Qin Yao walked out of the Song Mansion, and the mid-afternoon sun embraced her with a searing heat, so fervent it was almost frightening.

Hugging a jar of sour plum soup, she quickly sought shelter under the eaves of a shop, taking advantage of the shade to enter the city’s only medical clinic.

The old doctor was not in; only two young apprentices were minding the store, helping customers to gather herbs according to their prescriptions.

There was a long line of people waiting for medicine, and no appointment system here. Qin Yao stood in the hall for a while and, spotting an apprentice free, immediately stepped forward to inquire about scar treatment medicine.

The young apprentice, having seen too many customers that day, asked with a hint of impatience, "What kind of scar is it? Caused by insect bites or poisoning from plants? If it’s from plant poisoning, you need to bring the patient here; we don’t dare prescribe recklessly."

"A burn scar," Qin Yao explained good-naturedly, indicating the extent of the burn and the current condition of healing.

The young apprentice was startled, "Which part of the body?"

Qin Yao replied, "The face, the left side."

The young apprentice frowned, "How did it get burned on the face? How long has it been? The scar is quite large... Has new skin grown? Have you touched it?"

Qin Yao explained it was an accidental burn from a fire poker, and she didn’t know much more, but it appeared the new skin wasn’t fully grown.

Occasionally, she would see Yin Le touch her face and furrow her brows.

Moreover, the treatment Shaoyao provided was rough and unrefined, leading Qin Yao to suspect that the burn hadn’t fully healed.

Upon hearing her description, the young apprentice rolled his eyes at her, "You’re really bold, waiting so long to think of getting medicine and seeing a doctor. If the burn is as extensive as you say, unless a deity intervenes, that scar isn’t going anywhere!"

"I can only give you some ointment for treating burns, at most to prevent the skin from ulcerating again. Do you want it?"

Qin Yao nodded, "Please give me some ointment. I’ll take it back for her to try."

"Where do you live?" The young apprentice asked while writing the prescription.

Qin Yao furrowed her brows warily, and he rolled his eyes again, "Don’t overthink it, I’m suggesting if you don’t live far from the county, you should bring her here next time for my master to have a look."

With a few quick strokes, he finished writing the prescription, handed it to Qin Yao, and pointed to the long queue at the left counter, "Collect the medicine there. Besides the cooling and detoxifying ointment, I’ve also prescribed two doses for internal use. Remind the patient to avoid consuming any spicy or triggering foods."

Looking at the prescription, Qin Yao saw that the handwriting was so sloppy it was unintelligible to ordinary people and gave up.

"How do I prepare this internal medicine when I get back? And what foods are considered spicy or triggering?" Qin Yao asked, puzzled.

The young apprentice, having handed over the prescription, sat down on a recliner, poured himself a cup of tea to drink, and ignored Qin Yao’s questions altogether.

Given his earlier impatience, Qin Yao thought he was just tired after seeing so many people and let it slide. After all, he was indeed on duty, looking the part of a healer.

But now, what was this?

A guest asked, yet the healer didn’t respond, and this was medicine to be ingested, a matter of life and death—how could he be so dismissive?

Furious, Qin Yao slammed the prescription onto the counter with a "bang!"

The sudden loud noise startled the young apprentice, causing him to slosh his tea, jumping up in fright. In his surprise, he fell back into the recliner, spilling tea all over himself, a complete mess.

The young apprentice grumbled a few times, ready to react, but when he looked up, he saw the previously gentle woman now gazing at him with ice-cold eyes, hauntingly fixed on him.

Qin Yao spoke coolly, "I’ll ask you once more: how do I prepare this medicine, and what ingredients should be avoided?"

The young apprentice felt he must have been overheating to feel his tongue dry up, heart pounding fiercely, and cold sweat emerging from his palms.

"Are you mute?" Qin Yao asked, her patience evaporating rapidly. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, like a tiger on the verge of pouncing.

Terrified by his imagination running wild, the young apprentice, shivering, instinctively replied:

"The prescription states, boil one dose for three days, twice a day. The two doses last six days..."

Qin Yao glanced at the illegibly scribbled prescription and muttered an "oh," coolly critiquing, "The handwriting is too sloppy to understand. Write more neatly next time."

The young apprentice repeatedly nodded, "Yes, yes, I’ll correct that next time."

Stunned, he widened his eyes, astonished that he had gone along with her words so completely.

Qin Yao scoffed, waiting for him to answer the next question.

The young apprentice swallowed hard and finally leveraged himself up from the recliner.

With the height advantage, the suffocating sense of pressure seemed to lessen. He seriously advised,

"Scallions, ginger, and any potent meats are triggers; if it’s too troublesome, boiling plain porridge is best."

Finished, he watched Qin Yao expectantly, almost like he wanted to ask if she was satisfied with this attitude.

Qin Yao nodded begrudgingly, "Alright, now I understand. Thank you."

"Oh, by the way!" She suddenly turned back, causing the young apprentice, just about to breathe a sigh of relief, to hold his breath and tense up all over.

She instructed, "Remember to read the Heart Sutra more often."

The young apprentice was stunned, what did she mean?

Qin Yao articulated each character, "Cultivate! Your! Heart!"

Taking the prescription, Qin Yao moved to the line to collect the medicine, leaving the young apprentice slumped over the counter, gasping like he had been exhausted beyond endurance.

His little heart was pounding intensely, as if it might jump out of his throat.

Curiously, he wondered if her formidable aura had subsided.

Unexpectedly, she seemed to have eyes behind her head and suddenly glanced back, startling the young apprentice into crouching behind the counter immediately, hiding.

The high counter shielded him from her penetrating gaze, leaving him huddled and trembling in place.

Within his mind, he cried out, how could there be such terrifying women in the world!

Qin Yao noticed the trembling hair bun peeking out from behind the counter, shrugged, and looked away.

Unbeknownst to her, everyone in line ahead of her had sidestepped at some point, avoiding her as if she were a ferocious beast.

Qin Yao twitched her lips slightly, well, she might as well cut in line then.

But there wasn’t any line left to cut into; she was alone in front of the medicine counter, with only the elder apprentice managing to appear calm.

Feeling slightly embarrassed from earlier bravado, Qin Yao cleared her throat twice and tempered her aura, trying to present a gentle smile as she handed over the prescription, "I’d like to get the medicine, please. How much in total?"

"Three maces of silver."

The older apprentice was indeed seasoned, well-versed in dealing with all sorts of odd characters. Without a glance askew and with steady hands, he prepared and handed over the two packages of medicine and a small box of cooling and detoxifying ointment to her.

"Thank you." Qin Yao put down the money, holding the sour plum soup jar with one hand and the medicine with the other, leaving in a pretty good mood.

Little did she know that the next day, a rumor spread throughout Kaiyang County of a murderous female demon.

It was said that a female demon cradling a jar of human heads came to the clinic to fetch medicine, disguising her true intention to use the medicine to destroy corpses and conceal traces.

Witnesses described the jar as oozing red blood, scaring the children in the city so much they dared not cry at night, fearing they might be stuffed into the jar and turned into blood by the herbs...

Several days later, Qin Yao heard a version of the story from others, her brow furrowed—how come she didn’t know she liked to eat children?