The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Ah Qi took a step back, frowning as she looked at him. "You do smell a little, but it's not rancid. It's..."

She twitched her nose twice, and her brows furrowed even more. "It smells like medicine."

"The smell of medicine is also a smell; it'll go bad if you don't wash it for two days." Shen Yifei held his sleeve up to her nose. "Smell it; doesn't it smell sour?"

Ah Qi took another step back, a faint blush creeping across her face. "Don't come any closer."

"How are you going to smell me if I don't come closer?" Shen Yifei took a step forward. "Miss Qi, I just want to take a bath, I'm not going to eat you. Is it really necessary?"

Ah Qi bit her lip, turned and walked to the door, her hand on the doorknob, then paused. "Wait here, I'll go ask the cult leader."

The door closed behind him, and Shen Yifei heard her footsteps fading into the distance.

He leaned against the alchemy furnace, his mind racing with calculations.

Ah Qi, this girl, is at the peak of the Golden Core stage, her cultivation is not low, but she's not very bright. The fact that she can fall asleep while on night watch shows she's not the meticulous type. This kind of person is easy to deceive and control.

The key is to let her smell the medicinal scent on him enough.

Luo Qinghe had said that the medicinal fragrance emanating from him had an aphrodisiac effect on female cultivators, and that inhaling it too often could lead to addiction. Although A Qi possessed high cultivation, she was simple-minded and couldn't resist for long.

Once she's addicted, she'll do whatever you tell her to do.

"Little... guy, what... mischief are you up to now?" Liu Mengli's voice suddenly rang in my mind, intermittent, like a radio with a bad signal.

"Mengli? You can speak now?"

"Yes, but I'm not sure. The restrictions here are too strong; my divine sense is completely suppressed, and I can't get out. I can hear you, but you can only hear me intermittently. You have to find a way to break the restrictions here, otherwise I can't help you."

"How do we break this?"

"Find the core of the formation and destroy it. The core should be in the main hall, in that blood furnace."

The Blood Furnace, forged from the blood and flesh of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine people, is the foundation of the Blood Soul Cult. Destroy it, and the Blood Soul Cult's restrictions will crumble on their own.

Having gained a better understanding, Shen Yifei remained calm and continued to work on the pills in the alchemy room.

Ah Qi didn't return for almost half an hour. When he pushed open the door, he was carrying a wooden bucket with steam rising from it.

"The leader said you can wash, but you're not allowed to leave the alchemy room." Ah Qi put the wooden tub on the ground and threw him a cloth and a set of clean clothes. "The clothes belong to the disciples of the sect, so you'll have to make do with them."

"Alright, I'm glad I have something to wear." He squatted down to test the water temperature; it was just right. "Miss Qi, will you scrub me in the bath later?"

"A body scrub?" Ah Qi was taken aback. "What's a body scrub?"

"I'm taking a shower by myself, and I can't reach my back. Can you scrub me?"

Ah Qi's face flushed red instantly, from his neck all the way to his ears.

"You...you're shameless!"

"How am I shameless?" Shen Yifei looked completely innocent. "I just asked you to scrub my back, I didn't ask you to do anything else. You're a peak Golden Core cultivator, how could scrubbing your back kill you?"

Ah Qi bit her lip, her expression a mixture of shame and anger, like a cat with its fur standing on end.

"You wait here, I'm going to find someone else." She turned and left.

"Who are you going to find?" Shen Yifei stopped her. "Your Blood Soul Sect has been underground for hundreds of years, hiding from the light of day. You're all as pale as ghosts. If you bring someone else, what if they see my body and have bad intentions towards me?"

Ah Qi stopped, but didn't turn around, seemingly hesitant.

The cult leader asked her to keep an eye on this man, because if something happened to him, it would be difficult to explain.

"Miss Qi, just a back rub will take about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. After that, I'll continue refining pills—one hundred top-grade Qi Gathering Pills. I promise it won't delay anything."

Ah Qi remained silent for a while before turning around, the blush on her face still lingering.

"Turn around, and don't look back."

"Okay." Shen Yifei turned around, his back to her, and took off all his clothes.

Ah Qi stood behind him, clutching a cloth in her hand, frozen in place like a wooden stake.

"Sister Qi, hurry up and rub it," Shen Yifei said, turning to look at her. "The water's almost cold."

Ah Qi bit her lip, took two steps forward, soaked the cloth in hot water, wrung it out, and stuck it to his back.

Her hands were trembling, and the cloth brushed against his back twice, lightly, like a tickle.

"Go ahead and rub it hard, I'm tough and won't break."

Ah Qi bit her lip again and tightened her grip. She rubbed the cloth against his back from top to bottom, and when she reached his waist, she suddenly stopped.

Shen Yifei could feel her breathing getting heavier, and the hot breath she was blowing on the back of his neck was getting hotter and hotter.

He smiled and said, "Miss Qi, after you've rubbed my back, rub my front too."

"You...the smell on you..." Ah Qi's voice was a little unsteady, "...it gets worse and worse..."

"The more you smell it, the more you understand what?"

"The more I smell it, the more something seems off." Ah Qi took a step back, the cloth falling to the ground. "I'm a little dizzy."

Shen Yifei turned around to face her.

Ah Qi's eyes widened instantly, her lips parted slightly, and her breathing became rapid. She stared at Shen Yifei for a couple of seconds, then abruptly turned her head away.

"You...you turn around!"

"I haven't finished my bath yet." Shen Yifei stood up, water droplets dripping from his body. "Miss Qi, you helped me scrub my back, but I haven't scrubbed the front."

"You rub it yourself in the front!" Ah Qi's voice changed.

"I can't reach it."

"You're lying!"

Shen Yifei took a step forward, while A Qi took a step back, his back hitting the medicine cabinet with a dull thud.

"You...you stay away!"

"I'm coming over." Shen Yifei took another step and stood in front of her, only an arm's length away.

He was soaking wet, and water droplets dripped onto the ground, the sound particularly clear in the quiet alchemy room.

"Miss Qi," he lowered his head, his lips close to her ear, "what do you smell?"

"Medicine...the smell of medicine..."

"Does it smell good?"

Shen Yifei reached out and pinched her chin, turning her face to face him.

Ah Qi's eyes were watery, her lips were trembling, and she seemed to have all her strength drained away. She leaned against the medicine cabinet, unable to even stand up straight.

"What...what exactly do you want to do?"

Ah Qi's voice trembled; she had completely forgotten her peak Golden Core cultivation at this moment. She leaned against the medicine cabinet, her whole body limp like a puddle of mud.

"Miss Qi, what are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid."

"Then why are you shaking?"

Ah Qi bit her lip and remained silent. She was indeed trembling, starting from her legs and moving all the way to her chest, her teeth chattering.

It wasn't because of the cold, it was because of the smell on him.

Ah Qi just watched, but for some reason, he was also looking forward to it.

That night, all that could be heard was the crackling sound of the flames inside the alchemy furnace.

Shen Yifei felt tonight that being kidnapped was actually a pretty good thing.