"If there's something on your mind… come inside and talk," Yang Kai tilted his head in invitation, pushed open the door to one of the side rooms, and stepped inside.
Ye Qinghan blinked, momentarily stunned, then the aggrieved look on her pretty face melted into delight. In a sweet voice she said, "Thank you, Young Master Yang."
She hurried after him, as though afraid he might change his mind.
Inside the room, Yang Kai glanced around, but before he could even take in the furnishings and decorations, Ye Qinghan had already trotted over with quick, dainty steps, picked up a stool, positioned it behind him, and said softly, "Please have a seat, Young Master Yang."
Yang Kai gave her a look but didn't stand on ceremony. He swept his robes aside and sat down with a commanding ease.
Ye Qinghan had already picked up the teapot from the table, poured him a cup of water, and set it before him. "Please drink, Young Master Yang!"
After that, she brushed a slender hand across the table's surface, and in an instant a fruit platter appeared atop it, arranged with a selection of fresh, fragrant spirit fruits. She smiled and said, "These are fruits I brought out from the Thousand Leaves Sect. I'm not sure if they'll suit Young Master Yang's taste — I hope you won't be offended."
Yang Kai's expression turned rather peculiar.
No one had ever attended to him with such thorough attentiveness. He secretly thought that if this woman, Ye Qinghan, ever took up work as a maidservant or servant, she would be extraordinarily competent.
"All this bustling about — what exactly are you after?" Yang Kai eyed her warily. "Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to me? Let me say upfront — though I am admittedly handsome, dashing, and the very picture of grace, adored by countless young maidens and married women alike…" He flipped his hair back, then pivoted with a grave tone: "I already have a wife and family. I'd advise you not to harbor any inappropriate thoughts."
Ye Qinghan's face flushed crimson at his words. She gave a little scoff. "What are you saying, Young Master Yang…"
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She had truly never met someone so shamelessly full of himself.
"Ah… so that's not it, then." Yang Kai looked slightly embarrassed and let out a couple of dry chuckles. "Just a joke. Don't mind it."
As he spoke, he reached over, picked up one of the spirit fruits from the table, and popped it into his mouth, munching away. Finding the taste quite agreeable, he nodded repeatedly. "All right then. What pill do you want me to refine?"
"What?" Ye Qinghan was baffled by his question, a blank look on her face.
Yang Kai scoffed. "Ever since you recognized me, you've been trailing after me, all solicitous and accommodating, every bit the picture of resourceful charm. You practically threw yourself at me. Surely that means you need me to do something for you?"
"It does…" Ye Qinghan gave a small nod.
"Wouldn't that be refining pills?"
Ye Qinghan suddenly understood and smiled. "Young Master Yang's alchemy is truly divine. To be able to refine something as rare as the Grand Mystery Pill — your skill and talent in this art are naturally beyond what ordinary people can match."
"Flattery. But pleasant flattery, at that." Yang Kai grinned.
Ye Qinghan said, "However, the reason I'm looking for Young Master Yang is not to have you refine pills."
"Then what is it?" Yang Kai's brow furrowed, and now he was genuinely on guard.
Ye Qinghan explained, "Though our Thousand Leaves Sect is no great power, we do have a Dao Source Realm alchemist within the sect, so there's no need to trouble Young Master Yang with pill refinement. The reason I seek you, Young Master Yang, is to ask your help in repairing something."
"Repairing something?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "What kind of thing?"
Ye Qinghan pressed her red lips together, glanced left and right as though quite wary, and hesitated for a good while before finally saying, "A spatial formation!"
"A spatial formation?" Yang Kai's eyes narrowed. He let out a low chuckle. "It seems the news that I possess spatial abilities has spread far and wide."
He had used spatial power openly in the Four Seasons Realm, in front of far too many people for it to remain a secret. He had long anticipated this, though he hadn't expected that Ye Qinghan would seek him out precisely because of it. She clearly wanted to leverage his spatial abilities to repair that particular formation.
Ye Qinghan said, "I only heard about it from others."
Yang Kai replied, "If it's just a matter of repairing a spatial formation, am I really necessary? Aren't there formation masters who could handle it?"
Ye Qinghan smiled bitterly. "If it were an ordinary spatial formation, those formation masters could certainly repair it. But the one belonging to our Thousand Leaves Sect… we've already consulted several formation masters, and we even called upon people from the Gong Family. None of them could repair it."
"Not even the Gong Family?" Yang Kai was visibly surprised, as though something had clicked. He said in a low voice, "Could it be… a two-realm spatial formation?"
Ye Qinghan's beautiful eyes lit up, and she nodded. "Young Master Yang is truly sharp-eyed. It is indeed a two-realm spatial formation."
Yang Kai's expression shifted subtly. He cast a sidelong glance at Ye Qinghan and asked, "Does your Thousand Leaves Sect have a secret realm?"