Crack!

Sword energy smoothly swept down Mu Zixi's green dress before splitting the branch beneath her with a surgical slash. Her perch destroyed, the young woman instantly plummeted earthward.

​​

Xu Xiaoshou crossed his arms and watched with mild interest as the young woman fell.

Boom.

An enormous red flower blossomed from the ground right before she crashed, and Mu Zixi bounced heavily on the red floral cushion before landing on her feet.

"Xu Xiaoshou, you didn't help me up!" the young woman yelled angrily before noticing that her face was slightly wet. She swiped at her cheek, then sniffed at her fingers. It was drool…

Her lovely face instantly flushed, and she whirled around to hastily clean herself up.

"Of course not. You were awake, so why would I help you up?" Xu Xiaoshou flashed a bright smile at Mu Zixi as he watched, bewildered, as her hands quickly moved to wipe off her face.

"Hah!"

Mu Zixi scoffed, and she couldn't help but turn around. "You threw me out and nearly got me killed. Shouldn't you have at least helped me down the tree?"

"Are we settling our debts now?" Xu Xiaoshou was tickled, and his voice was calm when he spoke next. "You should be thankful that I didn't use you as a human shield."

Mu Zixi was speechless.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

The man was absolutely infuriating!

"Fine, that doesn't count. I forgive you… but what's your explanation for lying to me earlier?" Mu Zixi sulkily retorted.

Xu Xiaoshou was curious. "When did I lie to you?"

"You said that you would let me have the Spirit Mark of Life, but you gave me a Spirit Crystal instead."

"Did I say that?"

"You didn't…" Mu Zixi suddenly froze in the midst of her tantrum.

He was right. When did he say that?

Xu Xiaoshou openly and loudly denied her accusation. "I didn't promise you that! You were the one who assumed that. Besides, you were the one who asked for the Spirit Mark of Life. I never said I would let you have it."

"But how come you gave me a Spirit Crystal?" Mu Zixi glared with her lovely wide eyes. She sounded incredulous. "What was the meaning of that?"

"Was I supposed to let you have the Spirit Mark of Life just because you asked for it?" Xu Xiaoshou murmured to himself, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"I gave you the Spirit Crystal as a reward for throwing the Spirit Mark of Life out. As for your misassumptions…

"Well, you can't blame your stupidity on someone else, can you?"

Mu Zixi was rendered speechless.

Cursed, Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1…

"My dear junior …"

Xu Xiaoshou placed his hand on the young woman's head and gently ruffled her hair. "Your good senior is trying to teach you a valuable lesson. You can't trust anyone in this world. The only person you can trust is yourself.

"Do you understand?"

Mu Zixi scrunched up her nose, slapped Xu Xiaoshou's hand away, then turned around and marched off.

"Hah! Spoiled brat!" Xu Xiaoshou giggled before suddenly realizing that something was amiss. The young woman looked as if she were being led away by the sudden scent of prey, and from the looks of where she was headed...

Mo Mo?

No!

It was the Spirit Mark of Life!

Realizing that her intentions had been seen through, Mu Zixi dropped all pretense and leapt into flight, but Xu Xiaoshou wasn't going to let her get what she wanted.

He extended his Master Level Agility and grabbed the spirit mark before she could reach it.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

Xu Xiaoshou instinctively covered his ears when he caught the dangerous glint that flashed across the young woman's eyes.

As expected, a deafening roar erupted the next second.

"Xu... Xiao... Shou!"

"That's mine!"

Mu Zixi pouted and glared furiously at the spirit mark in his hands.

Xu Xiaoshou was the picture of innocence. "Didn't you throw it away just now? You didn't want it. It's not like I had it easy trying to get myself a second-hand artifact."

"… …"

Cursed, Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1…

A sudden series of coughs interrupted their bickering.

Mu Zixi's thunderous roar had failed to intimidate Xu Xiaoshou, but it had successfully awoken Mo Mo, who was lying on the ground.

Xu Xiaoshou was slightly startled. The Spirit Mark of Life was an incredible artifact indeed!

It had dragged Mu Zixi back from the gates of hell after spending a few moments in her arms, and now it had saved Mo Mo after merely resting briefly on her stomach.

His fingers tightened around the artifact.

Well, he supposed if he wanted to be particular about this, he couldn't attribute everything to the spirit mark's efforts. There seemed to be something odd about both these young women...

He wasn't surprised about Mo Mo, but… a strange glint flickered in Xu Xiaoshou's eyes as he stared at his junior.

Mu Zixi had been ambushed by the grey mist figure. He'd inspected the condition of her injury as soon as he could've and found her body repairing itself.

Even without the Spirit Mark of Life, it would only be a matter of time before she awakened again…

Mu Zixi had no idea what Xu Xiaoshou was thinking. She watched as the bloodied figure on the ground gradually regained consciousness, then stuck her hand out at Xu Xiaoshou.

"Lend me your sword."

"What do you want to do with it?"

