and stems were all neatly put in several bowls before they moved on to the next Soothing Essence Clover.

This was what the shop assistant had called the herb when he instructed Chang Liuyun on what to do. Although he didn't bother giving any further explanations after that, so Chang Liuyun had no idea what this Soothing Essence Clover was actually for.

And his fellow workers were no help as well, strictly focusing on the task at hand with emotionless expressions.

In fact, they hadn't spoken a single word from the moment Chang Liuyun joined them to now, which was several hours later.

But Chang Liuyun had no intentions of initiating a conversation either. If the 13 years spent with Huo Dong had taught him anything, it was to mind your own business in an uncertain environment. Even if he had never been particularly good at that.

So, Chang Liuyun remained as silent as the other workers around the table.

The only thing that disturbed their silence was the occasional Assistants that left their respective Alchemist's chamber to pick up some herbs from the wall-high shelves all around them.

These Assistants sometimes stopped to chat with each other but never talked to any of the workers at the table, directly ignoring them as if they didn't even exist.

There were even several times Chang Liuyun could hear them discreetly badmouthing another Assistant or noticed how they send disdainful gazes the table's way.

All this caused Chang Liuyun to slightly raise his eyebrow beneath his mask, but he just continued picking apart the herbs.

He hadn't expected the atmosphere in the pharmacy to be quite this bad.

But it wasn't actually that much of a surprise, considering who the Head Alchemist was.

This separation through power and status seemed awfully on-brand for someone like Suan Bian.

Well, it didn't matter in the end, he only needed to complete the task he had been given and look out for a certain Young Master.

If one ignored their surroundings, handling the herbs was actually kind of enjoyable, at least to Chang Liuyun.

The grass-like scent mixed with the subtle sweet aroma spilling from the clover's flower...

Very refreshing and calming.

Chang Liuyun was very tempted to simply pick up one of the herbs and take a more direct sniff of the scent, but he managed to suppress that urge, settling for carefully examining the many different parts of the herb instead while picking.

It was pretty interesting actually, discovering the tiniest details and imperfections, quietly comparing different herbs in his mind to debate which one of the two would probably be more effective or had a better quality.

Unexpectedly, he enjoyed it quite a lot.

To the point that he wondered why he had never noticed these things before.

But the answer to that was pretty simple.

There had never been time.

Day in and day out, he constantly worried about pleasing Huo Dong for his own survival while praying that the other hadn't noticed him sneaking food to some of the more malnourished captives or showing any other kindness to them.

And it wasn't like he was particularly favored by Huo Dong in the first place, the only thing that differentiated Chang Liuyun from the captives was that he could move a bit more freely.

Ultimately, he was still Huo Dong's prisoner and plaything, inflicting pain on others for Huo Dong's amusement just so he could keep his meager life, before secretly offering his help when Huo Dong didn't pay attention to soothe his guilt.

In a way, he felt like he was worse than Huo Dong, but no matter his own feelings, something told him, no, demanded of him to stay alive.

To survive.

And it was what kept him running all these years, the reason he started plotting an escape plan with the other captives after he noticed a change in Huo Dong's behavior.

Even though it still almost fell through in the end.

Chang Liuyun shuddered as he recalled the powerlessness and despair he felt when he stood hunched inside that cage.

He needed to get stronger and leave this place, stay as far away from Huo Dong and his usual routes as possible.

"-eparing for that trip to the Dark Stone Clearing for an entire week now! I won't cancel it, I need herbs for my Consciousness Awakening Pills!"

Suddenly, one of the Alchemy Chambers' doors opened and Suan Bian emerged, clearly agitated.

Behind him, a person clad in a servant's attire walked out with a flustered expression on his face. Trying his best to appease the angered young master.

"Young Master, please listen to this servant..."

Suan Bian whipped around, angrily opening his mouth.

"Why should I listen to your words, you're just a servant and my father has never restricted my ventures into the forest before!"

Suan Bian turned to leave.

The desperation on the servant's face grew and he rushed forward to stop Suan Bian, flinging himself to the ground in a pleading position.

"Please reconsider Young Master! These are the Master's direct orders, he even said that if you dared to disobey them he would ground you for an entire month!"

Hearing the servant's words, surprise appeared on Suan Bian's face and he halted.

"Ground me? Why would my father ground me just for something like that?", he wondered aloud before casting his deathly cold gaze at the servant on the floor.

The servant began to slightly tremble in response.

"T-this servant does not know, Young Master!"

Unsatisfied with this reply, Suan Bian continued staring at the servant for a few moments longer. But no matter how much he pressured the servant with his gaze and their disparity in cultivation base, the other only repeated the same words with pleading in between.

Finally, Suan Bian had to admit that there was nothing else to gain and with a 'Tsk' he stopped pressuring the servant and turned away, waving for one of the other servants to take their fainted colleague back to the estate.

But just when he wanted to return to his chamber with an annoyed expression, Suan Bian caught sight of Chang Liuyun who tried his best to decrease his sense of existence.

Unfortunately, his tall stature and masked appearance were just too hard to overlook.

Suan Bian's face darkened for a moment at the realization that the other had witnessed this embarrassing instance before slowly lighting up with a mischievous smile.

"Oh, Chang Mingyun, you're here! Come over, let's talk for a bit..."

A cold shower went down Chang Liuyun's spine when Suan Bian addressed him with said smile, but he still rose from his seat without the slightest amount of hesitation, plastering a somewhat dumb smile on his lips as he limped over.

At Suan Bian's invite, Chang Liuyun entered the Alchemy Chamber before the former firmly shut the door behind him with a foreboding sound.

Small theater:

Suan Bian: My father restricting me? Hah! We will see about that...

Chang Liuyun:...

Chang Liuyun: But why am I here?