"The hypocrisy is suffocating," Wei Zian mumbled.
"Sorry, I didn't hear that," Wei Fu said.
"Nothing, nothing," Wei Zian waved dismissively. "So what kind of trouble are you in now?"
"Um, I might have promised a friend I'll make her an anti-rash salve," Wei Fu said sheepishly.
"There is no such thing as an 'anti-rash salve'," huffed Wei Zian. "There is, however, a Soothing Spirit Cream, which is applied directly to the affected skin rather than being consumed like an elixir would be. This just shows what a complete ignoramus you are when it comes to alchemy. What in the Heavens were you thinking, promising your friend something like that?"
"I kind of pushed her into a patch of crimson nettles during our wilderness survival session," Wei Fu admitted. "Please, you have to help me! I'll find you a dual cultivation partner if you do!"
"I don't want a dual cultivation partner!" snapped Wei Zian irritably. Least of all the kind of partner Wei Fu would introduce him to. "Look, why are you bothering me about this? Just go to a medicine hall and buy some."
"It's Friday evening. All shops are closed in preparation for the festival tomorrow."
"Well that's too bad, because I can't help you," said Wei Zian. "First two years focus entirely on theory and laboratory safety, and I'm just starting my third year. We haven't done any serious alchemy in our sessions so far."
So true and yet such a blatant lie. He hadn't done much alchemy in training sessions, but he had done extensive private study in his free time. He could make an ointment for the crimson nettle rash easily, but why should he waste his expensive alchemical ingredients?
"By the Heavens, come on. You know three different scripture languages and you've mastered all the pointless qi control exercises they make us learn, but you can't even do something this basic? What do you do in your room all day if not learning useful things like this?"
"You're one to talk!" Wei Zian snapped. "You're a year older than me, you should be perfectly capable of doing this yourself."
"Eh, you know I never cared for alchemy. Too detailed and boring for me," Wei Fu said with a dismissive wave. "Besides, I can't even make a pot of tea without ruining mother's good teapot, do you really want me around alchemical equipment?"
Well, when he puts it that way...
"I'm tired," Wei Zian said. "I'll make it tomorrow."
"Are you insane!? Tomorrow is too late!"
"Oh come on, it's not like she'll die from a damn rash!" said Wei Zian irritably.
"Please, Wei Zian, I know you don't care about these things but she's interested in this young master and-"
Wei Zian groaned and tuned him out. That's pretty much all he needed to know about this 'emergency'.
"-and if my friend's rash isn't healed by then she won't be able to attend and she'll never forgive me! Please, please, please-"
"Stop it."
"-please, please, please, please-"
"I said stop! I'll do it, alright? I'll make the damn salve, but you owe me a significant favor for this, you understand?"
"Certainly!" he said cheerfully. "How much time do you need?"
"Meet me by the spirit fountain in about three hours," Wei Zian sighed.
Wei Zian watched him as he ran away, probably so he wouldn't change his mind or demand something specific in return. He shook his head and went back to his room to retrieve the necessary alchemical ingredients. The sect maintained an alchemy workshop disciples could use for their own projects, but you had to provide your own ingredients. Fortunately, he had everything he needed for this particular task.
The workshop was completely empty aside from him, but that wasn't unusual. Most people were preparing for the ceremony tomorrow and were unlikely to engage in last-minute alchemy practice. Unfazed by the eerie silence of the workshop, Wei Zian arranged the ingredients across the table and set to work.
Ironically, the main ingredient of the Soothing Spirit Cream was the very plant that was the cause of this trouble, the crimson nettle, or more accurately its leaves. Wei Zian had already dried them in the sun, and now they only needed to be ground to powder. This was generally the most annoying part of the procedure, as crimson nettle leaves released a cloud of irritating dust into the air if they were simply crushed with a standard mortar and pestle. The jade slips he'd studied had all sorts of elaborate methods to deal with this, usually involving expensive equipment, but Wei Zian had a much simpler solution: he wrapped the leaves in a slightly damp cloth, then wrapped the whole thing in a piece of leather, and then hammered the resulting bundle until he felt no resistance. The irritating dust would bond with the cloth, and the leaf pieces wouldn't escape.
After mixing the leaf dust with ten drops of spirit honey and a spoonful of blue spirit berry juice, he placed the mixture over a low fire, stirring the contents until they achieved a uniform color and consistency. Then he removed the bowl from the heat and sat down while he waited for the concoction to cool.
"That was very impressive work," a rather feminine voice sounded behind him. "Nice improvisation with the crimson nettle leaves. I'll have to remember that technique."
Wei Zian recognized the owner of the voice though, and Bai Ke wasn't really female, despite some nasty rumors. He turned around to face the spirit race boy, studying his snow-white hair and intense blue eyes for a moment before returning his attention to cleaning the alchemical equipment he had used. No reason to get banned from using the workshop because he failed to clean up after himself.
He struggled to formulate a response while Bai Ke was inspecting the salve with a practiced eye. The boy was rather mysterious, having only joined their group this year by transferring from who-knows-where, and not being very talkative. Plus, you know, he was from a spirit race. How long had the boy been watching him? Sadly, he had a tendency to lose track of his surroundings when he worked on something, so he couldn't tell.