Xu Xiaoshou froze momentarily before pulling out Hiding Pain. He clutched his sword before the young woman could unsheathe the blade.

Was she trying to get payback?

For the slap just now?

"Calm down now!" Xu Xiaoshou hastily put his sword away. "She wasn't the one who slapped you!"

"Who else could it have been?" Mu Zixi retorted furiously.

She'd trusted Mo Mo. The both of them had pursued Xu Xiaoshou together. She hadn't expected Mo Mo to sneak up on her unawares while she was defenseless.

If there was one thing she hated most in this world, it was having her trust betrayed!

Mo Mo watched the two bicker, then turned to look at the craters around her marring the ground. Seeming to have come to a certain realization, she cast her gaze downward.

She sighed bitterly. "Junior Mu Is right. I shouldn't be allowed to live."

Xu Xiaoshou seized Mu Zixi's agitated hands in a single-handed vice, then slapped his other hand over her lips. He turned to look at Mo Mo and frowned. Then, after a slight pause, he said, "I agree."

"… …"

Mo Mo felt a sudden tug in her chest, and her heart started to race much faster than a normal person's.

"If you don't intend to explain yourself," Xu Xiaoshou added.

Mo Mo froze momentarily before lowering her head. "There's nothing to explain."

"You didn't survive because of me. You survived because it decided to let you live…"

Xu Xiaoshou frowned, and he hooked his foot around Mu Zixi's restless legs. Forced to stand on one foot, the young woman didn't interrupt him again when he spoke next.

He kept his eyes on Mo Mo. "It's still alive, isn't it?"

Mo Mo knew who the young man before her was talking about, but she remained silent.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't save Mo Mo so she could play dumb with him.

He would be leaving himself a ticking timebomb if he didn't figure this out, and it might blow up in his face at the most inopportune moment.

He might as well let Mu Zixi loose and have her kill Mo Mo for him. That would save him a lot of trouble.

"Is it some kind of seal that you're supposed to keep a secret?" he asked solemnly. "If not, I think it should be perfectly fine for you to tell me.

"If I hadn't discovered the grey mist figure, you wanting to continue keeping it a secret would be understandable. But I beat it up quite badly, and it should be severely injured now…it probably can't hear us now, can it?"

Mo Mo trembled slightly. She didn't refute what Xu Xiaoshou said.

Xu Xiaoshou fell silent., deliberating how he could convince Mo Mo to open up to them.

It wasn't an easy feat to pry a person's deepest and darkest secret from their lips, and an ancient secret like the grey mist figure no less.

Xu Xiaoshou believed that the vast majority of humankind on this world were kindhearted souls.

Sometimes, people kept secrets, not because of any ulterior motives but simply because they didn't want to get someone else dragged into their mess.

Xu Xiaoshou had a feeling that Mo Mo's reason belonged to the latter group, and he knew how to get people like her to open up.

That was because he'd been one of them in the past.

Coercion would only make them clam up more. If you truly wanted someone to open their hearts to you, you had to put yourself in their shoes and allow your sincerity and empathy to be the driving force.

Basically, you had to pretend that you were a sorry soul yourself!

"Perhaps you wish to shoulder the burden alone and that's why you're not telling us," Xu Xiaoshou said gently and slowly. "But I've seen the grey mist figure…

"It's going to remain a threat to my life if I don't figure out where it came from. I won't be able to sleep!

"Have you considered my feelings?"

Mo Mo stared at him, her eyes rippling with emotion. Then, she tore her gaze away from him.

Xu Xiaoshou's heart leapt when he caught her reaction, and his voice brimmed with earnestness when he spoke next. "Tell me. What exactly… is that grey mist?"

Mo Mo clenched her jaw, and her fists clutched her bloodied dress. She seemed torn between silence and spilling the truth.

Xu Xiaoshou noted her reluctance and finally decided to go for broke.

He hooked his ankle around Mu Zixi's foot and sent the young woman, who'd been struggling tirelessly in his arms, to the ground while falling to his knees at the same time. With his arms still tightly wrapped around Mu Zixi, Xu Xiaoshou stared Mo Mo straight in the eye, and his piercing gaze seemed to stare straight into her soul.

"I thought you were my friend!" he said, his voice brimming with sincerity and emotion.

Mo Mo couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes instantly turned teary. She was going to tell him everything.

She was startled when pain filled the young man's earnest eyes. Xu Xiaoshou yowled. "Ah!

"Were you a dog in your past life?" The moment was shattered by a furious yell.

Xu Xiaoshou completely lost it. He yanked the hand he had over Mu Zixi's mouth away. It was stained with blood.

How had this young woman managed to sink her teeth into a Master Physique?

His eyes were filled with disbelief.

Mu Zixi snorted. "Xu Xiaoshou, you have a friend! What a surprise!"

Ridiculed, Passive Points +1.

Mo Mo was speechless.

Her lips parted, then moved soundlessly for a brief moment before falling shut again.