"Not quite human?" Feng Weilan's brow twitched imperceptibly, a rare flicker of hesitation crossing those habitually indifferent eyes.
Rong Yuying stopped waving her round fan and leaned forward slightly. "What exactly does the transformation look like?"
Li Nanzhu looked at the bottle of pills shimmering with a faint pink light, weighing her words carefully. "It might... make the body exceptionally soft, like..." She struggled to find a fitting analogy.
Feng Qingping looked thoughtful. "Like someone without bones?"
"More or less," Li Nanzhu nodded. "But I'm not sure how intense the effect will be."
Suisui poked its head out from her robes, curiously sniffing at the pills, only to immediately sneeze and shrink back.
Feng Weilan was silent for a moment before reaching out. "Let's try it."
"Sixth Senior Brother, are you sure?" Li Nanzhu hesitated. "If the effect is too strong..."
"It doesn't matter," Feng Weilan said calmly. "It's better than being trapped here."
Rong Yuying lightly waved her fan. "You certainly are bold."
"It might feel a bit... strange," Li Nanzhu warned in a small voice.
Feng Weilan took the pill and, under everyone's intense scrutiny, placed it in his mouth. The pill melted instantly, and a cloyingly sweet fruity fragrance spread across his tongue.
Three breaths later—
With a light crack, Feng Weilan's wrist bone suddenly bent at an eerie angle, and then his entire arm went limp like melting wax.
"Weilan!"
"Sixth Senior Brother!"
"I'm fine, don't worry," Feng Weilan replied calmly. However, as he looked down at his translucent arm, his expression froze. His skin now had a jelly-like texture, shimmering with a soft luster under the light of the night-luminescent pearl.
Seeing that he was safe, Feng Qingping let out a sigh of relief. She reached out and poked his arm—her finger sank right in.
"..." Feng Weilan stared expressionlessly at the indentation in his arm.
"It really did become soft!" Qinghe exclaimed.
Rong Yuying used her fan to hide the lower half of her face, but the interest in her eyes was impossible to mask. "Interesting, how very interesting."
Li Nanzhu cautiously touched Feng Weilan's shoulder. "Sixth Senior Brother... how do you feel?"
Feng Weilan was silent for a moment. "...Cold."
"Just cold?"
"Yes."
Feng Qingping had already pinched a lock of Feng Weilan's hair, discovering that even the strands had become unusually soft and could be stretched at will. "Quickly, see if you can pull yourself out."
Feng Weilan nodded and gently pulled his locked wrist. The handcuff that had been tightly bound now hung loosely around his translucent arm, and it was easily removed.
"It worked!" Li Nanzhu cheered.
The other three chains were also successfully removed with Feng Qingping's help.
"How long will this state last?" Feng Weilan asked, looking at his transparent palm.
"Uh..." Li Nanzhu searched her memory before saying apologetically, "Can I say... I don't know?"
Feng Qingping suddenly reached out and stretched Feng Weilan's face to over a foot long. "In that case... let's take this chance to study you a bit more."
Feng Weilan: "..."
His face was stretched out like a flatbread, yet he maintained his deadpan expression, though his eyes looked significantly more hollow.
"Senior Sister, stop playing!" Li Nanzhu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "What if there are side effects..."
"He's already turned into this anyway. If he can't change back, side effects won't even matter," Feng Qingping said as she tied Feng Weilan's arm into a knot.
For a moment, Li Nanzhu wondered if her fifth senior sister was being a bit too carefree.
Catching a fleeting glimmer of worry in Feng Weilan's eyes, Li Nanzhu realized that her fifth senior sister might be using this method to distract him.
Suisui curiously hopped onto Feng Weilan's shoulder and poked his soft cheek with a paw. Feng Weilan expressionlessly picked it up and put it back on the ground.
"Don't cause trouble," he said faintly. His voice was as cold as ever, but paired with his currently deformable face and the hair Feng Qingping had twisted into rabbit ears, it was quite comical.
The mine fell quiet for a moment, with only the soft glow of the night-luminescent pearl reflecting on everyone's faces.
The captive female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect exchanged glances, their eyes occasionally drifting toward the freed Feng Weilan, yet they hesitated to speak.
Li Nanzhu quietly tucked the jade bottle back into her sleeve, her fingertips lightly stroking the delicate patterns on the bottle.
She naturally noticed those hesitant gazes, but she merely lowered her head to organize her storage bag, showing no intention of speaking first.
Suisui rolled around in her arms, its little paws tugging at her sleeve as if it were particularly interested in that bottle of pills. Li Nanzhu gently tapped its nose, earning a dissatisfied grumble.
"That pill..." A Hehuan Sect cultivator who was also chained finally couldn't help but speak up, only to be immediately silenced by a faint glance from Rong Yuying.
Feng Qingping's fingers, which were still playing with Feng Weilan's soft body, paused for a heartbeat, and the corners of her mouth curled almost imperceptibly.
Her little junior sister appeared casual, but she was actually very sharp—offering something proactively versus being asked for it were two very different things in the cultivation world.
Ling Suxin suddenly stepped forward, her skirt rippling across the ground like a wave. "Fellow Daoist Li." Her voice was clear and her gaze steady. "I wonder if there are any of those pills left?"
Everyone in the cave paused in their movements.
Li Nanzhu raised her eyes to meet Ling Suxin's gaze, which was as clear as autumn water.
"I do have some..." Li Nanzhu drawled slowly, her fingernail lightly tapping against the jade bottle, producing a crisp sound.
Ling Suxin took out a brocade pouch embroidered with an intertwining lotus pattern from her sleeve. Five high-grade spirit stones shimmered with a moist luster in her palm. "Is this price acceptable?"
Li Nanzhu's eyebrows arched slightly.
High-grade spirit stones were hard currency in the cultivation world, let alone five at once—this gesture was much more generous than she had expected.
Suisui pounced toward the spirit stones with a chirp, but Li Nanzhu scooped it back up. She gave a half-smile to Rong Yuying, who continued to wave her fan as usual, clearly giving silent approval for the trade.
"Deal." Li Nanzhu briskly poured out a pill and handed it over.
Ling Suxin's fingers were steady as she took the pill and put it into her mouth without hesitation. Three breaths later, her body also became exceptionally soft, and her chains fell away easily.
"Thank you." She moved her wrists, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. "Truly miraculous."
The other Hehuan Sect disciples looked delighted upon seeing this, but Rong Yuying snapped her fan open, blocking the few who wanted to step forward.
"Wait a moment."
Li Nanzhu could understand Rong Yuying's caution—as the lead disciple, her approach was beyond reproach.
This pill of unknown origin was, after all, an emergency measure. Had Ling Suxin not stepped forward first, the Hehuan Sect members would likely have preferred to find another way rather than try it so easily.
Fifteen minutes later, Feng Weilan's jawline suddenly tightened.
Before everyone's eyes, his translucent arm regained its solid form at a visible speed, and the faint sweet scent dissipated completely.
"Any discomfort?" Feng Qingping asked.
Feng Weilan shook his head and rolled his wrists. "Everything is normal."
Almost simultaneously, Ling Suxin also returned to her original state.
After circulating her spiritual energy to check her meridians, she nodded to Rong Yuying. "Everything is fine."
Rong Yuying finally put away her fan and turned to Li Nanzhu with a faint smile. "Little Zhu'er, I wonder if you have four more of those pills? The price is negotiable."
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