Chapter 793 - -793

Chapter 793: Chapter -793

When she finally pushed open the heavy wooden doors of her apothecary, the oppressive darkness of the unlit shop swallowed her whole. She moved carefully by memory, sliding the heavy iron bolt into place to secure the front door.

She navigated through the quiet storefront and slipped behind the linen curtain into the back courtyard. The brick hearth had burned down to a pile of glowing, pulsing red embers.

Old Lady Lin and Ren had already retired to the small adjoining storage rooms they had claimed as their sleeping quarters. But as Heena stepped up to the stone counter, she paused.

Sitting right beside her neatly rolled-up leather canvas of knives was a small clay cup.

Heena reached out and touched the rim. It was warm. Beside it sat a small, folded piece of coarse paper. She leaned closer to the dying embers of the hearth to catch the dim red light, squinting at the elegant, perfectly brushed calligraphy on the paper.

For the pain in your back. Drink it while it is warm.

Heena picked up the cup and sniffed it. It wasn’t the bitter, dirt-flavored root water Ren usually boiled. It smelled faintly of white willow bark, dried mint, and a touch of the expensive jaggery she had bought earlier. A potent, carefully brewed analgesic.

She stared at the closed door of Ren’s small room, her dark eyes completely unreadable in the gloom.

"Dangerous," Heena murmured under her breath.

She didn’t know if Ren was playing a survival game of his own, or if the sheltered, brilliant physician was actually starting to care. Either way, a man who paid that much attention was a massive complication she didn’t have time to unravel. But the pain in her shoulders was blinding, and her pragmatism always won. She drank the warm, sweet medicine in three gulps, feeling the soothing heat instantly spread through her chest.

Heena walked over to her own cot in the corner of the room, stripping off her heavy cloak and kicking off her boots. She didn’t even bother pulling the blanket all the way up before her exhausted body shut down entirely, plunging her into a deep, dreamless sleep.

That night, Heena went to bed early, hoping to make up for all the sleep she had lost. Unfortunately, the heavens seemed to have other plans for her.

The moment she lay down, a mosquito began buzzing near her ear.

Bzzzzzzzz...

Heena frowned and waved her hand irritably.

Smack!

She hit her own cheek.

The mosquito escaped.

"..."

Heena slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.

Fine. One mosquito. I can deal with that.

She closed her eyes again.

Bzzzzzz...

Smack!

This time, she slapped her arm.

The mosquito was still alive.

Heena gritted her teeth.

For the next several hours, her room turned into a battlefield. Every time she managed to drift off, another mosquito would come buzzing around her ears or land on her arms and legs. She kept swatting at them, occasionally hitting herself in the process, but the tiny creatures seemed determined to torment her until dawn.

"Get lost! Just get lost!"

Of course, the mosquitoes didn’t understand human language. If anything, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

By the middle of the night, Heena was lying on her bed with an increasingly murderous expression, several itchy bites scattered across her skin.

Damn it! Where did all these mosquitoes come from? Are they planning to suck me dry?

She had no mosquito repellent because, honestly, buying one hadn’t even crossed her mind.

And now she was paying the price.

Usually, when her system was around, he would apply mosquito repellent to himself. Since he was always hovering annoyingly close to Heena, the mosquitoes rarely bothered her. Back then, she hadn’t paid much attention to it. She had simply assumed the little pest was being useful for once.

But now that he had gone to headquarters, she finally understood the true value of his presence.

That little bastard!

Heena slapped another mosquito on her arm.

So this is what happens when you’re not around? The mosquitoes come out of hiding and decide I’m their personal feast?

She rolled over and pulled the blanket over her head.

For approximately three seconds, there was peace.

Then the heat became unbearable, and she had to stick her head out again.

...I’m going to die.

Not from a deadly mission. Not from a dangerous enemy. Not even from the mysterious emergency that had dragged her system away.

No.

She was going to be defeated by mosquitoes.

Heena sat up and smacked another one against the wall, missing it by several inches.

Her eye twitched.

"Just wait until that system comes back. I’m going to make him buy enough mosquito repellent to last me ten lifetimes!"

But for now, all she could do was lie back down and continue fighting the tiny monsters.

And so, while the rest of the household slept peacefully, Heena spent the entire night swatting mosquitoes, scratching itchy bites, and regretting every decision that had led her to this miserable bed.

By the time morning approached, she had reached a firm conclusion.

Whatever else she needed to buy in this world, mosquito repellent had just become her highest priority.

Heena barely slept that night.

Every time she managed to drift off, another mosquito would come buzzing near her ear or land on her skin, forcing her to wake up and swat at it. By the time dawn arrived, she had almost given up on sleeping altogether.

So, she got out of bed early the next morning.

Her mood was terrible, her eyes were heavy with dark circles, and she looked as though she had spent the entire night fighting a losing battle.

Which, in a way, she had.

However, when Heena stepped outside, she came across something that made her pause.

Ren was sweeping the house.

He was squatting on the floor, holding a small hand broom and carefully sweeping the dust towards one side. He moved from one corner to another, cleaning the house with practiced ease.

Heena stood there silently, watching him.

For some reason, the sight brought back a memory from her hometown.

She remembered her mother, a fair-skinned woman who would sit on the floor just like Ren, sweeping their large house with a hand broom. The image was so familiar that, for a brief moment, Heena almost forgot where she was.

She didn’t know how long she stood there before Ren noticed her gaze.

Turning around, he saw her standing nearby and immediately smiled.

"Oh, you woke up early today. Good morning!"

Heena blinked, coming back to her senses.

"Yeah. Good morning."

She returned his greeting, then scratched at the mosquito bites on her arm.

Ren’s smile faded slightly as he noticed the marks.

"Ah, mosquitoes?"

Heena shrugged. "Yeah."

"You should have told me last night!" Ren said, looking genuinely concerned. "I could have burned some mustard husk for you."

Heena stopped scratching.

"Mustard husk?"

Ren nodded and pointed towards a corner where some mustard husks had been stored.

After extracting oil from mustard seeds, the leftover material was often used as animal feed. But people in the village had other uses for it, too.

Ren smiled as he explained, "You only need to burn a little of it. The smoke keeps the mosquitoes away. If you’d done that last night, they wouldn’t have bothered you so much."