Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

Ran Qingmo most likely really could not fly. Being carried by her while fleeing did not feel good. In fact, it felt awful. Every time her foot struck the ground, the terrifying acceleration made Xu Yuan feel as if he were riding a drop tower from his previous life.

And once they entered that dark, spiraling passage that wound upward, Xu Yuan felt like he had been strapped into a drop tower that was now corkscrewing its way to heaven.

When they reached the surface, Ran Qingmo set Xu Yuan down. She let go, but Xu Yuan did not. Now that he had reached seventh rank, Xu Yuan could indeed be considered beyond ordinary human limits, but he was still far from the level of a true superhuman.

In less than a minute, Ran Qingmo had carried him through that passage while spinning like a motor for hundreds, maybe thousands of revolutions. Dizziness, nausea, and every other kind of discomfort surged over him like a tide.

Ran Qingmo stared at the man who was still clutching her shoulder, a faint trace of hesitation in her cool eyes. Her master had said that men and women should keep their distance. A girl should not let a man touch her body so easily.

Then she shook her head again. Her master had also said that rules could bend in urgent situations. Besides, this did not seem to be the first time anyway. No longer paying attention to Xu Yuan’s hands, she looked away and began sensing the source qi below that had been polluted by the ghost fog.

It seemed the remnant soul of the Sage and that pseudo second rank ghost had already begun fighting.

After a few breaths, Xu Yuan finally realized they had reached the surface. He unsteadily let go of Ran Qingmo.

Ran Qingmo gathered her thoughts and looked at him. “Xu Yuan.”

Xu Yuan waved a hand, forcing down the dizziness. “Give me a moment.”

With that, he closed his eyes, sat down cross-legged, and began circulating his cultivation to regulate his breathing.

The Blood Origin Heartfall Art could treat dizziness too. Soon, the dizziness faded, and Xu Yuan opened his eyes again.

Everything was as silent as when they had arrived.

Xu Yuan slowly stood, patted the dust from his robes, and said in a low voice, “Ran Qingmo, we just need to wait here.”

Ran Qingmo asked, “You don’t want me to go down and help?”

Xu Yuan glanced at her. “Help? Who exactly are you planning to help?”

Ran Qingmo asked tentatively, “The Sage?”

Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and asked, amused, “Why help him?”

Ran Qingmo tilted her head and asked in return, “Didn’t your Chancellor’s Manor reach some kind of agreement with him?”

A hint of surprise entered Xu Yuan’s eyes. He had never mentioned any agreement in front of Ran Qingmo. Xu Changge had only handed him the soul ring while she was present. This iceberg of a woman had actually figured that out on her own.

She’s not as thick-headed as she seems...

Noticing his gaze, Ran Qingmo felt that Xu Yuan was thinking something rather impolite. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” Xu Yuan shook his head.

Ran Qingmo looked at him very seriously. “Xu Yuan, I’m not stupid.”

“Pfft!” Xu Yuan failed to hold it in and laughed out loud.

Ran Qingmo quietly gripped the hilt of her sword and stared at him without saying a word.

Xu Yuan looked at the sword hilt and, for some reason, thought of a thick, long wooden stick. He gave a light cough and put on a solemn expression. “Right. I know. You’re not stupid.”

“Mhm.” Ran Qingmo nodded, satisfied.

Xu Yuan calmed himself again and dragged the topic back on track. “What you said just now wasn’t wrong. Xu Changge and my father did indeed reach some sort of cooperation with that Sage’s remnant soul, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a move against him.”

Ran Qingmo thought for a moment and asked, “So you’re going to break your word?”

Xu Yuan was awkward for a moment. He coughed lightly and said, “That’s not quite how you put it. We’re just striking first to gain the advantage. Besides, even if we call it cooperation, that Sage’s remnant soul has his own dirty little schemes too.”

Ran Qingmo’s eyes flickered twice. It seemed she believed him. “Oh.”

Seeing this, Xu Yuan smiled and said no more.

