[GL] I'm Just A Side Character... So Why Is The Heroine Chasing Me?!-Chapter 34: The Exploding Pill Furnace

Academy life had a rhythm to it.

Mornings started with cultivation practice at dawn. Then breakfast, which Tang Xiaoli had completely taken over by arriving every single day with a different plate of something. Bean paste buns on Mondays. Sticky rice cakes on Tuesdays. Some kind of bright green dumpling on Wednesdays that nobody could identify but somehow tasted amazing.

"What’s in these?" Lan Yue asked, holding one up suspiciously.

"Spirit grass, lotus paste, and a tiny bit of crushed jade powder for spiritual energy absorption."

"Jade powder? Isn’t that... expensive?"

"Not if you know where to find it." Tang Xiaoli winked. "The Academy’s herb garden has a jade moss patch behind the east wall. Nobody uses it because it tastes like dirt on its own. But if you mix it with lotus paste..."

"You get green dumplings that taste like happiness," Zhao Han finished, already on his third one.

The boy had started joining them for breakfast most mornings. Technically he wasn’t supposed to leave the lower quarters before classes, but nobody bothered enforcing rules on a child who looked like a strong breeze could knock him over.

Zhao Lingxi watched her brother eat with quiet satisfaction. His cheeks were fuller now. His breathing was steady. The medicine Lan Yue had given him weeks ago had truly worked wonders.

"Don’t eat too fast, Xiao Han," Zhao Lingxi said.

"But they’re so good!"

"They’ll still be good if you chew."

Tang Xiaoli beamed like a proud mother hen. "I’ll make extra tomorrow. Oh! That reminds me." She turned to Lan Yue. "Are you free this afternoon? I need help in the alchemy workshop."

"Help with what?"

"I’m trying to refine a new type of Meridian Strengthening Pill. The formula is tricky and I need someone to hand me ingredients while I manage the furnace. My usual assistant..." She made a face. "Well, he quit after the last explosion."

"Explosion?" Lan Yue repeated.

"Minor explosion. Barely singed his eyebrows. He was being dramatic."

Lan Yue looked at Zhao Lingxi, who shrugged slightly. That was Zhao Lingxi language for "I don’t care, do what you want."

"Fine," Lan Yue sighed. "But if anything explodes, I’m leaving."

"Deal!"

---

The alchemy workshop was located in the West Wing of the Academy, a large stone building filled with rows of bronze pill furnaces, shelves of herbs, and the constant smell of something burning.

Tang Xiaoli’s personal workspace was in the corner. It was a disaster. Herb pouches covered every surface. Scrolls and notes were pinned to the walls in no particular order. A half eaten meat bun sat on top of a pile of what looked like very important research papers.

"Welcome to my kingdom," Tang Xiaoli said proudly.

"It looks like a storage room threw up," Lan Yue said.

"Art is messy."

Tang Xiaoli lit the fire beneath her pill furnace and started pulling ingredients from various pouches. She moved with a completely different energy here. Gone was the scattered, chatty girl. In her place was someone focused, precise, and almost elegant in the way she measured each ingredient by sight alone.

"Spirit lotus root, three grams. Crimson fire herb, half a leaf. Iron bark powder, one pinch." She rattled off each ingredient as she added it to the furnace. "Now the tricky part. I need you to feed spiritual energy into the base of the furnace. Just a thin, steady stream. Can you do that?"

Lan Yue hesitated. "I haven’t really practiced controlling spiritual energy output."

"It’s easy. Just press your palm against the metal and push gently. Like breathing out through your hand."

Lan Yue placed her palm on the warm bronze surface and focused. She found the familiar pull of energy inside herself and pushed, slowly, carefully, sending a thread of power into the furnace.

The liquid inside the furnace began to glow.

"Perfect!" Tang Xiaoli grinned. "Hold that level. Don’t increase or decrease. Just nice and steady."

Minutes passed. Lan Yue concentrated, keeping the flow even. Sweat formed on her forehead. It was harder than she expected, like trying to pour water from a cup at exactly the same speed without stopping.

The liquid in the furnace changed color. Blue to green. Green to amber. Amber to gold.

Tang Xiaoli’s eyes widened. "That’s... interesting."

"Good interesting or bad interesting?"

"The energy you’re feeding in. It’s not normal spiritual energy. There’s something else mixed in. Something I’ve never seen before."

Lan Yue’s heart skipped. Her Spirit Devouring ability. She must be unconsciously channeling traces of absorbed energy through her output.

"Is it a problem?" she asked carefully.

"Problem? No, it’s incredible!" Tang Xiaoli leaned over the furnace, her eyes reflecting the golden glow. "The pills are reacting to it. Look at the color. Standard Meridian Strengthening Pills should be green. These are turning gold. Gold pills are at least two grades higher than normal."

