After being forced to agree, Mo Tiange discovered that the man who had been half-dead just moments ago suddenly became full of life and vigor.
The cave was truly too narrow; one couldn't even lie down properly. So, he took out his flying sword and sliced off a large chunk of the rock wall, at least making it possible for two people to sit up and lie down.
Mo Tiange stared, dumbfounded.
Qin Xi stored the cut stone slabs into his Qiankun Bag and noticed her gaze. "What's wrong?"
"So these rocks could be cut off?!"
He rubbed his nose, avoiding her eyes. "Well... this material is somewhat special, but my sword isn't an ordinary sword either..."
"Then why didn't you do this yesterday?!" The two of them had been squeezed into such a tiny space, unable to move, and he had taken many liberties because of it!
"There was no need!" Qin Xi said with an innocent expression. "It was just a temporary rest. Did we need to carve out a cave abode? Now that we're both injured and need to recuperate here for a few days, I thought I'd make it more comfortable."
"..." Mo Tiange swallowed her anger. "Swear you didn't do it on purpose?"
"Of course not," he declared righteously. "Think about it. Back then, your father and I, two grown men, squeezed in here and didn't waste the energy. These stones in Tianmo Mountain aren't ordinary things to begin with. See, I'm even planning to take these cut pieces out. This material can at least be used for artifact refining!"
"..." Why did she feel something was off? She couldn't shake the feeling she was being tricked.
"Alright, stop overthinking it," Qin Xi said. "Hurry up and put your things away. You need to break this habit of liking to throw things." Or perhaps she had been suppressing herself for too long? If she needed to vent, slapping him a couple of times would do, so why this fondness for hurling objects?
"...You have a lot of demands!"
"It's for my own safety..." He changed his tune mid-sentence. "You really have a lot of pills."
Most of what he picked up were jade bottles. Opening them and sniffing, they were all pills. Yet, something felt off. The quality of these pills was excessively good; with his own alchemy skills, he felt he couldn't produce them. He recalled the pill he had obtained from Ye Zhenji back then, the one he gave to Little Fire.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the pill in his hand was immediately snatched away by Mo Tiange, who corked the bottle and stored it in her Qiankun Bag.
She didn't explain, and he didn't ask. It was impossible for two people to have no secrets between them, especially since they weren't at that level of relationship yet.
They silently gathered their things, gathered their things...
After a while, it was Mo Tiange who broke the silence first.
She suddenly asked, "Why has your attitude changed so suddenly today? Didn't you say you thought my feelings for you were gone?"
Hearing this, Qin Xi only smiled.
Mo Tiange grew increasingly curious under his smile and couldn't help but glare at him. "Speak up!"
"It's not that I can't tell you..." He suppressed a laugh.
He stopped after only half a sentence. Mo Tiange couldn't bear it and pounced on him, pinching him. "Stop being cryptic! Tell me!"
"Alright, alright! I'll tell you!" He wrapped an arm around her, laughing as he spoke. "You... you definitely don't know this, but you talk in your sleep."
Mo Tiange was taken aback. "Talk in my sleep?"
"Mhm."
Talk in her sleep? Cultivators rarely slept, and even when they occasionally fell into a deep slumber, there usually wasn't anyone around. She had no idea about this. Thinking of it, she grew nervous. "What did I say?"
Qin Xi still wore a faint smile on his lips. He lowered his head, his lips brushing past hers, but said, "That, I won't say."
"Tell me!" Knowing he knew what she said but refusing to tell her—this feeling was unbearable. Had she said something... embarrassingly mushy?
"No." He adopted a resolutely unyielding expression.
"Will you tell me or not?"
"I said no, so no!"
"Tell me!"
"Ahem, if you throw yourself into my arms right now, I might consider it."
After a moment of quiet, the small stone cave was once again filled with flying objects. "Go die!"
After a long bout of struggling, she still hadn't pried his mouth open, had thrown everything away again, and his wounds had reopened.
There was no choice but to stop and re-bandage his wounds. The two of them continued squatting to pick things up.
Suddenly, Qin Xi paused, picking up a stone about the size of a child's fist. It was clearly an ore, predominantly white in color but covered with many natural cracks, looking no different from ordinary stone.
He examined it for a while, then suddenly opened his right palm. Flames sprang up from his palm, enveloping the entire ore.
"What are you doing?" Mo Tiange was startled by him.
Qin Xi shook his head, not speaking, focusing intently on the ore in his palm.
After a while, the ore finally underwent a change—the cracks on its surface transformed into cloud patterns!
Mo Tiange's expression changed.
Qin Xi withdrew the flames from his palm and handed her the ore. "Qiyun Stone. Where did you get this?"
"Qiyun Stone?" Mo Tiange took it, completely stunned. "This is Qiyun Stone?!"
"Yes, I shouldn't be mistaken." Qin Xi also found it incredible. "We've searched for so long without seeing any. Where did this come from?"
