Alienation Syndrome

"."

The air felt deathly still.

Xu Yuan turned his head bit by bit to look at the woman beside him.

This slightly familiar term, coupled with Ran Qingmo's serene gaze—the same one he had seen when they first met—made the hair on his arms stand on end.

He suddenly understood where the bone-deep agony he felt before losing consciousness had come from.

Alienation Syndrome.

Absurd, helpless, and a sliver of sudden realization.

[Reaching the Origin Beginning, one enters the path through martial arts; a drop of blood can regenerate a body, making the flesh immortal. Entering the path through Qi, the soul solidifies, allowing one to leave the body and seize another.]

This world itself allowed for soul-seizure, but who could have imagined that this cross-world transmigration would actually land him with an Alienation Syndrome.

Aside from the howling of the cold wind, the vast Snow Plain was silent.

Xu Yuan remained speechless for a long moment before whispering:

"Alienation Syndrome?"

Ran Qingmo watched Xu Yuan and nodded:

"Mm."

Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and chuckled ambiguously:

"Miss Ran, what is the meaning of this?"

Ran Qingmo looked straight into Xu Yuan's eyes and said:

"You are not Xu Changtian."

"." Xu Yuan.

Her voice remained light and indifferent, as if she were stating the most ordinary of facts.

With his inner suspicion confirmed by her own lips, perhaps due to the lingering haze from his long coma, Xu Yuan found that he felt no panic at having his identity exposed.

There were only two paths before him now.

Admit it or deny it.

If he denied it, what excuse could he use to fool her?

If he admitted it, what would the consequences be?

After a long silence, Xu Yuan slowly stood up. Under Ran Qingmo's gaze, he picked up the waterskin at his side, took a swig of Flame Spirit Fluid to warm himself, glanced up at the unfathomably high peak above, and then, by the moonlight, cast a look toward the endless Sea Border stretching out below the mountain.

In the four days he had been unconscious, Ran Qingmo and that giant White Tiger had actually dragged him all the way to the mountainside of Heaven Gate Mountain.

With a rough draft in mind, Xu Yuan turned back to look at Ran Qingmo and said slowly:

"Whether I am Xu Changtian or not, is it important to you?"

Without denying it, Xu Yuan admitted it calmly.

All Ran Qingmo needed was a "living" Xu Changtian, a Third Young Master who could be used to threaten the Prime Minister; how exactly he was "living" did not really matter.

Moreover, she must have already realized this, or she would not have brought his unconscious body along the original route to Heaven Gate Mountain.

Ran Qingmo pondered seriously for a moment, then shook her head:

"It is not important, but why do you not understand cultivation?"

As she spoke, a flicker of genuine, bewildered confusion crossed her eyes.

The change in personality before and after Xu Changtian's coma was indeed explained, but if the man before her had clearly undergone a soul-seizure rebirth, why was he like an infant when it came to matters of cultivation?

Xu Yuan sat down beside Ran Qingmo with the waterskin, his heartbeat steady. He pointed to his own head and said unhurriedly:

"Because my memories are largely missing; many things are fragmented."

"Including that cave dwelling you mentioned?"

"Naturally."

"And those things concerning Xu Changtian himself?"

"I do not know. Perhaps the technique I cultivate is special; among these fragmented memories, there are my own, and some of Xu Changtian's were accidentally left behind as well."

"Then how did you know about the Sword Sect?"

"."

Hearing this, Xu Yuan did not continue to answer; he smiled and shook his head:

"Miss Ran, didn't we agree not to pry into each other's affairs regarding this matter?"

"."

Hearing this, the beautiful eyes visible beneath Ran Qingmo's veil flickered for a moment, and she finally nodded.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan took advantage of this moment of confrontation to continue:

"Although you likely won't listen, I still want to advise you: that person will never waver in his decision because of me, or for that matter, Xu Changtian."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan exchanged a glance with Ran Qingmo and enunciated every word:

"If you truly wish to prevent the destruction of the Sword Sect, there are better ways, and I can help you."

The destruction of the Sword Sect was a major plot point in Cangyuan; by making good use of Ran Qingmo, Xu Yuan could reap significant benefits.

However, the look in Ran Qingmo's eyes did not waver in the slightest; she simply watched him in silence.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan smiled faintly and ceased his persuasion:

"My offer remains valid forever. If you change your mind, you can find me at any time."

Ran Qingmo's refusal did not exceed Xu Yuan's expectations.

Although he and Ran Qingmo were currently tied together like grasshoppers on the same string, their respective identities made it fundamentally impossible for her to trust him.

The reason she had followed his suggestion to head to that hidden cave was largely because his low strength posed no threat to her.

A threat?

Wait.

Xu Yuan's thoughts suddenly stalled.

He realized there was a flaw in his logic.

The premise for heading to the cave was that his low strength posed no threat to Ran Qingmo, but the sudden flare-up of his Alienation Syndrome had rendered that premise void.

Reaching the Origin Beginning realm meant entering the realm through Qi, where the soul solidified and could leave the body to seize spirits.

A person at this level could be said to be peerless under the heavens.

If Xu Yuan remembered correctly, at this current point in time, Ran Qingmo had not yet reached this realm.

The cave he had mentioned as a place to hide would, in Ran Qingmo's eyes, inevitably be seen as one left behind by his predecessor.

In other words, in Ran Qingmo's eyes, Xu Yuan had transformed from a powerless, hedonistic young master into a mysterious remnant soul capable of posing a threat to her.

Xu Yuan stared at the woman in black, who had once again closed her eyes to rest, as a multitude of questions flooded his mind.

Had she not noticed this, or had she noticed and simply not cared?

No, that wasn't right; it was impossible for Ran Qingmo not to care.

Confidence was not arrogance.

The formations and restrictions within the cave of a powerhouse who had reached the Origin Beginning realm were already enough to pose a threat to the current Ran Qingmo.

If that was the case, why did she still dare to follow him to that cave?

Thinking of this, a sense of foreboding gradually rose in Xu Yuan's heart.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan slowly lowered his head to look at the waterskin in his hand—or rather, the Flame Spirit Fluid inside it.

The foundation of their cooperation was built on the fact that the person behind the Flame Spirit Python wanted him dead while Ran Qingmo was abducting him.

As this thought surfaced, Xu Yuan realized, Something must have happened during the few days he was unconscious.

And this event had forced Ran Qingmo to accompany him to that cave.

The moonlight was like a waterfall, and the silence was like water.

"Crunch, crunch—"

Amidst his surging thoughts, the sound of footsteps on snow came from afar. Xu Yuan immediately turned to look, and his tense heart relaxed slightly when he saw who it was.

It was that large White Tiger.

However, this White Tiger was now a full size larger than when he had first seen it four days ago. It seemed to have undergone some kind of mutation, likely from consuming many monster cores while following behind Ran Qingmo these past few days.

Humans could not directly consume monster cores, but for the beasts themselves, they were a potent tonic.

The White Tiger ran all the way over, a two-meter-long Snow Wolf dangling from its jaws.

Its massive form reached Ran Qingmo's side, where it dropped the Snow Wolf, naively rubbed its head against the hem of her black dress, cast a disdainful glance at Xu Yuan, and then, ignoring its prey, lay down beside Ran Qingmo to doze off.

Everything returned to silence.

In the snow-covered mountains under the moonlight, the woman in black as ink and the massive white tiger created a harmonious and tranquil scene.

Yet, Xu Yuan's gaze remained fixed on the White Tiger's back.

There, In the spot where he had once sat, A deep, bone-exposed wound was shockingly visible.