The most shameless alchemist in history

“Oh right, thanks to your reminder, I just remembered that I don’t have a sister of unknown origin like you. I don’t even know which unclean woman Father had with back then. What? Judging from your expression, are you angry?” Solo chuckled slowly.

"Shut up!" Enraged by Solo, Euphemia lashed out with her whip and lashed out at him.

"Your temper is as bad as ever. I still remember when your father brought you home, you were a shy little girl who didn't even dare to speak loudly. How did you develop such a terrible personality? Let me think, could it be that pitiful pride that's causing all this trouble?"

Solo easily dodged Euphemia's whip, and with a mocking smile, he continued to provoke Euphemia with his words.

"Solo, I told you to shut up, didn't you hear me?" Yuffie's first attack failed, so she lashed out again and again. As she lashed out, the originally unremarkable whip was now covered with scorching flames, obviously she had added magic power to it.

Even though the academy forbids students from using magical energy in private, she couldn't care less at this moment!

“I’m still your brother, how dare you speak to me like that? Where’s your manners? Oh, right, a bastard picked up from outside doesn’t know what manners are, that’s what your lowly mother decided.” Solo dodged the question one after another.

"I won't allow you to insult my mother! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Yuffie was furious. To her, her mother was the warmest and most sacred person, the only support that allowed her to survive in that strange home, and she would absolutely not allow anyone to insult her.

"I thought you would have made some progress after leaving home, but I didn't expect you to still be the same. Did you wrap magic energy around the whip? I remember when you left home you were only a mid-four-star level cultivator. And now? Only a mid-six-star level cultivator. You've only improved this much in such a long time?"

Solo, instead of dodging Euphemia's whip, stood still and the whip, wreathed in flames, struck Euphemia precisely in the face. Normally, the whip would make a "crack" sound and leave a bloody welt on his face, a fact that countless people have personally verified.

But now things are not normal. The whip stopped abruptly less than half a meter away from Solo, unable to advance even half a step.

"It's none of your business!" Yuffie tried to control the whip, attempting to break through the obstruction and strike Solo's face with a loud crack. She was confident that she had mastered the use of the whip, but the whip simply wouldn't obey her commands.

"If you didn't bear the Reinhardt name, do you think I would care about you?" Solo seemed to be provoked. He shouted, and with his shout, the whip that was originally under Euphemia's control suddenly burst into flames, the blazing flames like a fire dragon.

The fire dragon turned around and pounced on Yuffie. This sudden attack caught Yuffie off guard, and she fell to the ground!

“You really disappoint me.” Solo looked down at Euphemia with a pitying gaze and shook his head slightly.

He left quickly, turning away from this place where he had initially held some expectations but ultimately felt deeply disappointed.

"Damn it..." Yuffie clenched her fists, feeling extremely unwilling, as she watched Solo's departing figure.

Solo's gaze, in particular, pierced her deeply. She tried to say or do something to refute him, but in front of that man, she suddenly realized how powerless she was.

"Oh, right, I have to remind you of something. You still have two years left." Solo, who had already walked more than ten meters away, suddenly stopped and turned around.

“I understand.” Yuffie nodded, looking saddened, which might have puzzled others.

But she understood what Solo meant.

Solo nodded. He left, and this time he was really leaving.

Yuffie sat alone in silence for a long time, motionless, staring blankly at the sky.

"Is it pretty?" Yuffie suddenly asked out of the blue, but no one answered her.

"Were you so cowardly that you hid and didn't even dare to show your face?" Yuffie continued.

Just as she finished speaking, a figure emerged from behind a nearby tree.

"Well... I just happened to be passing by." The boy who walked over was someone who didn't know Euphemia, but had a grudge against her.

.

343 Self-deception

Dure has always been a vengeful person. It's not that he can't be patient; in fact, his long-term hunting life in the snowy mountains has cultivated his excellent patience. But patience always has its limits. Once you cross that red line, you will inevitably invite his crazy revenge.

In his fourteen years of life, there were not many people who could arouse his resentment, but there happened to be one in Maple City. If we trace it back to its source, the seed of resentment was planted on the day he entered Maple City. If he did not encounter him again after that, the seed would die silently.

Not every seed can germinate, especially in the cold winter. Unfortunately, Dure encountered her again and was once again given a hard time. This allowed the seed, which was not originally buried in the soil, to finally find a suitable soil to grow in, and then it sprouted and grew wildly.

Du Lei was also a man of his word. He said he would make her regret it, and he remembered it. It wouldn't be long before he did it. But unfortunately, after he learned the woman's address, he came to her door to try to take revenge.

But then he saw another man arrive before him and see her sitting on the scorched grass, staring blankly at the sky. Suddenly, he felt that she wasn't so repulsive after all, so he decided to give up and leave quietly.

