They brought her to a nearby dical facility under Magic Council supervision.
A healer was summoned, a middle-aged man with glowing eyes who began scanning Bai Qing’s body with a glowing orb and whispering incantations under his breath.
Monts passed in tense silence.
Then the healer stiffened.
The orb pulsed a bright blue—and then flared red.
"What is it?" asked one of the guards.
The healer looked up, wide-eyed. "Nothing is wrong with her."
"You an she faked it?" the female officer asked, her tone growing sharp.
"She might believe she’s poisoned," the healer said carefully, "but physically, she’s fine. This could be a psychological reaction... or she’s pretending."
Bai Qing, who had been swaying dramatically, froze.
"What?! That’s not possible! I felt it! My skin is burning! My head is spinning! I swear, I was poisoned!"
The lead officer’s expression darkened. "Enough. We gave you a chance. You lied."
"I didn’t! I swear!" Bai Qing cried out, lunging forward slightly. "It must be sothing your healer missed—maybe it’s rare, or it hides!"
The female officer shoved her back against the wall. "Or maybe you thought acting sick would get you out of a cell."
"I didn’t—!"
"You tried to seduce an officer," the leader cut her off, voice like ice.
"And now you’ve wasted Council resources and lied under truthwatch. That’s three more charges."
Bai Qing’s mouth opened and closed. Her eyes darted between them, desperate.
"You’re all making a mistake!"
But no one listened to her words.
.....................................
The English team left.
And so did Bai Qing from the Chinese combat team.
Even Li Mian was expelled for poisoning the captain of the team.
Before leaving, she requested to et Long Yifan for once.
Long Yifan disagreed, so she left a letter.
Curious as to what she might have written, Gu Jin opened the letter.
"I know, Captain, you will never open the letter. But I still want to apologize. I never knew that the drink had Lustshade poison.
I did like you, and I never thought of harming you. I was bewitched by Bai Qing’s words and tried to take advantage of you. I am sorry.
I promise to never et you again. Sorry for triggering your trauma."
Gu Jin was baffled by the letter’s content.
Trauma?
What trauma?
But she decided to keep the matter aside for now, since soone was trying his best to seek attention.
Long Yifan was lying on the sofa. His front two buttons were open, causing the well-defined muscle underneath his shirt to peek through just enough to be obvious.
He sighed dramatically, tossing an arm over his forehead like a tragic prince from an old romance novel.
Gu Jin raised an eyebrow. "What exactly are you doing?"
"I’m wounded," Long Yifan said with a pitiful groan. "Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually."
She crossed her arms. "You’re fine."
"You didn’t even read the letter to ." He peeked at her through his fingers. "What if it was heartfelt and touching?"
"It wasn’t. And I did read it." Gu Jin rolled her eyes. "She apologized and said she won’t bother you again."
Long Yifan blinked. "Really? That’s it?"
"She also ntioned your trauma," Gu Jin added, studying him carefully. "What trauma?"
At that, Long Yifan sat up, the dramatic act falling away for a second. His gaze grew distant.
"...It’s not a big deal," he said softly.
Gu Jin didn’t press, but her expression softened just a little.
"I’m fine now," he said quickly, sitting up straighter. "Especially with you around."
"Flirting won’t get you anywhere." Gu Jin warned, turning toward her desk.
"Who said I was flirting?" Long Yifan grinned, hopping off the couch and trailing after her. "I was baring my soul."
Gu Jin didn’t answer.
Unknowingly, Long Yifan had changed a lot...
From being cautious around her to flirting openly.
However, it still didn’t faze Gu Jin.
A part of her might have softened because of his act, but it wasn’t enough to make her forgive him.
Long Yifan watched Gu Jin shuffle through so notes on her desk and cleared his throat.
"So... wanna go out for coffee soti?" he asked with a hopeful smile.
Gu Jin didn’t even look up. "No. I need to train my roommates."
"Train them?" Long Yifan frowned. "All of them?"
"Yes," she said flatly. "They’ve been slacking off lately, and soone has to make sure they don’t embarrass our team."
Long Yifan sighed, then leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Then why am I still here? Aren’t you going to kick out like last ti?"
Gu Jin glanced at him with narrowed eyes. "Good question. Why are you still here?"
With a proud smirk, Long Yifan stood straight and declared,
"Because I am gravely affected by the Lustshade poison."
