She must be dreaming. Perhaps when she woke up, she would find herself having fallen asleep while cultivating in the Void Heaven Realm.
But could one fall asleep while cultivating? As a Core Formation cultivator, could one fall asleep while cultivating?!
Then it must be an illusion. It had to be an illusion...
After self-hypnotizing for a long time, she opened her eyes, only to see the rock wall again, and that face.
She was not dreaming.
So she broke down, pushing the person beside her away with all her might, ignoring the sound of him hitting the rock wall. After all, a Core Formation cultivator wouldn't die from a bump. She picked up something nearby, wanting to hit him with it, but the surroundings were bare—what was there to pick up? She then reached into her Qiankun Bag, grabbing whatever she touched and throwing it out.
"Tian Ge!"
She didn't stop, still mindlessly picking things up and throwing them. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to bear it the next moment.
"Ugh!" A pained gasp sounded by her ear, and only then did she stop, panting as she looked at the person who remained right before her no matter how she pushed.
Seeing her stop, Qin Xi lowered the sleeve he had used to shield his face and said helplessly, "I... hit my wound."
Mo Tiange calmed down a little before remembering the untreated, bloody wound on his back. Her face cold, she said, "Turn around."
"..." After a pause, there was the sound of fabric rustling as he obediently turned around.
"Take off your clothes!"
Although he knew she meant for him to take them off for treatment, Qin Xi couldn't help but let his thoughts stray for a moment. Then he undid his belt himself and removed his outer robe.
Behind him, Mo Tiange roughly stripped off all his outer garments. Using the dim light, she examined his wound.
The Giant Eagle's claws were extremely sharp. This slash had cut deeply into his back. Having just hit the rock wall, the blood that had already clotted began to seep out again.
Mo Tiange reached into her Qiankun Bag, but after rummaging around, she couldn't find what she wanted. Remembering she had thrown out many medicine bottles earlier, she had no choice but to lower her head and search the surroundings. Finally, she found a jade vial. Pulling out the stopper, she poured the cool medicinal liquid into her palm, then, with a vengeful heart, directly slapped it onto his wound.
He didn't cry out, but the muscles near the wound twitched from the stimulation, allowing her to enjoy a sense of vengeful satisfaction.
This act of revenge improved her mood considerably. Next, she carefully cleaned his wound with the medicinal liquid, sprinkled on some medicinal powder, and performed a minor healing spell to make the wound look less horrifying. Finally, she used her Small Flying Sword to cut up the clothes he had taken off to use for bandaging.
After finishing all this, Mo Tiange felt something was wrong again.
A narrow space, a half-naked man beside her, and not long ago, this man had done such a thing to her!
So she thought for a moment and said, "Put your clothes on!"
He touched his nose, turning sideways to say innocently, "You tore up the clothes."
"..." Mo Tiange was speechless. Anger surged up again uncontrollably, but thinking of his wound, she forcibly swallowed it back. In a low, furious voice, she said, "Is this your only set of clothes?"
Of course not. They weren't mortals. The Qiankun Bag could hold so many things; surely they would store a few sets of clothes?
Qin Xi moved, having no choice but to fish out clothes from his Qiankun Bag. Then he said, "But with it bandaged like this, it's hard for me to put it on..."
"..." Mo Tiange glared at him angrily. "Give it to me!"
Taking his clothes, she somewhat roughly helped him put them on. Their bare skin inevitably brushed against each other from time to time. At first, her heart was filled with a nameless fire, full of anger, but in the end, it turned into awkwardness.
Having lived for over eighty years, an age that would make her an old woman among mortals, she was a cultivator who had buried herself in arduous cultivation and had never experienced such a thing. Recalling the past eighty-plus years, only in her childhood had she often seen boys swimming in the river by the village, but those were just children...
Fortunately, the process wasn't long. She quickly dressed him and finally tied his belt.
"Done!" she said, about to retreat.
But the next moment, her waist was pulled, causing her to lose her kneeling posture and fall forward, right into his embrace.
She struggled to get up, but his arm tightened, making her struggle completely ineffective. He was a full head taller than her. Held like this, she couldn't even free her head, completely submerged in his embrace. The anger that had just subsided flared up again, so she opened her mouth and bit his chest hard.
Such biting only elicited a muffled grunt from him, so she couldn't bring herself to continue. Letting go, tears she thought wouldn't come again began to fall, drop by drop.
What on earth was going on? What did he actually want? One moment treating her so coldly, the next moment acting like this! Always being so good to her that she couldn't help but misunderstand, yet his words could freeze one's heart. One moment he was Qin Xi, the next he was Qin Shoujing... She had recognized him as Qin Shoujing, burying her feelings for Qin Xi deep in her heart, but now he, as Qin Shoujing, was...
"Qin Shoujing, what exactly do you want?" She wiped away her tears bit by bit, forcing herself to ask calmly. "Didn't you say you didn't covet anything from me? What does this count as now?"
