4

It felt like ages, to the point where Yao Yue just fell asleep leaning against the bed frame waiting for the person to bring her the medical aid her finger desperately needed. But at the same time, she was able to wake up by the slightest sound of knocking.

"Miss Yao, may I come in?" came the voice of Yun Jin.

Yao Yue yawned. "Go ahead."

He walked through the busted door with a tray of medical paste, gauss, and a small bottle of alcohol. "Tian shixiong said that you needed this..."

Yun Jin stared at the medical needles that were still scattered along the floor and then glanced back at the busted door.

"Don't ask," Yao Yue sighed. "It's been an eventful night."

He nodded, setting the tray he was holding on a table. Yao Yue got up from her bed and sat at the table, taking everything off of the tray with her good hand.

"If you have nothing else," Yun Jin turned to leave. "I'll go now."

An idea suddenly popped into her read. "Wait Childe Yun, do you know how to use magic to heal bones?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I do..."

"Then will you help me?" Yao Yue held her finger out to him.

He slowly walked over and sat down next to her. He gently grabbed her hand and examined her finger, touching it carefully.

"Yeah, that's broken." Yun Jin mumbled, glancing at her pained expression. "Okay, I'll help you, but it's going to hurt like hell."

Yao Yue nodded. "I can take it."

"Are you sure about it?"

"I'm sure, please begin."

"Alright, are you ready?"

She nodded as he began to cast the spell. Yao Yue closed her eyes, before letting out a muffled scream as she felt her bones slowly peace themselves back together. Although it wasn't much, it was still painful to force your bones back together and have them healed by force.

Yun Jin looked at her worriedly, but continued the spell, speeding up the process in hopes that it would make her agony shorter. It didn't, and soon Yao Yue couldn't take the pain anymore.She grabbed the small bottle of alcohol, tore off the lid and took a sip of it. Yun Jin stared at her in horror as she covered her mouth in pain and almost threw up at how strong the alcohol was.

"I... I'm done!" He said, finishing the spell.

Yao Yue quickly pulled her finger back, before finally spitting out the alcohol in her mouth onto it.

"Damn it, this is why I hate alcohol." she hissed, wiping her tongue on her sleeve. "It burns..."

A knock came from the doorframe. "Miss Yao...yao?" Came Huo Ping's timid voice. "Are you...you okay?"

Yao Yue took a deep breath before saying in a calm voice, "I'm fine, do you need anything?"

"You...your door..."

She raised her left hand and waved her index and middle finger. The doors that laid on the ground slowly raised up and fitted themselves back into the doorframe.

"Is there anything else you need?"

"No...no, I...i'll stop bothering...bothering you now."

She heard him walk away, pausing a few times as if he wanted to say something else but ultimately deciding against it. Yao Yue just sighed and walked up to a nearby window, bringing the alcohol with her.

"Thank you, Childe Yun. I think I'll be good on my own now." she poured more alcohol onto her wounded finger outside the window.

He nodded, getting up. "It's recommended that you apply the paste on your finger two times a day."

"Thank you."

She watched as Yun Jin walked towards the door, slowly opening it and checking if it was working properly before finally leaving. Yao Yue set the half empty bottle of alcohol on the windowsill and let out a tired sigh. She glanced at the needles that were still laying on the ground and summoned them in front of her. She looked through them with her magic, careful not to touch a single needle. When nothing seemed off about them, she had them carefully put into a box while she summoned the bottle the intruder had been holding. Yao Yue had it shaken, only to hear the sound of needles inside. Curious, she pulled off the stopper and summoned out the contents.

They were silver needles that were covered in blood.

She was so shocked that she almost dropped everything onto the ground. "What the hell is this?" Yao Yue whispered in confusion. "Never mind that, what the hell is this for?"

She flipped through the needles, examining every single one. The blood still seemed fresh meaning that they must've been collected that very night. The more she looked at them, the more unease she felt. Yao Yue took a deep breath before leaning close to one of the needles and sniffed it. She recognized the woody smell as the blood of the Lin Sect. She sniffed another, and found that it was the Lin Sect, mixed with the Shui Sect. Yao Yue continued to go through the needles, sniffing every single one and identifying all the origins of the blood. But then, she came across a familiar scent. Yao Yue stared at the needle that contained that familiar scent and took another sniff. There was no mistake about it.

Finally she stopped and forced all the needles except that one needle back into the bottle, pushing the stopper back into the opening of the bottle. Yao Yue stared at the one needle she didn't put back into the bottle before pulling out a small box from her sleeve. She opened the box and had the needle carefully put in it, sealing the box tightly with a spell.

"I've got a feeling," she whispered, "that something's going to go down at Yun Tuan Di. And that doesn't seem to be good." Yao Yue then sighed and grabbed the box that held the needle with the blood with a smile. "But at least I have something that I could use in the future."