Chapter 113 - Winding Fragrance Pill
The air in the night skies could not have been considered cold, but Mo Caihuan’s delicate face was slightly turning green. Both of her eyes were ruthlessly staring at Han Li. In her heart, she was silently gnashing her teeth at this thick-skinned Senior Apprentice Brother.
At the moment, both of them had been standing on this little path that wound through the back courtyard for a quarter of an hour while suffering from the cold. They did not move as much as a single step. Originally, after Mo Caihuan realised that Han Li was impervious to her three ultimate moves—acting cute, acting coquettishly, and using tears—she could only helplessly gnash her teeth in frustration and stop walking. She initially intended to use these moves to trap Han Li, but succeeded to no avail. Now she could only unwillingly and pitifully stare at Han Li, locking her gaze with him, hoping that her opponent would give in.
But upon seeing the pitiful state Mo Caihuan was in, Han Li involuntarily let out a laugh.
Her expressions actually reminded Han Li of his good brother Li Feiyu. Previously, whenever Li Feiyu had wanted Han Li to help him with something, he would use the exact same expression on his face, hoping to move Han Li into helping him. After some time, Han Li became completely impervious to these kinds of expressions.
Thus, as Mo Caihuan used her best pitiful puppy look onto Han Li, Han Li remained motionless, standing there while admiring Mo Caihuan’s performance. He frequently shook his head, indicating his sarcasm.
Underneath Han Li’s vicious counterattack, Mo Caihuan was utterly defeated. She could only stop the puppy look she had been utilizing until now and exchange it with a ferocious look of rage.
Actually, Mo Caihuan already started to regret her actions. If her mother were to find out about this, she was afraid that not only would she not be able to con anything from Han Li, but she would also taste the discipline of their clan’s rules.
As she thought of this, she glared hatefully at Han Li. This little bumpkin, couldn’t he just give something to her? Didn’t he know that girls exist to be coaxed? He was truly nothing but a country bumpkin!
As of the moment, she had already forgotten about her outrageous request she had demanded earlier from Han Li.
Although Han Li had no experience in coaxing girls, he knew that he would nonetheless have to borrow the strength of the Mo Residence and thus could not afford to offend them. As a result, after Mo Caihuan’s anger burned for some time, he slowly inserted his hands into his robes, trying to find a suitable trinket to appease this little demoness.
Han Li finally took out a green jade bottle. Inside the bottle, there were a few flaming red pills that release an extremely strong fragrance.
These pills were known as the the “Winding Fragrance Pills”. Taken by royal concubines, this pill had no other other effect other than causing the one who ingested the pill to emit a mesmerizing fragrance. Not only did this fragrance last for a long time and was pleasant to smell, but it also could provide the additional effect of protecting the user from insect bites. That was why this pill was a favorite among the royal concubines.
Treating the Winding Fragrance Pill as a gift for the young girl, however, was quite a pity. Concocting this pill required a few main ingredients that were rare and precious. Even in such a prosperous place as the royal capital, the main ingredients were always found to be in short supply, unable to meet the royal court’s demand. In the end, the pill had been lost with the passage of time.
Han Li would never concoct such a pill that would do nothing to aid him. But during his stay in the Seven Mysteries Sect, he finally caved in and concocted some of these pills for Li Feiyu to coax Zhang Xiuer because he was unable to withstand Li Feiyu’s urging.
All he had was just one bottle with only a few pills remaining. Initially, Han Li had wanted to use these pills to cloak himself from insect bites, but now, he could only use this to coax the little demoness standing before him.
Han Li threw the jade bottle in the girl’s direction. Mo Caihuan fumbled with it for a bit and finally caught the jade bottle. “What is this?” A smile finally broke out on Mo Caihuan’s face. She finally received a gift from this petty man in front of her! Although this was nothing much, this was sufficient to light up a smile on Mo Caihuan’s face.
“This pill is known as the Winding Fragrance Pill, and its effects are very mystical. It can....” Han Li explained the pill’s effects to Mo Caihuan, causing her to be extremely happy and satisfied.
Much to Han Li’s surprise, after the girl opened the jade bottle and sniffed the fragrance, she immediately closed the lid of the bottle and assumed a defensive stance. With a “defending against perverts” gaze, she looked at Han Li and carefully said:
“This pill is not a pill that knocks people unconscious or works as an aphrodisiac right? Why is the fragrance so familiar to the aphrodisiacs that my sisters described?. Are you planning to do something perverted to me!?”
After hearing this, Han Li was stunned for a prolonged period of time, becoming completely speechless. He suddenly felt like vomiting blood. This girl’s thoughts were too hard to predict! To think that she actually likened the fragrance of the Winding Fragrance Pill to an aphrodisiac!
Now, Han Li don’t even know whether should he be impressed this lady’s cautiousness or cry loudly because of an unjust accusation! “Looking at your reactions, this pill seems to be authentic, but I still have to let my Second Sister experiment on it before I can use. After all, women have to place cautiousness above everything they do.” Mo Caihuan told Han Li this in a righteous manner.
“Cough! Cough...., do what you will.”
Speechless, Han Li could only cough to mask the embarrassment on his face. He felt that it would be better for him to maintain a distance between himself and this little demoness. If he didn’t, he would never know when his depression would push him to his death.
“However, if this pill does have all the effects you listed, I shall consider you to have passed the test! After today, if you ever require any help in the Mo Residence, you can look for Caihuan! I will just require some small compensation, but in return, I will settle your problems for you.” Mo Caihuan shook the bottle while happily smiling.
“Okay, Junior Apprentice Sister! Senior Apprentice Brother does have something that requires your help.” Han Li recovered his former disposition as he smiled insincerely. As he replied to Mo Caihuan, he thought evilly in his heart, “Seeking assistance from you, a money grubber? In your dreams!”
Mo Caihuan naturally could not hear Han Li’s inner thoughts. She felt satisfied because Han Li had acquiesced to her. All of a sudden, she felt that Han Li was pretty interesting fellow and was even quite comely to look at.
“Let’s go, Senior Apprentice Brother! I will find a bigger and better room for you so you don’t have to suffer!” Mo Caihuan smiled brilliantly as she led the way.
Standing behind her, Han Li finally heaved a sigh of relief as he slowly followed her footsteps.
‘Such a strange girl. He would never be together with her. Don’t say that this bossy miss suddenly fell in love with an ordinary person like him. Even if she really did fall in love with him, he would straight out reject her. Just based on her unreasonable actions that were already so tough for Han Li to deal with, he could never endure it if they really got together.’ Han Li silently thought in his heart, decisively removing Mo Caihuan’s name from the list of potential candidates for his wife-to-be.
(TL: Han Li is talking about himself in third person)