"Oh, I saw."

Li Yan turned his head, his mind still pondering the healing process of Gong Chenying's abdominal wound, inwardly complaining that this Sixth Senior Sister had woken up a bit too early.

Suddenly hearing a crisp voice by his ear, he answered instinctively. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he cried out in his heart.

"What have I done!"

"Oh? What did you see?"

Gong Chenying stood there, her expression very calm, as if she were just casually asking.

Li Yan slowly turned his head back, his face twitching slightly. He saw a blushing, beautiful face, her apricot eyes staring unblinkingly at him. She looked calm, but her round and firm chest was heaving violently.

An aura that made Li Yan tremble was slowly radiating from Gong Chenying, causing him to immediately retreat a few steps.

"Sixth… Sixth… Senior Sister, you… you… you can't be like this. I, your junior brother, did it all to save you. Besides the wound, I didn't touch any other part of you. You… you… you can't do this."

Li Yan hastily explained.

"Is that so? And after saving me, you just kept staring?"

Gong Chenying gritted her silver teeth, speaking one word at a time. She couldn't believe that Li Yan seemed to think he had done nothing wrong.

Li Yan felt as if he could hear the sound of a mother wolf grinding its teeth in the cave. His heart immediately became even more tense.

"I just wanted to see what the pill's effect was. I can't just use this pill on you and not know what its effect is, can I?"

"Oh? What kind of pill is it?"

Gong Chenying was stunned after hearing Li Yan's words.

Li Yan saw that this senior sister, who had seemed on the verge of an explosion just a moment ago, began to slowly rein in her aura after hearing his words. He finally felt a slight relief in his heart.

If Gong Chenying had been serious and pressed further, he truly wouldn't have known how to handle the situation. Now, Li Yan was also annoyed with himself for his reckless actions.

Even if he didn't understand the matters between men and women, the village's old scholar had taught him about matters of character and conduct. But he had been so focused on his heartache over the eighth-rank pill that his mind had been completely preoccupied.

Apart from that initial moment of impulse, he hadn't thought about anything else related to men and women. But it was too late for him to regret it now.

"I don't know what kind of pill it is. I accidentally got it from a storage bag in the space outside the passageway. There was only this one jade bottle in that storage bag, and only this one pill inside it."

Li Yan had already prepared a reason. He absolutely could not talk about Pingtu and the eighth-rank pill. He pushed all the blame onto the multi-colored space. After all, only Gan Shi had been there, and Gan Shi wasn't clear about what was in the multi-colored space.

"You… you didn't know the pill's function, yet you gave it to me?"

Gong Chenying was still in a daze, completely taken aback by this unexpected answer.

"I didn't know, but the pill had a fragrant aroma. It didn't seem like a poison. Besides, given your situation at the time, I had no other choice, so I could only…"

Li Yan scratched his head awkwardly.

"This pill was truly wasted on me. If it were taken back to the sect for research, it would be priceless, and you would receive an unexpected reward.

If the results of this pill's research were to be revealed, it could raise the sect's alchemy level by several ranks. It's a waste, a true waste."

After listening to Li Yan, Gong Chenying did not press him further about any other discoveries he might have made in the multi-colored space. Instead, she murmured to herself.

Li Yan, of course, heard Gong Chenying's words and couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly.

"Is this Sixth Senior Sister naïve or just foolish? Contribute this pill to the sect? Then you wouldn't be standing here right now; you'd have gone straight to the underworld.

Furthermore, once the news of this eighth-rank pill leaks out, the Wraith Sect will likely face coercion from the other three sects. Not handing it over for joint research would be impossible, and it could even bring a lot of trouble to me, since I'm the one who took the pill…"

Li Yan could only spread his hands, indicating that it was used, so talking about it was useless.

"Sixth Senior Sister, we need to go. Wang Lang might come looking for us at any time."

Li Yan had been keeping track of the time. About half a cup of tea had passed now, and they had to leave.

After saying that, he turned and started walking toward the cave entrance. But after a few steps, he didn't hear any movement behind him, so he stopped and turned to look.

He saw Gong Chenying still standing in the same spot, biting her lower lip, her face alternately red and pale. Her eyes were fixed on him, but when she saw him turn around, she immediately averted her gaze, not daring to meet his eyes.

Her long, slender jade fingers were constantly intertwining, a picture of indecision.

"Sixth Senior Sister, what's wrong? Are your injuries not healed? Or is there something wrong with the pill?"

Li Yan couldn't help but ask, wondering to himself.

"This is an eighth-rank mid-grade pill. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an immortal pill. Why does her face still look wrong? This is strange!"

"Li… Li Yan, what did you see just now?"

Gong Chenying completely abandoned her usual direct and forthright personality, asking the question again with hesitation.

The expression on her face was like that of a different person in Li Yan's eyes. When had Gong Chenying ever shown such a demure and coy demeanor?

The person standing in front of Li Yan was clearly a beautiful, young girl-next-door, a girl of eighteen, whose every gesture held an unusual charm. Li Yan was momentarily dumbfounded.

Seeing Li Yan's somewhat dazed expression as he looked at her, Gong Chenying immediately knew that her expression was unusual. She immediately straightened her posture, reached out a finger to straighten the short hair that was hanging on her cheek, and tucked it behind her ear.

"What? I'm asking you a question!"

