The Silly Alchemist

Other people might not have sprawled in such an uncivilised manner on the steps like that. Not even if there was no one around.

Athena was not one of them. She still would’ve sat down even if there were other people, she didn’t think it was uncivilised. She was from the fox tribe, she wasn’t human.

The beastmen did not have so many rules, unlike humans. They loved being close to nature, they often sat on the floor. Ye Lang often saw this at the tiger tribal lands, he often sat on the floor to talk to Tigress.

“Master, did you succeed?”

Athena wanted to ask this question but didn’t at the same time. She felt like such tranquillity was rare and there was a saying– no sound is better than sound.

In the end, she did not speak. She did not want to break the silence, for it was the kind that calmed her soul.

She remained quiet, so did Ye Lang. He wasn’t savouring the silence, he was just spacing out as he waited for Coldblood Seven.

Time passed slowly on this quiet night until two girls emerged from the darkness.

When Coldblood Five and Seven arrived, they found it peculiar to see Ye Lang and Athena sitting like that. Athena was slowly flicking her tail, sitting silently.

There were one cute fox girl and a budding young adult. On Earth, this would have been an interesting scene.

The fox and the clueless scholar…

Though you couldn’t deny that there was an other-worldly beauty to this. Coldblood Five and Seven were mesmerized for a moment by this.

“Little idiot, what’s up?” asked Coldblood Seven very directly. She’d been briefed a little about how he escaped from the palace so she was worried.

“Alright, everyone’s here. Then we shall start discussing our next move,” said Ye Lang solemnly as he sat up.

However, they did not seem to care that he was being very solemn. A question was raised.

“Discuss what? You should first tell us what is going on, how did Zhao Yarou find out? And how did you escape from the palace?” Coldblood Seven wanted to know what happened in the palace.

“It’s simple. Athena, you were right. Zhao Yarou had long known about my true identity, she knew from the start,” said Ye Lang with a shrug. An explanation was necessary after all.

“So she did! I knew she was being weird. But I still don’t understand- she could’ve acted a lot earlier, why did she wait?” Athena frowned.

“It’s simple too. She was not sure that she could catch me before this, that’s why she decided to act as if she didn’t know me,” said Ye Lang. This answer was given by Zhao Yarou and he thought it was true too.

“That must be true. Entering the palace would be walking into her trap. If she wants to catch a person, even the strongest Tian level fighter would find it very difficult to escape… But, Master, how did you escape?” Athena regarded Ye Lang. She thought him being able to escape was no ordinary feat.

“Hey, are you that excited for her to lock me up forever?” huffed Ye Lang, her response annoyed him.

“No, why would I ever want you to get locked up and tortured by her? And even if I’m indifferent, the little tiger girl would never allow that. If she knew you were captured while under my care, she would kill me,” said Athena immediately, her words sounded like a little girl whining but her tone was very normal.

This was because she thought if there was a potential relationship, it would be between Ye Lang and the tiger girl- it was none of her business! As for what she said, she meant it as platonic love, not romantically.

“I know, that’s why I escaped. I’ll never let Tigress worry,” said Ye Lang with a grin.

“…”

“Tell me, what happened in there?” asked Athena again. She needed to know more to help him solve his problem.

“I entered the palace, then I had lunch with Zhao Yarou…” Ye Lang started to talk but was soon interrupted by Coldblood Seven.

“What? You had lunch with her?”

“Yeah, she prepared lunch for me so I ate it,” he answered with a nod.

“Haven’t we talked about this? You shouldn’t eat food Zhao Yarou feeds you, what if it was poisoned?” said Athena, upset that Ye Lang had breached their agreement.

“I know but no poison can harm me! Then again, for Li Yue’s safety, I made Zhao Yarou eat every dish before we started. There wasn’t a problem,” explained Ye Lang.

“…” The three girls had an image of an arrogant, pretentious empress forced by Ye Lang to test every dish for poison. It must’ve been hilarious.

If only they’d known that Ye Lang had told Zhao Yarou directly of his true intentions, they would be more amused.

“Then, Li Yue and I went on a date in the gardens. I touched her heart with a tragic love story and she finally agreed to give me the Tianji Armour but Zhao Yarou ruined everything. Then, we went to the party but after it ended, she suddenly turned against me. So I escaped…” said Ye Lang, giving a brief summary of his day.

Yep, it was brief. Too brief.

“… Fine, I sort of understand now. How did you escape, how many people did she send after you?” Athena did not ask further either, it was not the time.

Although it was brief, there was an important point: they were not in a good place right now and there was a high chance that Zhao Yarou would find them. There was no time for details.

If he told the entire story, then he’d definitely be caught. One more second of talking was one more chance for Zhao Yarou.

“Zhao Yarou is absolutely insane, she was prepared for almost every route! Thank goodness I’m smart enough, I escaped from layers and layers of guards. At the time…” After complimenting himself, he started to explain the fight in detail.