"This is..." Mo Tiange scratched her head. This was something she obtained after dividing the spoils with Daoist Fangzheng in the Ziwei Cave Abode. It was actually the long-heard-of but never-seen Qiyun Stone?! If so, wasn't there hope for her Life-Bound Artifact now? With the Qiyun Stone found, Thousand-Year Jade Marrow wasn't too hard to obtain. As long as they found Heavenly Fragrance Bean in Tianmo Mountain, they could trade for the Jade Marrow.
"I got this during my last journey..." She slowly recounted the events at the Ziwei Cave Abode, including how Ziwei Sanren had placed a Mark in her and Daoist Fangzheng's seas of consciousness, demanding they find Xiao Zilan's remains and bury them together with him within two hundred years, only then helping them remove it.
She hadn't taken this matter too seriously because her strength wasn't sufficient yet; what Ziwei Sanren entrusted was currently beyond her ability.
After listening, Qin Xi's expression turned grave. "So, you have a Mark in your mind now that will activate in two hundred years?"
Mo Tiange thought for a moment. "Forty-nine years have already passed. It should be in a hundred and fifty-one years."
He nodded, not speaking, lowering his head in deep thought.
Mo Tiange toyed with the Qiyun Stone in her hand. "There's still a hundred and fifty-one years. Even if I don't achieve Nascent Soul Formation, at the very least I should reach late-stage Core Formation, right? By then, going will be more assured."
But Qin Xi shook his head, taking her hand. "Having a Mark in your mind is ultimately not a good thing. Once we return, let Master see if it can be removed. If not, we'll have to think of a way. To fulfill that so-called entrustment."
"...I have an idea."
These words clearly carried a tone of refusal. Qin Xi remained silent for a long while before sighing and saying to her, "Tian Ge, can you not treat me as an outsider?"
"I... I don't." If he were an outsider, she wouldn't have spoken of such matters at all.
"Then why..." He paused, trying to choose appropriate words. "I feel you don't trust me very much. You always want to decide things yourself, unwilling to listen to me."
Mo Tiange was taken aback. She withdrew her hand and turned away, silently organizing the other items scattered in the stone cave. Only after putting everything back into her Qiankun Bag did she speak. "You... perhaps you haven't realized, but you like to take the initiative too much. By your side, I... almost don't need my own thoughts. I just need to follow you."
"..." Qin Xi was somewhat stunned. This... he truly hadn't noticed.
After thinking for a while, he said, "What's wrong with that? Some things you aren't so clear about, while I know..."
His words were cut off by a light laugh from Mo Tiange—a laugh that was absolutely not lighthearted, but carried a hint of helplessness and worry.
She nodded. "You're right. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. If we were just companions, I'd think you were the best partner. But it's not just this one time. The most fundamental issue between us is that your cultivation is much higher than mine, your experience is far richer. I'm still learning how to handle situations, while you've already passed that stage... But have you ever considered, if I stay with you like this, will I still need to grow in the future? You make all the decisions. What about me? I just need to follow you. Isn't that... like being a cauldron?"
He was dumbfounded. "You... even if you're with me, you can still grow. If you encounter more situations, you'll naturally learn how to handle them."
"It's not that I can't, but that I won't need to," she said quietly. "You think I just don't want to ask? I don't dare. No matter what your answer is, I don't dare. Like right now. You say, you say you have me in your heart, and I'm very happy. But... even so, what about the future? If we're together, it's not just... a matter of feelings..."
His expression gradually darkened. After a long time, he whispered, "Do you mean you'll leave me because of this?"
Silence spread through the cave. Mo Tiange kept her head lowered, saying nothing.
Her attitude made him increasingly anxious and uneasy. He grabbed her wrist and demanded in a low voice, "Then what do you want? After saying all that, do you still want me to let go?"
Mo Tiange shook her head gently. "No. Let me think. I don't know what to do right now. Let me figure it out..."
Though not a direct refusal, he was disappointed. This represented a certain possibility, the one he feared most.
The most terrifying thing wasn't losing, but losing after having obtained. He recalled the story she just told, about that Ziwei Sanren. Though he hadn't experienced it personally, he understood why this senior from thousands of years ago, having passed away for millennia, still lingered unwilling to depart. Because he had obtained, then lost, never seeing her again in this lifetime... thus unable to forget, clinging until death.
If just moments ago, not knowing her feelings, never having obtained her, never knowing the feeling of mutual affection, perhaps he too would have slowly let go of his thoughts and walked the great path to immortality. But, but...
"It's impossible," he said softly. "Don't do such a thing."
"I haven't yet..."
"But you're thinking it!" he suddenly raised his voice, his gaze heavy as he looked at her.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Mo Tiange also raised her voice. "I can't just do nothing!"
"What's wrong with just staying by my side? Can't I protect you? Why must you rely entirely on yourself? If we stay like this, I can help you. You can keep cultivating, achieve Nascent Soul Formation, even God Transformation—it's not without hope!"
Mo Tiange fell silent. She looked up at him with a gaze as if looking at a stranger, saying nothing.
This silence angered him but made him even more uneasy. After a long while, he reached out and gently tugged her sleeve. "Tian Ge, say something? Please?"
She finally smiled, but it was a cold, mirthless smile. This smile frightened him.
She said, "You truly understand nothing."