Chapter Twenty-Five: Heinz's Decision

Gong Hao rushed desperately toward the lakeside.

Lancelot was still deep in slumber. Gong Hao took out a small vial of stimulant and held it beneath his nose, then immediately ran out of the cabin.

Outside, the wooden post had already been tampered with by him in advance. With a loud shout, he delivered more than a dozen blows to the post, pounding until his fists were bloody and raw, then launched a kick that snapped the post in two.

This succession of forceful movements caused the wounds that had just been healed by the medicinal potion to split open once again. Unable to control his body any longer, he collapsed weakly to the ground.

Suddenly, a warm current surged from within, swiftly restoring his strength. It seemed this was yet again the handiwork of his new tenant.

Sensing the new tenant’s actions, Gong Hao couldn’t help but wonder: when this tenant eventually left his body, would it do so forcibly, like a demonic spirit tearing its way out, or would it choose a gentler method that would spare him harm?

Yes, that was indeed a question.

One thing was certain: this new tenant, unlike a spirit seed, could not evade the inner surveillance of battle qi. It was more powerful than a spirit seed, but lacked the ability to conceal itself from battle qi. Gong Hao could easily pinpoint its location.

Should he simply cut open his own abdomen and dig it out?

He considered the idea.

At once, a wave of terror flooded his mind—clearly emanating from the tenant within.

This thing can sense my thoughts? It seems afraid. Is it begging for mercy?

All right, if you promise not to cause trouble and not to harm me when you are born, I might consider sparing your life.

Born? Damn it, why did I use that word? Am I to carry it to term like a woman? Gong Hao felt a wave of melancholy.

Should he use the word ‘hatch’? No, he wasn’t a hen! He’d rather carry it to term.

A rush of joy and good-natured teasing flooded his mind.

It seemed the bargain was struck.

Gong Hao breathed a sigh of relief. After all, who would willingly stab themselves in the gut if they didn’t have to?

“It seems you really are diligent, not slacking off while I slept,” came Lancelot’s voice, suddenly beside him.

“Lord Lancelot, you’re awake.”

Gong Hao forced himself to rise. The sweat on his brow was evidence of his exertion.

Lancelot restored him with a healing potion. Life surged back into Gong Hao, and even the new tenant inside him seemed to gasp with relief. Clearly, it was very nervous about its own survival.

Not long after, an apprentice came running from the castle. “Shuy Glaire, you’re here after all? Something happened in the castle—didn’t you see? Lord Andrew has been looking for you everywhere.”

“I’m sorry, Master Hughes,” Gong Hao replied anxiously, standing up. “I was just practicing battle qi and didn’t notice. I’ll go at once.”

At that moment, he once more became Shuy Glaire.

He hurried to the castle, where all the servants were already awake.

Andrew and Pierre were present, and even Heinz had come out from his tower.

The castle was a scene of devastation—houses destroyed by rampaging beasts, several magical plant gardens trampled and devoured, with rare specimens lost forever.

Looking upon it all, Gong Hao felt a vindictive satisfaction.

“Have the losses been tallied?” Heinz asked in a low voice.

Andrew replied shakily, “We’re still counting, but already confirmed are around seventy-three magical plants lost, twelve of which are extinct species. We’ll have to use substitutes. In addition, some finished materials have been damaged to varying degrees.”

“What a pity,” Heinz shook his head. “Just because of a lapse in vigilance, a few beasts escaped and this is the result. Some things simply can’t be replaced—missing one or two ingredients, and certain products will never be made again. We won’t be able to deliver on schedule this month.”

Andrew glared at Gong Hao as he approached. “Glaire, see what you’ve done? The magic stones ran out of energy, the cages lost their barriers, and several large beasts broke out, causing catastrophic loss! Why didn’t you report the magic stones to me?”

Andrew’s anger was no surprise to Gong Hao—he had anticipated all of this. Now, he was ready to move on to his next plan.

He spoke calmly, “Lord Andrew, I only just heard about the beasts escaping. As for the magic stones, I did report them to you.”

“Nonsense!” Andrew shouted. “When did you report it?”

“Five days ago, my lord, I submitted my work report while you were conducting an experiment. I left it on your desk.”

“I checked those reports. There was nothing about the magic stones running low.”

“My lord, I swear on my life I reported it. Perhaps you were simply too busy and missed it. You know I can’t access the energy stones without your permission. I was waiting for your reply, but you never gave me one.”

