Chapter 12 Got Trapped?

Leaving Yuebaolou, Lin Jing did not linger outside but hurried home.

"Lin Daoyou, we brothers have been tight on money recently, please give us a few more days' grace. We will pay you back in a few days."

Just as he turned into the alley, Lin Jing heard someone speaking.

Lin Jing looked up and saw Zhang Sen and Zhang Lin, the two brothers, talking with their neighbor, a young woman.

The neighbor's cute little girl was shyly hiding behind her mother at that moment.

The young woman furrowed her brows, looking coldly at the two men.

Seeing Lin Jing approach, Zhang Sen quickly greeted him.

"Brother Lin."

Zhang Sen's face was full of surprise as he smiled and walked toward Lin Jing.

"Brother Zhang."

Since the other party had already come over, it wouldn't be good for Lin Jing to avoid them.

"Brother Lin may not be acquainted with Lin Daoyou yet, but we will be neighbors from now on and will inevitably help each other. Let me introduce you."

With that, he led Lin Jing over to the young woman.

"This is Ning Yue, Lin Daoyou."

After finishing the introduction to her, he turned to Ning Yue and said:

"Lin Daoyou, this is Lin Jing, Lin Daoyou."

"He lives next door, and just moved in over two months ago. He doesn't go out much, so you probably haven't met yet."

As Zhang Sen introduced Lin Jing, the little girl peeked her head out from behind and looked at Lin Jing.

Lin Jing, feeling something, looked back, and the little girl, as if startled like a rabbit, quickly retreated behind her mother.

"Brother Lin." Zhang Sen beamed with a smile: "It's an emergency."

"We previously borrowed some Spirit Stones from Lin Daoyou and now Lin Daoyou suddenly has an urgent need for Spirit Stones. I've been strapped for cash these past few days and can't gather enough."

"I would trouble Brother Lin to lend me some Spirit Stones so I can pay back Lin Daoyou first."

"Not much, just five Spirit Stones will do."

"Rest assured, Brother Lin, once I'm flush in a few days, I'll definitely repay you."

Lin Jing frowned.

"Brother Lin, please help me out," Zhang Sen spoke again.

"Don't worry, Brother Lin, as soon as I earn some Spirit Stones in a few days, I will immediately repay you."

Seeing Zhang Sen speak so earnestly, Lin Jing decided to trust him this time.

"Alright."

With that, Lin Jing took out five Spirit Stones from his chest and handed them over.

Normally, when outside, Lin Jing would hide his Storage Bag and keep a few Spirit Stones on his person.

For someone at the Second Rank of Qi Refinement, having a Storage Bag was abnormal. Being seen with one could provoke malicious intent.

After all…

A Storage Bag would cost at least several hundred Spirit Stones, something not normally possessed by a Second Rank Junior Cultivator.

In short, with his current low strength, it was always better to be cautious.

"Thanks a lot, Brother Lin," Zhang Sen could not hide the joy on his face.

Taking the Spirit Stones, Zhang Sen promptly passed them to Ning Yue.

"Lin Daoyou, our debt is settled."

"Mm."

Ning Yue took the Spirit Stones, nodding slightly.

"Lin Daoyou, Brother Lin, we brothers have matters to attend to, so we'll be leaving first."

Seeing the business concluded, Zhang Sen and Zhang Lin prepared to leave.

"Rest assured, Brother Lin, I will return the Spirit Stones to you in a few days," Zhang Sen continued.

"Also, I forgot to mention earlier, Lin Daoyou is an Alchemist. If you need Elixir Medicine in the future, you can ask for her help."

"Lin Daoyou, Brother Lin, we take our leave."

After saying that, the two of them turned and left.

"Alchemist."

Lin Jing looked toward Ning Yue. She had a graceful figure but wasn't very attractive, with a sallow complexion, as if she suffered long-term malnutrition, and a brown spot on her cheek.

"Uncle, you've been tricked," a timid voice said.

