Qiu Yunru dreamt of nothing.
It had always been like this for him in his past life. Though sometimes his pain gave him nightmares, most of the time he slept in a blanket of darkness. One could say it was peaceful. Qiu Yunru had always wanted to have more vivid dreams, however. The pain of unattainable desires! The more he wanted something, the less he could have it. This had always been true for him.
When Qiu Yunru awoke, he found that he was in a soft and comfortable bed. A soreness crawled through his body like tree roots grinding his bones.
"Awake?" A soothing, smiling voice spoke. It was He Yongliang, his now-Shizun. With effort, Qiu Yunru managed to lift his head to see his Shizun sitting gracefully in a bedside chair. Looking around, it was evident that he was in a clinic. There were a few beds lined up, and shelves stacked with bottles and boxes of pills. Sandalwood incense was burning nearby.
"Greetings, Shizun," Qiu Yunru said weakly. He attempted to raise his arms to make a courtesy, but tears sprang to his eyes at the pain of trying to raise his right arm. He Yongliang gently pushed his arm down with his fan.
"Don't try to move. You'll be better soon, but the healing process is painful. The acid of the Three-Headed Snake is potent. You have a good constitution; it did not eat down to your bone."
Qiu Yunru winced. A good constitution equated not being eaten to the bone by acid? "...Shizun is too generous. This disciple is slow and failed to dodge the acid."
"Don't be hard on youreself. You joined the sect a few days ago and haven't been trained once; how can you expect your martial abilities to be high? What this master is curious about is Yunru's alchemical abilities. How did Yunru create Ice Fire Dust so quickly, without harming himself? It is a dangerous compound."
Qiu Yunru coughed into his left hand to buy himself some time to think of an answer. He couldn't just say he'd studied this world a thousand times in a hundred saves, could he? Instead, he said: "This disciple was able to read various books on potions in the past. I've kept the knowledge and was thankfully able to think quickly. This disciple is merely lucky that no one else was hurt."
He Yongliang raised an eyebrow, flicking his fan open. "Really?" He was silent for a moment, as though contemplating going on. Then he smiled. "Yunru must be exceptionally intelligent. To have stumbled upon alchemical knowledge in the past and retained it to this extent, even using it under stressful circumstances, is quite admirable. I have high hopes for your cultivation." '
Qiu Yunru found himself blushing under this elegant man's gentle gaze. What was this feeling?! Something about this man's utter poise and beauty made any praise he gave feel like being presented with a hoard of diamonds! He bowed his head.
"This disciple thanks Shizun."
He Yongliang's slight smile shone. "This Shizun will keep your alchemical skills in mind for any future missions. You should know that you will have access to a great variety of alchemical texts at our sect library. If you are interested in cataloguing, there are also texts on beasts of all the realms and cultivation techniques."
Qiu Yunru's ears perked up. Books on beasts of the realm and cultivation techniques--wasn't that the perfect NPC hint at how to quickly grow his cultivation? He tried to sit up and winced, then lied down in defeat. "This disciple thanks Shizun!"
After that, He Yongliang informed Qiu Yunru that the Three-Headed Snake's remains had been transported to an alchemist's center on a nearby peak for ingredient extraction. The Bamboo Forest had been thoroughly searched for any remaining monsters and had been declared safe. Fang Hai and Lei Ruolan were safe. As it turned out, Pan Fa had never properly made it to He Yongliang's quarters that night, and instead fell into the hot spring. He had had to be fished out by Fang Hai and Lei Ruolan as they ran back to inform their Shizun of the incident and get Qiu Yunru medical help. Qiu Yunru couldn't help but internally massage his head. That boy was all cuteness, without an ounce of practicality!
He Yongliang let him be then. Somewhere in the afternoon, the clinic doors burst open, and Pan Fa ran up to Qiu Yunru and hugged him with a face full of tears. "Shixiong! Qiu-shixiong, this shidi is sorry! So, so sorry! I failed shixiong! If only I had been faster, shixiong wouldn't be hurt..." He blubbered into Qiu Yunru's robes, wiping his face all over them. Qiu Yunru used his left hand to pinch this kid's ear.
"Pan Fa! Can't you see two feet in front of you? How did you fall into the hot spring?!"
Pan Fa's puppy eyes welled with tears as he looked up at Qiu Yunru. "This shidi is so stupid...I was in such a hurry, and I slipped on a rock and fell in...I can only swim a little, so I was left splashing for a long time until Fang-shixiong and Lei-shijie came along...This shidi is so, so sorry!" A big, shiny tear dripped down his cheek.
Qiu Yunru's heart melted. Though he wanted to scold this kid more, he couldn't bring himself to. He sighed and released Pan Fa's ear. No head pats this time, at the very least! He could manage that much self control.
"Look where you're going next time, okay, shidi? If it had been a different situation, it could be the difference between life and death. Take careful steps when you hurry, all right?"
Like crushing garlic, Pan Fa nodded over and over. "Yes, shixiong! I will, shixiong!"