Ask him why he cultivates so fast?
That was his private matter, not convenient to ask.
Talk about cultivation?
He was a Golden Core, she was a Foundation Establishment; what was there to talk about?
If she did, she would just get crushed.
So she chose silence.
Xiao Han walked ahead, thinking to himself, ‘Say something, will you? Two young people, a man and a woman, walking together in silence—isn’t that awkward? If you really can’t find anything to say, just praise how awesome I am, that works too. I did save you, you know. If not now, when would you praise me?’
So, unable to hold it in any longer, Xiao Han turned his head and smiled at her, making Luo Qingci freeze.
‘Big shot, why are you suddenly smiling at me?’
‘Why is he laughing? Does he think I’m too quiet and wants to lighten the mood? Or does he find the way I slapped that old man funny? Or does he want me to say something?’
‘Say something?’
‘What?’
‘“Young Master Xiao, that elbow move earlier was really cool!”’
‘No, that’s too fake.’
‘“Young Master Xiao, your Golden Core stage cultivation is truly something for the likes of us to look up to!”’
‘No, that’s too bootlicking.’
‘“Young Master Xiao, would you like to visit Azure Cloud Sect? My senior brother cooks really delicious food…”’
‘No, no, no—that’s basically inviting him.’
“Um…”
Luo Qingci suddenly spoke.
Xiao Han’s pace slowed by half a beat, not turning around.
“Hm?”
“Senior, why did you save me?” she asked.
Xiao Han’s steps came to a complete halt.
He stood in the middle of the street, the moonlight bleaching him white.
Luo Qingci also stopped, standing three paces behind him, looking at his back.
That back seemed very quiet under the moonlight, the lines of his shoulders level, the hem of his robe lifted by the night breeze, swaying gently.
Luo Qingci regretted it as soon as she asked.
‘Asking “Why did you save me?”—no matter how you hear it, it sounds intimate, like something from those folk storybooks where maidens speak to chivalrous knights.’
Xiao Han turned around and looked at her.
Luo Qingci felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze.
She wanted to look away, but felt that looking away would make her seem guilty, so she forced herself to maintain eye contact.
“Just passing by, helped out on a whim.”
Xiao Han’s expression was calm, inwardly thinking, ‘Why did I save you? You’re my fiancée, how could I not save you? With a fiancée this beautiful, I couldn’t find one even with a lantern in my past life, and you ask me why I saved you? Should I say I’m despicable and I covet your body?’
‘Well… that’s not entirely impossible.’
‘No.’
Xiao Han suddenly realized a serious problem—if he had actually said that sentence from earlier, how would it be different from Hui Gu Lao Zu?
Of course, it wasn’t completely without difference.
The difference was that the other guy was after her physique, while he purely thought Luo Qingci was a bit pretty.
But the core logic was the same: coveting her body.
‘No, no, no.’
Xiao Han shook his head at himself mentally.
‘I am a righteous gentleman, I can’t do this kind of thing.’
“Passing by…?”
Luo Qingci repeated Xiao Han’s earlier words, the corner of her mouth twitching almost imperceptibly.
Xiao Han’s expression didn’t change.
“I came here for a walk.”
Luo Qingci looked him up and down.
‘Going for a walk in someone else’s sewer? Is the air outside not fresh enough? He had to go underground in a mortal city to breathe methane? Maybe one day I’ll build a septic tank for you, so you can get a good whiff?’
That’s what she was thinking, but Luo Qingci didn’t dare say it.
‘Come on, he’s a Golden Core True Person…’
A Golden Core True Person going for a walk in the sewer of a C-grade mission—this reason was so absurd she didn’t even know where to start complaining.
But since he had said so, she couldn’t very well press him with “Are you stalking me?” right?
That would be too rude.
Besides, he had just saved her, given her spoils, and was escorting her back.
“Then… Senior’s walking range is quite extensive.”
Luo Qingci said dryly.
Xiao Han glanced at her, the corners of his mouth barely curving, said nothing else, turned and continued walking.
“No need to call me Senior. You can just call me Xiao Han, like last time.”
