Chapitre 17: Behind the scenes...

Xie Meiyu stood alone in the room as watched Tang Yin's back go out of the Association's door. She was at thinking deeply.

'Hm, this Young Master is too amazing, but what kind of enemies does he have, to become crippled and left penniless like that?' She thought doubtfully, as she tried to think of different possibilities.

'Besides, his Tang surname and being so awesome... I think only 'that Family' could become so awesome and they carry the same surname, could he be a member?' She thought and frowned at the thought of this possibility, but after thinking about it quickly she shook her head.

'No, it's not possible. If those guys could be easily injured, they couldn't be the only ones able to 'contain' them.' Her head kept thinking, over and over again she thought of many possibilities, but she couldn't find any answers to her questions.

She didn't know of any Tang Family that was so outstanding in Alchemy.

'Could it be that he is from that family, but do have any hidden Alchemical Masters? Father once told me that there could be Hidden Masters that are more incredible than the ones shown. Like 'that lady' from that place...' Her mind was whirling back and forth, trying to find an answer, but in the end, she just sighed.

Just at that moment, a person appeared out of nowhere to the side of her, attracting her attention.

--"It's very strange that the Elder chooses to show himself right now." She said with a smile, knowing why he did so.

The old-man stared at her.

--"That person is dangerous." He replied, contrary to Xie Meiyu's expectations.

She looked at him suspiciously.

--"I thought you were going to ask me why I gave the Token to him, but, what do you mean he's dangerous?" She asked doubtfully, and the old-man simply shrugged his shoulders.

--"It's dangerous to give that Token to a random person, but considering that he gave you those recipes and gave you such impressive knowledge, it doesn't seem so strange to me. I think anyone upstairs would make the same decision if they were in your place, Miss." He replied but did not wait for her to say anything about it, but spoke again.

--"But I think he is more dangerous than you might think he was before he was crippled." He said, and she turned fully around to stare at him.

--"If the Elder says so, he must have a basis, what makes you believe that?" she asked, and the Elder then showed something he held in his hand, a piece of paper, and passed it to Xie Meiyu.

Xie Meiyu read it and was surprised that it was an alchemical recipe with various enhancements and alternatives for different results. Gradually, the more she read, the more her mind fell into shock.

'Shit, is it possible to do this?' she thought and then looked at the Elder urgently.

--"Where did you get this recipe? If what you say is correct, it could be the discovery of the millennium!" She said in surprise, and the man nodded.

--"That Young Man gave it to me." He replied.

Making Xie Meiyu frown in doubt, she then looked at the recipe again.

And a moment later, it dawned on her, and she raised her face sharply to look at him.

--"He knew you were here!?" She asked in a shout of surprise, and the Elder nodded.

--"When the Miss was finishing alchemy for the first time, he grabbed some papers and wrote some things down, then went back to it when he was in a blind spot of you. At those times he walked past where I was and, without me realizing, he put this in my hands, even when I was invisible." He said firmly, and Xie Meiyu was stunned for a moment.

She had many things she wanted to think about, but now was not the time after that she looked at the Elder.

--"Despite that, because he is now crippled, it means he needs friends or people to help him when he is in need. It is better to form a relationship with him from now on, so I can go ahead and try, what do you think, Elder?" she asked at the end of what she wanted to say, and the Elder nodded to her.

--"That's just what I was going to tell you, Miss. It's good that you can understand for yourself." He said and then looked a little to the side, at the wall, and immediately moved.

--"The director is coming, I'll hide again. Remember what I told you, Miss. If you need me, call me." This man said and then disappeared.

Xie Meiyu then could only nod to the air and then look toward the door.

--"Director, come here a moment." She said loudly, then quickly the director came in.

--"Miss Xie, do you need me?" he asked.

--"Were you able to confirm about the Alchemical Fire?" She asked, and the director nodded.

--"Yes, Miss Xie. In a month from today, the Alchemical Fire will appear again, but it is a Common Fire that only has a small chance of passing to the Earth Grade, is it worth being in this small city, just for such a small thing?" The director knew very well why Xie Meiyu was in this city.

She was only here to try to obtain that Alchemical Fire, but if it was Common Grade... She wouldn't even bother obtaining it, she only cared about Earthly Fires or more.

She sighed a little.

