Bai Fanxian's sudden words made the atmosphere in the dining room become completely silent. Tang Luotong, who had been shy earlier, now frowned.
What did she mean? Did this woman think he would poison his own little sister?
But before Tang Luotong could say anything, Tang Xiuhan raised his hand to stop him first. He turned to Bai Fanxian with a serious manner and asked:
"What do you mean, Miss Bai?"
Though somewhat displeased, he still asked politely.
Bai Fanxian saw everyone in the dining room's attitude change immediately. She swept her gaze around once, before stopping at Tang Xiuhan who held the position of master of this mansion.
She met the middle-aged man's eyes fearlessly.
"Vitality Restoration Elixir, do you know its properties?"
She asked in a flat tone.
Bai Fanxian's question made father and son turn to look at each other. And it was Tang Luotong who answered Bai Fanxian's question instead.
"Vitality Restoration Elixir has properties matching its name—restoring vitality to injured or weakened people. Helping users recover quickly and become stronger."
The young man explained in detail.
His answer made Bai Fanxian nod.
"Correct."
"Then why did you say my son wants Yeye to die?" Tang Xiuhan asked with confusion.
"And do you know its side effects?"
Bai Fanxian's question shocked Tang Xiuhan who was speculating. He quickly turned to his son for an answer.
"This medicine has no side effects. Grandfather tested it thoroughly on both animals and humans. Though the sick weren't cured, everyone felt their bodies became stronger." Tang Luotong argued. During the testing, he was there too. All those who received this Vitality Restoration Elixir had stronger attitudes and greatly increased vitality.
It was like a supreme tonic!
Though not a cure, it truly helped make their bodies stronger!
Bai Fanxian's words therefore displeased the young man greatly.
"No side effects?" Bai Fanxian swept her gaze over. She was weighing whether to help them or not. But when she glanced at little Hui'er who was showing clearly worried attitude, she sighed softly.
For the sake of your kindness to my person.
"You think the Vitality Restoration Elixir truly has the ability to restore life force?"
"The test results came out. Everyone who ate it became stronger." Tang Luotong still had his own reasoning to argue.
Seeing each person still didn't understand, Bai Fanxian sighed softly.
"That's not restoration, but drawing life force to use."
"Dr-drawing life force?"
Bai Fanxian's words surprised everyone in the room. Tang Xiuhan sensed a strange implication hidden in the young woman's words.
"Dried dewgrass, jade dust branches, bubble tree leaves, brown silkworm blood, and pure water. Do you think these ingredients truly have the power to restore life force?"
Tang Luotong was shocked with wide eyes when the young woman before him could tell all the ingredients used in concocting this Vitality Restoration Elixir with complete accuracy. Because though the records disclosed to the public were available for anyone to read, they were incomplete. And his grandfather had only recently solved its ingredients and concoction method.
So how did this young woman know?
Though in a state of shock, when he thought back to all the ingredients the young woman listed, it truly surprised him.
Because he was now a Tier 2 alchemist. And had learned this discipline from his grandfather since childhood. Making him quite accurate about herb and ingredient properties.
And none of the ingredients used to concoct Vitality Restoration truly had restorative properties!
"Th-then why?" The young man murmured without understanding. Because the test results—all test subjects clearly improved. Some who'd been bedridden for long even sat up within hours.
"Vitality Restoration Elixir. Besides getting vitality back, you must also repay something back."
Bai Fanxian explained. She turned those beautiful eyes to meet Tang Xiuhan who swallowed loudly.
"Lifespan. The more critical your condition, the more lifespan you must pay in exchange. Normally this medicine is used only in true emergencies or during war when only desperate survival is needed."
"And normally they don't use this medicine on children..." The young woman sipped tea again after finishing speaking. She acted as if these matters didn't concern her at all.
Whoosh!
Tang Xiuhan who heard that final sentence broke out in cold sweat. He shot up unable to control himself. His wife Tang Xinlan was shocked until her face lost color.
"N-no, this can't be! How could it be like that!?" Tang Luotong was in a confused state. He saw with his own eyes that his sister's condition improved. How could it be like that?
"Master! Young miss suddenly..."
Before anyone realized, the servant who normally served beside Tang Xiuhan's daughter ran down with a panicked face. Her voice trembled slightly while her breath heaved greatly.
"What happened!"
Tang Xiuhan grabbed that female servant's shoulder and asked urgently.
"At first young miss's condition still looked good... b-but suddenly young miss became emaciated. And suffered greatly!"
The female servant quickly explained. Tang Xiuhan and his wife rushed up to the second floor. In the spacious room fully equipped with medical equipment, there was a little girl lying and writhing in torment.
And her skin was rapidly becoming emaciated alarmingly, until soon from the smooth white skin of the little girl it looked aged beyond recognition.
"Father..."
The little girl who opened her eyes to see her father's panicked face murmured softly. Those small hands tried to reach to grasp Tang Xiuhan's large hand as if wanting support.
"Yeye! Yeye! What's wrong!?"
Tang Xiuhan asked frantically. Tang Xinlan and Tang Luotong who hurried in after seeing their daughter's condition had tears streaming down their faces. She wanted so much to hug her daughter, but with Yeye's physical condition, she feared that just touching her would cause her to collapse at any time.
"Yeye! Brother was wrong... it's because of brother..."
Tang Luotong clutched the bedside and looked at his little sister's physical condition with guilt filling his heart. Before he went down, she still had a smiling face before happily falling asleep. But look at now—even he could barely recognize his own little sister's condition.
"Brother..."
Tang Yeye murmured softly. Her gaze seemed to suddenly blur. She tried to raise her hand clumsily, while from the corner of her eye, one small tear flowed.
"...Am I going to die?"
The little girl's question hit everyone in the room. Tang Luotong even broke down sobbing beside the bed. If his little sister really died, he would feel guilty for the rest of his life.
"No! Yeye, you must not die. You must not die." Tang Xiuhan gripped his daughter's small hand, trying to comfort her with a trembling voice. He tried to think of various ways at maximum speed.
"Doctor! Did you call the doctor?"
"I already called the doctor! He's hurrying here!" The female servant answered worriedly.
"What about Father? Has anyone told the patriarch about this?"
"I've informed the grand master. Expected to arrive in a few minutes." This time it was Uncle Huang who hurried to report. He'd contacted to inform the Tang Clan patriarch Tang Tianjie as soon as he saw the young miss's condition.
"What should we do? What should we do, dear?" Tang Xinlan asked her husband through tears. The more she saw her daughter's condition, the more her heart ached.
"I brought the medicine box from the patriarch's room!" A young male servant ran into the room. His trembling legs and still-heaving breath showed how much he'd hurried.
"Bring it quickly!" Tang Xiuhan quickly waved his hand. A large multi-layered medicine box was brought and placed before him. He opened and rummaged through the elixirs in that box, then picked out one pill.
That elixir pill was pearl white. It had a faint aura of life flowing from it. Moreover, it had a very special scent.
Tang Xiuhan sent that elixir pill into his daughter's mouth without hesitation. When Tang Yeye swallowed without knowing what it was, she could sense the fragrance of herbs spreading out. And felt like several warm streams flowing throughout her body. They were like nourishing water sprinkled on parched earth. The little girl's skin gradually became moist and lustrous again.
The little girl's tormented face gradually calmed. Tang Xiuhan who was closest sensed his daughter's steady gentle breathing. Showing she had fallen asleep.
That allowed them to sigh with relief.