The Silly Alchemist

The sky was blue. 

Ye Lang stared into the sky, daydreaming. 

“Why can’t you promise me this? You can come to my house and stay as long as you want! One year or more, it won’t be a problem at all! I’ll take great care of you!” Ye Lang’s cousin rubbed his ear as she continued to press him. 

“I know you’ll take good care of me… Your house is just too far, it’s Vermillion Bird Empire’s palace, right? That’s thousands of miles from here! I don’t want to go that far,” said Ye Lang blankly. He didn’t want to go to Vermillion Bird Empire- he was just too lazy!

“Hmph, is this what I get from taking care of you all the time? I won’t be as kind anymore!” pouted his cousin. It was a very persuasive tactic though, it seemed like she’d used this more than once before. 

“I know, I know. You should get going too, it’s getting late!” breezed Ye Lang, digging his ear. 

Things were still the same as they were in the past. This cousin would never stay for long. She’d visit once every few years, and she’d never stay longer than a month. Her position/identity didn’t allow her to visit for long. 

Who was she? Ye Lang had no clue. He wasn’t even sure what his mother’s family background was. He only knew they were royals in the Vermillion Bird Empire. 

Ye Lang’s mother rarely talked to him about her family either, only Ye Chengtian bothered to bring it up every now and then. 

You could tell his mother had a complicated family history. Just take a look at his mother and this cousin! 

“I know I know. You’ve been here for quite some time, right? Better get back early!” said Ye Lang carefreely, digging his ear.

This wasn’t because Ye Lang didn’t bother to ask his mother. Even if he did, he wouldn’t get much information either because Long Anqi’s identity wasn’t even clear to the family- they only had a rough idea about it.

How could he know if even the Ye family didn’t? 

There were very few people in the entire Soaring Sky Empire who knew of her true identity, so few you could count them with one hand. Fortunately, they were high authorities of the empire so there was nothing to worry about. 

Who? Well, who had the highest authority across the empire? It’d obviously be the ruler of the empire…

The emperor! 

“Yeah, I’ve been here for a while now, so I’m going back tomorrow. Silly, is there really no way to solve my problem?” asked Ye Lang’s cousin gently. She sounded a little sad. 

Every time she came here, she knew she would have to part with them eventually. She knew she would be sad and depressed- but she still couldn’t bear to not come here- to come and visit her silly cousin.

“Nope!” Ye Lang shook his head and said, “to be honest, there’s nothing complicated about your problem- although I can’t change your physique, I can fix your physical appearance.”

“??” His cousin stared at him, confused.

“To put it simply, just get rid of your scar, then treat your skin for a bit- that’s all you need to get rid of the scar on your forehead.”

“Really? What do you need- how much time? Is it painful?” asked his cousin excitedly.

“I already have the materials with me now. I can get it done by today- I’ll let you go off tomorrow with a smile on your face! Whether it’ll be painful or not- I don’t know! Hehe…” snickered Ye Lang. His expression told it all.

Smack! Ye Lang’s cousin smacked his head- her facial expression showed that she was very unhappy.

“Why’d you hit me again?” asked Ye Lang blankly.

“Why do you think?!” His cousin was still complaining, “If you knew how, and you can get it done within a day, why did you only tell me now! And you made me beg! Do you think it’s very entertaining?!” 

It wasn’t like Ye Lang wanted to take revenge or anything, but it was still very annoying to her. 

“About that...I didn’t...I was preparing materials for you, I was planning to give you a surprise...And if you recover you’d leave straight away, and we’d only meet after a very long time...” said Ye Lang softly.

You could tell he seemed to also like this cousin very much. Maybe it was because she got that scar to save him- or maybe he didn’t want to get rid of her scar so soon, in order to preserve their bond- the ordinary and yet extraordinary cousin relationship.

Ye Lang’s cousin was stunned for a while. After a long pause, she finally spoke. 

“Silly, how could I bear to leave you- it’s just that we have a problem...Never mind, it’s not like you’ll understand if I told you. If only you weren’t the son of Ye family, and I wasn’t the… Sigh, then things wouldn’t be so complicated for us!” 

