Chronology of a Hundred Herbs

CHAPTER 07: Xiao Han I

Not long after arriving at the Hundred Herb Apothecary, Hua Rong Yue heard that Wan Fu Lian had a childhood friend. 

In a blink of an eye, it’s been two months since she’s been working here. Despite so, this was just the first time that she finally saw this childhood friend. 

He was quite an interesting person. 

”Oi, you’re Physician Qi’s newly recruited apprentice?” The person before her knocked on the table in front of Hua Rong Yue impatiently, speaking in an annoyed tone. 

Hua Rong Yue surveyed this person. He was actually pretty handsome, but he made himself out to look a little fierce. His gaze was also one of hostility. She looked at the guy who was knocking continuously on the table, a tinge of amusement rising in her heart. 

If she was reading the situation correctly, this guy seemed to be provoking her — when male creatures were mating, they would exhibit threatening or provocative actions towards others of the same gender. 

This was quite a novel experience. 

As a girl, this was the first time she was threatened by a guy as a guy. 

…Actually, every time Hua Rong Yue brought up Wan Fu Lian’s childhood friend, both Wan Fu Lian and Physician Qi would try their best to change the topic. Because of this strange situation, Hua Rong Yue had already felt that something was off. If Wan Fu Lian’s childhood friend was only “a little problematic”, the two of them wouldn’t avoid the topic like a plague.   

Hua Rong Yue leant on the counter as she recorded the symptoms of the patients that came in today. This was among her daily homework issued by Physician Qi. Hua Rong Yue didn’t really want to tell Physician Qi that she actually had no intentions to properly learn all about medicine, the reason was because she’d spent most of her time and effort into practising her martial arts. However, she was still very serious about the task left by Physician Qi. 

This was also why she didn’t want to bother reacting to the guy in front of her. She was gonna continue looking down and writing the symptoms, what’s he gonna do?

This was childish of him. 

Hua Rong Yue tore a paper, wrapped up a few pills and placed the packet by the side. As she did so, she listened in to Wan Fu Lian and her childhood friend chatting. 

”Fu Lian.” Her childhood friend’s voice was particularly loud, “my dad found me a treasure sword, apparently it came from the West. It’s round and curved, and very dainty. There’s a cat-eye jewel attached too, the moment I saw it I felt that it’s something you’ll like, so I brought it down, do you want it?”

”Why didn’t you ask me before coming?” Wan Fu Lian’s voice sounded a little angry. “Didn’t we agree that you won’t come down to the apothecary randomly?”

”He’s called Xiao Han, the young master of the Pinxi Escort Bureau. He’s quite a decent chap… he just gets a bit muddled when it comes to things related to Xiao Lian.” Physician Qi spoke softly into Hua Rong Yue’s ears, almost a little embarrassed. “When he heard that there was a new male apprentice at the apothecary, he had been making a ruckus and had been wanting come down, but Xiao Lian was afraid that he would create trouble so she didn’t let him come, well turns out he still managed to figure his own way over today…”

Ah, so it’s like this. 

“Don’t stoop to his level, he comes from a rich and established family, and has quite a young master temper.” Physician Qi added. 

Yea, she figured.

Hua Rong Yue finished packing the medicine, and persisted with jotting down what was required of her despite the boiling jealousy permeating the air. Her gender and her mental age allowed her to ignore and dismiss all of Xiao Han’s continuous jabs of envy. 

“This sword comes with a set of its own teaching and usage, I can teach you if you want to learn.” Xiao Han had progressed from talking about the blade to practising how to use the blade. “You see, this is the first move, the blade goes from this position to that position…”

Hua Rong Yue had been writing all this while. She glanced up unconsciously and just so happened to catch sight of Xiao Han’s movements. As a disciple in the Escort Bureau, Xiao Han did have a decent foundation. His appearance and his tight-fitting robes and armour pieces had him out to appear particularly valiant and formidable; he seemed as unyielding and arrogant as a wolf cub. 

While he did have solid foundations, the truth was, frankly and tactlessly put… how can you compare a young master of a luxurious upbringing and an assassin that treaded dangerously between life and death? ♢ CHRONOLOGY OF A HUNDRED HERBS, CHAPTER 07 is hosted at ZHANLANN.COM ♢ 

Hua Rong Yue spared him only a short glance before looking back down. Even though her own abilities fluctuated greatly, she’d still stayed in Heaven’s Will Tower for half a year. While she herself wasn’t as capable as some of the assassins there, she’d at least seen how scary they could get. As such, Xiao Han’s level was really insufficient for her to pay him an heed. 

”I went to the southern border last month with an uncle, and returned unscathed. Do you know of the southern border? It’s not a place any jianghu individual could go on your own and return in a single piece…”

”Xiao Han!” Wan Fu Lian exclaimed. Evidently from the tone of her voice, she was getting angry. 

Hua Rong Yue felt that Xiao Han and Wan Fu Lian were… quite different people that would walk different paths. First was their background, even though it’s only been two months, she roughly had it figured that Wan Fu Lian had a pretty rough life. In terms of personality, Wan Fu Lian was also much more amiable and likeable than her childhood friend. 

Honestly speaking, the majority of the motivation behind her staying here was Wan Fu Lian. Speaking of this, she couldn’t help but recall back when she had been formulating her escape plan. 

When she had been preparing to escape from Heaven’s Will Tower, Hua Rong Hue had taken advantage of her advance knowledge of the plot and formulated many escape routes. Among which included running all the way to the capital and hiding there, finding an established sect, joining them and hiding inside, or hiding away deep in some secluded forest. 

Afterwards when she considered all her options, she realised that they were all roughly about the same — each had their pains. If she were to go to the capital, she’d have to face the crazy housing prices. If she were to join an established sect, she’d have to walk on eggshells every single day. If she were to hide in some forest, she’d have to figure out what to eat and how to entertain herself. 

After spending an entire day and night thinking about her future life, Hua Rong Yue felt that her head was about to burst. In her dilemma, she suddenly vaguely recalled that she once had a useless dream when she was very young — she wanted to go to some unknown town in Jiangnan, where things were really cheap, and find a job that wasn’t very busy; she didn’t need a high pay, she just wanted to be able to have a cat and grow some flowers and plants. 

With this sudden memory, Hua Rong Yue walked down the streets in a daze. When she passed by an ordinary apothecary, she suddenly smelt a tantalising fragrance wafting out from within. 

The apothecary also had a piece of red paper stuck on the outside, reading that they were looking for an apprentice. After reading, Hua Rong Yue entered the establishment in a daze… and the moment stepped in, she saw the dragon-li cat lying on the table as it went about it’s daily bask in the sun.