Battle Through the Heavens: Oh no, I've become the succubus Xiao Yan!

Xiao Yan thus settled down at the Ten Thousand Medicines Hall.

The next morning, he was awakened by the noise from the bunk in front of him. The rough voices of the mercenaries came from outside the curtain; some were crying out in pain, some were urging for medicine, and others were talking to Little Fairy Doctor.

"Little Fairy Doctor, my leg was bitten by a monster last time, can you take a look at it for me?"

"Little Fairy Doctor, I have a hard lump on my back, can you take a look?"

"Little Fairy Doctor..."

Xiao Yan rubbed his eyes and came out, seeing Little Fairy Doctor sitting behind the consultation table, with seven or eight mercenaries lined up in front of her. She was applying medicine to the wounded while answering other people's questions, her movements were swift and her expression gentle.

"You're awake?" she said without looking up.

"Do you see so many people every day?"

"Sometimes there are a dozen or so, sometimes thirty or forty." She pricked a mercenary's shoulder twice with a silver needle. "Eight out of ten mercenaries who enter the Monster Mountain Range will get injured. Wan Yao Zhai is the only pharmacy in Qingshan Town, so they have no other choice."

Watching her busy figure, Xiao Yan silently thought to himself: I think half of them are here to see a doctor, and the other half are here to see a person.

She was completely different from last night. Last night, she sat in the dimly lit pharmacy, her white hair cascading over her shoulders, looking like a delicate porcelain doll, her eyes red and radiating pity. Now, she sat in the sunlight, her movements quick and steady as she applied medicine to the wounded. Occasionally, she would tell the mercenaries, "Don't move around," or "No drinking for three days," her tone calm, yet the mercenaries nodded vigorously. This version of Little Fairy Doctor possessed a unique charm.

"Little Fairy Doctor told you not to drink, so don't drink. Last time Old Zhao didn't listen, and his wound reopened and he had to come back again."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to Little Fairy Doctor."

Xiao Yan leaned against the medicine cabinet for a while. Little Fairy Doctor was very focused when treating patients, her fingers steady and her dispensing of medicine efficient. When she was conscious, she seemed no different from an ordinary person, but Xiao Yan knew that was only because her poisonous body was still in its initial stage. Once she fell into a coma, or as her poisonous body matured, it would poison everything it touched, and anyone it touched would die.

She deals with poisons every day, preparing medicines, detoxifying, and studying poisonous herbs. The aura of those poisons constantly stimulates the poisonous body within her. The allure of her calamity-inducing poisonous body to potent poisons is like the allure of a strange fire to an alchemist. Sooner or later, she will be unable to resist taking even stronger poisons, and her poisonous body will mature more and more, eventually devouring her body with all kinds of poisons.

  

We need to find a way to resolve the poison pill issue before her poisonous body completely spirals out of control.

After seeing all the patients in the morning, the Wan Yao Zhai (a traditional Chinese medicine shop) became much quieter in the afternoon. Little Fairy Doctor sat behind the medicine cabinet organizing the herbs, and Xiao Yan moved a stool over and sat next to her, helping her sort them.

"This is a blood-clotting herb," ​​Little Fairy Doctor said, picking up a dark red herb. "It's for stopping bleeding. You can put it in the third drawer on the left."

"What about this one?" Although Xiao Yan recognized all the herbs, he still asked Little Fairy Doctor.

"Purple Leaf Orchid, when combined with Bone Cleansing Flower, can be used to refine a Nourishing Spirit Elixir. Second drawer from the right."

"You recognize so many people."

"I've been reading medical books for years; if I still don't recognize them, all that reading has been for nothing." Little Fairy Doctor put a medicinal herb into the drawer. "And you? You're an alchemist; you should know about medicinal herbs too, right?"

"I know a little bit, just a little. But what my master taught me is different from what you taught me. He focused more on the heat and techniques of alchemy, and the identification of medicinal herbs was not the main point." But I didn't say that he taught me badly. I have learned quite a lot, but compared to the techniques of controlling the fire.

"Alchemy, huh?" Little Fairy Doctor's tone held a hint of envy. "I also want to learn alchemy, but I can't. Alchemists need fire mixed with wood, but I only have poison in my body, so I can't even start a fire."

Xiao Yan nodded. He knew the original setting perfectly: alchemists must have fire as their own attribute, and their fire body must also contain a trace of wood energy for catalysis. Little Fairy Doctor was of the poison attribute, and was naturally unsuitable for alchemy.

"However, I can use ordinary flames to make medicine," Little Fairy Doctor said. "Although it can't compare to the pills made by alchemists, it's enough to heal injuries."

