Divine Level Witch Doctor

Qi Xia and Luo Dan, who had already been in bed trying to drift off, were suddenly wide awake. They both shot up and joined Yang Zi in her interrogation.

”Xuexue, what’s going on with you? Fess up, right now!”

”You didn’t actually... you know... with Zhao Yuan, did you?”

”You know what?” Lin Xue blinked her big, innocent eyes, a look of complete confusion on her face.

Qi Xia and Luo Dan both rolled their eyes at her. ”Keep acting!” they said irritably. ”Just keep it up! With acting skills like that, why are you studying nursing instead of becoming an actress?”

Yang Zi was much more blunt, laying it all out. ”Do you even need to ask? They got a room!”

Mortified and annoyed, Lin Xue frantically waved her hands. ”That’s not what happened! I can’t believe how dirty your minds are! Where do you people even come up with this stuff?”

”What do you mean, *our* minds are dirty?” Yang Zi huffed, refusing to let her off the hook so easily. ”Then explain this: what was all that about being sore and tired?”

Lin Xue hesitated for a moment but decided against telling them about her martial arts training with Zhao Yuan. She had promised him she wouldn’t reveal it to anyone.

She could only come up with a lame excuse to try and throw them off. ”We were just doing some square dancing, and it tired me out.”

Yang Zi didn’t buy it for a second. ”Square dancing made you sore and tired? You’ve been a dancer since you were a kid. Come clean, what really happened!”

”It’s nothing, okay? That’s enough. I’m really tired, I’m going to sleep.” Lin Xue pulled the covers over her head, burying herself like an ostrich, refusing to answer no matter how the other three interrogated her.

Meanwhile, after returning to his dorm, Zhao Yuan finally spotted the White Cat.

He had been looking for the White Cat when he got back in the afternoon. The Fire Spirit Insect was still nestled on its head, and the newly-made Insect Cage was still without an occupant.

Zhao Yuan petted the White Cat while saying, ”Where did you run off to today? I didn’t see a trace of you all day.”

The White Cat meowed as if in response, but Zhao Yuan couldn’t understand it, of course. The Fire Spirit Insect, nestled on the cat’s head, touched Zhao Yuan with its antennae. It seemed to be confirming his identity, or perhaps greeting him. It finished quickly and went back to sleep.

Zhao Yuan quickly tapped the Fire Spirit Insect lightly on its head a couple of times. ”Hey, don’t sleep yet,” he said. ”Come on, look at the new house I made for you. Three bedrooms, one living room, and a kitchen! Prime location, great environment.”

Well, it was clear he’d memorized the secondhand apartment listings posted on the bulletin boards around University City.

Next, Zhao Yuan took the Insect Cage out of his Storage Ring Space and placed it beside the White Cat’s head. He looked at the Fire Spirit Insect expectantly, waiting for it to crawl inside its new home and, hopefully, give him a five-star review.

But he waited and waited, and the Fire Spirit Insect didn’t react at all.

’What’s going on? Is it asleep?’ Zhao Yuan muttered. He reached out, picked up the Fire Spirit Insect, and placed it inside the Insect Cage.

But then, something unexpected happened.

The Fire Spirit Insect stayed in the Insect Cage for less than two seconds before crawling out, beating its wings, and flying right back to the White Cat’s head.

”Are you using Xiaobai’s head as your nest?” Zhao Yuan was speechless. He tried again, but the result was the same. The Fire Spirit Insect seemed to detest the cage he had so carefully crafted, refusing to go inside and only wanting to stay on the White Cat.

The situation left Zhao Yuan, a novice at Raising Gu, completely bewildered. He immediately called up books on the Witch Priests from his Information Leaf and searched for knowledge related to Raising Gu. But no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t find an answer for this particular situation.

’The relevant books all say that a Spirit Insect should be raised in an Insect Cage for optimal growth,’ Zhao Yuan thought. ’But this little guy is completely attached to the White Cat and despises the cage. What am I supposed to do?’ He wracked his brain but couldn’t come up with a solution. His only option was to find Ying Ji’s number and call her for advice.

After hearing his story, Ying Ji was very surprised. ”Something like that happened?”

She had never encountered such a thing and had no idea how to solve it. After suggesting a few ideas that didn’t work, she could only say, ”It’s too late now; the Old Ancestor must be asleep already. How about this: tomorrow, I’ll ask her for you. She’s seen and heard everything, so she’ll definitely know the reason and have a solution.”

At this point, it was his only option. Zhao Yuan sighed. ”Okay, thank you so much.”

After hanging up, Zhao Yuan glanced at the White Cat and the Fire Spirit Insect.

He pondered the situation. ’The Fire Spirit Insect’s refusal to enter the cage and its insistence on staying on the White Cat must have something to do with the cat itself!’

This cat was just too mysterious!

Still, it was a good thing the White Cat also seemed to have taken a liking to the Fire Spirit Insect. It probably wouldn’t eat it as a snack... right?

Zhao Yuan shook his head, casting these distracting thoughts aside. He lit a stick of Soul-Stabilizing Incense, activated his Concentration Technique, and lay down on his bed to start studying the medical textbooks unlocked on his Information Leaf.

The upgraded Concentration Technique made one hour of study equivalent to five, and with the added effect of the Soul-Stabilizing Incense, Zhao Yuan’s learning progress was incredibly fast!

By the time the night was over, he had finally committed the remaining contents of *Chinese Herbal Medicine* to memory.

The *Chinese Herbal Medicine* textbook left by Wu Peng contained every medicinal ingredient in the world. In addition to detailed illustrations, properties, effects, dosages, usage instructions, and precautions, it also provided knowledge on cultivation and maintenance techniques. There was a vast amount of information to memorize; otherwise, Zhao Yuan would have finished the book long ago instead of just now.

After completing *Chinese Herbal Medicine*, Zhao Yuan discovered that two more books had appeared in the medical section. One was *Prescription Science*, and the other had a much stranger title: *Spirit Medicine Atlas*.

Zhao Yuan knew what *Prescription Science* was—a textbook that taught how to write prescriptions and use medicine. But what was the *Spirit Medicine Atlas*?

Filled with curiosity, he opened the book. He found that it was an illustrated text similar to the *Compendium of Materia Medica*. However, the items recorded inside weren’t medicines like Ginseng or Centennial Solomon, but rather a collection of strange and ancient things, such as ’Yellow Thorn’ and ’Wen Jing.’ Below each entry was a detailed description, and their effects were all quite peculiar.

The entry for Yellow Thorn, for example, read: Yellow Thorn, round leaves and yellow flowers, fruit similar to that of an orchid. When consumed by a woman, it can prevent pregnancy.

And the description for Wen Jing was: Its fruit is shaped like a large date and can cure deafness; its leaves are like those of a mallow, mottled red and yellow, and shaped like a baby’s tongue. Consuming it can clear the mind and protect it from being bewildered.

’Well, damn. This Yellow Thorn is basically a contraceptive pill,’ he thought. ’And Wen Jing is even weirder, with both its fruit and leaves having magical effects. No wonder they’re called Spiritual Medicines. But why haven’t I ever heard of any of these?’

Zhao Yuan muttered to himself, then suddenly remembered something and got excited.

’Hey, let me see if this book has any ingredients that can make you instantly powerful! If it does, I’ll have hit the jackpot!’