After being bought by seven rough men and taken to the deep mountains, I was pampered.

"Pay up! The Qin family is heartless and rotten! Pay back my face!"

"Everyone come and see! Wanxiang Academy is selling poison and harming people!"

Early in the morning, the usually bustling commercial street was suddenly shattered by a series of mournful wails.

Dozens of people carried two stretchers, blocking the entrance to the academy with an imposing air. Two women lay on the stretchers, their faces covered with thick gauze, writhing and groaning in pain.

Several burly men followed beside him, holding sticks, looking ready to smash up the shop.

Customers buying milk tea and looking at houses nearby were startled and formed a large crowd around them.

"What's going on?" Su Wan was checking yesterday's milk tea sales records in the accounting room when she heard the noise. She frowned, put down her pen, and went outside.

The fourth brother, Qin Yue, stopped fanning himself and followed behind with a grim expression: "They dare to provoke us on Tai Sui's territory? I think these people are tired of living!"

……

At the entrance of the academy.

"Fellow villagers! You be the judge!" The leader, a burly man with a fierce face, held up a pink porcelain bottle and spat as he spoke: "My wife believed the Qin family's nonsense and spent a fortune on this so-called 'Rose Fairy Water'!"

And the result? My face broke out after just one night of applying it! It was covered in pustules!

He ripped off the woman's veil from the stretcher.

"Hiss—!" The entire audience gasped! The woman's face was red, swollen, and festering, with yellow fluid oozing from some areas. It was a horrifying and utterly disgusting sight!

"My God! This isn't beauty treatment, it's disfigurement!"

"Thank goodness I didn't buy it because it was too expensive! It was terrifying!" The crowd erupted instantly. The wealthy women who originally wanted to buy hydrosol were so frightened that they backed away one after another, throwing their silver notes on the ground as if they were hot potatoes.

"Don't believe him, everyone!" Su Wan pushed through the crowd and stepped forward, her eyes turning cold as she looked at the porcelain bottle: "This isn't Qin family packaging at all! Our bottles are specially made crystal bottles with a subtle 'Qin' character pattern on the bottom! Yours is a coarse porcelain bottle!"

"Bullshit!" The man glared and roared arrogantly, "You say it's not, but it clearly says 'Qin's Rose Water' on this label! You're just trying to renege on your promise!"

"Don't listen to this vixen's excuses! She's the one who harmed people! She smashed up her shop!"

As he spoke, the man, taking advantage of his superior numbers, swung his arm and shoved Su Wan! His large, dark hand, with grime under its nails, swung with a powerful force, straight at Su Wan's shoulder!

"Sister-in-law, be careful!" Qin Yue shouted anxiously as he was still blocked by the crowd behind him.

Just then, the dirty hand was about to touch Su Wan's clothes.

"Whoosh—!" A very faint yet extremely sharp sound of air being torn apart rang out!

There was no earth-shattering collision. The man's movements suddenly froze.

He maintained the outstretched hand position, which hovered half an inch in front of Su Wan, but it seemed to be frozen in place, unable to fall down no matter what.

"My...my hand?!" The man's eyes widened in horror. He felt as if his entire right arm had instantly lost all feeling, followed by a piercing tingling and excruciating pain that spread wildly from the "Quchi" acupoint at his elbow!

"Ah—!!!" The man let out a pig-like scream, clutched his arm, and knelt on the ground, writhing in pain.

And in his elbow, there was a trembling silver needle, half a foot long!

"Tap, tap, tap." A series of unhurried footsteps came from inside the academy gate.

The entire room fell silent instantly.

Everyone looked at the figure that walked out.

It was a young man dressed in a strange white robe.

This white robe was designed by Su Wan according to the modern "white lab coat" style. It was fitted and had a stand-up collar, which made him look tall and slender.

He wore a white face mask, revealing only a pair of gloomy, deep eyes. He wore a pair of gloves as thin as cicada wings (made of sheep intestines), and two gleaming silver needles were held between his fingertips.

