The Iron Bone Pills

The agreed meeting place for the Tieyang Gate was a somewhat secluded courtyard behind a blacksmith’s shop, located on the west side of Wuzhou City.

The sun had already begun its descent towards the west, casting a soft, golden-yellow hue upon the scattered light.

‘Indeed, the morning sun is superior,’ she mused. ‘Its vibrant energy lifts the spirits, whereas the evening light invariably brings a sense of desolation.’

Bai Yuan looked up at the sky, sighing to herself, completely oblivious to the green-clad woman chattering incessantly beside her.

“…Fifth Madam, please examine this blade of ours—”

After an indeterminate period, Bai Yuan finally snapped back to reality, catching the tail end of that sentence.

“A blade?”

Bai Yuan gave a wry smile, her steps abruptly halting. She extended a graceful arm, plucking a long blade with a gentle tug from the hand of the burly man standing beside the green-clad woman.

“Clang—”

The long blade, previously sheathed, was now drawn.

With a slight flick of her wrist, its razor-sharp edge reflected a chilling gleam under the fading sunlight.

“The material of this blade is decent enough, but the body is far too brittle. For something forged with ten refinements, it’s merely average at best.”

After staring at the hammer marks on the blade for a moment, Bai Yuan offered her casual assessment. Without any noticeable movement, she simply gave her arm a subtle shake.

“Clatter, clatter!”

The blade, forged from fine steel, instantly shattered into countless pieces, scattering across the ground. Only a bare hilt remained.

The green-clad woman’s mouth gaped open, her pretty face flushing crimson.

Bai Yuan paid no mind to her reaction. She casually tossed the hilt back into the sturdy man’s arms and continued on her way.

Just as she stepped out of the courtyard gate, a crude, raucous clamor suddenly erupted from the street corner opposite.

Bai Yuan tilted her head slightly.

“Beat him!”

“Beat this bastard until he begs for mercy!”

“Won’t beg? Beat the shit out of this bastard!”

It was nothing more than a common street brawl.

A few ruffians from the city were surrounding a raggedly dressed boy, showering him with insults and kicks.

The boy was covered in mud, but he merely clasped his hands over his head, curling his body into a ball. He remained silent, enduring the beating from the youths. His face was streaked with grime, only his dark eyes open, staring coldly at the street beyond the crowd.

Bai Yuan watched intently, seemingly lost in thought.

Just then, the green-clad woman and her retinue finally caught up, hurrying from behind.

“Fifth Madam, you see—”

The green-clad woman, wearing a fawning smile, was about to say more when another commotion from across the street interrupted her words.

“Get some dog shit!”

The ringleader of the ruffians, apparently not satisfied with the beating, yelled out, still unsatisfied. “If we can’t beat the shit out of him, I’ll make him eat shit!”

The hangers-on burst into laughter. “Excellent! Excellent! Boss Zhai always has the best ideas!”

“I’ll go find a pile of dog shit right away!”

Someone else egged them on, “No need for trouble, can’t we just make some fresh? Guaranteed fresh, piping hot!”

As they spoke, one of them began to unbuckle his trousers on the spot.

Such an utterly preposterous scene unfolded openly before their esteemed guest. The green-clad woman instantly choked, a gasp catching in her throat, her face turning beet red from suppressed anger.

“Who dares to be so audacious!”

The burly man accompanying her turned ashen-faced. With an honored guest present, how could he allow such a scene to truly play out? He immediately roared, charged forward, and swung an iron fist, landing it squarely on the head of the hooligan who was unbuckling his belt.

The scene instantly became a gruesome mess, with red, white, and yellow splattering everywhere.

The steaming contents splashed across the faces of those nearby.

Witnessing this, the few ruffians first froze in shock, then reacted, one by one, terrified out of their wits. With a shout, they scattered and tried to flee.

But it was too late.

Several Tieyang Gate members charged forward, each wielding a blade, and swiftly cut them down.

The scene finally became quiet.