It was the little girl, clutching Ning Yue's dress hem, only her head showing, as she shyly spoke up.

"Mom said, those two are bad people, they often borrow money and don't pay it back, you've been tricked by them."

"Luo Luo, you shouldn't talk nonsense," Ning Yue scolded.

The little girl, upon hearing this, quickly shrank her head back in.

"Lin Daoyou, I'll take my leave."

Having said that, without waiting for Lin Jing to respond, she took the little girl back to her own yard.

Then, with a "bang," the courtyard door closed, leaving Lin Jing there alone.

Lin Jing understood that, obviously, she still didn't trust him and was cautious around him, not wanting to interact with him.

After that realization, he let it go, since he himself was the same way and didn't like trouble either.

Having come to this understanding, he walked towards his own home.

Once back inside, Lin Jing took the Pill Furnace out of his Storage Bag, ready to start Alchemy.

First, he studied the Pill Recipe, familiarized himself with the refining process, and then Lin Jing took out the materials.

"Let's start with the simplest Fasting Pill."

He processed the materials needed for the Fasting Pill and then placed them into the furnace in order, followed by starting the fire.

The flames rose, and after some time, reactions began to occur inside the Pill Furnace.

"Controlling Fire Technique."

Lin Jing was careful, using the Controlling Fire Technique to manipulate the flames, controlling the temperature to ensure it wasn't too fierce.

At the same time, his Divine Sense probed into the furnace to observe the condition of the Elixir Medicine.

However, with the current strength of Lin Jing's Divine Sense, he couldn't sustain it for long, and soon Lin Jing couldn't hold on and withdrew.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn.

"Boom"

A muffled sound came from within the Pill Furnace.

"Did the furnace explode?"

Lin Jing frowned and went up to check.

Upon lifting the furnace lid, Lin Jing looked inside and saw only black fragments, no sign of any Elixir Medicine.

Looking at the body of the furnace, it was intact.

"That's good," Lin Jing said, relieved.

Lin Jing reflected on his Alchemy steps just now and then pondered for a moment before he prepared the materials again and continued Alchemy.

He knew that Alchemy was never that easy, and that certainly, he would have to fail a few times at first, so Lin Jing was not discouraged at all.

During the next Alchemy attempt, having learned from his last lesson, Lin Jing was even more careful in controlling the flames.

As expected, with a "boom," the second batch of Elixir Medicine was also declared a failure.

"Once more."

This time Lin Jing didn't pause and immediately started again.

"Boom."

This time, it took a bit longer than the previous two attempts.

Lin Jing gained some insight, but felt like he was still missing something crucial.

"Boom"

"Boom"

......

Lin Jing kept refining, but the results were far from satisfactory, with the furnace exploding every time.

However, Lin Jing didn't give up and continued with his Alchemy.

Finally, on the eighth attempt, there was no "boom" to be heard.

"Did I succeed this time?"

Just as joy appeared on Lin Jing's face, a foul smell emanated from inside the furnace.

"This smell..."

His eyebrows tightly furrowed, he moved forward to lift the lid, and the foul stench hit him full in the face.

"Ugh..."

The intense stink nearly made him vomit last night's dinner.

Straightaway, Lin Jing ran out of the house, breathing in deep gulps of fresh air.

After a long while, when the smell inside the house had mostly dissipated, Lin Jing dared to return inside.

Back in the house, Lin Jing first cleaned up the source of the foul smell in the Pill Furnace, a pool of sticky liquid, and then cleared it out along with the remnants of the previous exploded Elixir Medicine.

At this point, Lin Jing started to ponder.

The Alchemy Technique he got from Steward Li indeed had issues.

It was only when he began Alchemy himself that Lin Jing realized the technique had many mistakes and even some places were glossed over ambiguously.

As a result, he could only repeatedly try and error.

"It seems that Senior Han is probably not very familiar with this Alchemy Technique either. Starting with First Rank Elixir Medicine, it does have a higher failure rate than other techniques."

"Could it be that I was tricked by Steward Li?"