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"Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!"

"The thief escaped!"

"Quick! Fire! People!"

Amidst the clamor of voices, the door to the room where the steward Chen Yuqing was located was opened.

Holding a short sword, she glanced at the mess in the courtyard, then at the rapidly approaching reinforcements. She whispered something to her trembling maid, Xiao Cui, before quickly walking to the front yard to meet up with the leader of the reinforcements.

The apprentices and servants, who had narrowly escaped death while hiding in various places, peeked out from their hiding places, still shaken, and cautiously gathered in the light of the front yard.

Li Lie was helped over by two guards. He had a knife wound on his chest, the flesh was torn open, and there was blood at the corner of his mouth. He looked badly injured.

Li Lie looked at Chen Yuqing, then at Chen Yue, his gaze flickering slightly.

The torches crackled, casting flickering light and shadow on each face.

Chen Yue helped Lin Quan, who had just woken up and was still a little unsteady on his feet, and his gaze swept over Chen Lin, who was directing the cleanup, before finally landing on Chen Yuqing, who was at the front of the crowd, talking quietly with the leader of the Chen family's reinforcements.

She was still wearing that moon-white dress, only the hem was a little dusty, and the short sword in her hand was already sheathed. There was no trace of her having gone through a life-or-death battle, and even her breathing was steady and normal.

Chen Yue remembered that Lin Quan had mentioned in private conversations that the new manager, Chen, knew martial arts. "For a woman to reach the Flesh Refining Realm is extremely difficult," Lin Quan said.

Lin Quan had been with the Chen family for many years and was a true elder; his information channels far surpassed those of ordinary stewards.

Despite the fierce fighting just now, with the thieves even rushing into the alchemy courtyard, not far from Chen Yuqing's residence, they seemed not to have heard any fighting sounds from her side.

With the cultivation level of the Flesh Refining Realm, why did he completely avoid direct confrontation with the thieves?

Chen Yuqing ended her conversation with the leader of the reinforcements, turned around, and swept her cold gaze over the bewildered crowd before finally landing on Chen Lin.

"Steward Chen, you take your men to assess the losses and treat the wounded. The rest of the guards who are still able to move, come with me to pursue the enemy. We must retrieve the stolen goods!"

"yes!"

The guards responded in unison, and Li Lie also came over. His chest wound had been hastily bandaged, but his eyes were fierce, as if he was extremely unwilling to accept the defeat tonight.

Chen Yuqing's gaze swept across the crowd and suddenly stopped on Chen Yue.

"Chen Yue, we are short-handed right now. Since you have the cultivation of the Skin Refining Realm, you can come with us to chase the enemy."

Chen Yue was taken aback upon hearing this. Sending an alchemist like himself to chase after the enemy?

The value of an alchemist lies in alchemy, not in combat; this is a consensus in pharmacies and the entire industry.

Before Chen Yue could respond, Lin Quan, who was standing to the side, had already frowned and coughed twice: "Miss Yu Qing, although Chen Yue is at the Skin Refining Realm, his cultivation is still in its early stages and he has little experience in combat. It is inappropriate to let him risk chasing the enemy."

Lin Quan rarely directly contradicted the manager's decisions, especially those of a newly rich man like Chen Yuqing, who clearly had the backing of the main family. His current defense was obviously due to Chen Yue's recent act of saving his life.

"Master Lin is mistaken."

Before Chen Yuqing could speak, her maid Xiaocui couldn't help but step forward and say in a clear voice, "Tonight the pharmacy has suffered such a great calamity, and it is precisely the time when everyone needs to work together to overcome this difficulty. Since Master Chen is skilled in martial arts, she should naturally do her part for the pharmacy."

The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment. Chen Lin glanced at Lin Quan, whose expression was displeased, and then at Chen Yuqing, whose true thoughts were unclear. He quickly tried to smooth things over, saying:

"Miss Yuqing, Master Lin, chasing the enemy is the priority right now. The thieves probably haven't gone far yet. Why don't you send the guards with you to pursue them first? Chen Yue can stay behind and help take stock of the lost pills; he's most familiar with that."

Chen Yuqing's gaze lingered on Lin Quan's resolute face for a moment, then glanced at Chen Yue, who stood with his hands at his sides, expressionless, before saying nothing more. She waved her hand dismissively, her voice turning cold: "Go after them! Li Lie, can you handle it?"

Li Lie gritted his teeth, straightened his body, and said in a muffled voice, "It's alright! We must catch those scum!"

"Walk!"

Without further delay, Chen Yuqing swiftly dashed off in the direction the men in black had retreated. The other guards, including the wounded Li Lie, followed closely behind, quickly disappearing into the darkness of the street.

Chen Lin breathed a sigh of relief and immediately directed the apprentices and workers, who had calmed down a bit, to start cleaning up the scene, extinguishing the small flames ignited by the overturned candles, treating the wounded, and collecting the bodies of the unfortunate victims.

A moment later, seven or eight more guards, clearly sent by the Chen family, arrived. Instead of pursuing the enemy, they were ordered to stay and strengthen the guard of the pharmacy to prevent the thieves from returning or other petty thieves from taking advantage of the chaos to rob the place.

Soon, a preliminary assessment of the losses was compiled and reported to Chen Lin.

The storeroom in the front hall where finished pills were stored had been completely looted. The shelves were empty, with only a few crushed pills scattered on the ground, covered in dirt and unusable.

The warehouse storing valuable medicinal herbs also suffered heavy losses, with several expensive tonic herbs disappearing without a trace. However, the silver and cash losses were relatively minor because most of it was deposited in a money exchange and stored discreetly.

But what made Chen Lin's face turn ashen was the loss of personnel.

"Manager Chen,"

A wounded guard reported in a hoarse voice, "Master Wang, Master Sun, and the new Master Zhao... they're all gone. The house is a mess; they've probably all been kidnapped."

Chen Lin felt a sudden darkness before his eyes and his body swayed. He was quickly supported by the accountant next to him.

The abduction of three alchemists is a loss far more devastating than the pills and herbs they possessed. I hadn't seen many alchemists earlier, so I assumed they were still in a panic and hadn't come out yet, but it turns out this is what happened.

Pills can be refined again, and medicinal herbs can be collected again, but finding another alchemist is not easy. After tonight, only Lin Quan and Chen Yue will remain at Huichun Hall capable of refining commonly used pills.

"Thanks to Chen Yue!" Lin Quan walked over with Chen Yue's help. Hearing the report of the losses, he sighed repeatedly and looked at Chen Yue with gratitude in his eyes.

"If it weren't for this kid's alertness and solid martial arts skills, which allowed him to repel the thieves who broke into my yard, I'm afraid I would be kidnapped to some remote corner by now, and it's hard to say whether I'll see the sun tomorrow."

Chen Lin took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

He looked at Chen Yue with a complex expression, patted Chen Yue's shoulder forcefully, and said in a deep voice, "Chen Yue, you did very well tonight! You not only protected yourself, but also Master Lin. Your martial arts skills are well learned and worth practicing!"

Chen Yue smiled and said, "It's my duty, Manager Chen, you flatter me."

He felt little joy, but rather a growing sense of doubt. The thieves had a clear objective and a well-organized division of labor; they not only robbed money but also kidnapped people. The key point was that while other alchemists were abducted, why was he being hacked to pieces?

About half an hour later, the torchlight reappeared at the street corner, and Chen Yuqing returned with the pursuing team.