But one misfortune after another occurred: she discovered him and exposed him. This made it impossible for him to hide any longer. He had no choice but to bite the bullet and come out, trying to come up with a lame excuse to get away with it. He said he was just passing by.

"It's ridiculous, isn't it? You must be very happy right now, right? Don't you feel a sense of relief and catharsis?" Yuffie laughed self-deprecatingly. She had her back to the boy, but she knew who he was and that he had been hiding there from the beginning, not just passing by.

"Before you said that, I did think that way, I don't deny it, but after you said that, I don't think that way anymore." The boy thought carefully and gave a seemingly strange answer, but she knew that what he said was not strange at all.

"What, are you pitying me, feeling sorry for me?" Yuffie was still smiling. She kept looking up at the sky because the young woman had told her to look at the sky when she missed her. She did as she was told, but she didn't see what she wanted to see.

"No, I'm just envious of you," the boy said softly, shaking his head.

"Haha, what nonsense are you talking about? Envy? What do you think I have to envy? My family background? My illustrious status? Or what? You really are a shallow person." Yuffie mocked him without restraint, not even knowing whether she was mocking him or herself.

"No, what I envy is neither your illustrious family background nor anything else. I only envy that you have something to care about." The boy shook his head. He couldn't see her face. In fact, he hadn't wanted to see it before, because it made him feel disgusted.

But at this moment, he suddenly wanted to see her face, because her back view was so lonely, like a candle in the dark, which could cast a very long shadow, but it didn't know when it would go out, and when it went out, the world would return to darkness and chaos.

"Things you care about? What are you talking about? What do you even understand? Stop using your shallow and impoverished thoughts to judge others, okay?" Yuffie suddenly turned around, raised her voice, and shouted, but her head was different from before.

She, who had been looking up at the sky, now had her head bowed very low.

"It's good that you care about others and that they care about you too. You already have so much," the boy said calmly.

“I have… but I would rather give up everything I have for her smile, her embrace, or even just a word from her. But it’s all gone. She’s dead. She’s gone forever. She was a liar. She said she would always be with me!” Euphemia screamed in anguish.

“Nothing lasts forever in this world. The one who is truly deceiving you is yourself.” The boy shook his head, disagreeing with her view.

"You're talking nonsense! I'm not deceiving myself. You're all deceiving me, she's deceiving me, he's deceiving me, everyone's deceiving me, and you're deceiving me too! Why don't you just die, you liar?" Yuffie suddenly raised her whip and lashed out at him.

Unlike when she swung her whip at Solo earlier, he didn't have the same ability to stop her whip. She easily swung the whip out without any resistance. In fact, this wasn't the first time she had done this, nor was it the first time she had hit him.

Last time, she swung the whip and left a bloody mark on his face with a "snap," but what about this time?

"Those who are immersed in the unchangeable past but do not possess what they have now are the ones who deserve to die the most!" The boy grabbed the whip, and even though the tip of the whip was covered with iron spikes and flames were rising, he held on tightly and did not let go.

"What is death? Is it liberation?" She suddenly remembered the question she had asked that man many years ago, and also the answer he had given her.

"Death is just death; everything returns to nothingness," the boy replied.

“No, that’s not right. If I die, I can see my mother again. She said she’s always watching over me.” Yuffie shook her head desperately, trying to deny it.

"You will never see her again, not even after you die. She is gone forever. If there is anything eternal in this world, it is only one thing: eternal nothingness," the boy said calmly.

“No, that’s not how it is…” Euphemia continued to deny it, but her voice was not as intense as before.

"Go ahead and keep deceiving yourself. This has nothing to do with me. I won't 'accidentally pass by' again." The boy slowly turned around and prepared to leave. He came here to take revenge on her, but in her current state, there was no longer any need for revenge.

"Am I the one who's really lying? It turns out that I've been the only one who's wrong all along..." Yuffie smiled bitterly. She knelt down on the ground. It wasn't raining from the sky, but the rain was drizzling down on the ground, only in her small patch of space.

This world is so vast, but where is the warmth that belongs to her?

Perhaps it was buried underground on that rainy day many years ago, along with the soil shoveled down one shovel at a time.

.

344. Meddling in other people's business

Dure never wanted to meddle in other people's business. Lance might be the kind of hot-blooded person who adheres to the so-called "helping others is a pleasure" philosophy, but he grew up in the snowy mountains. When he was a child, he often went to the snow to plunder valuable things from dead people to sell in order to make a living.

Perhaps this is also a form of indirect help, only the recipients are slightly different. He is helping those who fell in the snow countless years ago, covered by ice and snow, and turned into stiff corpses. He is the beneficiary, but of course he will not benefit for nothing.

To express his gratitude, he would drag the dead out of the snow, find an open space, gather some dry wood, light a fire, and burn them. This was not because he was a scoundrel who wanted to kill others without leaving a complete corpse, but because there was a very peculiar magical barrier on the snow-capped mountains.

