Chapter 2194 — Xiaoshu's Suspicion

"Get lost..." Gu Mengyao rose to her feet and headed straight upstairs to bed.

"Oh—Yao Yao, don't be embarrassed..." Shen Yushu handed the bag back to Wei Zhao. "You'd better keep it yourself. I'm going to sleep too..."

"..." Wei Zhao returned to his room as well, tossed the bag carelessly into a drawer, sat down on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to **.

This time, though, ** was noticeably slower than before—not even in the same league.

He had originally meant to pay Han Jingyi a visit and discuss the matter of pill refinement with her, but the hour was already late, so Wei Zhao decided to leave it until tomorrow.

The night passed without a word. Early the next morning, Han Jingyi came down for breakfast still yawning—only she had come much earlier than usual, clearly aware that Wei Zhao was back and intending to study the question of pill refinement with him.

Wei Zhao happened to be looking for her too. Taking advantage of the fact that Granny Sun had not yet finished preparing breakfast, he pulled Han Jingyi into his room.

"Brother Wei Zhao, I stayed up all night studying those notes on the art of the pill refiner that you gave me," Han Jingyi said. "There are a few things in them worth drawing on and learning from, but not many. They're nowhere near as useful as the alchemist's notes you gave me before. I've finished scanning them—I'll return the files to you in a bit."

"Mm. The material I gave you before is about as good as it gets right now," Wei Zhao said. "Don't show it to anyone, and don't mention it—especially not to You Panhu."

"Jingjing knows. Jingjing isn't an idiot—how could I go around shooting my mouth off?" Han Jingyi said with a nod.

"Oh, right—about refining pills from multiple ingredients at once, I asked Leader Bai for you. His explanation went like this..." Wei Zhao then relayed Leader Bai's explanation to Han Jingyi.

"So that's how it is!" Han Jingyi nodded. "In a few days, Jingjing is planning to gather some grade-two pill ingredients and give refining them a try..."

"While I remember—here's a Minor Qi Gathering Pill. Take it. Once you do, you'll advance to early Earth-rank strength, which will be a great help to your pill refining as well." Wei Zhao handed Han Jingyi one of the Minor Qi Gathering Pills he had won in the competition.

Of the three Minor Qi Gathering Pills, one was for Han Jingyi, one Wei Zhao intended for the Wind-Thunder Purple Lightning Beast, and as for the last, he had not yet decided whom to give it to.

"All right." Han Jingyi took the Minor Qi Gathering Pill and swallowed it without a moment's hesitation, then began circulating the inner-energy mantra to dissolve the pill's efficacy...

The alchemist's mantra was indeed different from other inner-energy mantras. Though Han Jingyi had taken the Minor Qi Gathering Pill to force her strength upward and break through to Earth-rank, she did not suffer the way Han Xiaopo had—it was as if everything simply fell into place...

But just as Han Jingyi was making her breakthrough, a knock sounded at Wei Zhao's door.

"Mr. Lin, breakfast is ready—time to eat..." Granny Sun's voice came through as well.

"Granny Sun, just a moment—you all go ahead and start," Wei Zhao said, glancing at Han Jingyi. She was now at the critical juncture of her breakthrough. Though a pill refiner's breakthrough was somewhat easier than an ordinary ** practitioner's, Wei Zhao did not dare leave. He had to ** for Han Jingyi.

If anything went wrong with Han Jingyi, Wei Zhao would regret it beyond measure. To him, Han Jingyi was a great treasure—a mobile pill furnace. If something happened to her, he would find nowhere to cry.

Granny Sun thought nothing of it when she heard Wei Zhao's words, but Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu found it rather strange. What were Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi doing in the room? Not even coming out for breakfast?

"Yao Yao, what do you think Chewing Gum Bro and Silly Jingjing are doing in there?" Shen Yushu asked, eyeing Wei Zhao's door with a sneaky look, itching to barge in.

"Discussing serious business, probably," Gu Mengyao said flatly.

"Hey, you think they could be testing out those condoms from yesterday?" Shen Yushu asked.

"Xiaoshu, I've noticed your mind is getting more and more twisted," Gu Mengyao said. "Who'd you learn that from?"

"From you, Yao Yao," Shen Yushu said.

"Are you asking for a beating?" Gu Mengyao was furious.

"They say you take on the color of what you're near—red ink makes you red, black ink makes you black—and I'm with Yao Yao every single day!" Shen Yushu said.

"Then how come I haven't turned as silly as you?" Gu Mengyao shot back.

"Xiaoshu isn't silly at all!" Shen Yushu said.

Just as Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were bickering, Wei Zhao's door finally swung open. Han Jingyi was beaded with fine sweat, her face radiant, while Wei Zhao looked utterly unruffled. It was precisely these expressions that made Shen Yushu even more suspicious.

"Chewing Gum Bro, what were you and Han Jingyi just doing?" Shen Yushu asked.

"Breaking through," Wei Zhao said.

"Ah! You broke through that barrier between you?" Shen Yushu's jaw dropped in astonishment—she hadn't expected to have guessed right.

"What barrier?" Wei Zhao was baffled. "Han Jingyi broke through to early Earth-rank."

"Ah... oh... nothing." Shen Yushu shut her mouth.

"Come eat breakfast—we saved you some!" Gu Mengyao shot Shen Yushu a glare. This girl was always stirring up trouble for no reason.

After breakfast, the four of them drove to school. In the car, Wei Zhao called Zhao Qitan, but the voice on the other end said the phone was switched off. Wei Zhao's heart sank. Thinking of Zhao Qibing's expression the night before, and of Zhao Qitan's failure to appear at the Hidden Family Summit, he was seized by a bad feeling. Surely nothing had happened to his junior brother?

But within the Hidden Zhao family, the only ones on good terms with Wei Zhao were Zhao Qitan and Zhao Qijiu. If Wei Zhao went asking anyone else, it would undoubtedly expose his ties to them—and if something really had happened to Zhao Qitan, it would only make matters worse.

So Wei Zhao could not inquire directly with the Hidden Zhao family. He could only pin his hopes on Feng Xiaoxiao of the Ice Palace, hoping she might get something out of Zhao Qijiu—perhaps Zhao Qijiu knew ** as well.

But Wei Zhao did not know how to contact Feng Xiaoxiao, so he turned to Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. "Has Feng Xiaoxiao been in touch with either of you? Do you have her contact information?"

"Ah... Feng Xiaoxiao? She has contacted us, yes, but we don't have her contact information." Gu Mengyao had no idea why Wei Zhao had suddenly brought up Feng Xiaoxiao.

"Then never mind." It seemed Wei Zhao's only option was to write a letter to Ice-Snow Spirit Town and ask Steward Li to pass it on to Feng Xiaoxiao. That was the only means of contact he and Feng Xiaoxiao had agreed upon.

No sooner had Wei Zhao put down the phone than the ringtone sounded again.

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