At the very least, Sylvia thought to herself, if the secret to immortality were handed to you on a silver platter, no matter who you were, you'd at least be a little tempted.
Maybe that was the reason the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus were trying to reach out to her.
Sylvia rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
Regarding the subject of the Lord Ravagers...
The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus weren't actually allied with the Lord Ravagers; it was just a temporary partnership.
So what if one operation failed? At worst, they'd just have to find a suitable new host for Phantylia. It wasn't like the main event was starting anytime soon.
If the Disciples were genuinely trying to recruit her, then they probably wouldn't be paying any attention to Tingyun for a while.
After all, Tingyun knew Sylvia now, and more importantly, Sylvia had saved her from the Disciples' clutches.
For the Disciples to try and assassinate Tingyun now would be no different from openly challenging Sylvia.
Putting aside their current attempts to win her over, even just to avoid pushing a neutral party into outright opposition…
Anyone with a shred of sense would put the hit on Tingyun on hold, waiting to see how things played out with Sylvia first.
Who knows where Phantylia is hiding right now...
--+--
Returning to her previous spot, Sylvia sat down again, reached out to pour herself another cup of tea, and used the opportunity to secretly return the missive.
After pretending to take another sip and waiting for the second cup to also go cold, she made moves to take her leave from Dan Shu.
Right then, Dan Shu suddenly spoke up.
"Little Friend Sylvia, might this one be so bold as to ask to examine your hands?"
"Hm? Why's that?"
"This one has a feeling that your hands seem rather overworked, perhaps from excessive manual labor recently. If you don't mind, I could write you a prescription. Steeping your hands in the medicinal brew upon returning home should help alleviate the fatigue."
Hearing this, Sylvia was genuinely startled.
How could she possibly sense that?
After a moment's thought, she still extended both hands, offering them to Dan Shu.
Perhaps sensing the warmth of her palms, Dan Shu carefully took hold of Sylvia's fingers, applying pressure all the way down to the center of her palms.
Dan Shu's hands were somewhat rough, unlike the impression she gave otherwise, but they were strong and steady.
After holding them for a short while, Dan Shu released Sylvia's hands and pulled out paper and a brush from her robe, beginning to write blind.
Sylvia made a move to take the paper and brush to help, but Dan Shu refused.
"No need for assistance. I worry you might not be familiar with the Xianzhou's herbs. It would be troublesome if the wrong characters were written."
Saying this, even though her head was raised, Dan Shu kept one hand pressed against the paper while the other wielded the brush, flying across the page. The script couldn't be called beautiful, but it was remarkably neat.
For a blind person to write, and to write so standardly—who knows how much grueling practice that must have taken.
Even though Dan Shu could see now, she was still writing blind with her head raised.
Back when she was truly sightless, she must have endured immense hardship to achieve this level of penmanship.
Just this small glimpse was enough to make Sylvia sigh with empathy.
Those dealt a poor hand by heaven certainly had a difficult path.
--+--
Paying no mind to Sylvia's gaze, Dan Shu finished the prescription quickly, as if it were the most ordinary task.
She deftly tucked the brush away and handed the prescription to Sylvia.
"Follow this formula to prepare the medicine. Steep your hands once daily. After seven days, the treatment will be complete. But to prevent a recurrence, please try to manage the strain on your hands, Little Friend Sylvia."
Her rambling instructions made it feel just like a real, actual doctor-patient relationship.
To Sylvia, who knew full well Dan Shu's true nature, this whole scene felt rather bizarre.
Thinking this, Sylvia glanced down at the prescription. No 'Vidyadhara Bone Marrow' was listed, so it probably wasn't some outrageous formula.
It's just that she hardly recognized any of these herbs from the Xianzhou. She'd have to find another physician later to take a look at the prescription.
Noticing Sylvia had accepted the prescription, Dan Shu blinked her vacant eyes and added, "This one often spends her leisure time sitting for long periods at the Synwood Pavilion."
"If you ever suffer from headaches or fevers, Little Friend Sylvia, or if you have any questions or unexpected issues with this prescription, you can seek me out there."
"To have a physician's consultation for free? That's an opportunity I'd be a fool to refuse. Thank you for your generosity, Miss Dan Shu."
Sylvia responded politely. Dan Shu simply nodded while sipping her tea, not refusing the thanks and slight flattery.
Just as Sylvia was truly about to leave, the system inexplicably popped up again to make its presence known.
--+--
[Target: Dan Shu]
[Favorability: 55 (Seems to be expecting something from you)]
[Relationship: Doctor-Patient]
['Even the villainess? I underestimated you.']
[Reward: White Draw x1]
--+--
Seeing these lines, Sylvia's eyelids twitched. This was genuinely unexpected.
Dan Shu, being a storyline character without a unique model, had still triggered the system's prompt.
Could it be that the system judged who could gain favorability based on their importance in the story?
Within the Xianzhou storyline, aside from the playable characters, Dan Shu was a fairly significant figure, and her importance was quite high.
Considering only non-playable characters in the story, Dan Shu's importance was indeed not low.
If that's the case... then could Cocolia also...?
What about Phantylia?
But Dan Shu's favorability was only 55, and it still gave one White Draw.
Could the requirements for playable characters be higher, but the rewards better? Whereas for important supporting characters like this, the requirements are lower, and the rewards correspondingly worse?
Sylvia had been wondering why, apart from that very first time, all the draw chances she'd gotten were Green or Purple, with no White in sight.
So they were hidden here all along.
Sylvia stroked her chin, pondering the system's reward mechanics.
Right then, Dan Shu's voice pulled Sylvia's attention sharply back from the system prompts.
"Little Friend Sylvia? What are you thinking about? Why have you suddenly spaced out?"
"Nothing much. I was just thinking that if I'd known I'd meet you today, Miss Dan Shu, my friend probably wouldn't have had to wait in line for so long."
Sylvia smiled, finding an excuse to brush it off.
Hearing this, Dan Shu didn't press further. After bidding Sylvia farewell, she didn't look back.
--+--
By the time Sylvia returned to the consultation area, Qingque had already finished with her physician and gotten a prescription.
Qingque, reunited with Sylvia, waved the prescription in her hand and said with a grin,
"Hehe, the cost for today's consultation and medicine can be directly billed to the old Master Diviner. Huh? Sylvia, why do you have a prescription too? Did you also see a doctor just now?"
"Not exactly. I just happened to run into a physician while wandering around..."
Sylvia shook her head and briefly explained her encounter with Dan Shu.
But the more Qingque listened, the more something felt off. Finally, she couldn't hold back.
"...A blind healer? You didn't somehow run into the Alchemy Commission's Chief Alchemist, Dan Shu, did you??"
"She did say her name was Dan Shu."
Sylvia didn't deny it, nodding in confirmation.
"Well, I'll be. First you meet the old Master Diviner herself at the Divination Commission, and now you immediately run into the Chief Alchemist on a trip to the Alchemy Commission. Your luck is really something else. I'm probably gonna lose money today."
The first part was fine, but hearing that last sentence, Sylvia's lips twisted into a wry smile.
She should've known. With Qingque, it never took more than three sentences to get back to talking about Celestial Jade.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.