173: Chapter 173 Please Don't Kill Me!

"Do you want it?" Gu Changming replied indifferently. "If you want, I can do that too."

Chen Yiming's smile froze for a moment. Was he threatening her?

Then, she grinned awkwardly and reached out to pat Gu Changming's arm.

"Haha... do you think I won't be able to concoct it?"

"I'm just joking with you. How could I possibly fail to concoct it?"

Her laughter was a bit dry, and the force of her patting seemed weak and unsteady.

But soon, the patting motion stopped.

Because Gu Changming was looking at her sideways, a very faint smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

"Haha." She gave two more dry laughs, withdrew her hand, and walked forward with her head down.

On the way back, she became unusually quiet.

And Gu Changming, walking beside her, easily noticed the change in her mood.

After a moment's thought, Gu Changming took the initiative to speak. "You're an Apothecary, let me ask you some questions about herbs."

To be honest, he quite liked her carefree and cheerful personality.

Being around someone like that, his own mood would unconsciously improve.

Especially in the currently pervasive depressing and hopeless Assessment environment, someone with this kind of personality could be considered a unique resource.

"Eh?" Chen Yiming looked up, her gaze a bit sluggish. "What is it?"

"I encountered a trial before. The Assessment content was to treat an injured small animal using given herbs. The herbs provided were Silver-thread Grass, Red-pulp Grass, Bitter-smell Vine, and Night-dew Flower..."

Gu Changming said while reminiscing, "What should the correct prescription be?"

Mentioning a topic she was familiar with, Chen Yiming blurted out almost instinctively.

"You can get a slight therapeutic effect just by crushing Silver-thread Grass for external application. If you mix it with Night-dew Flower juice, the effect will be better, close to half that of the most common healing potion."

"Bitter-smell Vine is even poisonous; mixing it in would be the end. Red-pulp Grass is a distractor; it's rarely used in prescriptions..." As she spoke, the light briefly returned to Chen Yiming's eyes.

"Oh." Gu Changming nodded. "I see."

It could be considered settling a matter on his mind.

Now he could die in peace.

"How did you end up mixing them?" Chen Yiming asked curiously.

"I used them all, mixed together," Gu Changming replied indifferently.

"That small animal must have been a goner."

"Uh... don't worry, there was no pain."

Chen Yiming was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, the gloom from earlier dissipating a bit.

"Then you must have lost the Assessment, right?"

"Not exactly a loss," Gu Changming replied.

"Why?"

"Because there was someone else in the Assessment with me. He was lucky, figured out the correct ratio, cured the animal, and got the final reward."

"Huh? Then how is that not a loss?" Chen Yiming was a bit puzzled.

Gu Changming continued, "Yeah, because as soon as the Assessment ended, I put a knife to his throat, and he voluntarily gave the reward to me."

The smile on Chen Yiming's face froze instantly.

"..."

The atmosphere became quiet once again.

She silently turned her head back and continued looking at the road ahead, her steps becoming a bit heavier.

Her heart began to race with unease.

What does he mean? Was that conversation just now... a subtle threat to me?

It's over, this guy isn't a good person!

On the walk back, her breathing unconsciously became a bit rapid, her mind was a mess, and various thoughts were crashing wildly.

Chen Yiming! Do you have a pig brain?! Or are you just a child who hasn't grown up?! You saw a customer and your eyes turned into dollar signs! You dared to take any kind of order!

He could take out over eighty thousand points without even blinking. With that kind of strength, buying your life would be more than enough!

When the time comes and you've squandered all the points, and there's not even a shadow of the potion...

The more she thought about it, the more terrified she became, cold sweat almost seeping from her forehead.

Beside her, Gu Changming looked down at her with some confusion.

What's going on?

Was the story I just told... not interesting?

Why did she stop talking to me after I finished?

Hiss...

This should have been quite interesting to everyone except Jiang Shu himself.

He was secretly wondering.

Beside him, Chen Yiming suddenly came to a dead stop.

She took a deep breath, as if she had made a huge decision, and turned around stiffly.

For some reason, she didn't dare to look up. She just stared at the ground, her fingers twisting the cuffs of her pajamas, her voice as faint as a mosquito's.

"Um... I'll tell you the truth, but please, please don't get angry."

She had seen his strength; she definitely couldn't run away. It was better to come clean; maybe she could still get some leniency.

"Hmm?" Gu Changming grunted.

Chen Yiming, as if afraid she would lose her courage if she stopped, blurted everything out at a very fast pace:

"I'm sorry! I lied to you! Actually... actually, the progress isn't nearly as fast as I bragged! Those points you gave me... I've already spent tens of thousands, and now I'm stuck on a key step!"

"Calling you to this secret realm to gather herbs was also to, to save some money on materials and see if I could bluff my way through... I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"

Her voice got quieter as she spoke, but then, as if throwing caution to the wind, she immediately threw herself to the ground in a five... six-point prostration, including her dinosaur tail, which also lay flat on the ground.

"Please don't kill me! I was blinded by greed! I was extravagant and wasted your points... I know I was wrong! Big brother!"

"Later... later I'll use the points I've saved to cover it! If it succeeds, consider it my lucky dog life. If it doesn't, please don't hurt me, okay?"

Gu Changming was stunned by this sudden grand gesture.

Then, looking at the figure curled into a shivering green dinosaur ball, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face again.

This girl's personality is truly a treasure.

So quickly, she brought him joy again.

Looking at her, Gu Changming extended a finger and hooked it gently.

An invisible force instantly supported Chen Yiming, "lifting" her up from the ground.

Her limbs were still comically maintaining a kneeling and crawling posture, but her whole body was already floating in mid-air, her expression dazed.

"I know," Gu Changming finally spoke.

"Huh?" Chen Yiming hung in the air, her brain not quite processing it yet. "What?"

"I said, I know that developing potion costs a lot of points," Gu Changming repeated.

Chen Yiming's emotions instantly jammed. She blinked, her expression shifting from tragic to blank sluggishness.

Gu Changming continued, "On my first day in Cangwu, I went to the trading area to ask for directions. When I asked those stall owners about you, they told me all about your 'glorious deeds'."

"So..." Chen Yiming asked hesitantly in a low voice, "You... you were prepared for this all along?"

"Yeah." Gu Changming nodded.

Hearing this, the last bit of worry on Chen Yiming's face vanished instantly. She flailed her limbs in mid-air and swung her non-threatening fist as if to strike him.

"You jerk! Then why didn't you tell me sooner!"