Finally, it was time for the two lovebirds to part, and they did so reluctantly. Alice had made Ye Ming a ladder from vines so that he could enter and leave the cave anytime he wanted.
Ye Ming accompanied Alice out of the Dark Mountains. At the valley that served as the entrance to the mountain range, the two embraced once more. After an intense kiss, Alice said with her face flushed, “Promise me that you’ll come find me in Lobito City. Don’t ever forget about me.”
Ye Ming nodded. “How can I ever forget you, my love. I swear I’ll come find you in half a year’s time at most.”
“That’s such a long time. I don’t know if I can wait that long.”
“I need to become stronger. Only when I become strong can I stand up to the world. I want to rule this world!”
“I believe in you. All right, I’ll wait for you.”
The sky was dark. The only illumination upon the boundless land was the dazzling moonlight. The current mood of the two passionate lovers was as gloomy as the night itself.
Alice was about to turn around when she was pulled back by Ye Ming. The two embraced each other for a long time, unwilling to part. How they wished that time would stop at this very moment, so that they could be together forever.
But two people’s wish could not change reality. Alice still had to leave. She turned her head back every few steps she took, reluctance obvious in her gait. The last time she turned her head back and showed Ye Ming her beautiful face, she said, “You must keep yourself safe. Remember our promise.”
“I will.”
Alice firmed her resolve and turned to leave. “You must remain safe and sound, my love,” Alice silently blessed Ye Ming.
Ye Ming had no idea about the real reason the female Vampire had to stay alone in a cave in the Dark Mountains for so long.
“You must come for me, love, or I’ll be someone else’s wife in six months. If that time comes, I can only resist with my death.”
Ye Ming stood in place for a long time to watch Alice’s disappearing figure, unwilling to leave. He recalled the time the two had spent together, when Ye Ming had found the warmth of a home. This was the first time he felt a sense of belonging to this world ever since he was reborn here. He no longer felt like a lonely leaf drifting in the darkness.
Instead, he became a small sprout rooted to this land.
Ye Ming took one last look at the place Alice had disappeared to, then turned around and left as well.
He came to the bottom of the cave and took flight. When he caught the vine ladder hanging in mid-air – the one Alice had made for him – he used it to climb up to the cave. When he finally reached the cave, he was hit by a sudden sense of loss. It was a feeling of emptiness and loneliness due to Alice’s absence.
Ye Ming took a deep breath and collected himself. With his sharp claw, he carved a single stroke on the rock wall. He would use this to count the days, in order to remind himself of how much time he had left until he would meet with his beloved again.
The next thing Ye Ming did was to start practising alchemy following the alchemical recipes Alice left behind. He would work hard to improve his skills in this field.
Some time passed after that. One day, when Ye Ming was at the to the Dark Valley to gather the herbs he needed for his recipes as usual, he came across a spring. He found some bright flowers growing there. The thing that surprised Ye Ming about the plant was that a single stem could produce two flowers of different colors. He found the flowers very beautiful, so he plucked some of them without thinking much about it. He wished to take them back to decorate the cave. Looking at them every day would surely brighten his mood.
Thus, Ye Ming brought a bunch of the unknown plant back to the cave. After putting the flowers in a bottle, Ye Ming put it aside without paying them any more mind. He started his alchemy practice following the method Alice taught him before.
The gathered herbs were sorted and carefully arranged, and the unneeded parts were cut off one by one, leaving behind only the useful bits. A fire was built to heat up the water in the pot. The herbs were added to the pot according to a specific order. After all their medicinal effects had been squeezed out, the useless waste residue was scooped up.
Because Ye Ming was concentrating too hard, when he turned around, he accidentally knocked over the bottle containing the bunch of unknown plants he had placed on the side. The bottle was very close to the pot, so it ended up falling inside.
Ye Ming tried to catch it in panic, but his hand came up empty. The delicate plant completely sank into the concoction. Ye Ming lamented the great loss. It must be known that in an alchemical process, the ingredients must be added completely according to the proportion stated in the recipe. It could not be even a tiny bit off. Considering that an unknown plant had suddenly been added to the concoction, the recipe had surely been disrupted.
This pot of potion had surely gone to waste now. Ye Ming could not help being furious with himself. An unintentional action of his ended up spoiling all the efforts he had put in for the past few days.
But while Ye Ming was lamenting his loss, some changes were gradually happening to the pot of liquid. It was slowly turning from black to red and was starting to emit a really unpleasant smell.
Ye Ming thought it must be the result of the mutual repulsion between different medicinal effects. However, almost as soon as he thought that, he smelled a strange fragrance.
Ye Ming frowned. He had no idea what was happening. But then, something even more incredible happened. The red liquid in the pot turned black again, but not for long. The next moment, it gradually turned from black to transparent. It surprisingly looked like a pot of clear water now.
Ye Ming watched all this happen in surprise. After a certain amount of time had passed, the concoction no longer exhibited any other changes. Ye Ming did not know what to do. Should he discard it and start anew? Or should he continue onto the next step?
Ye Ming started pondering. Since the accident had already happened, why not continue and see how it would all turn out in the end? Many inventions were born out of accidents after all.
He made up his mind and continued onto the next step, purification using the distillation method. A crystal clear liquid constantly dripped from the test tube down to the vial below. When three vials had been fully filled, Ye Ming stopped the purification process.
Ye Ming took one of the vials and inspected it carefully. The liquid inside was transparent and colorless. He put it close to his nose and sniffed it. It gave off a refreshing aroma, like a perfume.
“Did I accidentally create a perfume?” Ye Ming held up the vial with a wry smile. “I can sell these to female Vampires, or even give them to Alice as a present, but it’s not what I want at all. In six months’ time, am I supposed to bring some perfume to Alice without making any improvement in power? That’ll be really sad.”
Ye Ming stared at the vial once again. Should he find a living creature to test the potion? But he’s the only one here. There was not even a rat in the cave. “Maybe I should try it and see if it has any healing effect. If I die, consider it my contribution to science. Oh wait, I mean alchemy.”
Ye Ming steeled himself and gulped down the potion. A gush of heat instantly washed over his entire body. He waited for a while and found that no abnormalities had occurred. Ye Ming tried clenching his fist. His muscles felt more solid than before. He swung a fist at the stone bench beside him. To his surprise, it made a small hole in the bench.
“So it can enhance physical strength. Not bad!”