Heinz interjected, “Pierre, go to Andrew’s room and see if the report is there.”

Pierre hurried off.

Moments later, he returned with the report in hand. “Mentor, the report is here. It clearly lists which cages’ stones are running low. If Andrew had replaced the stones sooner, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Heinz sighed. “Andrew, you neglected your duty.”

Andrew hadn’t expected this turn and was dumbstruck. Gong Hao quickly added, “Master Heinz, Lord Andrew has been very busy these days. I believe he simply missed the report rather than overlooked its contents. Really, it’s my fault—I should have reminded him again. But you know I have many duties myself. I’m sorry, Master.”

“Forget it,” Heinz waved his hand. “I know you’re a good child, and it seems you and Andrew get along well. But regardless, Andrew, you were negligent. I’ll report this to His Majesty, and he’ll decide on punishment.”

“Yes, Mentor,” Andrew replied helplessly.

“Master Heinz, what species of magical plants were lost? Perhaps I can help solve the materials problem,” Gong Hao said suddenly.

Heinz and Andrew both stared at him in surprise.

Heinz narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure you can do it?”

“I can’t promise, Master. I can only say I’ll do my best. But if I succeed, I hope you’ll forgive Lord Andrew.”

Heinz and Pierre were both taken aback by this request; Andrew was moved.

Heinz asked, “What is your plan?”

“Master, as you know, I’ve spent the past year with Lord Lancelot hunting magical beasts in the Purgatory Island forests. I’m well acquainted with the area. I can’t revive the lost plants, but perhaps I can find substitutes. The only problem is…”

“What problem?”

Gong Hao summoned his courage. “I don’t know their exact functions. That’s alchemy, and only by knowing their use can I find what you need. Also, I’ve heard of a method in botany—grafting. If given time, I might be able to cultivate new varieties to meet our needs. But for all this, I need alchemical knowledge. One must know what one needs before seeking it—just as one must know what one wants to eat before planting the crops.”

Heinz fell into thought. He knew exactly what Gong Hao’s request meant.

Just then, an apprentice ran over in haste. “Master Heinz, my lords, something’s happened in the valley!”

——————————

Gazing upon the corpses of Neil and Fink, Pierre’s face was ashen.

Andrew, having narrowly escaped blame for his own “neglect,” now looked at Pierre with a touch of schadenfreude.

If the beast escape was Andrew’s fault, then the valley incident was Pierre’s. And Pierre’s mistake seemed even greater.

One apprentice was dead, and a young servant as well. Worse yet, a spirit seed had been lost—the puppet warrior’s sword had pierced Fink’s chest, destroying the seed completely.

Picking up the insignia from the ground, the alchemy master sighed. “It appears Neil made a mistake. He clearly underestimated the strength a person can muster in danger. That allowed the servant to escape, leading to a struggle here. Neil’s insignia was lost in the fight, so the puppet warrior killed them both.”

“That seems likely,” Pierre agreed. “But, Mentor, I can’t shake the feeling there’s something odd. Why did trouble in the castle coincide with trouble in the valley? Is it really just coincidence?”

Heinz answered, “Perhaps not coincidence, but rather a chain reaction—one accident leading to another. If the beasts hadn’t escaped, you wouldn’t have left the castle, and this wouldn’t have happened. Isn’t there a song about this? Lose a horseshoe nail, lose a king; lose a king, lose a war; lose a war, lose a kingdom. Everything is connected, just like alchemy. Unless we understand the laws behind things, we can’t use them. There are always mysterious links between events, even ones we don’t understand. Tonight’s events are such a case—a necessity within chance. Unless you have a better explanation?”

Pierre muttered to himself, “I still think it’s not that simple. The servants had all undergone magical pattern experiments and were exhausted. Fink shouldn’t have been able to escape the valley, and with a puppet warrior there, why didn’t Neil just use it? There are signs Neil drank his potion—so he was wounded. What could Fink have done to injure him so badly? If the injury happened during the fight, how did Neil have time to drink his potion and put it away again?”

Andrew frowned. “As Mentor said, people can summon great strength in dire straits. The warriors’ extreme training does just that—forcing themselves to the limit to unlock such power. Maybe Fink did the same. As for Neil not using the puppet warrior, the boy was always arrogant—maybe he thought Fink couldn’t possibly escape, so he chased after him himself. Perhaps Fink tore off his insignia in the struggle and wounded him, and was killed by the puppet warrior at the valley entrance. Neil, seeing Fink dead, checked the spirit seed and took his potion. He didn’t notice his insignia was missing, so he too was killed by the puppet warrior.”