The seventh son, Qin An.

He was like a ghost from hell.

"Which hand touched your sister-in-law?" Qin An walked up to Su Wan, not looking at the man rolling on the ground, but first bowing his head and carefully examining Su Wan's shoulder.

"No...I didn't touch it." Su Wan was also startled by Lao Qi's attire. This wasn't a doctor; he was clearly a psychopathic killer!

"It's good that we didn't bump into each other." Qin An's expression softened slightly. He turned around, looking down at the man, his voice muffled through his mask, yet chillingly cold:

"This arm is ruined."

"I don't like dirty things being too close to my sister-in-law."

"You...who are you?! How dare you commit such a heinous act!" The man's accomplices, armed with sticks, tried to rush forward, but were terrified when they saw Qin An's lifeless, unwavering eyes.

"I'm the doctor here." Qin An slowly removed his gloves and threw them at the man's face: "I'm also one of those who came to your funeral."

He bent down and picked up the pink porcelain bottle from the ground. He uncorked it and smelled it. His brow furrowed slightly.

"Lead powder, mercury, quicklime, and... glue made from rotten pig skin."

He rattled off the ingredients with the precision of reciting a menu: "This garbage doesn't even deserve to be called 'rose water'!"

"If you want to die, just say so. Don't try to blame it on the Qin family's name."

"You're lying! This is what you sold!" the disfigured woman cried, "I paid one tael of silver for it! You're the ones who ruined it!"

"One tael of silver?" Qin An scoffed.

He pulled out the real "Qin's Rose Hydrosol" from his pocket—the exquisite crystal bottle. "This one costs a thousand taels. And there's a purchase limit."

"You're trying to scam me out of a thousand-tael elixir by offering me a one-tael poison?"

"Your face... is only worth that much."

"You...you..." The woman was so angry she almost fainted.

"Don't believe me?" Qin An's eyes turned cold. He suddenly turned around and walked to Zhang the butcher's stall next door (Zhang the butcher was also there to watch the excitement). "Lend me a piece of meat."

He poured the counterfeit medicine directly onto a piece of fresh pork on the cutting board.

"Sizzle sizzle—!" A tooth-grinding sound rang out! The moment the rosy pork touched the liquid, it began to emit white smoke! Then, the meat quickly turned black and rotted, emitting a disgusting, burnt smell!

"Ugh—!" The onlookers, witnessing this scene, vomited all over the place! This isn't skincare product; it's corpse-dissolving potion!

"See that?" Qin An pointed at the rotten flesh, his voice completely flat: "This is what you smeared on your faces."

"Excessive levels of lead and mercury can corrode the skin and flesh."

"The fact that it hasn't rotted to the bone means you guys have thick skin."

The truth is out! This is what happens when you try to buy counterfeit goods because they're cheap!

The troublemakers who had been so aggressive just moments before were now ashen-faced, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Qin An.

This guy... he's terrifying! Not only did he see through the poison at a glance, but he also crippled the boss's arm with a single needle!

"Get lost." Qin An didn't want to look at these idiots again. He disgustedly threw the fake bottle into the trash can: "If you dare to cause trouble again, next time it won't be your arm that gets stabbed."

"It's a fatal weakness."

"Run! This is a devil!" The group of people didn't dare to linger. They lifted the stretcher, dragged the big man with the broken arm, and fled in a panic.

……

The crowd dispersed. The crisis was averted.

Su Wan breathed a sigh of relief, just about to praise Lao Qi. "Lao Qi, thanks to you today..."

Before she could finish speaking, her wrist tightened. Qin An grabbed her and dragged her towards the infirmary without a word.

"Seventh Brother? What's wrong? Slow down!"

"Disinfect." Qin An's voice was muffled, carrying a suppressed anger, and his steps were extremely fast: "That man's dirty hand was only half an inch away from you."

"Dust from the air has settled on you."

"It's dirty."

The infirmary. "Click." The familiar sound of a door locking.