But Ran Qingmo still had more to say. She asked quietly, “Then what about the ghost?”

Xu Yuan fell silent. Ghosts were formally known as Yin ghosts. No one knew why they were born into this world, just as no one knew why source qi existed between heaven and earth. The principle behind their formation was unknown, but from ancient times until now, many records related to Yin ghosts had been passed down, and many of their traits had been confirmed.

The corpses of all living things bred ghost fog, and from that ghost fog, Yin ghosts were born. They possessed intelligence, and sometimes even shattered fragments of memory from the corpses that made up part of them. But even with those broken memories, Yin ghosts were still almost impossible to communicate with.

Obsession, brutality, madness, flesh, slaughter. These words of destruction seemed to be the entire meaning of a Yin ghost’s existence.

That was the information Xu Yuan had learned from the records. Because of that, he truly could not understand why that withered old man, who had completely transformed into a ghost, would do what he had just done.

Seeing Xu Yuan remain silent for a long while, Ran Qingmo called to him softly. “Xu Yuan.”

Xu Yuan slowly came back to himself and gently shook his head. “Wasn’t that ghost old man third rank? You’re no match for it?”

Although Xu Yuan was not sure whether Ran Qingmo could beat his elder brother when they were at the same rank, based on that earth-shaking strike she had used earlier to freeze the Sage’s remnant soul and kill the story’s protagonist, she had to count as at least half-invincible among her peers, right?

Ran Qingmo shook her head and said very seriously, “I could beat it before. But now it’s already a pseudo second rank.”

“Before...? Pseudo second rank...?” Xu Yuan frowned. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Was it during that hour or so we spent waiting?”

The withered old man had only come down more than an hour after they entered the hidden chamber. His sudden surge in strength had probably happened during that time.

“Mhm. It seems to have eaten all the Yin ghosts in that cavern.” Ran Qingmo nodded. When they fled just now, she had noticed that all the Yin ghosts in the cave were gone.

Xu Yuan’s pupils shrank slightly.

The scene from earlier flashed through his mind, when the formation in the cavern had activated and ten thousand ghosts had wailed in agony.

After a second of thought, Xu Yuan gently shook his head. He had remembered something. Xu Changge had been here before. And now, he had a rough guess about the whole situation.

Before devouring those countless ghosts, the withered old man had at most been close to second rank. A true second rank expert had been beaten by Xu Changge until only her head was left. So what chance would someone who was merely close to second rank have?

Could that level of cultivation really survive Xu Changge? Xu Yuan found that hard to believe.

Although he did not know why Xu Changge had spared the withered old man after he had completely turned into a ghost, with that elder brother’s methods, if he dared let Xu Yuan come here, then he must have had some kind of assurance.

In fact, Xu Yuan even suspected that Xu Changge was currently hiding in some nearby corner, secretly watching them. After all, It only took about a day to get here from Stillwater.

With that thought, Xu Yuan said softly, “It’s fine.”

“It’s fine?” Ran Qingmo looked puzzled. “But if you stay here, you’ll be in danger.”

Xu Yuan smiled faintly and said in a low voice, “Xu Changge came here before. Since that old ghost gentleman is still alive, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

He paused, then suddenly swept his gaze around their surroundings. “And I suspect he’s hiding nearby right now.”

When Ran Qingmo heard this, her delicate brows furrowed slightly. “But why?”

Why would Xu Changge go in such a roundabout way? If he had already decided to turn on the Sage’s remnant soul, wouldn’t it be simpler for him to come here himself?

Xu Yuan shook his head and did not answer. The purpose was simple. This was most likely a test his elder brother had set before leaving. A test for Ran Qingmo, and also a test of Xu Yuan’s own ability.

The obvious clues and hidden clues here were already clear enough. If, under these circumstances, Xu Yuan still ordered Ran Qingmo to help that Sage’s remnant soul, then he could forget about going out to travel the world. If he could not even handle something like this, what freedom was he still dreaming about? He might as well obediently go back and stay in the prefectural city.