The only downside was its sheer brutality.

Killing a few hooligans was nothing to the Tieyang Gate, but…

The green-clad woman looked anxiously at the white-clad young madam before her.

“Fifth Madam—”

“Do you have any Iron Bone Pills?”

Bai Yuan suddenly spoke.

“Iron Bone Pills?”

The green-clad woman was a little stunned. She knew of such pills, but why now?

“This subordinate remembers we have some in the gate. I will fetch them for you at once.”

The burly man beside her reacted swiftly, immediately pulling a servant aside and giving a few instructions.

Soon, the servant returned with a ceramic bottle.

Seeing the rather crude white ceramic bottle, the burly man’s eyes widened. Just as he was about to curse, Bai Yuan extended her hand, and the bottle floated gracefully into her grasp.

The burly man’s surge of anger instantly clogged his throat, nearly making him choke.

Bai Yuan slowly walked forward, stopping beside the only remaining boy in the clearing. She gently crouched down, completely unconcerned that her white skirt was now stained with dust.

“Here.”

She extended her hand towards the boy, her smooth, jade-like palm holding the ceramic bottle that seemed utterly out of place with her status.

The boy did not take it. His dark eyes stared directly at Bai Yuan, his mud-streaked face full of wariness.

Bai Yuan took no offense, instead smiling with remarkable patience.

“Inside are three Iron Bone Pills. Take one, and for a quarter of an hour, you’ll have skin like copper and bones like iron, with boundless strength. The next time you encounter bad people, you’ll have the power to protect yourself.”

“…”

The boy stared at Bai Yuan’s face for a long while, then at the ceramic bottle, before slowly reaching out his hand.

However, as soon as his fingertips touched the bottle, he recoiled as if burned.

“This medicine, it’s very expensive, isn’t it?”

He finally spoke, his voice hoarse, with the croaking sound of a changing voice.

“For me, no, it’s not expensive.”

Bai Yuan thought for a moment, then answered very earnestly, “But for you, it is very expensive.”

“How much?”

The boy pressed.

Bai Yuan did not hide the truth: “These are pills from the Black Bone Gate. If sold outside, they would fetch about five taels of silver. If I were to buy them… they would probably cost me nothing.”

In these times, one tael of silver could be exchanged for roughly a thousand copper coins, and typically, four or five copper coins were enough to buy a catty of rice, sufficient to feed an ordinary person for a day.

The boy fell silent, his eyes fixed intently on the white ceramic bottle.

Bai Yuan also remained quiet, seemingly waiting for something.

After another moment, the boy seemed to finally make up his mind, gritting his teeth. With some difficulty, he spoke again: “If… if I don’t want these pills, can I… exchange them for silver?”

By the end, his voice had grown fainter and fainter, and he even half-turned his head, as if afraid to look at the woman before him.

Bai Yuan, however, showed no anger. Instead, she seemed a little surprised, raising her elegant eyebrows. She asked patiently, “Oh? Why?”

“With that silver, I can go learn martial arts!”

The boy clenched his fists, and in his dark eyes, a fire seemed to burn. “No matter how good the pills are, they can only help me three times. But if I can learn martial arts well, I won’t have to fear bad people anymore!”

“But bad people also practice martial arts.”

Bai Yuan blinked.

“Then I’ll train harder and more diligently than them!”

The boy lifted his head. “I’ll definitely be stronger than them in the future!”

“What great ambition!”

Bai Yuan suddenly laughed. With a flick of her wrist, two gold leaves appeared in her palm alongside the ceramic bottle.

The gold leaves were covered in exquisite patterns, gleaming with captivating light under the setting sun.

“They’re all yours.”

She extended her fair left hand, took the boy’s dirty palm, and placed both the ceramic bottle and the gold leaves into it. “Go. If you achieve something great in the future, don’t forget what you said today.”

Then, without waiting for the boy’s response, she had already stood up, turned around, and walked towards the green-clad woman.