Her tone turned cold again, the chill directly hitting Li Yan and instantly waking him from his daze. What he didn't notice was that Gong Chenying had just called him by his name, not "Junior Brother."

Li Yan awkwardly rubbed his nose.

"Sixth Senior Sister, if you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. I really didn't do anything to you. Besides, now is not the time to talk. We must leave quickly. Even if you don't believe me, you can deal with your junior brother after we are safe, how about that?"

As he spoke, Li Yan glanced outside the cave, his tone a little urgent.

"Did you really not see anything besides the wound?"

Gong Chenying's body remained completely still. Her voice was dry and even colder, which made Li Yan feel a hint of foreboding.

Li Yan's mind raced.

"I saw the undergarments and the bra. Do I really have to say it out loud?"

But seeing Gong Chenying's inexplicably worsening expression, he had no choice but to bite the bullet.

"Ahem, Sixth Senior Sister, you're forcing me to say this. Afterward, you can't turn around and accuse me of being a shameless scoundrel or anything."

When Gong Chenying heard this, a blush instantly covered her pretty face again, but she still bit her lower lip, staring intently at Li Yan.

Seeing things come to this point, Li Yan could only sigh deeply in his heart.

"What a nuisance. Why did I have to look at the pill's effects? Now look what happened. Is she going to make me pay with spiritual stones? Wouldn't that be losing both the pill and the spiritual stones? I must never do something like this again."

Li Yan felt miserable. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration went through his mind.

"Is she going to ask me to marry her? The old scholar in the village used to tell stories about this kind of thing. When a man saw a woman's body, the woman would have to marry him.

But this is the cultivation world. Seventh Senior Brother often says that there are no such mortal customs. Besides, there are many women in the sect like Zuo Shenyan who wear very revealing clothes.

They reveal even more than what I just saw, large parts of their chests are bare, and they only wear short skirts that cover their hips. Wouldn't that mean one woman would have to marry multiple husbands?"

Li Yan immediately dismissed this idea.

He could only lower his head, not daring to look Gong Chenying in the eye. He could only murmur his words softly, occasionally daring to glance at her from the corner of his eye.

"The upper body undergarments, the red band you used to wrap it… sigh, Sixth Senior Sister, I really have to be clear. Besides the upper body undergarments that I had to take off, I didn't even touch any other part of you!"

From the corner of his eye, Gong Chenying's jade-like face was as red as a glowing sunset, stunningly beautiful. After hearing what Li Yan said, Gong Chenying was still filled with endless shyness, but she continued to stare intently at Li Yan.

After Li Yan finished speaking, she suddenly said.

"Nothing else?"

Her voice was a little shaky, which startled Li Yan for no reason. He quickly said again.

"Sixth Senior Sister, you can't be so pushy. I only did it to save you. At the time, I was only treating your injuries; I really didn't do anything that would make you feel wronged. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. You can either make me pay with spiritual stones, or you can kill me."

Speaking of this, Li Yan looked up at Gong Chenying. He felt that this senior sister was being too melodramatic. He used to think she was straightforward and decisive in both her actions and character.

Today, he had saved her, yet she was being so demanding. It was an overreaction. He had lost an eighth-rank pill. Who could he complain to about that?

"You didn't see anything else? I don't believe it… I don't believe it. You still want to pay with spiritual stones, hehehe…"

After hearing Li Yan's words, the blush on Gong Chenying's face receded, turning her face pale. She mumbled to herself, and a hint of gloom appeared in her eyes. She also glanced at the red band that had wrapped her wound, which was on the ground.

"Sixth Senior Sister, Sixth Senior Sister, what's wrong with you?"

Li Yan saw that Gong Chenying's expression was clearly getting more and more strange.

"I did everything to save you. I may have offended you in the process, but doesn't that deserve to be forgiven?"

Li Yan's voice also became colder. He truly didn't understand why this normally decisive senior sister had become so fickle today.

"Alright, you go first. I'll catch up later. Some of my injuries haven't fully recovered yet. I need to continue healing, otherwise I won't be able to resist Wang Lang if I encounter him later. Let's never bring this up again!"

After hearing Li Yan's words, Gong Chenying's expression recovered somewhat, but she slowly sat down cross-legged. She waved her hand and said to Li Yan.

Li Yan was surprised to see that Gong Chenying actually sat down, as if she genuinely intended to heal. He thought to himself.

"I just saw that her injuries had mostly healed. Now she needs to heal again? Can the eighth-rank 'True Essence Pill' not even make her fully recover?"

He stood at the cave entrance, staring at Gong Chenying for a moment. In the end, he let out a silent sigh.

"It seems she really hasn't calmed down and doesn't want to travel with me. So be it!"

With this thought, Li Yan lifted his leg and walked out of the cave.

But just as Li Yan took a few steps, he suddenly froze. The image of Gong Chenying's expression just now flashed through his mind, an expression of complete desolation, as if she had seen through everything, a hollow and pale look of being weary of life.

"Something's wrong. That was an air of death. Is Sixth Senior Sister going to kill herself here?"

At the same time, the image of that round object on Gong Chenying's flat abdomen, the silver ring, flashed through his mind. He blurted out.

"The ring?"

The moment Li Yan blurted it out, the slender figure of Gong Chenying, who was sitting cross-legged behind him, trembled violently. Her beautiful, closed eyes instantly snapped open, staring once again at Li Yan's back. A dry voice came out.

"You saw my navel ring?"

...