Chapter 64: Disney Legal Department is Online

“Immortal Master, I really don’t understand what you’re saying. It’s so complicated.” The child lowered his eyes and said, “I was just curious… I followed the Immortal Master because I wanted to help, but…”

That was all he said in the end.

Yet, in the dimly lit room, he opened his palm and a mass of pitch-black flames entwined with wisps of eerie blue rose from his still-slender hand.

The fire illuminated the entire room.

By that light, he looked at Ning Mingmei. His large, dark eyes still carried the innocence unique to children.

“Aren’t you afraid?” He tilted his head. “I knew it. Immortal Master is different from those adults, aren’t you?”

Words like those, spoken in a child’s tender voice, would sound laughable coming from another child. But when he said them, they felt disturbingly out of place, evoking an inexplicable fear.

It was as if he was something not quite human, merely wearing the appearance of a child. Yet such ‘innocent’ words could only be spoken by a child.

“This is the thing that deflected the silver needle.” He moved his fingers and the flame flickered in his palm. “Actually, I can’t control it very well. My foster mother said it was something evil. She beat me with bamboo sticks and forced me to put it away.

“I used it once at the orphanage and the next day, the orphanage’s owner found out about it. He started looking for buyers for me. Before negotiating with the Lian family, he made me take medicine for several months. Then, once they finalized the deal, I was sent to the Lian family.

“The medicine was really bitter, you know? At first, it made me nauseous. Later, I started getting dizzy, passing out, completely unaware of anything…”

Ning Mingmei said, “You used that flame at the orphanage. What exactly did you do?”

The child replied, “Oh? Something like this?”

He waved his hand and the black flame turned into a swirl The bottles placed on the table were swept up into the air.

The scorching black swirl made the bottles crackle. The child slightly retracted his power and one of the bottles developed several fractures.

Ning Mingmei only watched coldly as he displayed his power.

Clatter!

The bottles fell, rolling across the floor.

Ning Mingmei remarked, “Your control isn’t precise enough.”

The child continued, “Later, I was sent to the Lian family. They said I had a fire-mutated wind spiritual root. It’s rare that while having the wind attribute, I also retained part of the fire attribute.”

Ning Mingmei said, “In other words, you erased most of your fire spiritual root but kept just enough for them to determine that your original root was fire.”

The child said, “You could say that.”

Ning Mingmei’s glasses seemed to flash with a sinister gleam.

The child went on, “But they said the young master of the Lian family also had a fire spiritual root, so I needed to match him in cultivation. It would be best if I could be reverted back to a full fire spiritual root. Because of that, I had to take even more medicine… So much medicine…

“The medicine was so bitter. They forced me to take it, pried my mouth open, and held me down on the ground…”

His expression showed a mix of feigned fear and genuine resentment.

Ning Mingmei said to the system, [I think I did the same thing to him.]

The system: …

What do you mean, ‘the same thing’?!

Lian Chengyue’s next words, however, surprised Ning Mingmei.

The child sighed, looking troubled. “So, I had no choice but to find a way to escape. When I reached Wangyue Town, I was returning a book when I saw Young Master Gao bullying Little Shui. I was too scared… He noticed me and tried to have me captured. So, during the struggle…”

He died.

So he just admitted it directly? Ning Mingmei had expected him to keep it a secret for a while longer.

Ning Mingmei asked, “You used your power to kill him?”

The child replied, “No… No, I don’t know… I don’t know if it was me…”

The black flames around him flickered restlessly, seemingly echoing his claim of uncontrollable power.

Ning Mingmei said, “Even if it was you, killing him wouldn’t be a problem.”

The child: …

“That person was evil. His death was well deserved,” Ning Mingmei said indifferently. “When committing evil, one should always be prepared to be taken down by another evil person. That is simply the way of the world.”

The child stared at Ning Mingmei again.

“I knew it. Immortal Master really is different from those adults.” His eyes glowed with an eerie fire. “You are different from those so-called immortals too…”

Ning Mingmei said, “Oh?”

This little troublemaker… Was he about to claim that they were kindred spirits, that only the child could understand him?

But, sorry. Ning Mingmei thought.