--"Nothing can be done, although I have achieved a great step in my alchemical cultivation today, I still need that Alchemical Fire. If you have a chance to move to the Earth Grade, then I will be there to obtain it." She replied, and the Director nodded.

--"But I ask you to be careful, Miss. There are several young masters nearby who are looking for it as well, although they are not as powerful as Miss, it cannot be ruled out that there is someone else behind them nearby." He said, and Xie Meiyu nodded.

--"I know, anyway, the young masters in this place can't do anything to me. Unless some annoying guy from a top-tier Empire or another region comes here, I highly doubt there's anyone worthy here. Don't worry about me, I'll go cultivate, I'll take care of the branch office for you." She said and walked out of there.

She needed to prepare well for this next foray and to settle her thoughts regarding Tang Yin.

----

Some time later, at the Huang mansion, Huang Liuji was gathered together with his father and an elder of the family.

Huang Liuji is the one who will marry Huang Feifei, so today looked happy and was arriving after having been enjoying some time with his friends and cousins.

But when he arrived, he noticed his father did not look as happy as he expected.

Something must have happened, but he didn't understand what.

--"Father, why do you look so down? Your son is getting married soon, how can you be sad?" he asked, a little surprised to see his father looking like this when this morning he was cheerful.

His father smiled at him.

--"My son, I watch over your happiness, but... This time we really have a problem. I got a message from upstairs and it seems that the main Young Master is running here together with your brother, it seems that they are after the Alchemical Fire. But... You know how your older cousin is, if he sees a beautiful and pure woman, he will immediately want to take her to bed. I'm afraid... He might think something about that little girl." He said with some regret.

For his son, he could go against family orders, but this time there was no turning back. That person was coming here and would be here in a few days, plus he was coming with his other son.

Huang Liuji then noticed the gravity of the situation.

--"This..." He didn't expect it, but now that he thinks about it, his father is right.

But he is not stupid and thinks fast, so he quickly came up with a plan. It was a stupid plan, but he didn't care.

--"Father, I have a plan." He said, and his father looked up to see what he meant.

--"Oh? Did you come up with a plan so quickly?" his father asked, and he nodded but before he told him, he had the other old man who was the vase in this place come out.

After that, he approached his father.

--"Father, how about..." Then he began to tell him about his plan, and his father looked thoughtful about it.

--"Are you sure you're doing it right? If there's a mistake, it could be serious."

--"I'm sure, I have this with me." He said and showed him something, so his father looked even more thoughtful, but after a while, he gave the go-ahead.

--"All right, I'll leave it in your hands then. I'll send you a few disguised ones so you can do it at night when no one expects it, so you won't cause a stir." Replied his father with a smile, and then Huang Liuji nodded several times, after that, he went out of there. He also seemed to have things to prepare.

-----

After Tang Yin left the Alchemists' Association, while talking to the System about some things, he walked around the city buying several changes of clothes, bandages for his face, low-grade medicinal herbs, containers...

In addition, he bought several masks he found that he liked enough to wear.

Several in white, black, red, blue, etc. The one he liked the most was the black and white. Well, also the blue as they matched his hair. So, right now, he was walking around wearing a black mask on his face.

He felt it looked good on him.

After that, he went to a Blacksmith shop.

Before entering, he could already hear many people working, but he quickly went in and bought many things.

Blacksmith hammers, knives, and many, many close-range 'weapons'.

Plus, nails, and other things, he would need.

He had spent quite a bit of money at the blacksmith shop, so the person serving him was very respectful to him.

Soon, Tang Yin finished his shopping and left the blacksmith shop after a small question he asked the man who was serving him.

On his way out, he noticed that it was already dark.

'Shit, did my day just go by myself buying stuff?' he thought to himself in amazement.

'Hm, I should leave directly and go to the nearby Spirit Forest, but... I should let Miss Huang know...' Tang Yin thought, and after thinking for a moment, he decided to go to Miss Huang's house first to let her know that he wouldn't be here tonight.

So, he started walking, and it didn't take him long to get there.

Then he knocked on the door, took off his mask, but left the bandages on his face so that whoever came out would recognize him, but no one answered for a while.

This seemed a little strange to him, but when he was about to knock again, the door opened, and Huang Feifei's beautiful face appeared, but it was a little haggard, which surprised Tang Yin, who looked at her in astonishment.

'What on earth happened? I've only been lost for a few hours and she already looks like this...' He thought in amazement.