"This is the first lesson of the National Alchemy Training Camp," he said. "Never trust what’s in front of you."
"This year’s International Alchemy Competition will be brutal. People will cheat. They will use traps, lies, and tricks to defeat you before you even begin. If you can’t sense danger, you’ll be gone before the real battle starts."
Everyone’s faces turned pale.
"But what about Gu Jin and Qiao Feng?" Yun Qing asked, her teeth chattering.
Instructor Liu’s mouth twitched, like the tiniest hint of a smile.
"They didn’t fall for it," he said. "They stayed outside. Which means, in this round... they win."
The students groaned and splashed the water in frustration.
Meanwhile, back outside the dorm, Gu Jin and Qiao Feng were still sitting on the ground.
"I told you something was off," Gu Jin muttered, staring at the entrance.
Qiao Feng yawned. "Good thing I hate walking into weird buildings. Lazy wins again."
Gu Jin almost laughed.
They had no idea they had just won the first trial.
A soft wind blew by, and all the members of Team 1, Lin Yue and Yun Qing, were teleported in front of Gu Jin and Qiao Feng.
Seeing them, soaked, Gu Jin raised an eyebrow. She had guessed right.
While Qiao Feng turned toward Gu Jin and hugged her,
"Thank god you warned me in advance."
Gu Jin frowned and pushed him away in disgust.
Qiao Feng raised his hand and nodded,
"Alright! Alright! I was wrong! Don’t be angry!"
Instructor Liu looked at Gu Jin and asked in a satisfied tone,
"Girl, how did you know there was a trap inside the dorm?"
Gu Jin stood up slowly, brushing the dust off her clothes. She looked at Instructor Liu and said in a calm voice, "I didn’t know for sure... but I felt something weird."
Instructor Liu raised an eyebrow. "Weird? Explain."
Gu Jin pointed toward the dorm entrance.
"There was a strange energy there. It was light, but sticky. Like glue mixed with thread. My plant element picked it up first."
Everyone stared at her.
"Sticky energy?" Meng Hao scratched his head. "How do you even feel that?"
"I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like... the air around the door was wrong. It felt too clean, too perfect. And things that are too perfect are usually traps."
Qiao Feng nodded seriously.
"She’s right. I didn’t sense the energy, but I saw her face and knew something was up. When a strong person like her gets spooked, you listen."
Gu Jin rolled her eyes. "I wasn’t spooked."
"Yeah, yeah," Qiao Feng grinned.
Instructor Liu gave a small, satisfied nod. "Good. That’s what I want to see. Trust your instincts. You won’t always get proof. Sometimes, your feeling is the only thing that will save your life."
The wet students shivered as the cold wind blew.
Instructor Liu clapped his hands. "Alright, you’ve learned your first lesson. Now, let’s dry you off."
He waved his hand, and a warm light surrounded the students. In a second, their clothes were dry, and the cold feeling was gone.
"Whoa!" Zhou Lei blinked. "Can you teach me that?"
"It is an artifact." Instructor Liu said with a deadpan expression.
Soon, everyone returned to the dorm. It was only after instructor Liu’s serious assurance did they dared to enter.
After everyone had settled into their real dorm, Yun Qing quietly walked over to Gu Jin. She looked nervous, her hands twisting the edge of her sleeve.
"Gu Jin..." Yun Qing said in a soft voice, her head down.
"I... I’m sorry. I didn’t listen to you earlier. If I had, I wouldn’t have fallen into that trap."
Gu Jin looked at her, then smiled a little. "It’s fine. You’re the one who suffered for not listening, not me."
Yun Qing bit her lip, feeling a little embarrassed, but also relieved that Gu Jin didn’t seem mad. "Thank you."
Gu Jin shrugged. "Next time, just trust your gut."
From the side, Lin Yue was watching them. She secretly gritted her teeth. Why does everyone think she’s so great? Hmph.
That night, after lights out, everyone went to bed.
The room was dark and quiet, with only the sound of soft breathing. The moonlight peeked through the window.
But then... a shadowy figure silently pushed the door open. The person tiptoed inside, holding a small pouch.
They reached into the bag and sprinkled a fine powder into the air. It was almost invisible, like dust. The figure quickly left without a sound.