She grabbed a scroll and started scribbling notes furiously. "This is a breakthrough. If I can figure out what makes your energy different, I could potentially..."

She trailed off, muttering calculations to herself.

Lan Yue pulled her hand back slowly. "Tang Xiaoli. Nobody can know about this."

Tang Xiaoli looked up from her notes, and the excitement in her eyes dimmed slightly as she read Lan Yue’s expression.

"It’s a secret," Lan Yue said quietly. "A dangerous one."

For once, Tang Xiaoli didn’t ask questions. She just nodded.

"Okay. I won’t tell anyone." She paused, then added with a small smile, "But you have to help me in the workshop again. Because those gold pills are going to be amazing and I need your weird mystery energy to make them."

Lan Yue couldn’t help but laugh. "Fine. But no explosions."

"I make no promises."

---

They were just finishing up when the workshop door slammed open.

A boy stormed in, tall and broad shouldered with the look of someone who believed the world owed him a favor. Behind him trailed two smaller students who seemed to exist purely to agree with everything he said.

"Tang Xiaoli!" the boy barked. "You’re in my workspace."

Tang Xiaoli didn’t even look up from her notes. "Your workspace is on the other side of the room, Huang Jun. This corner is mine. The instructor assigned it to me three days ago."

"I don’t care what the instructor said. I’ve been using this corner for two years." He slammed his hand on her table, rattling the herb pouches. "Move your stuff or I’ll move it for you."

Lan Yue stepped forward, positioning herself between Huang Jun and Tang Xiaoli. "She said it’s her space. Maybe learn to read assignment sheets."

Huang Jun looked down at her. Actually down, because he was almost a full head taller. His lip curled.

"A servant? In the alchemy workshop?" He let out a harsh laugh. "Oh wait. You’re Zhao Lingxi’s little pet, aren’t you? The one who follows her around like a lost puppy."

The two boys behind him snickered.

Lan Yue’s expression didn’t change. She had been called worse things by people far more dangerous than this overgrown bully. In the apocalypse, men twice his size had tried to intimidate her. They were all dead now. He was not worth the energy.

"Walk away," she said simply.

Something in her voice made Huang Jun hesitate. There was no anger in it. No fear. Just a calm, flat certainty that unsettled him more than any threat would have.

He recovered quickly, puffing up his chest. "You think you can talk to me like that? Do you know who my father is?"

"I genuinely could not care less."

Tang Xiaoli snorted loudly behind her.

Huang Jun’s face went red. He raised his hand.

And then froze.

A wave of cold spiritual pressure washed over the workshop. Every flame in every furnace flickered. The temperature dropped so sharply that frost crystallized on the nearest metal surface.

Zhao Lingxi stood in the doorway.

She must have come looking for Lan Yue when she didn’t return from the workshop. Her dark eyes were fixed on Huang Jun’s raised hand with an expression that could freeze the sun.

She didn’t say a word.

She didn’t need to.

Huang Jun lowered his hand slowly. His face had gone from red to white in about half a second. Without a word, he turned and walked out of the workshop, his two followers scrambling after him.

The door swung shut behind them.

Tang Xiaoli let out a long whistle. "That was terrifying. And I say that as a compliment."

Zhao Lingxi ignored her. She walked straight to Lan Yue and took her hand, turning it over to examine her palm. The skin was slightly reddened from channeling energy into the furnace for so long.

"You’re hurt," Zhao Lingxi said.

"It’s just a little warm. From the furnace."

"You should have worn protective gloves."

"I forgot."

Zhao Lingxi’s thumb traced across her palm, slow and deliberate. The touch sent a shiver up Lan Yue’s arm that had absolutely nothing to do with the cold spiritual pressure still lingering in the room.

"Don’t forget next time," Zhao Lingxi said, still holding her hand.

"Okay," Lan Yue managed.

Zhao Lingxi held on for another moment. Then she released her hand and turned to leave.

"Dinner is in an hour. Don’t be late." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

She walked out.

Lan Yue stood there, staring at her own palm where the warmth of Zhao Lingxi’s thumb still lingered.

Tang Xiaoli appeared beside her, grinning so wide it looked painful.

"So," she said. "Just your mistress, huh?"

"Shut up."

"She held your hand for like ten seconds."

"She was checking for injuries."

"She traced your palm with her thumb."

"That’s a... medical technique."

"A medical technique."

"Yes."

"Called what, exactly?"

"Called none of your business, Tang Xiaoli."

Tang Xiaoli cackled so loud that General Fluffbottom startled awake in his cage and squawked in protest.

Lan Yue grabbed the golden pills they had made, shoved them in her pocket, and marched out of the workshop with as much dignity as she could manage.

Which, considering her face was the color of a sunset, was not very much at all.