Wei Sijian

Watching Ding Anbai leave, Shen Qian was utterly baffled.

What... kind of nonsense was he talking about?

Shen Qian replayed Ding Anbai's words in his mind. He was certain he recognized every single character, yet their meaning together eluded him.

Did he somehow know I wanted to cooperate with him?

But Shen Qian immediately dismissed the thought. If that were the case, there was no way Ding Anbai would have refused. Besides, there was no logical reason for him to know in the first place.

Just then, an elderly man with white hair emerged from the inner courtyard, accompanied by several young individuals dressed in white robes. As soon as he appeared, everyone in the courtyard—including Ding Anbai—greeted him with smiles and approached him eagerly.

Shen Qian vaguely caught words like "Professor Cheng" in the murmurs around him.

A moment ago, he had checked the work badges of the other attendees—most of them were entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry. That meant the white-haired elder called Professor Cheng was likely the renowned medical expert from Beidu.

After some polite exchanges, a square-faced young man standing behind the elder suddenly spoke up. Whatever he said made the white-haired elder frown deeply and scold him. The young man, unwilling to back down, retorted with something before turning on his heel and storming back into the inner courtyard.

Then, Ding Anbai and the others escorted the visibly displeased white-haired elder into the conference hall.

Seeing that the summit was officially beginning, Shen Qian gave up on the idea of probing Ding Anbai further. He was about to leave when a familiar "Ding-dong! Ding-dong!" notification suddenly rang in his mind.

His face darkened. His conditioned reflex was already kicking in.

"A valuable resource target has been detected. The system is now activating Auto Mode."

"Generating map data... Coverage: 3 km²..."

"Locating target... Calculating optimal route..."

"Target resource locked. System initiating auto-navigation..."

"Ding!"

Shit. I'm in the Martial Arts Bureau right now. The Martial Arts Bureau—a place crawling with experts!

System, what kind of trouble are you stirring up this time?!

These thoughts barely flashed through his mind before his vision went black, and he lost consciousness completely.

---

When Shen Qian opened his eyes again, his first instinct was to scan his surroundings warily.

No immediate danger... and it was oddly quiet.

He found himself in a room filled with books, resembling a small library. Through the gaps between the shelves, he estimated there were three or four rows of bookcases. He was standing right by the entrance.

He casually picked up a white-covered book.

The Essentials of Nine-Needle Medicine... A medical book?

His gaze shifted to the bookshelves in front of him. Cheng's Pharmacology, From Alchemy to Pill Refining—The Importance of Beast Materials...

It seemed like every book in this small archive was related to medicine and pharmaceuticals.

So... was he still in the medical research institute?

"Ding! Target location reached. The system is now extracting the resource array..."

"Resource array generated. Expanding knowledge database... Progress: 1%, 2%..."

Hearing the system notifications, Shen Qian started piecing things together.

So... the so-called "valuable resource" was these medical books?

But how did I even get in here?

He opened the system's auto-mode log. The record was simple, containing just one line:

"You followed Wei Sijian into the Martial Arts Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Institute's laboratory and entered the archive (15:23)."

Wei Sijian?

Shen Qian was confused.

At the same time, another thought crossed his mind. Did the system cancel Auto Mode because it needed time to expand its so-called knowledge database?

Creak!

Just as Shen Qian was deep in thought, the door behind him suddenly swung open.

His body tensed, and the person behind him also froze.

Slowly turning around, Shen Qian was met with a confused expression staring back at him.

It was him.

Standing in front of Shen Qian was a young man in a white robe and gloves. His messy hair and small eyes, combined with his perfectly square face, gave him a somewhat comical appearance…

If Shen Qian remembered correctly, this was the same young man who had just talked back to Professor Cheng outside the conference hall.

This is awkward…

Did I just get caught in the act?

Just as Shen Qian was contemplating how to explain himself, the square-faced young man spoke first.

He looked at Shen Qian with a sudden realization. "Oh, there's someone here? Perfect! Help me find a book. I need it right now. It's called Encyclopedia of Spiritual Herbs. Should be on the second-to-last bookshelf in there!"

The young man rattled off his words at lightning speed and turned to leave without waiting for a response.

Shen Qian was stunned. But then, a thought struck him, and he instinctively called out, "Wei Sijian?"

"What?" The square-faced youth turned back.

"...Nothing."

"Oh."

Wei Sijian nodded and hurried off again.

...So he really is Wei Sijian.

But... why does he seem kind of clueless?

Shen Qian pondered for a moment. Since the system was still processing data, he made his way to the second-to-last bookshelf. Before long, he found Encyclopedia of Spiritual Herbs just as Wei Sijian had described.

He dawdled a little longer, waiting until the system's notification finally popped up: "Knowledge database expansion complete." Only then did he exit the archive.

Outside, an expansive laboratory—over 200 square meters—unfolded before him. Workbenches and various instruments filled the space. The air was thick with a pungent medicinal scent, one that was neither pleasant nor unbearable.

The massive lab was nearly empty, with only one person present—Wei Sijian, hunched over a workbench, completely engrossed in his task.

"Here's your book," Shen Qian said, glancing at the table to confirm that Wei Sijian was only handling medicinal herbs before walking closer and handing him the book.

"Just leave it there," Wei Sijian said without even looking up.

Shen Qian placed the book on the table and watched him work for a while. Throughout the entire process, Wei Sijian remained completely absorbed in his research. He didn't even notice when Shen Qian picked up and flipped through the notebook lying open on the table.

…

Shen Qian rubbed his chin.

So this is probably how I managed to enter the lab—just by following him in broad daylight…

This guy… kind of feels like an idiot.

"No, something's not right…" Wei Sijian finally looked up but only to snatch his notebook back from Shen Qian's hands, still not sparing him a proper glance.

This kind of person… is probably a real academic.

Now assured that Wei Sijian posed no threat, Shen Qian began wandering around the lab.

He saw plenty of incomplete medicinal herbs and bottles of unknown potions, but since nothing was labeled, he didn't dare touch them.

Apart from the archive, the lab was connected to several other rooms. As Shen Qian glanced around, his eyes locked onto a specific sign.

"Potion Storage Room!"

Looking back at Wei Sijian, who was still muttering to himself, Shen Qian decided to try his luck and pushed the door.

It was locked. An electronic card reader was installed next to it.

After a moment's thought, Shen Qian returned to Wei Sijian's side and asked, "Can I borrow your access card for a bit?"

"Don't bother me!" Wei Sijian snapped impatiently, shooting him an annoyed look before pulling a card out of his pocket and tossing it onto the table.

…Is it really that easy?

Glancing at Wei Sijian, who had already immersed himself back into his notes, Shen Qian picked up the access card and turned toward the Potion Storage Room.