Gu Jin, lying on her bed with her eyes closed, slowly opened them. She had seen everything. But she didn’t move or shout. She just stared at the ceiling, her mind calm. This isn’t simple. Better to watch first.
The next morning, everyone got up, yawning and stretching.
"Ahhh, I’m so sleepy," Qiao Feng groaned.
"Ugh, my stomach..." Yun Qing clutched her belly.
"My head hurts..." Lin Yue’s face was pale.
Qiao Feng leaned against the wall. "I feel like throwing up..."
Gu Jin sat up, perfectly fine. She looked at them with a frown. "Are you guys okay?"
"No... I feel awful," Qiao Feng moaned.
Gu Jin stood up and came over.
"Do you want me to check? I know some medical stuff. I can do acupuncture too."
The three of them blinked at her in shock.
"You know medicine too?!" Yun Qing gasped.
Gu Jin smiled faintly. "A little."
"Please help!" Lin Yue quickly said, feeling dizzy.
Gu Jin nodded. She checked each of their pulses carefully, touching their wrists one by one. Her fingers were cold but steady. After a moment, her face turned serious.
"You guys were poisoned."
"What?!" The three shouted at the same time.
"How is that possible?!" Qiao Feng panicked. "Who would poison us?!"
Gu Jin shrugged calmly. "I don’t know. Maybe it was in the air."
But in her heart, she thought, I saw the guy. But let’s see what happens first.
"Can you cure us?!" Yun Qing grabbed Gu Jin’s arm.
"Yeah, don’t let me die," Qiao Feng groaned dramatically.
Gu Jin rolled her eyes. "Relax. It’s not deadly. I can fix it."
She took out a small pouch of silver needles from her bag. Everyone stared at it.
"Why do you have those?!" Lin Yue asked.
"For moments ," Gu Jin said simply.
Then, with quick and careful movements, she placed needles on special points on their hands, heads, and necks. It didn’t hurt much, just a tiny pinch.
After a few minutes, the three of them felt the poison’s bad feeling start to fade.
The dizziness, pain, and sickness slowly disappeared.
"Whoa... I feel better already," Yun Qing blinked.
"My stomach’s fine now," Lin Yue said in surprise.
Qiao Feng jumped up. "I feel awesome! Gu Jin, you’re a genius!"
"You’re amazing!" Yun Qing cheered.
Lin Yue didn’t want to say it, but even she had to admit, "Thanks, Gu Jin."
Gu Jin packed up her needles.
"Instead of thanking me, you all should try to find who that person is...the one who poisoned you all."
Suddenly, Lin Yue asked,
"But...why aren’t you poisoned?"
Gu Jin looked at Lin Yue and gave a small shrug.
"Because I didn’t breathe it in."
"Huh?" Qiao Feng scratched his head. "How’s that possible? We all slept in the same room."
Gu Jin calmly sat down on her bed. "I create a small plant mask around my face before sleeping."
In reality, it was space that filtered out the poison in the air. It creates a mosquito net; the function of the net is to filter the poison.
As long as it was a poison, Gu Jin knew the space could contain it.
"Whoa... you can do that?!" Qiao Feng’s eyes went wide.
Gu Jin nodded a little. "Yeah. I don’t trust people. So I always protect myself when I sleep."
Yun Qing shivered. "I should’ve done that too..."
Soon, all of them reached the training field and realized that the team 1 members were having a fever too.
Seeing that Team 2 was fine, Han Xiaoyu pouted,
"Is the culprit who poisoned us from Team 2?"
Before anyone could say anything else, Qiao Feng said coldly,
"We were poisoned, too. It was thanks to Gu Jin that we are completely fine."
Instructor Liu walked over when he heard them arguing.
"What’s going on here?" he asked, his voice sharp like a knife.
Han Xiaoyu pointed at Team 2. "Instructor, someone poisoned us last night! We all feel sick!"
"Yeah!" another student from Team 1 shouted. "Maybe it was them!"
Instructor Liu’s eyes narrowed. "Is this true?"
Gu Jin stepped forward.
"Instructor, it’s true that someone used poison last night, but it wasn’t from our team. I saw a shadowy figure come in while everyone was sleeping. I didn’t see the face, but it wasn’t anyone from my team."
Instructor Liu’s face darkened. "Why didn’t you stop them?"