Beauty and the Bodyguard

SORRY

“Uncle Chu, may I get back to school now, if we’re done?” Lin Yi had said what he wanted to say- the rest was up to the chairman himself.

“Yes, you do that.” Chu Pengzhan said with a nod. “Don’t mention any of this to Yao Yao, I don’t want her to worry.”

“I won’t.” Lin Yi promised, standing up as he turned to the door.

“Li Fu, why don’t you drive Lin Yi to school?” Pengzhan ordered.

“Yes, Mister Chu.” Li Fu said with a bow of his head.

“It’s fine- I’ll just get a taxi.” Lin Yi responded immediately, preferring Li Fu not to tag along as he shopped for medicine. Some things were better off kept secret.

“I see.” Pengzhan didn’t see any reason for him to insist. “I’ll leave Yao Yao’s safety in your care while I deal with the problem.”

“Yeah.” Lin Yi waved as he left. “My real mission’s related to the Miss- I won’t let anything happen to her before that starts. Leave it to me, Uncle Chu.”

Pengzhan nodded in response, letting out a faint sigh as Lin Yi disappeared. He had thought of Lin Yi as lucky for the whole arrangement, but the guy didn’t seem very keen on Mengyao. The chairman decided to just follow his father’s wishes, not sure of what he was planning.

“Li Fu, contact the administration department later- set the meeting room up. We’re having a board of directors meeting this afternoon!” Pengzhan not insisting on having Li Fu drive Lin Yi was also due to this: He had things he needed Li Fu to help arrange.

“Very well, Mister Chu.” Li Fu nodded in compliance, leaving the room quickly. Pengzhan had an official secretary, but certain things were too risky to just reveal to her- it had to be someone absolutely trusted, like Li Fu. It was because of this fact that Li Fu was sometimes seen as Pengzhan’s unofficial secretary.

Lin Yi got himself a taxi moments after leaving the building.

“Where you headed, kid?” The driver asked.

“Do you know any Eastern medicine wholesale outlets?” Lin Yi asked in turn, taking advantage of the living map before him. He hadn’t familiarized himself with Songshan yet.

“Oh, are you looking for the raw roots and branches type, or the finished medicines?”

“Ah...” Lin Yi chuckled silently upon hearing the descriptions. Like most people, the driver viewed Eastern medicine as branches and roots. “The raw type.”

Lin Yi didn’t bother correcting or educating the driver- it was all the same as long as the two understood each other. The man wasn’t a professional or expert, after all.

“You’ll probably have to go to the market in Qiaonan, if we’re talking wholesale.” The driver explained. “It’s not in the city, and it’ll take like half a day until we get there. You can always go to the larger pharmacies around here if it’s the same to you.”

Lin Yi gave up on the wholesale market after hearing the words- there was no rush, after all. It didn’t matter too much if he went to a pharmacy instead. “I’ll settle with one of those large pharmacies then.”

“Gotcha.” The driver started the car.

The taxi stopped in front of a pharmacy a couple of turns later. Lin Yi noticed that the meter was still at the starting price- the guy hadn’t taken any detours or longways.

Lin Yi paid the fare, and thanked the driver before getting off.

Lin Yi was taken aback by the scene as soon as he stepped in the pharmacy. The medicine industry was highly profitable no matter what the era was it seemed- the place was absolutely packed with people, even on a workday.

Thankfully, what Lin Yi was looking for was Eastern herbs, and most people didn’t shop for those kinds of things that much. He handed his list of varying items to the shop assistant. Lin Yi expected it to take a while; there was the weighing to take into consideration, as well. He walked around the pharmacy as he waited.

“Golden Creation Medicine.” A voice sounded from nearby, catching Lin Yi’s attention.

Golden Creation? Lin Yi was stunned, not expecting medicine like that to still exist.

The ‘gold’ referred to the metals required for weaponsmithing, and weapons were the prime cause for injury back in ancient times. ‘Creation’, on the other hand, referred to the wounds created by the weapons. Golden Creation Medicine dealt with injuries caused by metal, applying hemostatic, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory effects.

Yet the name was an ancient one- the term shouldn’t have been used anymore.

“Sorry, we’re out of that.” One of the shop assistants replied blankly.

Lin Yi took a look at who the customer was, spotting a girl in black clothing with a navy cap obscuring her face. She didn’t say much after the assistant’s answer, only turning and leaving the pharmacy in response. Lin Yi noticed some staggering in the girl’s steps...

He moved his gaze downward to her feet- the girl was leaving a fresh trail of blood behind her, evidently sourcing from a wound in her leg! There was, however, a large crowd of people currently occupying the pharmacy, and it didn’t take long before dozens of footsteps smeared the trail away.

After all, the first reason Lin Yi paid attention to the girl at all was because of the Golden Creation Medicine being mentioned, and second was the killing intent coming from her...

Killing intent was an interesting thing- it was a sort of signal animals sent out when attacking each other, a signal that could only be sensed through a ‘sixth sense’.

An experiment was once carried out regarding the concept of killing intent: a wild cat and rat were trapped inside a box in the jungle, separated from each other with two soundproof boards. The boards wasn’t placed far from each other, and they blocked off any stench or scent, straightforwardly preventing the two from sighting each other, as well. The cat seemed to have sensed something from the other side of the boards as the experiment carried out- it promptly tried to get to the other side by scratching at the board. The rat, on the other hand, started cowering away from the boards, evidently sensing the presence of the cat.

Just how did the two creatures feel the other’s presence?

Scientists explained it as a sixth sense, meaning the animals weren’t using their sense of smell, hearing, or sight- it was a signal that animals sent each other when facing their natural enemy, or when an animal was attacking with the full intent to kill. This signal was what became known as ‘killing intent’.

Humans had this sixth sense, as well. The sixth sense of the humans, however, have devolved as a result of their long time away from nature, only remaining in those with exceptional senses. It could be seen from veteran soldiers who felt the presence of an enemy’s ambush, or in the hunters who spent the entirety of their lives in jungles. Having the sixth sense stimulated was possible for those who put their life on the line on a daily basis..