Gu Jin blinked. "You look perfectly fine."
"Ah," he wiggled a finger in front of her, "that’s the dangerous part. It’s the aftereffects. Deep, invisible, creeping damage. Only high-ranking alchemists can treat it."
Gu Jin crossed her arms. "And what about the other high-ranking alchemists in the country?"
Long Yifan placed a hand on his heart.
"Unfortunately, the best one has gone overseas for a webinar. So others are swamped with work. A few even refused to help—said the case wasn’t worth their ti."
Gu Jin narrowed her eyes. "And?"
"That leaves Instructor Luo. But he’s tied up with the Han Xiaoyu investigation." Long Yifan gave her his most innocent look.
"So, guess who’s the only one left qualified to take care of ?"
Gu Jin stared at him in disbelief. "...You bribed them, didn’t you?"
Long Yifan gave her a sheepish grin. "What makes you say that?"
Before she could answer, a knock ca at the door.
Gu Jin opened it to see Instructor Luo standing tall and composed, a scroll in one hand.
"Good, you’re both here," he said. "Long Yifan will be under your care, Gu Jin. You’re the only suitable high-ranking alchemist available."
She opened her mouth to object, but he held up a hand.
"As a reward," he continued, "you’ll be given early access to any newly discovered alchemy recipes acquired by the nation."
Gu Jin rolled her eyes. "Not interested."
"But there’s more," Instructor Luo said, a faint smirk on his lips.
"You’ll also be allowed to request three tis to use the advanced magical defense equipnt—semi-god level. Anyti. No paperwork."
Gu Jin’s eyes lit up.
Now that got her attention.
"Three?" she asked, voice low.
"Only three," Instructor Luo confird.
Gu Jin stepped aside. "Fine. Leave him here."
Long Yifan bead. "You won’t regret this."
.........................................
Gu Jin spent her remaining ti training her teammates. She pointed out everyone’s mistakes and corrected them.
Within just 2 weeks, the team’s progress increased by leaps and bounds.
Even Instructor Luo was impressed.
Of course, the teammates got to see sothing more.
The national crush Long Yifan was Gu Jin’s simp... no... more like a lapdog.
Training sessions under Gu Jin’s lead had beco... unique.
Whenever she began explaining an alchemy concept, the team would gather around her like attentive students—except for one odd case.
Long Yifan stood right beside her, not technically part of the team, but never missing a single lesson.
While Gu Jin drew formation circles or broke down the components of rare herbs, he stood just behind her, nodding along with exaggerated seriousness.
"Here," he’d say in the middle of her explanation, offering her a bottle of water as if she were royalty. "You’ve been speaking too long. Hydrate."
Gu Jin would glance at him with a mix of annoyance and amusent. "I have hands. I can drink on my own."
"I’m just being thoughtful," Long Yifan replied smoothly, grinning.
Then ca the explosions.
Bai Yu had miscalculated the root-to-powder ratio—again—and the cauldron burst with a puff of pink smoke.
Before the team could even react, Long Yifan flicked his fingers, summoning a glowing silver shield around Gu Jin, blocking the debris completely.
"Careful!" he barked at Bai Yu. "What if sothing hit her face?!"
"She’s stronger than all of us!" Bai Yu squeaked, waving the smoke away. "She can handle it!"
"Still. Her safety cos first."
Everyone blinked. Gu Jin sighed.
But that wasn’t even the worst part.
Whenever she bent forward to check on a cauldron or reached to correct a team mber’s grip, Long Yifan would casually lean closer and murmur,
"You sll like fire and flowers. It’s dangerously distracting."
Zhou Lei blushed the first ti he heard that.
Lin Yue dropped her stirring rod.
Even ng Hao—who was usually loud and bold—froze mid-sentence.
But after a few days, they all beca numb to it. Long Yifan’s flirting had beco... background noise.
"Try the ice-root infusion," Gu Jin instructed Yun Qing one morning.
Before Yun Qing could respond, Qiao Feng lazily slung an arm over Gu Jin’s shoulder.
"Teach that part again, Captain," he said with a teasing smile.
The mont his hand made contact, the air chilled.
Long Yifan’s eyes narrowed like a hunting hawk’s. "Take. Your hand. Off."
Qiao Feng quickly backed off, raising both arms. "Whoa. Calm down, watchdog."
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