Chapter 157 Martial Arts Expert

The weight on her hair made Chu Bing extremely uncomfortable. She touched the hairpin and slightly furrowed her brows. "How could I possibly use your things? I could just use a chopstick..."

"A chopstick?" Li Yuxi raised an eyebrow, finding it both funny and exasperated. "You mean to tell me you are going to wear this garment of mine worth a hundred silver pieces with a chopstick stuck in your hair? Won't people mistake you for a madman?"

Yet, she was truly reluctant to accept anything of his, especially something pulled right from his head, which he presumably used often...

Oh well, she would simply buy her own things later and return it to him!

However, a sudden thought crossed Chu Bing's mind.

It seemed... she should have had a hairpin of her own, one given to her by Li Mohand, which she had always kept close to her person. But in the chaos following the recent incident, she had completely forgotten about it.

Could she have lost it?

Preoccupied with this thought, Chu Bing tidied herself up and immediately hurried back to her room to search through her belongings.

She did not own much, all of it piled inside a small wooden chest. Upon opening it, a flash of emerald green caught her eye.

Her eyes lit up as she reached out and pulled the hairpin out. But...

Why was there only half of it?

The hairpin... was broken?

Chu Bing stared blankly at the two severed halves of the hairpin, a tumult of complex emotions flooding her heart.

Could this possibly mean that... she and Li Mohand...

"Who—who on earth are you!"

Just as Chu Bing was lost in a daze, Old Man Qian's voice suddenly rang out from the doorway once again.

Old Man Qian squinted at Chu Bing with an expression of profound suspicion. "Are you really that Chu Bing? How did you end up looking like this?"

After the initial shock subsided, his face was filled with sheer curiosity as he gazed at her.

He stepped into the room and circled around Chu Bing, inspecting her from all angles. "Tsk tsk, could this be the lost art of facial disguise? You know how to do that? I certainly underestimated you."

Chu Bing had been grieving over the jade hairpin broken into two halves, but the moment this old codger's voice sounded, it instantly swept away her vexations. Swiftly, she shoved the jade hairpin back into the chest, put on a stern face, and glared at Old Man Qian. "What on earth do you want?"

Curious as he was about her, Old Man Qian did not mind her attitude in the least. Instead, he chuckled and explained good-naturedly, "You've been eating and lodging here for free for so long, don't you think it's time to start working?"

A deal was a deal; she had agreed to be a medicine assistant and could not go back on her word!

Chu Bing twitched the corner of her mouth.

Although this was somewhat beneath her talents, her injuries were not yet fully healed, and she lacked the assistance of her system. Most importantly, Li Yuxi was right: none of Li Mohand's people had been sent to look for her, leaving her without the confidence to return to the manor just yet.

It would be better to stay here for a while longer.

With a deadpan expression, she said, "I can help you for a while, but I cannot stay indefinitely. Once my injuries recover, I will leave."

Under normal circumstances, Old Man Qian would have started shouting matches with Chu Bing, but looking at her exquisite, peerless face now, he found himself utterly speechless. He could only let out a cold snort and feign indifference as he said, "Hurry up then. I'm going to open the front doors; I have plenty of patients waiting for me."

With his hands clasped behind his back, he slowly strolled away.

Halfway to the door, he couldn't help glancing back at Chu Bing and adding, "Though, wearing men's clothing suits you quite well. It will save a lot of trouble!"

What a peculiar old man.

Chu Bing's gaze fell once more upon the chest, and she sighed helplessly.

It still hurt to look at.

Old Man Qian's apothecary enjoyed a fair bit of renown in the city. Though his temperament was eccentric, his medical skills were nothing short of miraculous, and he had saved many lives. Consequently, whenever anyone suffered from even the slightest ailment, they loved coming here.

The moment Chu Bing stepped into the front hall of the medical shop, she was startled by the number of patients present.

There was actually a queue.

Observing the crowd, and then looking at Old Man Qian stroke his beard with the aloof air of an otherworldly sage, she truly realized that appearances could be deceiving.

"You're finally here! Hurry up and fill these prescriptions for me!"

Old Man Qian pointed at several patients whose diagnoses were already complete. "That is my newly hired medicine assistant. Go to him to get your medicine."

Upon seeing Chu Bing, everyone froze.

For no other reason than the fact that Chu Bing was remarkably stunning. Though dressed in men's attire, it merely gave her the appearance of a delicate, refined young man with feminine grace rather than effeminacy. Her extraordinary aura immediately drew everyone's gaze, leaving them staring in a daze.

Sensing the mesmerized stares of the crowd, Chu Bing expressionlessly picked up a stone from the floor and crushed it in her palm.

The stone turned into powder, slipping from her jade-white fingertips down to the ground.

Someone swallowed hard. "Gulp."

Terrifying! Where on earth did Old Man Qian find such a formidable medicine assistant?!

They immediately reined in any improper thoughts they might have harbored.

Chu Bing walked up to the counter and held out her hand. "Prescriptions, please."

Hesitantly, one of the patients placed their prescription into Chu Bing's hand.

Chu Bing lowered her eyes to look at it. The herbs prescribed were all quite common. Having thoroughly studied medical texts, compounding prescriptions was second nature to her. With brisk and practiced movements, she quickly dispensed and wrapped the medicine. Seeing how adeptly she packaged the remedies, the patients who had moments earlier felt some hesitation cast aside their worries and began competing to have their prescriptions filled.

By the time Li Yuxi found the apothecary, this was the exact scene that greeted him.

He raised an eyebrow, leaning against the doorway with a trace of mild astonishment in his expression.

He truly hadn't expected her to adapt so well.

They worked until noon, by which time Old Man Qian had grown somewhat hungry. He announced to the remaining people in the queue that the shop was closed and they should return in the afternoon, finally granting Chu Bing a moment of rest.

She rubbed her slightly sore and aching arms when a hand suddenly grasped her wrist.

Raising her head, she saw Li Yuxi massaging her wrist with a natural expression. "Are you tired?"

Uncomfortably, Chu Bing pulled her hand back. "Stay away from me."

She felt as though all the air around her was being monopolized by this man.

"Are you spurning me?" Li Yuxi's expression abruptly shifted into one of profound grievance.

Chu Bing: "..."

She massaged her temples in defeat. "Big Brother, could you please be serious?"

"After all, this isn't the first time you've spurned me, is there any need to make such a big fuss about it?"

This was the first time Li Yuxi had ever left Chu Bing utterly speechless.

Having packed up his belongings, Old Man Qian stepped out just in time to see Li Yuxi acting so intimately with Chu Bing, his demeanor carrying a clear hint of ingratiation. Unable to help himself, the old man snorted, "The two of you should at least exercise some discretion. If anyone were to see this, would I still be able to run my apothecary?"

Both of them were currently dressed as men. Even though they were extraordinarily good-looking, two men being so affectionate was still against propriety.

Unwilling to dignify the old coot with a response, Chu Bing pushed past Li Yuxi.

She intended to step out and buy a clean set of men's clothes for herself; wearing Li Yuxi's garments was simply too uncomfortable.

Seeing her walk away, Li Yuxi followed her without a second thought.

As he passed Old Man Qian, the old man lowered his voice and muttered, "The realm is in chaos. The imperial court has begun recruiting men of ambition, especially martial arts experts with formidable skills. I hear the proclamation has already been posted. You two might as well give it a try."