He remained silent for a long time, but his hand never let go. After a while, he slowly said, "I... I'd like to ask you, what did you mean by those words?" He gripped her waist, lifting her up, raising her head, not allowing her to evade in the slightest. "Whether I am Qin Xi or Qin Shoujing, what difference does it make?"
"..."
"Why aren't you saying anything?" he pressed. "I ended my seclusion for you, went out to search for medicine for you, and nearly lost half my life in the end. Why did you give me such words?"
"..."
"Not answering?" His lips pressed against hers. He opened his mouth, biting hers, little by little, like a kiss and a bite, then demanded between her teeth, "What do I want? Why don't you ask, what do you want me to do?"
"I..." This time, however, he didn't let her answer. Her waist was tightly held by him. This wasn't the gentle, rubbing kiss from before, but more akin to biting and devouring.
He never knew he could be such a violent person, but at this moment, his heart was filled with the desire to destroy her. He didn't want her to escape, didn't want her to say those hurtful words, didn't want to see that distant look in her eyes. He wanted to trap her by his side, make her unable to move, so she could never again hurt him with that seemingly unintentional yet cold gaze.
The sect's robes were, in principle, impossible to tear, but somehow, using some method, he almost ripped the entire piece. In the narrow space, struggling was impossible, especially since he held her waist so tightly and entangled her wrists.
Cold hands slipped under the hem of her clothes, sliding all the way up, finally grasping smooth skin, bringing an unsettling pain. Yet she couldn't speak; his kiss never stopped.
Breathing grew ragged. The cramped space brought oppressive confinement. The sudden passion burned like fire, then drowned them like water.
Mo Tiange struggled to surface from such waters. Although the feeling was intoxicating, she instinctively felt they should stop. So, her finally freed hand swung out fiercely, landing a loud slap on his face.
Silence.
"Let me go," she said, suppressing her voice.
Qin Xi remained silent for a long time, but ultimately let go. "I'm sorry."
His apology made Mo Tiange unable to suppress herself any longer. She suddenly grabbed his collar, tightening it around his neck. "Sorry for what? What do you think you need to apologize for?"
"I apologize for my actions." His voice finally regained its calmness, but then he added, "But what I said was not false. I don't need to apologize for that."
"..."
He continued, "I truly don't understand what kind of woman you are. Usually, you're as stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat as a man, yet when it comes to emotions, you're timid and retreat, always doing hurtful things and saying hurtful words!"
"And I don't know what kind of man you are either, saying one thing one moment and doing another the next!" His words ignited her fury. Mo Tiange could hardly control her temper. "You say it was for me? But for over thirty years, you avoided me, never once thought to confess your identity to me. Even after I knew, you gave no explanation! Yes, I knew long ago you were Qin Shoujing, and I didn't care about any deception, but you didn't say a single word. Did you think it was taken for granted? Did you think no explanation was needed at all?"
"I..."
"Don't you speak!" she shouted, pushing him back and continuing to grip his collar. "Back then, you clearly knew I had hidden feelings for Senior Brother Qin. You kept your distance. I'm not a fool, so I didn't harbor wild hopes. I'm also a cultivator; I also want to walk the Great Dao of Immortality. Emotions? I can control them, I can endure them. But, but... you're always changing. When you're good to me, you're incredibly good, but after a while, you avoid me. During the Demon Beast Rebellion, you came to save me. Do you know how touched I was? I wondered if you might have a little feeling for me? Could I allow myself a little hope? But as soon as we got out, you treated me with that attitude. Yes, I know my cultivation is far inferior to yours. To you, I'm just a minor cultivator, not even worth a glance. But if you look down on me, why were you so considerate, so gentle?!"
She lowered her head, controlling her trembling lips, only so he wouldn't see. "I guessed you were Qin Shoujing. I know I'm suspicious, but I also knew if you had any ill intentions, you wouldn't have needed to treat me like that. So I told myself, maybe you had your reasons. Since you didn't say, I would still treat you as Senior Brother Qin, treat you as before. But what was the result? After the Demon Beast Rebellion ended, I barely escaped with my life. When I finally saw you again, you acted like you didn't see me! You looked down on me!"
"I never looked down on you. I never said..."
"But your attitude said it all!" She cut him off with an even louder voice. "Watching me walk towards you, yet you didn't even look, just turned and walked away! Yes, my cultivation is poor. Did me becoming your junior sister embarrass you? But it was you who had Master take me as a disciple in the first place!"
"That's not..."
"Don't deny it!" she shouted, even somewhat hysterically. "That's when I understood. You weren't Senior Brother Qin. You were Qin Shoujing, a 'senior' who had shown me kindness, yet was separated from me by countless mountains and rivers, lofty and high above!"
"You..."
"You say I hurt people? Qin Shoujing, Perfected Lord Shoujing, Senior Brother Shoujing, what makes you think you can turn and leave when you don't like something, and when you've given what you want, you can turn back and see me right there? I'd like to ask you, what do you take me for? One moment cold and heartless, the next full of tender affection! Back then, you turned and left, avoiding me for thirty-five years. What did you expect me to think? I don't want to indulge in wishful thinking anymore!"