Chapter 68
Chapter 68: Treasure-Chest Sister Lan Is the Old Ancestor
Clack.
Su Xue Qing’s hand jerked. The pen in her right hand slipped and fell to the floor.
The student behind her picked it up, then poked her lightly in the back. “Xue Qing, you really didn’t sleep well last night. You can’t even hold a pen. We’re young—we have to sleep!”
Su Xue Qing didn’t react. Her gaze was locked onto the pages Ye Wan Lan had given her, and her fingers trembled uncontrollably.
She’d grown up in the Su Family, forced to study needle techniques since childhood, inheriting the Tai Yi Medical Arts whether she wanted them or not.
Ever since she could remember, she’d heard elders sigh the same sentence over and over:
“What a pity. Tai Yi Divine Needle has ten volumes, but the last seven are lost. If they reappear, we will surely restore the glory of the Tai Yi Palace.”
In that war long ago, ninety percent of the Tai Yi healers died in battle. Shui Yun Qing—the Tai Yi Palace master—had even died on the way to rescue the Divine Strategy Army commander.
Today, only the first volume of Tai Yi Divine Needle circulated publicly. It treated a narrow range of illnesses: common chronic cold deficiencies, wind-cold dampness pain, weakness, and the like.
Even Su Xue Qing knew those simplest techniques.
The second and third volumes were kept within the Su Family and never shown outside.
Even descendants of the Su Family had to pass layers of tests before they were allowed to touch them—because if someone without enough foundation forced themselves to study deeper volumes, they could lose control and ruin everything.
The Su Family was ruthlessly cautious when choosing core disciples.
If that incident hadn’t happened, Su Xue Qing would probably already be studying volume two.
But she had been driven out and sent to River City. She hadn’t even been allowed to look at it.
And yet—
The pages in her hands right now were volume two of Tai Yi Divine Needle.
Su Xue Qing held her breath, afraid a single exhale might blow the words away.
As a practitioner of traditional medicine, she could tell at a glance whether the diagrams and annotations were real.
This was real.
This was Tai Yi Divine Needle.
A secret art the Su Family never shared—one even she had never seen.
“Xue Qing? Su Xue Qing!”
The student behind her poked again. “Your pen—do you want it or not? What are you thinking about? You look possessed.”
Su Xue Qing snapped back. She shoved the papers into her book at once, as if hiding a blade.
Then she turned around, face blank. “I was thinking… I might not sleep for days.”
“What?!” The student looked horrified. “How can someone our age not sleep? The second my head hits the pillow, I’m out in three seconds!”
Su Xue Qing took her pen back and forced herself to breathe—one slow inhale after another—until the hammering in her chest eased.
Tai Yi Divine Needle.
How could she possibly sleep?
“A Lan…” Su Xue Qing leaned closer, voice trembling. “You… you really… Where did you get this?”
Ye Wan Lan’s expression stayed light. “How I got it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether it helps you.”
“It’s not just helpful.” Su Xue Qing’s throat tightened. “If you put this on the GlobalNet and sold it, you could buy a home in the Global Center. Permanent citizenship. Anything you want.”
Why would Ye Wan Lan hand her something like this?
Su Xue Qing wanted it with everything in her—but she stayed clear-headed. She forced the papers back toward Ye Wan Lan. “A Lan, I can’t accept this. Spirit-Congealing Grass isn’t precious to me, but this… this is far too valuable.”
“Good.” Ye Wan Lan’s voice held a faint warmth. “Not arrogant. Not impatient.”
She tapped the papers lightly. “Whether it’s ‘too valuable’ depends on whether it can be used properly. Objects are dead, people are alive—and you’re exactly the kind of person who can use it.”
“But I…”
“Take it.” Ye Wan Lan didn’t allow the refusal to form. She slid volume two of Tai Yi Divine Needle straight into Su Xue Qing’s backpack. “Keep it safe.”
Su Xue Qing’s hands shook again. She blinked hard, trying to force tears back, but her voice still turned hoarse.
“No one believes me,” she whispered. “And you… you just believe me…”
Even her own parents hadn’t believed her. The family she’d lived with for more than ten years had tossed her out like trash.
“Xue Qing,” Ye Wan Lan said quietly, “don’t tell a third person. No one.”
“I understand.” Su Xue Qing’s eyes sharpened, all emotion tightening into seriousness. “Something like this… can easily bring deadly trouble.”
Killing and stealing for treasure was nothing strange—three hundred years ago, or now.
Ten years ago, the Su Family had a brilliant young healer who died in a plane crash on the way to the Xing Man Federation Empire.
Everyone knew it was a setup. But knowing wasn’t proof.
Su Xue Qing rubbed her eyes, then contacted her friend in Yun Jing again.
[Su Xue Qing]: Where’s the Spirit-Congealing Grass? Can I see it this afternoon?
[Medicine Peddler]: Oh my aunt-grandmother, I only transplanted it from my vegetable garden this morning. I still have to pack it and send someone to deliver it. Earliest is tomorrow.
[Su Xue Qing]: Hurry up. Or when I go back, I’ll burn your vegetable garden.
[Medicine Peddler]: ???
[Medicine Peddler]: You’ve gone too far. Pull the Spirit-Congealing Grass all you want, but don’t touch my carefully grown cabbages!
