While speaking, Yang Kai walked straight up to Xia Ningshang. Without another word, he grabbed her and pulled her up, then, ignoring her startled cry, settled her on his lap. Only then did he leisurely glance over at Lan Chudie, waiting for her answer.
"Junior Brother..." Xia Ningshang was mortified, squirming with embarrassment, but with Yang Kai's arms wrapped firmly around her, there was no escape. In an instant, her cheeks flushed scarlet, her dense lashes trembling as she refused to meet anyone's gaze, burying her face into her own soft bosom.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. Like I said, none of us are strangers here — no need to be shy," Yang Kai chuckled, looking every bit the shameless rogue.
The joy in Lan Chudie's expression slowly faded. She forced a thin smile and said, "I won't intrude on you two any longer."
With that, she rose gracefully and took her leave.
Xia Ningshang was about to call out and stop her, but Yang Kai quietly pinched her. The little senior sister's body went rigid and she didn't dare move — he had pinched her flat, bare stomach, a particularly sensitive spot.
The only reason he had acted this way in front of Lan Chudie was to make her leave. Time was precious, and he wanted to spend more of it alone with his little senior sister. How could he tolerate anyone else's interruptions?
After Lan Chudie was gone, Yang Kai waved his hand, sending a gentle breeze sweeping outward. The door swung shut with a soft click.
Outside, Lan Chudie's smile had frozen into something stiff and bitter. How could she not see through Yang Kai's intentions? It was precisely because she understood that her heart ached all the more.
Truth be told, she and Xia Ningshang were both Yang Kai's senior sisters. Both had gone through that journey of going from strangers to acquaintances, from unfamiliarity to closeness. The difference was that in Yang Kai's heart, her weight and Xia Ningshang's were not even remotely comparable.
The road of life could be changed so easily by one careless choice. Lan Chudie shook her head slightly, pulled her clothes tighter, and suddenly realized that autumn had only just begun — yet it already felt cold.
Sensing that Lan Chudie's footsteps had faded into the distance, Xia Ningshang whispered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito: "Junior Brother, please put me down."
"Isn't this nice the way it is?" Yang Kai gazed into her eyes with a grin.
"Mm..." Xia Ningshang murmured softly, her cheeks burning.
"You like me?" Yang Kai's smile turned wicked, and the question he asked was as sharp and piercing as a needle.
Xia Ningshang didn't dare answer. She said nothing, her heart hammering so hard inside her chest she was sure he could hear it.
"So you don't like me." Yang Kai put on an expression of exaggerated disappointment, sighing theatrically for a good while.
"That's not true!" The little senior sister panicked, waving her hands in a hurry, her eyes filled with distress.
Yang Kai burst into hearty laughter.
In the next room, Manager Meng rolled his eyes so hard they nearly fell out of his head. An inexplicable fury burned in his chest — he wanted nothing more than to rush over and beat Yang Kai into a pulp so badly his own mother wouldn't recognize him!
This was too despicable! Too outrageous! Bullying his gentle, quiet, lovable, adorable precious little disciple like this — the man had no shame whatsoever! It made his blood boil!
"Junior Brother, you were just teasing me, weren't you?" Xia Ningshang asked softly. Quite visibly, her veil-covered cheeks puffed out in a pout.
Yang Kai gazed at Xia Ningshang, his eyes softening. It was as if all the exhaustion and strain of the past days had been swept away in that moment.
The little senior sister felt uncomfortable under that stare again and, forgetting to demand an explanation, fidgeted and changed the subject: "Junior Brother, you don't like Sister Lan Chudie?"
Yang Kai's brows furrowed slightly. After a moment's thought he said, "It's not that I dislike her, exactly. I'm just trying to minimize contact with her."
"Why? Sister Lan seems to care about you quite a bit. She came to find me just now and talked about you quite a lot."
"That's exactly why." Yang Kai smiled faintly. "Let me put it this way — if I weren't a member of the Yang family, if I were still just some disciple of Lingxiao Pavilion like before, would you have changed your attitude toward me, little senior sister?"
"Of course not! No matter what, you'll always be my junior brother."
"I know you wouldn't. But others would. Our Sister Lan is one of those people. The reason she cares about me now has a lot to do with my identity. If one day I'm no longer part of the Yang family, perhaps she'd change her view again. Of course, that's just my own thinking — I could be wrong. But I still feel I should keep my distance from her. I'm not saying she's wrong. I'm just saying you're too good, little senior sister. People can't really be compared."
Yang Kai shook his head slightly as he explained. Xia Ningshang listened with a look that hovered between understanding and confusion.
But Yang Kai knew that deep down she understood. His little senior sister might be endearingly naive, but she was far from oblivious to the ways of the world. Her heart was kind, and she would never think the worst of people.
"Oh right — my pills?" Yang Kai asked.
"They're on the bed. I'll get them for you." The little senior sister hopped down from Yang Kai's lap, walked over to the bed, and retrieved a bundle, placing it before him.
He unwrapped it to reveal six bottles of pills arranged neatly inside.
"Three of them are for cultivating your true yuan — they're all yang-attribute pills. The other three are for strengthening your divine sense," Xia Ningshang said with a hint of regret. "Time was too tight; I could only manage these."
"They're more than enough." Yang Kai was thoroughly satisfied. Every single one of these pills was of mysterious grade, lower tier.
Just like the Mixed Origin Pill, they should have been heaven grade, upper tier pills — but when refined by Xia Ningshang, every one had been elevated by a full grade, reaching the mysterious grade.
The Ten-Thousand Medicine Spirit Dew could not only cleanse the meridians and marrow; adding a single drop during pill refinement could elevate the quality of the finished product. Combined with the spirit array he had obtained from the Alchemy True Scripture, refining these pills had been practically effortless for Xia Ningshang.