Ye Lang’s cousin tone was very gentle. What she said sounded very complex, so it must have been extremely hard for Ye Lang’s parents to get together.

“??” Ye Lang couldn’t understand- he didn’t know what she was talking about at all.

“Let’s end it here- I’m sorry for misunderstanding you just now...I won’t leave so soon. Are you hurt?” she said regretfully, stroking where she hit Ye Lang.

“Nope- I’m already so used to you all smacking my head. I think I can already master iron head kungfu without practising!” said Ye Lang while shaking his head.

“...” She was silent for a moment, staring at Ye Lang…

“Silly!” She hugged Ye Lang tight, “You’re just a little silly boy…”

“??” Ye Lang was confused- what was wrong with his cousin? Why was she so emotional again?

Although he had no idea why- and he didn’t care either, he didn’t move. He was very comfortable in her arms.

After a very long time- neither of them knew how long, they finally separated from each other.

“Sister, or I can just do it for you right now, then you won’t have to wear the veil later when we hang out,” said Ye Lang after they separated.

“Let’s spend time together first. You can do it tonight. Even if the scar was gone, I’d still have to wear the veil…” Ye Lang’s cousin smiled.

“Why? You can’t show your face here?” asked Ye Lang, puzzled.

“Sometimes I really want to rip your mouth off!” she scolded, “that’s not what I meant, but you’re right. I’m not supposed to be seen here…”

“??” Ye Lang was confused again. He realised that his cousin only wore a veil in front of others but not him and his family.

Ye Lang initially thought she was scared that others might see her scar, so she covered her entire face- but now it didn’t seem right.

All she needed was some makeup and the scar would be completely covered. And then she’d be able to show off her unmatched beauty. And if Ye Lang fixed the scar, why would she still want to wear her veil? 

His cousin suddenly jerked him away before he had the chance to ponder. With him being himself, he’d completely forgotten about this. He’d probably never know the truth if no one explained it to him. He often chose to forget anything he didn’t understand anyway! 

“Uh silly, I think there are many people looking for you… I didn’t expect you to be this popular!” panted his cousin. She’d been running through the streets, dragging Ye Lang along with her. 

She didn’t think them hanging out would cause problems like that…

A group of people had ambushed them when they first stepped out of the house. They were surrounded now. 

Ye Lang’s cousin unsheathed her sword immediately, preparing for a fight. She thought these people were here to attack the both of them. 

However, she eventually realised these people were here for her cousin instead of her. They were waiting for Ye Lang to leave the house, to ask him for more alchemy items from his ring. 

These weren’t just anybody either. They were royal alchemists, people Ye Lang had chased away before. 

They were, of course, the lower-ranked ones though. The big shots had already left a long time ago. Only the little pawns would do such a thing as to ambush Ye Lang like this. 

Ye Lang frowned. “Go back and tell your boss that you all should be grateful. I’ve already given what you deserve. Anything else you want, go get it yourself! And if you could only understand their key principles, then there would be no need to ask me anymore!” 

“Thirteenth prince…”

“Someone come get these people out of my sight, don’t let them bother me again!” instructed Ye Lang to the guards behind him. They held these people back until Ye Lang was far away. 

Ye Lang and his cousin didn’t expect to encounter more trouble later… From commoners to royals alike. And they’d just escaped from the alchemists too! 

“It’s the thirteenth prince! The thirteenth prince! Come see!” 

“He really is the thirteenth prince…” 

“Come on, don’t let him get away, he owes us!” 

“Yeah, don’t leave! Tell us your story…”

Ye Lang was once again surrounded by people. He stood proudly in the centre. “Let’s not talk about stories… Didn’t you all want to know more about my alchemy skills? Well, that was from talent, and hard work!” 

Hard work? It did make sense since Ye Lang did, in fact, put effort into perfecting alchemy. However…

Did you really? It seemed to them that he spent more time wandering and squandering money on random things. And him squandering money was the reason why he had more opportunities to conduct experiments than the rest. 

His success was 30% talent, 10% hard work and the rest from squandering money! 

No one would’ve expected squandering money to be a way to sharpen their skills. This was a first. Perhaps there’d be another person taking this path in the future, but only Ye Lang, the thirteenth prince of the Ye family, could create such a miracle!