He would have to stay on guard from now on!

He first took Tao Wenye home, then briefly told his parents what he had seen outside the school gates.

"Yu, thank you so much for today!" Tao Wenye's mother looked deeply grateful.

Yu Bu'e waved his hands. "No need, no need. You've helped me plenty before, Aunt Xu."

She had wanted him to stay for dinner, but Yu Bu'e firmly declined. Before leaving, he made sure to offer one last reminder.

"Aunt Xu, this is a critical time. You can't let your guard down. Discipline him when he needs it. Whatever you do, don't let him go down the wrong path!"

Aunt Xu's gaze hardened, and she nodded emphatically.

As the door closed, Yu Bu'e caught Tao Wenye's reproachful gaze through the gap.

Only after he heard Tao Wenye's howls coming from inside did he leave, thoroughly satisfied.

When he got home, he had just finished showering when Luo Feixuan called.

"You met Chen Jiliao?"

"Yeah. Is he really your brother?"

Luo Feixuan sighed on the other end. "We have the same father, but different mothers-why didn't you sell him the Meridian-Opening Pill?"

Yu Bu'e put his phone on speaker and took eggs and tomatoes out of the fridge. "Because I don't like him. Besides, you didn't want me to sell him the Meridian-Opening Pill either, right?"

Luo Feixuan sounded a little surprised. "Why do you say that?"

She had indeed considered giving Yu Bu'e a heads-up.

But after thinking it over, she had abandoned the idea. After all, if Yu Bu'e refused, he would inevitably get himself into trouble.

She knew all too well what sort of person Chen Jiliao was.

She had also prepared herself to approach Tang Zhifeng if Chen Jiliao managed to get a Meridian-Opening Pill from Yu Bu'e.

Even if she lost her chance to obtain shares in the Chen Group, she could settle for the next best option and pursue another plan.

"If you and your brother were close, he wouldn't have needed to come looking for me himself. And you never mentioned it beforehand, which means he went behind your back.

"I figure he thought you'd definitely stop him if you knew. In that case... there was no way I could sell it to him."

Listening to Yu Bu'e's clear, logical analysis, Luo Feixuan's lips curved into a smile.

"So you turned him down for my sake?"

Yu Bu'e's hands paused.

Actually, Luo Feixuan wasn't wrong. If he hadn't considered all that, he really would have had no reason to refuse.

Chen Jiliao had offered him one and a half million.

He even thought the man would have agreed if he had asked for two million.

Hadn't he refused precisely because of Luo Feixuan?

It was just that, put that way, it sounded a little strange...

When Yu Bu'e didn't answer, Luo Feixuan continued, "You turned Chen Jiliao down. He won't let it go. He might come after you."

Yu Bu'e was puzzled. "Over a single Meridian-Opening Pill? Would he really go that far?"

"There's... more to it than that." Luo Feixuan didn't know how to explain it just then. "In any case, be careful."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Luo Feixuan thought it over and still couldn't put her mind at ease. She immediately made another call.

"Uncle Qing, have someone keep a close eye on Chen Jiliao. Also, find two capable people to protect Yu Bu'e from the shadows. No... protect him yourself!"

The person on the other end hesitated. "But what about you...?"

"I'll be fine. Don't worry."

"Yes, young miss."

Putting down her phone, Luo Feixuan turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her expression was conflicted as she murmured softly.

"Yu, Chen Sinian was right. It looks like... I've brought you trouble after all..."

After eating and drinking his fill, Yu Bu'e settled comfortably back onto the sofa.

Something suddenly occurred to him, and he got up to lock the door.

He really had been drawing a little too much attention lately, and now he had offended Chen Jiliao as well.

I'll have to keep my ears open and stay on guard!

Back on the sofa, he checked his current jealousy points and was surprised.

"Why have they gone up so much?"

Something came to mind, and he took out his phone to check.

Sure enough!

Quite a few group chats were discussing how someone had offered one and a half million for his Meridian-Opening Pill, only to be turned down.

His class group chat was buzzing with the same discussion.

"@Yu Bu'e, one and a half million! And you still wouldn't sell?"

"That's got to be the most expensive Meridian-Opening Pill I've ever seen!"

"Yu, don't forget us when you strike it rich!"

After reading for a while, he put his phone away and grinned.

"Looking at it this way, Chen Jiliao's actually a pretty nice guy!"

Then he won another three Meridian-Opening Pills from the Lucky Wheel.

He stopped, took out Evil-Slayer to have a look, and sighed.

"Looks like triggering another bug won't be so easy!"

Looking at the twenty-odd thousand jealousy points remaining on the system panel, he decided to focus on saving them up for now.

Spending those jealousy points on draws wouldn't accomplish much. He would only get a few more Meridian-Opening Pills.

Pouring more into the Meridian-Opening Fist wouldn't make much of a difference either.

He might as well save them until he found a suitable body-tempering technique, then pour them all into that.

"Luo Feixuan, get out here!"

Chen Jiliao stormed into the villa, shouting at the top of his lungs. The moment he saw Chen Qiao sitting on the sofa, his expression changed.

"Dad, you're... home?"

Chen Qiao stared coldly at him and snorted.

"Shouting and yelling, without a shred of manners... what do you want?"

Seething with pent-up anger, Chen Jiliao said quietly, "Dad, I finally found the person selling the Meridian-Opening Pills, but he wouldn't sell me one..."

Chen Qiao paused, his expression softening slightly.

"You found him that quickly? Good. But why wouldn't he sell?"

"He knows Luo Feixuan. I'm sure that little brat had something to do with it!" Chen Jiliao said indignantly. "I offered him one and a half million, and he still wouldn't budge. He wouldn't even leave any room for negotiation!"

Chen Qiao sneered. "And? You were going to confront her?"

That was exactly what Chen Jiliao had intended, but when he saw Chen Qiao's sharp gaze, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue.

"Hmph. Are you that eager for her to find out what we're after?" Chen Qiao's face darkened. "Where's your brain? Did a dog eat it?"

Chen Jiliao's expression changed, and he immediately admitted his mistake.

He also realized he had been too impulsive. This was supposed to have been done in secret in the first place.

Chen Qiao took a sip of water, crossed his legs, and continued, "Now that you've found him, the rest is easy. Whatever methods you use, just get your hands on it."

"Yes, Dad!"

After Chen Qiao went upstairs, his phone vibrated.

He took it out and read through the information on Yu Bu'e that had been sent to him, a contemptuous smile forming on his face.

"An orphan whose parents are dead, barely into the Qi Refining Realm, and he dares defy me? Heh..."

He closed his eyes and leaned back against the sofa, tapping his fingers against his phone screen with crisp clicks.

A long while later, he opened his eyes, a flash of murderous intent flickering through them.

"Yu Bu'e, I gave you a chance..."

Then he dialed a fifteen-digit number, glanced toward the staircase, and headed for the door.

Just as he stepped out of the villa, the call connected. A deep voice came from the other end.

"Passphrase."

Chen Jiliao tightened his grip on his phone and looked around before lowering his voice.

"Potato, potato, this is sweet potato..."

"..."