His power was too weak.

His techniques were too crude.

His feigned maturity was still too childish.

If the future Lian Chengyue grew into a master manipulator who could deceive the entire world, the present him was nothing more than a naive, wicked child.

Naive, cruel, arrogant, believing he could step into the adult world.

“The Immortal Master is a good person,” the child said.

“…”

Ning Mingmei: “Stick to the standard script, don’t misuse phrases.”

“Immortal Master is a good person.” The child looked up at him. “Immortal Master healed my wounds, brought me here, and also…”

Whoosh.

Black flames curled up Ning Mingmei’s sleeve. He glanced down at them and waved them away.

His sleeve and arm remained smooth and unscathed.

The child’s eyes lit up even more. “I knew it! I knew Immortal Master could put out the flames. When I used them on others before, they always got burned. But Immortal Master is different.”

…What a troublesome thing, attacking whenever it pleased, like a wild beast. Ning Mingmei looked at him coldly.

What kind of vicious five-year-old was this? Even the sixteen-year-old Lian Chengyue was better. At least by then, he had learned to disguise himself as a model student.

Unlike this little brat; crude, reckless, dramatic, impulsive, and convinced of his own cleverness.

Though, admittedly, he did have abilities beyond the ordinary.

With a flick of his sleeve, Ning Mingmei sent a gust of air that knocked the child back onto the bed. The child clutched his chest and started coughing again.

“This is your punishment,” Ning Mingmei said. “Lie back down and continue recovering.”

The child held his chest, his gloomy eyes betraying an irrepressible excitement.

But there was no longer that old gritted teeth resentment. Not because his ambition had disappeared or because he no longer felt humiliated at being overpowered.

It was simply because today, he was too exhilarated. The sheer joy of it all made it easy to ignore a little dissatisfaction.

They were well-matched.

This was the world he wanted to belong to.

Faced with overwhelming power, the only thing the child displayed was longing.

A longing to enter that world and, buried deep inside, a longing to surpass it.

Ning Mingmei tossed the little troublemaker back onto the bed, locked the door, and left. Before stepping away, he glanced at his sleeve.

In a spot where Lian Chengyue couldn’t see, a tiny hole had been burned into his robe.

This was a protective garment from the cultivation realm.

The protagonist’s black flames were indeed extraordinary.

Ning Mingmei muttered, “What lousy quality. Good thing I wore the one Qi Miancheng gave me today.”

The system: …

It didn’t even know where to begin with this, so it simply remained silent.

The system thought about summarizing today’s events, but before it could speak, someone else approached.

It was the person who had been lingering in the courtyard, hesitating to speak.

Gui Ruoxue said, “Ning Mingmei.

“After you left, I examined that little brat’s body. I infused some true Qi into him,” Gui Ruoxue said. “And I found traces of extensive medicinal use inside him… All of it was my medicine!”

Ning Mingmei: “So you can’t retrieve your Recovery Bead anymore?”

Gui Ruoxue: “Is that the point? I’m saying my own prescriptions, which were stolen when I was at the Green Jade Altar, are now being used by that little brat!”

Just how far had his stolen prescriptions spread?

Gui Ruoxue’s gaze was dark and the smile on his lips was ice-cold. “That little thief stealing my formulas was one thing, but mass-producing them and selling them everywhere? That damned… There must be traces of them near Liuyue Lake!”

Ning Mingmei: “Mass production… chemical engineering?”

Gui Ruoxue had been making his medicine in small experimental batches, but the thief had directly refined the process into large-scale industrial production!

Now, it wasn’t just the victims of Gui Ruoxue’s personal drug experiments who could access the rare poison. Even an orphan like Lian Chengyue, who had no power or influence, could freely use it. Given Gui Ruoxue’s complex, labor-intensive methods, large-scale production should have been impossible.

This meant that somewhere out there, a pirate manufacturer skilled in process optimization was at work… A free industrial chemist!

A copyright criminal wanting to get paid? Obviously, they’d have to work for free.

Gui Ruoxue: ?

Why did Ning Mingmei not look angry at all? His glasses even seemed to glint with excitement.

