Chapter 2407 — A Strange Answer

"Yes, but I'll do my best to study it, Jingjing—I'll try to simplify the way third-grade pill fire is condensed, and see whether I can change the fire's force and temperature," Han Jingyi said.

"For now, let's restore the true qi in our bodies first, then attempt to condense second-grade pills in batches, and see in practice whether it works," Wei Zhao said.

"All right," Han Jingyi said with a nod.

Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi were already close enough that there was no need for pleasantries; he simply took her hand, pressed his fingers to the pulse at her wrist, and began to circulate the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, first replenishing the true qi she had spent... Upstairs in Wei Zhao's villa, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu lay sprawled on the bed, plotting the grand future of Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan.

"What exactly did Wang Xinyan mean by leaving today?" Gu Mengyao turned it over and over in her mind and still could not fathom why Wang Xinyan would refuse Wei Zhao. Weren't the two of them on very good terms? She nudged Xiaoshu beside her with her foot. "Hey, aren't you the all-purpose Shu? Tell me what's going on."

"Maybe Sister Xinyan is playing hard to get?" Shen Yushu said after thinking it over.

"Playing hard to get? I don't think so." Gu Mengyao frowned and rejected the notion. "Can you offer something a bit more constructive?"

"Oh—then why haven't you gotten together with Arrow-Brand Bro, Sister Yaoyao?" Shen Yushu asked.

"That's because I... hey, we're talking about Wang Xinyan's problem right now. What does it have to do with me?" Gu Mengyao realized she had nearly fallen for Shen Yushu's trap again.

"Actually, Xiaoshu thinks Sister Xinyan is just like Sister Yaoyao—a little shy, maybe, or she feels it's all a bit too sudden?" Shen Yushu said. "Those are the only reasons there could be! Look at you, Sister Yaoyao—you like Arrow-Brand Bro too. But haven't you put it off until now as well..."

"Ahem... Xiaoshu, could you not change the subject?" Gu Mengyao glared at her.

"Fine. Actually, the simplest way is for you to just call Sister Xinyan, Sister Yaoyao. Wouldn't you know then? That's better than us sitting here guessing riddles, isn't it?" Shen Yushu said.

"That is a good idea." Gu Mengyao nodded. No sooner said than done—she picked up her phone and dialed Wang Xinyan's number.

Ever since she had hung up on that damned call from her mother, Wang Xinyan had sat alone on her dorm bed, clutching her phone in low spirits. She could not focus on her book, did not feel like playing on her tablet, and her heart was exceedingly heavy—until the ringtone startled her.

Seeing the caller ID on the screen, Wang Xinyan hesitated. To answer or not? If Gu Mengyao was calling now, it was surely to ask about Wei Zhao's confession earlier and why she had not responded. But how was she supposed to explain?

Telling the truth was impossible. Wang Xinyan knew Wei Zhao's temperament—if she spoke the truth, the pressure it would put on him would be far too great! She knew that for Feng Xiaoxiao's sake, Wei Zhao studied pill refining with Han Jingyi every day, and that the real reason he cultivated and leveled up so desperately was also for Feng Xiaoxiao!

Feng Xiaoxiao alone was already enough to put Wei Zhao under crushing pressure. If she were added on top of that, would he even be able to catch his breath?

The matter of the Ice Palace was actually easy enough to speak of. Whether or not Wei Zhao could refine the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill they needed, the Ice Palace could never become Wei Zhao's enemy! But the Xuandan Sect was different. If she told the truth, how was Wei Zhao supposed to face that?

Wang Xinyan did not want Wei Zhao to be troubled by these things!

After a moment's hesitation, Wang Xinyan pressed the answer key and took the call: "Yaoyao..."

"Xinyan, today... you don't like Wei Zhao?" Gu Mengyao did not know how to put it, so she simply asked point-blank.

"I... Yaoyao, I have a fiancé, so I can't be with Wei Zhao." Wang Xinyan gritted her teeth and said it with a hardened heart.

"A fiancé? You mean Kang Jinglong?" Gu Mengyao knew about the business between Wang Xinyan and the Kang family as well, but in her view, the Kang family was already a spent force, and even the hidden Pi family that backed the Xiao family had become Wei Zhao's underlings. What was left for Wang Xinyan to refuse?

"Yes... my parents' command and a matchmaker's word—I must abide by them," Wang Xinyan said.

"So you're going to marry Kang Jinglong?" Gu Mengyao found Wang Xinyan's words strange. "You don't seem like such a stubborn person."

"I don't want to make things difficult for my parents, and I'm the one who agreed to this in the first place... Yaoyao, please don't force me, I'm begging you..." Wang Xinyan said with a bitter smile.

"That... you..." Gu Mengyao was left speechless by Wang Xinyan's words! She too had assumed that Wang Xinyan's sudden departure was out of shyness, that she had found it all too sudden—but now it seemed that was not the case at all. Wang Xinyan had some other hardship she could not speak of!

"Yaoyao, I've already told you—Wei Zhao and I are just good friends, really..." As Wang Xinyan said this, her heart was bleeding. She could now be utterly certain of her own feelings! She liked Wei Zhao. She liked being with him!

Just today, when Wei Zhao confessed, Wang Xinyan had nearly said yes! Even after walking out of the villa, her heart had turned back several times, wanting to go accept his confession! But then her mother's final phone call had come and snuffed out that fluttering in her heart.

"But it's obvious that Wei Zhao really needs you when he cultivates..." Gu Mengyao was unwilling to let it go. She did not believe Wang Xinyan truly did not like Wei Zhao! A woman's intuition had let Gu Mengyao sense Wang Xinyan's feelings many times, but for some reason, Wang Xinyan simply would not admit it.

"During university... I won't get married..." Wang Xinyan said after a pause. "In this period, can't Wei Zhao and I just be good friends?"

"Good friends..." Gu Mengyao smiled bitterly, a little helpless. "Then let me ask you one last thing—do you like Wei Zhao or not?"

"I... my phone's out of battery..." With that, Wang Xinyan quickly hung up and turned off her phone. She could not bring herself to say things she did not mean! To say she did not like Wei Zhao? That would be fooling herself—so Wang Xinyan chose to run away.

"..." Gu Mengyao held the phone up, somewhat speechless. She had not expected Wang Xinyan to end with a line like that!

This result amounted to no result at all; she had asked for nothing.

"When something's off, there's bound to be a demon behind it!" Because Gu Mengyao had made the call on speakerphone, Shen Yushu had heard every word clearly from beside her. RQ