Under the influence of the magical barrier, the dead who should be buried underground periodically crawl out of the ground and attack people who enter the mountains. As a result, a new round of dead people appears. It is a vicious cycle. The people in the mountains say that this is the punishment of the dead by the gods. They are sinners.

In Dure's view, burning them to spare them from divine punishment was helping them; their relationship was mutually beneficial. Therefore, he only did what was good for himself, which was almost becoming his life motto.

But there are always exceptions. For example, today, he felt a bit strange. He had come to cause trouble for that repulsive woman, but unfortunately, he witnessed someone else causing trouble for her first. He decided to leave, which he considered a good deed.

But just as he was about to leave, the woman suddenly fainted, and to make matters worse, her butler and servants were not around.

Du Lei had considered simply walking away and leaving, thinking it had nothing to do with him. In fact, he did just that. But after walking a few steps, he didn't know what force was driving him, and he inexplicably turned back and helped her up.

"Women are such troublesome creatures!" These were the words Dure said in his indignation.

Although he knew some medical skills and had prescribed medicine for people before, he was not a doctor. With doctors in the academy, there was no need for him to do such a boring thing as treating people. In addition, the person he was dealing with was a girl, so he carried her all the way to the infirmary.

He originally planned to leave after taking her to the infirmary; he didn't want to stay with her for even a second longer. But then something unfortunate happened: the doctor in the infirmary had to leave temporarily, and during her absence, she insisted that Du Lei stay there!

"I'm busy, okay? Why do I have to stay here? What reason do I have to stay here? Besides, I have a grudge against her. Does that make me repay evil with kindness? I don't have such noble sentiments!" Du Lei rubbed his head and complained bitterly.

He couldn't figure out how things had turned out this way, but despite his complaints, he still obediently stood guard nearby. He noticed some oranges nearby, and since he was a little hungry, he casually peeled one and prepared to put it in his mouth.

"Mom!" Just as Du Lei was peeling an orange, the girl who had fainted and was unconscious suddenly sat up in bed. She looked terrified, as if she had had a nightmare and was greatly frightened. Her big reaction even startled Du Lei, who was next to her.

"Hey...are you alright?" Du Lei didn't like Yu Fei to begin with, and after being startled by her sudden outburst, he immediately wanted to scold her, but the words were already on the tip of his tongue, so he swallowed them back and asked her what had happened instead.

"No, nothing. Where is this?" She looked around blankly, seemingly still not understanding the difference between dreams and reality.

"This is the infirmary. You suddenly collapsed on the ground, so I brought you here. That's the situation. Would you like an orange?" Du Lei had just finished peeling the orange and handed it to him instinctively.

“Oranges…” Yuffie paused for a moment, then took the oranges and held them in her hands, seemingly lost in thought.

"Since you have nothing else to do, I'll take my leave." Du Lei had already wasted enough time here, and he didn't have time to stay any longer. He immediately got up and prepared to leave the infirmary; he had other things to do.

"You... um, please wait a minute!" Yuffie seemed a bit neurotic as she called out to Dure, who was about to leave.

"Is there anything else?" Dure's tone was much gentler than before. No matter how much prejudice he had against Euphemia, it all vanished after seeing Euphemia's previous appearance.

"It's nothing really, it's just... thank you." Yuffie's voice was very soft, and perhaps only she herself could hear what she was saying.

"What?" Du Lei seemed not to have heard clearly.

"It's nothing." Yuffie turned her head away and stopped talking.

"Okay, I'm leaving then." Du Lei got up and left, closing the door behind him as he walked out of the infirmary.

After Du Lei left the infirmary, he turned back and looked at it one last time.

"It's strange that a young lady like her would say thank you to someone. But... she doesn't seem as annoying as before. Oh well, it's none of my business. I should just go back." Du Lei wasn't really unaware of what she said.

He shook his head, no longer wanting to think about anything related to Euphemia, and left quickly.

Inside the infirmary, Yuffie was still holding the orange that Dure had peeled earlier, not eating it, but just staring at it in a daze.

“I did such terrible things to him, shouldn’t he hate me? But why is he still…” Yuffie was particularly puzzled by this question, and she couldn’t figure it out even after thinking about it for a long time.

"Does he have some special purpose? But it doesn't seem like it, and the way he peels oranges... it's exactly the same as my mother's." Yuffie shook her head, trying not to think about anything else. She recalled the way the boy peeled oranges.

In that daze, she felt as if she had traveled through time and space, returning to that dilapidated little house that couldn't even shelter her from the wind and rain many years ago.

"Mom, I've really made a lot of mistakes over the years. How can I still get your blessing? It must disappoint you a lot, right?" Yuffie said to herself, and through the window she could see a tabby cat lazily walking by.

"I didn't want it to be like this, but how did it turn out like this?" Yuffie pondered.

"The past is gone forever... so where is my future?" She shook her head.

The future, as she called it, was a luxury she had never even considered!