[Medicine Peddler]: But… you’ve finally untied your knot? Are you coming back? What about the Su Family…
[Su Xue Qing]: It has nothing to do with the Su Family. From now on, I’m just me. I’ll always be a good doctor.
A Tai Yi healer—bring the dead back, contend with Heaven!
If she was going to walk the road of fighting fate, she would not surrender.
—
At noon, the sunlight was perfect. Clouds drifted with the wind, shifting into layers of mountains and vast seas.
Leaning on the railing, Ye Wan Lan called Lin Wei Lan. “Hello, Grandmother. Did you take your medicine on time today? I’ll come back to see you tonight. I already spoke with Uncle. I’ll stay at the old residence these few days.”
“Good, good!” Lin Wei Lan sounded delighted. “I’ve been hoping you’d stay longer. Stay as long as you want. No one will dare gossip.”
“Grandmother, rest well. Don’t worry about Spirit-Congealing Grass anymore.”
“Grandmother will listen to you.”
After the call ended, Lin Wei Lan rubbed her temples, exhausted. “What about those Spirit-Congealing Grass plants we were tracking last time?”
“Old Madam, we already contacted the sellers,” the Lin steward said anxiously, “but every one of them backed out at the last second.”
He hesitated, then lowered his voice. “All outside channels for Spirit-Congealing Grass have been cut off. I’m afraid only the Su Family…”
Lin Wei Lan’s eyes turned heavy. She said nothing.
So their goal really was to force her back to the Yun Jing Lin Family.
And the mastermind behind this had to have ties to certain people in Yun Jing.
Did they think this would make her beg the main family?
The Lin steward had followed Lin Wei Lan from Yun Jing to River City. He understood the capital’s circles well enough to dare suggest, “Besides the Su Family, there’s also someone else…”
“I know who you mean,” Lin Wei Lan said, voice weary. “But he’s even less possible.”
She gave a humorless sigh. “Sometimes even the Su Family goes to him for medicine. They’ve been cursed out and kicked out more than once. It’s hard.”
The Lin steward fell silent.
That person truly was strange—he valued cabbage and mushrooms more than rare medicinal herbs.
Lin Wei Lan murmured, “I know A Lan doesn’t want me to worry, but she’s still young. She’s only been back at school a short time. How could I let her carry this?”
Her voice softened. “She’s suffered for so long. If I can’t even give her decent living conditions, how can I face Jia Yan?”
The Lin steward sighed again.
They still didn’t know whether Lin Jia Yan was alive or dead. If he was alive, fine… but if he wasn’t…
Lin Wei Lan waved a hand. “Go. I’ll think of another way.”
“Old Madam, please take care of your health,” the Lin steward said, and left the study full of worry.
The moment he stepped out, Lin Qing Wen rushed over. “Mom, I—”
“Get out!” Lin Wei Lan’s voice was like ice.
Lin Qing Wen jumped in fright. He didn’t dare say another word and scrambled away.
In that instant, he saw a Lin Wei Lan completely different from the one he knew—no longer sickly and weak, but decisive and terrifying.
Back in the third-floor bedroom, Lin Qing Wen patted his chest. “I’ve never seen Mom this scary. What did she do to get kicked out of the main family?”
Madam Lin didn’t answer. She was busy preparing a backup plan.
Seven days.
If Spirit-Congealing Grass didn’t appear, the Lin Family would be finished.
—
That afternoon, at River City No. 7 High School, Senior 2 Class 2—
“What?!” The study representative’s voice jumped. “The fourth spot for the summer training camp went to Ye Wan Lan from Class 1? She’s in the history-chemistry-biology track!”
“Yeah! If she doesn’t even study physics, why is she joining a physics competition? What’s she up to?”
“Jun Ning, stop crying. That spot should’ve been yours. Let’s go to Class 1 and demand an explanation.”
More than a dozen students poured toward Class 1, anger rolling off them in waves.
They crowded the doorway, blocking the hall.
“Classmate Ye Wan Lan,” someone called loudly, “we need to talk to you. Please come out for a moment.”
Ye Wan Lan looked up.
Several students from Senior 2 Class 2 stood there. Su Xu Bai and Xue Yi Wei were among them.
Su Xue Qing frowned and hooked her arm through Ye Wan Lan’s. “A Lan, I’m coming with you. Let’s see what nonsense they’re trying to pull.”
The classmates in Class 1 saw the commotion and gathered behind them as well.
Class 2 and Class 1 had never gotten along.
Class 2 had science-track elites like Xue Yi Wei who looked down on the history students, and troublemakers like Sheng Song who liked bullying ordinary classmates.
Ye Wan Lan’s expression didn’t change as she stepped into the hall. “What is it?”
“We can’t change Teacher Ren’s decision,” Xue Yi Wei said coolly. “But you should know the summer training camp spot was never meant to be yours.”
Her gaze was hard. “You only transferred in June. You’re studying history. Don’t you think it’s shameless to occupy that spot?”
The students behind her shifted, faces tightening.
They didn’t care if someone used connections—until their own resources were taken. Then no one could stay calm.
Ye Wan Lan’s eyes remained quiet. “So?”
“So,” Xue Yi Wei snapped, “go to Teacher Ren and withdraw. Give the spot to Jun Ning. It belonged to her in the first place. By every standard, you have no right to keep it.”
She stepped forward, impatience flashing. “I’ve made myself clear. Do you understand? If you do, come with me to the physics group leader’s office right now.”