Senior Sister, my constitution is different from ordinary people's. Shen Yifei stood under the porch of the Hehuan Sect's Inner Courtyard holding a tray, on which was a pot of "Hehuan Brew" and three "Bliss Pills."
The Menial Disciples of the Alchemy Room did this kind of errand-running work.
The door wasn't shut tight, leaving a small gap.
By rights he should have knocked, but the sounds coming from inside made his fingers pause.
"Senior Brother... you... slow down a bit..."
The woman's voice was enough to make anyone's body go half-numb just hearing it.
Shen Yifei was eighteen, had been in the Sect for three years, and this was the first time he'd delivered medicine to an Inner Sect Disciple engaged in Dual Cultivation.
This Senior Sister, Ye Hongling, he'd heard a little about her too—an ordinary Inner Sect female disciple, he'd only ever seen her from afar before.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and peeked through the door gap.
Just one glance, and he sank deep into it, unable to pull himself out.
Inside the room, two pale bare figures were tangled together on the bed.
Ye Hongling had her back to the door, her black hair cascading down and covering most of her face, revealing only half her chin and a stretch of slender neck, her neck covered in beads of sweat.
The man lay face-up on the bed, his face indistinct, only his two hands visible gripping the woman's waist, gripping desperately tight.
"Junior Sister... Junior Sister, I can't anymore..."
"Senior Brother, hold on a little longer..." Ye Hongling bent down, her voice carrying a laugh, "The Pill hasn't dissolved yet. If you surrender now, my time as a Cauldron will have been for nothing."
Shen Yifei stood outside the door holding the tray, his palms starting to sweat. He knew he should leave, that he shouldn't be peeping on Inner Sect Disciples doing Dual Cultivation.
But the scene before his eyes had him spellbound, as if possessed, and he simply couldn't move his feet.
Shen Yifei was at the age when his fire was at its strongest. He felt a surge of hot blood rush straight to his head, and he nearly failed to hold the tray steady.
Just then, the man on the bed suddenly let out a miserable scream: "Ah... Junior Sister... Junior Sister, stop... stop..."
Yet Ye Hongling showed no intention of stopping at all.
"Junior Sister!" The man continued screaming, "My Meridians... my Meridians are about to break! Get off me, quick!"
"Get off? Get off what?"
Ye Hongling's voice was still so soft, but the meaning in her words sent a chill down Shen Yifei's spine outside the door.
"Senior Brother, you haven't given me your Primordial Yang yet. If you get off now, won't my time as a Cauldron have been for nothing?"
"You... you...!"
The man struggled, trying to turn over, but Ye Hongling pinned him dead against the bed, unable to move.
"Senior Brother, don't waste your strength," Ye Hongling giggled, her voice sweet and seductive, "You just ate a Bliss Pill and drank Hehuan Brew. Right now all the qi and blood in your body are surging toward one place. It'll be over soon..."
"You... you dare harm me?! I'm an Inner Sect Disciple, the Sect won't let you off!"
"Senior Brother is dead. Who would know I did it?" Ye Hongling bent down, "Senior Brother clearly suffered Qi Deviation during Dual Cultivation and died suddenly. I, your little sister, was overly frightened and my Realm fell. At most I'll be confined to reflect on my mistakes for three months. By then, the things in Senior Brother's Storage Pouch—I'll gladly accept them."
Shen Yifei stood outside the door, the wine pot on the tray nearly slipping off.
He took a step back, wanting to turn and flee, but never expected his heel to catch on the door threshold, producing a dull thud.
"Who's there?" Ye Hongling shouted sternly.
Shen Yifei's scalp exploded. He turned and ran.
But before he'd run two steps, a rush of wind came from behind him, and then the back of his neck tightened as he was lifted clean off the ground.
"Oh my, so it's a Little Menial!" Ye Hongling's voice sounded by his ear, "And from the Alchemy Room?"
Shen Yifei was suspended in midair by the collar, his two legs kicking wildly. The tray in his hands had long since fallen, the wine pot shattered on the ground, Hehuan Brew spilling everywhere.
"Senior Sister, spare my life! I didn't see anything! I didn't hear anything!"
