Chapter 10: Refining Pills (1)
A light breeze passed by gently; maple leaves slowly fell from tree branches above.
Gu Ruoyun had just walked down from the mountain when a reckless figure appeared in her sights.
It was a young girl, about fifteen or sixteen, wearing luxurious silk clothing showing off her perfect figure. However, when you shifted your attention to her face, you could not help but be disappointed.
The girl’s fair skin was covered in freckles, like stains dirtying a clean white veil, destroying the original impression of beauty.
Gu Ruoyun frowned; she identified the girl before her after a quick search through her mind.
However, before she could even start to speak, Luo Yin had already walked in front of her with brisk steps, scanning her from top to bottom once as if not recognising her.
“Gu Ruoyun, I heard that you’re going to duel with that Ling family bastard?”
Gu Ruoyun lightly stroked her wrist, smiling noncommittally.
“You’re quite well-informed. Why? Do you think I’m going to lose too?”
“Ha ha!”
Luo Yin laughed out loud and patted Gu Ruoyun’s shoulder. “Gu Ruoyun, what kind of person are you? I’ve been saying this since the start: your father was once the greatest talent in Qinglong, it was just a shame that even the heavens were jealous of his talents and let him fall at such a young age. As for your brother, he has already become the current number one talent! As Gu Tian’s daughter and Gu Shengxiao’s sister, how could you be a good-for-nothing? It’s just… Gu Ruoyun, we’ve been friends for so many years, and you hid this even from me.”
There were rumors spreading outside now, that Gu Ruoyun had only been acting weak all these years for the sake of avoiding attention from the outside world. However, as Gu Ruoyun’s best and only friend, she had not been in the know.
Thinking of this, Luo Yin was upset and aggrieved.
“Luo Yin,” Gu Ruoyun looked at the good friend who had been with her for so many years and hesitated for some time, before saying: “I need your help with something.”
“What’s up?”
“That is… could you lend me some gold coins?”
Gu Ruoyun felt somewhat embarrassed as she replied.
She had been the eldest daughter of the Xia family’s legitimate line in her previous life, who had never been troubled over material matters. However, the present Gu Ruoyun, as someone treated as a waste of space, was only given three copper coins a month. This was nowhere near enough to buy medicinal herbs.
“Sure, how much do you want?” Luo Yin agreed without even needing to think.
Gu Ruoyun was in deep thought for a moment, before raising her head to look at Luo Yin’s freckled face. “I need 100 gold coins! But I’ll repay you with something much more valuable than 100 gold coins!”
She, Gu Ruoyun, had always disliked owing people.
Therefore, she had already thought of using the Qi gathering pills as repayment before asking to borrow money! The price of one Qi gathering pill was already far more than just 100 gold coins!
“100 gold coins?”
Luo Yin had thought that Gu Ruoyun would only want to borrow a few gold coins. She had not expected that Gu Ruoyun would need that many. Even for her, 100 gold coins was a year’s savings.
However, Luo Yin understood that, with her pride, Gu Ruoyun would never even mention borrowing money unless she was forced to.
“Sure, I’ll lend the money to you. Wait for me here, I’ll go back home and bring it here! As for repayment, you don’t even have that many gold coins to return to me, so just forget about paying it back.”
When saying so, Luo Yin still had no knowledge of what the reward was. She would only realise that Gu Ruoyun had not been exaggerating much later on…
A single Qi gathering pill was worth much more than 100 gold coins!
TL Note:
Luo Yin is a true friend :’) Her given name, Yin (音), means ‘sound’.
The given name of Gu Ruoyun’s father, Gu Tian (顾天), means ‘sky’ or ‘heaven’. A name fitting of a legend. 😉