“If that’s true, the insignia is awfully close to Neil’s body.”

“Who knows? Maybe the wind blew it there.”

“Or maybe someone killed Neil and staged the scene.”

“Oh?” Andrew laughed. “And who would that be?”

“Shuy Glaire could do it. He’s studied battle qi with Lancelot—we both know he could injure Neil. He has the insignia and can move freely in the valley.”

“But Neil would know that—he wouldn’t let Glaire kill him without using the puppet warrior. Only if Fink escaped would Neil, in his arrogance, not use it. You don’t think Glaire could control the puppet warrior, do you? And clearly both deaths were at the warrior’s hand—the blood is still fresh. Besides, Lancelot said Glaire is just a novice warrior—he couldn’t pull this off, not even defeating one puppet warrior!”

“But he’s still suspect. Don’t forget, he was the last to arrive at the castle when things went wrong—he had time to do all this.”

“Perhaps you’re using conspiracy theories to cover your own mistakes, but don’t slander my best subordinate.”

“Is that because he spoke up for you earlier, Andrew?”

“Shut up, Pierre. Just because you lost an apprentice, don’t try to drag my people down.”

“That’s enough, both of you!” Heinz suddenly barked. He produced a crystal sphere. “I’ve just spoken with Lancelot. Shuy Glaire was by the lake all night. For several days now, he’s been undergoing warrior’s extreme training. According to Lancelot, after such training, one can barely stand, let alone run to the valley to kill anyone. Besides, he has nothing to gain from it.”

“True, Mentor,” Andrew said respectfully. “If I were Shuy Glaire and learned of the spirit seeds, I’d just run away—I wouldn’t risk everything to kill an apprentice.”

“Maybe he tried to save his friend Fink,” Pierre persisted.

“But he didn’t. Fink died by the puppet warrior’s sword. Glaire had the insignia—he could have taken Fink with him.”

“Perhaps he failed to save him.”

“In that case, Glaire wouldn’t have escaped either. Neil had ways to activate the spirit seed—he could have easily killed Glaire, not let him get away alone.”

“All right,” Heinz said. “Enough arguing. It’s clear the valley incident has nothing to do with Glaire. We have no reason to doubt Lancelot. We are alchemists, not the constables or legal hounds who sniff out murder scenes. We don’t have their suspicious nature. This is a simple accident—the matter ends here. This is Purgatory Island—I don’t believe any half-grown child could plot under our noses. We’re not conspiracy theorists or bards, spinning endless possibilities from scant clues. Alchemists value data and facts, not deduction! Shuy Glaire is a good child—I’ve always admired him. So far, there’s no sign he’s discovered our secret, so there’s no reason to frame him out of jealousy or any other motive. And he’ll die sooner or later anyway—if he did do this, punishment will come in due course.”

“Yes, Mentor,” Andrew and Pierre replied together.

Heinz’s mention of jealousy and framing showed his deep displeasure at Pierre’s wild speculation.

“Now we have a more pressing issue,” Heinz said. “We’ve lost an apprentice and a batch of important magical plants—this is the worst night in Purgatory Island’s history. The question is how to reassign tasks and replenish materials.”

Pierre said, “The apprentices are already overworked. We can’t give them more. Let the Free Spirit bring another apprentice.”

Andrew replied, “But the Free Spirit just left today—they won’t return until next month. Even if we notify them, it’ll be another month before they send someone. That’s sixty days, not counting the time needed to select a suitable apprentice. Apprentices aren’t like servants—it’s not easy to find someone skilled, knowledgeable, loyal to the Empire, willing to work with our live research… And then there are the magical plants.”

Pierre was silent.

Heinz sighed deeply. “It seems we’ll have to let Shuy Glaire fill the role for now.”

“Him?” Andrew and Pierre exclaimed together. “Can he manage?”

“Of course he can. I believe he’s more than capable. He learns quickly, and he’s read many records in the library—he has the theoretical foundation. That settles it. Pierre, inform the other apprentices that Shuy Glaire will temporarily join the Alchemy Tower. All valley experiments are to be sealed and kept secret—no private discussion, to prevent Glaire from discovering the truth. Assign Glaire to take over Neil’s duties—except for the spirit seeds, of course. I think he’ll make an excellent assistant.”

“Yes, Mentor!” both replied in unison.