The light dimmed instantly. This was Lao Qi's territory, filled with the smell of herbs and a strange sense of oppression.

Qin An abruptly ripped off his mask and tossed it onto the table, revealing a gloomy and pale handsome face. He turned and approached Su Wan step by step, until he forced her back against the corner of the examination bed.

"Sit down." His voice was hoarse and left no room for argument.

Su Wan became a little nervous at his appearance and obediently sat on the edge of the bed: "Seventh Brother, you really didn't run into anything... there's no need to be so nervous, is there?"

"Shh." Qin An held up a finger and pressed it to her lips.

His fingers were icy cold and carried a faint medicinal scent.

He took out a bottle of alcohol spray (which he had distilled himself), but did not spray it directly.

Instead, he poured some into his palm first. He rubbed his hands together to warm them. The strong aroma of alcohol filled the air, somewhat intoxicating.

"My sister-in-law doesn't know." He lowered his eyes, his long eyelashes concealing the turbulent emotions surging within them: "For a moment just now... I wanted to kill him."

"I want to chop off his dirty hand and feed it to the dogs."

As he spoke, he placed his alcohol-stained hand on Su Wan's shoulder.

That's the spot where that man almost touched it.

A hiss—the coolness of evaporating alcohol, mixed with the warmth of his palms, seeped into his skin through the thin clothes.

Qin An's fingers didn't linger on the surface. He rubbed the fabric heavily through the clothes.

The force was very strong, even a bit rough.

It's like wiping away some unseen filth, or like... remarking.

"It hurts..." Su Wan couldn't help but let out a soft cry.

"Bear with it." Qin An's eyes were dark and unfathomable. Instead of letting go, he leaned down and got even closer. Their noses almost touched.

"Sister-in-law, can you feel anything here?" His other hand slid down her arm and grasped her wrist.

He stroked the most delicate skin on the inside of her wrist with his fingertips.

"Wh...what does it feel like?" Su Wan's heart raced. Staring into his dark eyes, she felt like prey being dissected.

"Did the wind that man brought... make you feel nauseous, sister-in-law?" Qin An's voice grew lower and lower, carrying a morbid seduction: "If so... I can help you wash this piece of skin... clean."

"No! Really, no!" Su Wan shook her head in fright.

What's wrong with Lao Qi today? Why is his gaze even more terrifying than when he looked at that piece of rotten flesh earlier?

"That's good." Qin An suddenly smiled. It was a gloomy, yet somewhat childlike, satisfied smile.

He released his grip, but did not step back.

He lowered his head, his nose brushing against Su Wan's neck, and took a deep breath.

It's like it's confirming something. Or perhaps it's... absorbing nourishment.

"Sister-in-law still smells good."

"It's my scent." (That's the scent of the rose hydrosol I applied earlier).

He looked up, his eyes flashing with an almost morbid possessiveness: "Sister-in-law."

"Don't be the first to rush into things like this in the future."

"Your skin is so delicate... what if it gets touched by something dirty..."

He reached out and put the gossamer-thin gloves back on. Through the transparent film, he gently stroked Su Wan's cheek. The touch was cool, slippery, and eerie.

"I'll go crazy."

"I wouldn't be able to resist...peeling their skin off."

"Make a carpet for my sister-in-law."

Su Wan shuddered, staring at the beautiful lunatic before her. She knew he was protective of his own, but these lines… weren't they a little too twisted?

"Alright, alright, I know." Su Wan quickly grabbed his gloved hand, trying to break the suffocating ambiguity: "But Seventh Brother, this counterfeit stuff is a potential problem."

"Just driving them away won't help; there are still so many people selling them in the market."

"We need to think of a way... to make those counterfeiters lose everything."

Qin An's eyes lit up, and a cruel smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "This is simple."

"Isn't Second Brother the one who loves to reason (with the law) the most?"

"This kind of thing that makes people's faces 'fall apart'... leave it to Second Brother."

"He could punish someone so severely that their ancestral graves would be emitting green smoke."

……