PS: Yesterday I spent a long time at the hospital and was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis. I was admitted for treatment, and starting from three in the afternoon they put me on an IV drip that didn't stop until seven this morning. It looks like they're about to start another round — I'll apparently need several days of this.
I haven't eaten anything since yesterday. The doctor said it's best not to even drink water. All I can think about right now is steaming hot buns…
Updates over the next few days probably won't be very stable. After all, I'm stuck in the hospital and honestly don't have the strength to write. The IV drips have my hands all swollen. Please bear with me, fellow readers.
Xueyue had been quietly calculating everything in her mind, ready to teach Yang Kai what it meant for a toad to covet swan meat. She planned to use this opportunity to sever the knot in her heart, make him realize the vast gap in status between them, and draw a clear line between herself and this man!
Everything was in place — all she needed was the wind!
She waited for Yang Kai to speak first.
But the more she waited, the less things went the way she had imagined. She couldn't help but open her beautiful eyes to glance at Yang Kai, and her expression immediately turned strange.
The man who had previously taken every advantage of her, whose hands had roamed her entire body, was now sitting there perfectly calm under these conditions — alone with a woman in an enclosed room, a situation ripe with temptation — with a holy crystal in his hand, circulating his profound technique to draw the crystal's energy and replenish his own depleted reserves.
He was actually meditating and cultivating!
A thick sense of frustration rose up in her heart. Xueyue gritted her teeth and glared hatefully at Yang Kai.
She took the initiative to speak, forcing her voice to sound calm: "There are some things I can't figure out. Could you clear them up for me?"
Yang Kai opened his eyes and gazed deeply at her, then suddenly broke into a grin: "There are some things I can't figure out either!"
"I spoke first!" Xueyue cried out indignantly.
"Then you ask first." Yang Kai was exceedingly generous and didn't make a fuss about it.
Xueyue paused for a moment, then said: "What's your name? Where are you from?"
She still didn't even know Yang Kai's name. Thinking back to all that had happened, she suddenly felt she had suffered an enormous loss.
"Yang Kai! You probably don't know where I'm from — it's a low-level continent. I was the first person from there to break through and successfully enter the Star Domain!" Yang Kai answered honestly.
"A low-level continent?" Xueyue looked at him with surprise, a spark of interest in her eyes. "Then what was the highest cultivation level of the strongest person on your continent?"
"Entering Sainthood, Stage Three… There was apparently one who reached the Saint King realm long ago, but he perished before he could penetrate deep into the Star Domain. That was several thousand years ago, though."
"Only Entering Sainthood, Stage Three… That really is a low-level continent."
"Yep. After I came here, I learned that above Entering Sainthood there's the Saint King realm, above that the Return Void realm, the Void King realm…"
"So ignorant! Ignorant and narrow-minded!" Xueyue covered her mouth and laughed delicately, teasing him. "But among the short, you'd still count as a general. Getting to where you are today is quite impressive. You must have suffered quite a bit along the way?"
She seemed to be showing concern for Yang Kai. After saying this, she realized it herself and her smile vanished abruptly.
"It was alright. I just accidentally stumbled into…"
"Don't bother telling me. I'm not interested," Xueyue interrupted coldly. "Let me ask you. Why couldn't I find you on Water Moon Star before? Where were you hiding? Did someone provide you with assistance?"
"Oh, I was staying at Shentu's palace. You probably didn't think to look there," Yang Kai answered casually, without the slightest sense that he was selling Shentu out.
"Shentu…" Xueyue murmured the name, then suddenly smiled sweetly. "So it was him interfering behind my back. I see now. Hmph, give him a few days without a beating and he climbs right up to tear off the roof tiles. He actually dares to oppose me — just wait until I get back, he'll see what's coming!"
She had the look of a venomous woman about her, silver teeth clenched. It seemed she wanted to tear Shentu to pieces.
"Was it also him who got you onto that warship?" Xueyue continued.
"Yes. He thought you'd left Water Moon Star the day before, but it turned out you never left. I had barely stepped onto that warship when you followed right behind me, beauty. Would you call that fate?" He looked at Xueyue with a cheeky grin.
"Who has fate with you?" Xueyue shot him a reproachful glance, brimming with feminine charm. It sent a tremor through his heart, and he couldn't help but feel his thoughts wandering. Images from the dead star — the two of them rolling together in a tangle — surfaced unbidden in his mind, along with the memory of that supple, yielding softness. The way he looked at Xueyue instantly changed in flavor.
"What are you thinking about?" Xueyue's face flushed crimson. She seemed to have seen through Yang Kai's lurid thoughts as well, and under his predatory gaze she couldn't hold her ground. She hurriedly changed the subject: "What's going on with your Divine Sense? I've been paying particular attention these past few days. Why does your Divine Sense give off such an eerie, unpredictable feeling? What secret does your Divine Sense hold?"
"That's because I'm proficient in…" Yang Kai blurted out without thinking, but halfway through, his expression suddenly shifted. He frowned: "This Soul Chain's power is too terrifying… It feels like I have no defense against you at all…"
Whatever she asked, he just willingly answered. A warning alarm blared in Yang Kai's mind, and he dared not be careless any longer.
Seeing that Yang Kai had actually snapped out of it, Xueyue couldn't help but mutter something under her breath — it sounded like she was cursing — a look of annoyance on her beautiful face.
She had been so close. Just a little more and she would have uncovered the secret of Yang Kai's Divine Sense. She hadn't expected to fall short at the very last moment.
"The Soul Chain is a divine ability cultivated by an elder-level senior of the merchant association. Its power is naturally inconceivable. But the fact that you were able to resist it at all does surprise me somewhat." Xueyue looked at him with astonishment.