She picked up the small bronze stove on the table, took a flint from the side, and flicked it a few times to light the charcoal at the bottom of the stove. After the charcoal was burning, she put several medicinal herbs into the stove one by one, using a silver needle to stir the charcoal at the bottom and control the heat.

This isn't alchemy; it's making a medicinal paste. The method is much cruder than alchemy, but it's affordable and practical.

"This is a healing ointment," she said, stirring it. "It's for treating bruises and sprains in mercenaries. It's the best-selling item at Wan Yao Zhai. It costs five gold coins a jar—cheap and effective."

"You did all this by yourself?"

"Mr. Yao, you only need to handle the procurement; I make all the ointments myself." Little Fairy Doctor used a silver needle to pick out a little ointment, rubbed it between her fingertips, and said, "Hmm, this batch is of decent quality."

As Xiao Yan watched her prepare the medicinal paste, he suddenly remembered something.

In the original story, Little Fairy Doctor's biggest dream was to become an alchemist. Every physician wants to become an alchemist, but many spend their entire lives without ever crossing that threshold, ultimately because they lack the talent. In the Dou Qi Continent, whether or not one can become an alchemist is determined at birth. Little Fairy Doctor lacks fire and wood attributes, so she will never be able to refine pills in this lifetime.

However, if the method of elixirs with poison succeeds, and her afflicted poisonous body is brought under control, the poisonous power will be transformed into poisonous fighting energy, allowing her to pursue a different path. She will not become an alchemist, but a poison master. The paths of poison and alchemy, though different, lead to the same goal; at a higher level, poison can even be used as medicine.

But we'll talk about that later; it's too early now.

"Your technique for making medicinal ointments is quite steady," Xiao Yan said, "steadier than many alchemists' control of fire." Although Xiao Yan himself hadn't seen many alchemists.

"You little brat, you just open your mouth and start attacking," Yao Lao complained, watching Xiao Yan's actions from inside the ring.

"Of course, I've been doing this for years." Little Fairy Doctor's lips curled up slightly. "No matter how skilled you are at alchemy, you might not be as good at making medicinal ointments as I am."

"That's true."

The afternoon passed slowly. Sunlight streamed in from the storefront, illuminating the medicine cabinet and Little Fairy Doctor's white hair. She sat there brewing medicinal paste, while Xiao Yan sat beside her, handing her the herbs and exchanging a few words occasionally.

The mercenaries passing by Wan Yao Zhai in town were filled with curiosity and envy at the sight. When did a young man appear next to Little Fairy Doctor? And he's so handsome, looking like a pretty boy. The two sat quietly behind the medicine cabinet, one brewing the medicine, the other handing out the herbs.

A mercenary walked in wanting to buy medicine, and seeing Xiao Yan sitting there, he paused for a moment, then asked, "Little Fairy Doctor, who is this person?"

"Patient, what medicine do you want to buy?" Little Fairy Doctor asked without looking up.

Xiao Yan glanced at her but didn't say anything.

The mercenary bought the medicine and left, glancing back one last time before he went.

In the evening, Little Fairy Doctor closed her shop. She brought out two bowls of porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables from the kitchen and placed them on the consultation table.

"That's all," she said. "I'm not very good at cooking."

"I'm not very good at it either." Xiao Yan picked up the bowl and took a sip. "But it's better than mine."

"How bad was your cooking?"

"It can burn through the pot."

Just kidding, I'm not some kind of magical potato.

Little Fairy Doctor smiled and believed Xiao Yan's words.

The two sat on either side of the consultation table, drinking porridge. Only one oil lamp was lit in the shop, its dim light casting long shadows on the medicine cabinet.

"Xiao Yan," Little Fairy Doctor suddenly said.

"Um?"

"If you leave in the future, will you come back?"

Xiao Yan put down his bowl and looked at her.

Her eyes were fixed on the porridge in the bowl, she didn't look up. But her fingers were gripping the hem of her clothes under the table, her knuckles turning white.

She knew Xiao Yan wouldn't stay here forever, but she wanted him to remember her in the future.

"Yes," he said. "I promise you."

Little Fairy Doctor nodded gently and hummed in agreement. She picked up the bowl and continued drinking her porridge, then took the bowl away after she finished.

At night, Xiao Yan lay on the bed behind the curtain and heard Little Fairy Doctor tossing and turning in front of him.

She probably can't sleep.

He didn't sleep either.

A breeze blew outside the window, making the small drawers on the medicine cabinet rustle softly. Xiao Yan stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. The method of poison pills, the strange fire, the Tagor Desert, and Little Fairy Doctor's poisonous body.

And when she asked, "Will you come back?", her hand was clutching the hem of her clothes.

He turned over and closed his eyes.