Gui Ruoxue had his Recovery Bead misused, had been illegally testing drugs everywhere, and now his prescriptions were stolen and sold worldwide.

Well, poetic justice had its way of working.

Ning Mingmei told the system, [It doesn’t matter if Lian Chengyue was illegally drugged. Since Gui Ruoxue is now my employee, all past and future patent rights and development fees belong to me. The counterfeiters reproducing his prescriptions and their distributor in Ciyou Village must be thoroughly investigated.]

The system: [Huh?]

Ning Mingmei: [I actually loved watching Disney movies as a kid. I learned a lot from them. Now, my childhood is guiding my spirit.]

The system was about to faint. [The princesses and princes? You don’t seem that romantic.]

No, it was the legal department that guided me.

Ning Mingmei adjusted his glasses and told Gui Ruoxue, “Since you’re under my command now, your problem is my problem. I will get your poison back for you.”

The venomous beauty, known for his ruthless heart, was actually a little touched for once. But he still corrected him, “Poison? While I’ve made plenty of poisons, this time it’s a painkiller! A small dose relieves pain and induces sleep, while a larger dose allows the user to enter dreams. This time, I made a proper medicine.”

Ning Mingmei: “Enter dreams?”

Gui Ruoxue explained, “Taking more of it lets people experience their happiest memories in dreams. That’s why I named it ‘One Dream of Huaxu’.” |29|

Ning Mingmei: “Got it. I’ll make sure to get your ‘Huazi’ back. Don’t worry, wig.” |30|

Gui Ruoxue: “It’s ‘One Dream of Huaxu,’ not ‘Huazi.’ And what is this about a wig?”

Ning Mingmei: “Aside from that, before I take you back to the snow lab, I will fulfill your last wish to find the counterfeiters and reclaim your royalties. That money will go toward funding your future experiments and the construction of your research building.”

Gui Ruoxue: “But what is a wig?”

Ning Mingmei had just finished speaking when he realized something; Ren Miao wasn’t in the courtyard today.

Had she gone out with the other disciples?

Just as he thought about it, a commotion erupted in the front yard, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the ground.

“Ow!”

“I told you, if you’re not skilled at flying, don’t carry people! Look! You just dropped Ren Miao!”

“I just—”

Ning Mingmei: …

So they snuck out to play.

When he stepped outside, he saw Ren Miao sprawled on the ground, her entire leg scraped open, a deep gash in her skin bleeding profusely. The fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth disciples were bouncing around in panic like startled puppies, frantically trying to figure out what to do.

“Oh no! What should we do?”

“Infuse her with true Qi?”

“She has no cultivation and it’s not an internal injury… Dumping true Qi into her will just make her bleed out faster!”

Great. Before they could even stack up corpses in front of the Royal General’s mansion, they were about to pile themselves up there first.

“Don’t touch her.”

A calm voice spoke from the other side.

The one who appeared before them was a physician in a pale blue robe. He still wore his mask and carried his medical kit on his back.

He had just left the prince’s quarters.

And had overheard the commotion.

“Physician Wu, thank you,” Ren Miao said through clenched teeth.

Aside from Physician Wu, more people from the Royal General’s mansion had arrived after hearing the noise.

Fortunately, the medical supplies were available. Physician Wu knelt down and examined Ren Miao’s injury as everyone watched.

After confirming that no bones were broken and that it was just a flesh wound, he took out medicine from his kit and began treating and bandaging her.

The wound was deep. When he sprinkled the medicinal powder on it, Ren Miao winced in pain, her face turning pale. A steward standing behind them saw this and pulled out a small paper packet from his pocket.

“Give her this. It’s a painkiller. You can buy it at any clinic in the city.”

When the packet was opened, inside were small, round, red pills with a rich fragrance.

Ning Mingmei glanced at them.

Something about them felt familiar…

Right. That morning, after he finished bargaining and left the Deputy City Lord’s residence, he had seen the Deputy City Lord, who was suffering from unbearable joint pain, pull out a similar pill and swallow it.

Were they taking the same pills?

The pill was handed to Ren Miao. Enduring the pain, she hesitated as she looked at it.

Then, another hand reached out.