“Okay.”
Luo Qingci paused.
‘Is he the easygoing type?’
“Xiao Han?”
“Hm!”
“Uh… aren’t you interested in my physique?”
“I am,” Xiao Han smiled.
“You have a Supreme Yin Profound Body, a perfect dual cultivation vessel.
If you dual cultivate with someone, their cultivation speed will advance by leaps and bounds.”
“So you also…”
“But that’s the thinking of a waste.”
Xiao Han didn’t stop walking, his voice clear and light, especially distinct as it fell into the night wind.
“Cultivation gained by plundering others’ physiques and taking shortcuts through dual cultivation has a shaky foundation and a flawed dao heart, stuck at bottlenecks forever, never reaching the true peak of the Great Dao.”
He tilted his head up at a 45-degree angle, the moonlight falling on his handsome brows and eyes, his expression open and composed.
“I, Xiao Han, will cultivate relying on myself alone. I don’t need to pave my way with another’s physique, and I disdain doing the filthy deeds of forcing others and coveting their foundation.”
Luo Qingci’s steps faltered slightly.
She stared blankly at his profile, her heart jolting.
‘What ambition!’
‘Could he truly be a righteous gentleman?!’
‘Was I measuring a gentleman’s heart with a base man’s mind?’
“But… many cultivators in the world would jump at the chance to encounter a physique like mine.”
“That’s because their vision is too shallow, their scope too small.”
Xiao Han smiled faintly.
“A true cultivator cultivates their own dao heart, not relying on external things or scheming against others.
Besides…”
He paused slightly, his gaze inadvertently sweeping over her fair and delicate face, thinking to himself, ‘What physique? My Innate Unified Body is far stronger than any of these physiques.’
‘That said, my own little fiancée still needs to be well protected.’
Yet his mouth continued calmly, “If I really wanted to boost my cultivation, I have plenty of methods.
There’s no need to scheme against you.”
Luo Qingci pressed her lips together, the stone that had been suspended in her heart suddenly falling gently to the ground.
“Then why did you just say you were interested…” she couldn’t help muttering softly.
Xiao Han let out a low laugh, his voice carrying a hint of laziness.
“I was just telling you the truth about the special nature of your physique, so you’d be aware and more cautious in the future.
It’s not that I’m greedy.”
“I’ll remember that.”
Luo Qingci quickly responded, making a mental note to wear the jade pendant against her body the moment she returned, never to let it leave her side.
The night was quiet.
The two of them walked slowly along the street on a carpet of silver-white moonlight, the night breeze rustling through the treetops.
The earlier awkwardness of silence quietly dissipated, and the atmosphere instead became a bit more relaxed and gentle.
Luo Qingci hesitated for a moment, then couldn’t help looking up at him.
“Xiao Han, was it really just a coincidence that you happened to run into me while passing by and taking a walk today?”
She still couldn’t contain her curiosity; no matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t believe someone would go for a walk in a remote sewer ruin.
Xiao Han’s gaze flickered, but his expression didn’t change at all as he casually fabricated a lie with a straight face.
“I’ve been in seclusion in the nearby mountains and forests recently. With nothing to do at night, I casually wandered around and happened to reach that area. I vaguely sensed the evil cultivator’s malice, so I went down to check along the way. I didn’t expect to happen upon you in danger.”
The excuse was perfectly seamless, and his tone was nothing but calm and composed.
Luo Qingci blinked, half-believing, half-doubting, and looked him over once more.
She felt something was off, but couldn’t find a single flaw.
Since he had already put it like that, it would be tactless of her to press for deeper answers.
She had no choice but to suppress her doubts deep in her heart, saying softly, “Regardless, I still thank you for saving me twice today, and for sharing the spoils with me… I’ll remember this debt. In the future, if you ever need my help, as long as it’s within my ability, I will do my best to assist.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Han’s lips curled into a faint smile, and he turned to look at her.
“Oh? That’s what you said. I’ll remember it.”
The moonlight reflected in the young woman’s clear and beautiful eyes as she thanked him earnestly, looking obedient and adorable.
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