"Didn't see anything?" Ye Hongling turned him around and pinched his chin, making him raise his head.
Only then did Shen Yifei get a clear look at this woman's face.
An oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, a pair of watery eyes with slightly upturned outer corners, carrying three parts springtime charm in every glance.
At this moment she had just gotten off the bed, wearing only a thin gauze garment with nothing underneath, the springtime allure within faintly visible beneath the gauze.
Shen Yifei took one look and hurriedly lowered his eyelids.
"Little Menial," Ye Hongling pinched his chin, her thumb lightly brushing his lips, "Oh my, you're not bad-looking. How long were you outside just now, watching?"
"Not... not long..."
"So that means... you did watch."
Ye Hongling sighed, released his chin, and turned to look at the man on the bed.
The man had already stopped moving.
His eyes were open, his mouth gaping wide, his face still retaining the terrified expression from before death.
"Senior Brother suffered Qi Deviation and died suddenly," Ye Hongling said softly, "The Little Menial, while delivering medicine, stumbled upon it, fled in panic, and fell off the cliff to his death."
She turned her head and gave Shen Yifei a sweet smile: "Little Menial, what do you think of that story?"
Even a fool could understand what she meant—this was silencing a witness by murder!
His legs went weak and he dropped straight to his knees on the ground.
"Senior Sister! Please, Senior Sister, spare my life! I swear, I won't say anything! If I ever speak of it, may lightning strike me dead, may I die a horrible death!"
"What use are oaths? Especially you stinking men—you open your mouths and swear, but not a single true word comes out."
Ye Hongling crouched down, those watery eyes staring into Shen Yifei's eyes, "If I believed your oath, I'd be a fool."
She reached out, her slender white fingers brushing against Shen Yifei's neck, lightly pressing on his Adam's apple.
"Little Menial, what's your name?"
"Shen... Shen Yifei."
"Shen Yifei," Ye Hongling repeated his name once, then smiled, "Nice-sounding name. What a pity. Sister has to send you on your way today."
"Senior Sister, wait!" Shen Yifei shouted in desperation, "I... I'm also skilled at Dual Cultivation!"
"You? A Little Menial, and you know Dual Cultivation? Who are you trying to fool!" Ye Hongling's fingers were about to exert force!
"Sen... Senior Sister, I... am... big... very big!"
Hearing this, Ye Hongling immediately released her hand.
"Cough... cough..." Shen Yifei coughed twice, then hurriedly said, "Senior Sister, don't be fooled by my young age. In three years since joining the Sect, I've secretly eaten quite a few Pills in the Alchemy Room. My constitution is different from ordinary people's! If you use me as a Cauldron, Senior Sister, I guarantee I'll be more useful than that Senior Brother just now!"
When he said these words, even he didn't know what he was saying.
Three years as a Menial in the Alchemy Room—he'd seen far too many Pills, and secretly eaten quite a few too! But those were all scraps and leftovers; the most valuable Pills he couldn't even get his hands on.
But right now, this was the only excuse that could save his life.
Hearing him say this, Ye Hongling suddenly laughed.
She released her hand, "Little Menial, do you know what it means to be a Cauldron?"
Shen Yifei knelt on the ground, looking up at her.
Beneath the gauze garment, springtime allure still flourished. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva: "I know."
"You know? Then tell me, what does being a Cauldron entail?"
"It's... it's letting Senior Sister do Essence Harvesting," Shen Yifei said, bracing himself, "Senior Sister's cultivation requires Primordial Yang, so I provide Senior Sister with Primordial Yang."
"And what else?"
"And... and..."
"And, if I harvest you dry in one go, your Meridians will all snap, your Dantian will shatter. At best your Cultivation is completely crippled and you become a useless person; at worst you die on the spot," Ye Hongling said unhurriedly, "Just like that Senior Brother on the bed."
"Then... then please show mercy, Senior Sister, let it flow like a gentle stream."
"Let it flow like a gentle stream, hehe, Little Menial, you've got a way with words."
After Ye Hongling said this, her hand reached downward, and a strange look immediately appeared in her eyes.