True Face

A single drop of clear water slowly trickled down from a stalactite at the top of the cave.

"Drip."

The droplet entered the pool, sending ripples spreading across the surface; in this profound silence, the sound of falling water seemed remarkably distinct.

He did not know how long he had been unconscious in this darkness, but consciousness gradually poured back into his body like water flowing into a canal.

Xu Yuan's eyes flickered slightly, and a moment later, he opened them slowly.

Perhaps due to the temporary lack of focus brought on by a long coma, he found it difficult to see the dim environment before him.

In the silence, a light, feminine voice drifted softly from beside him:

"You're awake."

"Mm."

Xu Yuan replied in a low, subconscious murmur, his vision gradually sharpening as he made out the person who had spoken.

Ran Qingmo was lying on her side, sitting quietly cross-legged right next to him.

The two were very close, and through their clothing, he could faintly feel the warmth radiating from her jade-like legs.

It was somewhat strange; he did not understand why Ran Qingmo needed to sit so close.

His stiff thoughts slowly began to churn, and Xu Yuan sat up from the ground, inch by inch.

Then, He suddenly realized that she was sitting so close because he was still gripping her slender wrist.

He was holding it so tightly that faint red marks had even appeared on her fair, delicate skin.

As the memories from before flooded back, Xu Yuan recalled that this had been his obsession before losing consciousness.

With the original body's meager Luck stat of only 3 points, even while unconscious, he had not dared to let go of Ran Qingmo.

However, now that they had successfully entered the cave, Xu Yuan released her, rubbed his temples, and explained softly:

"My apologies, it was a necessity."

Ran Qingmo shook her head, her clear, beautiful eyes gazing into Xu Yuan's:

"Thank you."

Her expression of gratitude was sincere and earnest.

Yet, Xu Yuan was taken aback by this inexplicable thanks.

He did not quite understand why.

But after a moment of reflection, he immediately felt relieved.

The ice-cold woman before him did not know that entering this cave required something as ethereal as Luck.

Perhaps in her eyes, it was precisely because he had held onto her even while falling into a coma that she had been able to enter this cave safely.

Thinking of this, Xu Yuan had no intention of explaining.

Let such a pleasant misunderstanding continue, he thought with a chuckle.

With a faint smile, Xu Yuan raised his eyes to look at her:

"Miss Ran."

As his gaze landed, Xu Yuan's mind suddenly froze.

"..."

She was not wearing her veil.

The black veil she had worn throughout their journey had quietly drifted away when they fell off the cliff.

This was the first time Xu Yuan had seen her without the black veil covering her face.

When words are turned into a first-person perspective, even the most exhaustive descriptions of beauty seem shallow compared to her true face at this moment.

Xu Yuan composed himself and shook his head with a light laugh.

No wonder those novels always described their heroines as being as beautiful as celestial beings; only now did he truly understand.

His gaze returned to a calm state, and looking into her beautiful eyes, Xu Yuan said softly:

"Miss Ran, the words 'thank you' are the most worthless things in this world."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan braced his knees and stood up from the ground, staring at her with a smile:

"We survived, so I won the bet. You now owe me a favor."

Ran Qingmo tilted her head slightly, remaining silent for a moment:

"Very well."

After a pause, she asked softly:

"What do you want me to do?"

Hearing the other party's words, Xu Yuan smiled slightly:

"Keep it for now; there is nothing I need you to do for me at the moment."

Having said that, Xu Yuan withdrew his gaze and turned to scan the surrounding environment.

This appeared to be a mountain cave, with white beads embedded in the inner walls emitting a faint glow, somewhat like the legendary night-luminescent pearls. By the light of these, Xu Yuan was able to make out most of the cave's layout.

The cave dwelling was not large; using the units of measurement from his previous life, it was only about twenty square meters.

A pool of water and a circular jade bed with a diameter of ten feet were all that occupied the space.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan's brows began to furrow.

The size of the cave and the presence of the jade bed and water pool were exactly as he had expected.

However, Where was the large golden treasure chest that should have been beside the head of the bed?

All the fortuitous encounters in this cave were supposed to be inside that chest!

"What is wrong?"

Ran Qingmo seemed to have sensed the change in his breathing, her crisp voice drifting over softly.

Xu Yuan composed himself, steadied his breathing, and replied casually:

"Nothing. I just discovered that my memory seems to have developed some issues."

"Oh." Upon hearing this, Ran Qingmo said no more and continued to sit cross-legged with her eyes closed to regulate her breath.

Xu Yuan walked toward the jade bed at the innermost part of the cave.

Calming down, he reasoned that the disappearance of the treasure chest must be a result of the world's automatic self-correction.

If a gaudy, golden treasure chest were to appear inside such a mysterious cave, it would clearly look out of place.

Since it had been verified that this cave dwelling lured people in based on their karmic fortune, the items placed here in Cangyuan could not possibly have vanished.

Walking up to the jade bed, Xu Yuan lowered his eyes to examine the large circular piece.

The bed frame was pure white, resembling fine jade, and emitted a faint, ghostly luminescence.

There was no bedding on the bed, but there were two rectangular pillows; the only place on the bed where something could be hidden was beneath them.

After a moment of hesitation, Xu Yuan slowly reached out his hand and grabbed one of the pillows.

The pillow felt slightly cold to the touch, as if made of black ice.

After moving the pillow aside, sure enough, Xu Yuan saw an extremely archaic black ring underneath.

Upon seeing this object, Xu Yuan immediately realized what it was.

A Na Ring, a Sumeru Ring, or in other words, a storage ring.

Xu Yuan had never expected to see such an item in this place; he suddenly felt that the world's automatic self-correction could be quite beneficial at times.

Unlike some other cultivation worlds where everyone had a storage ring, in this world, a Sumeru Ring was a top-tier treasure.

One could see this from the fact that even a great expert like Ran Qingmo had to make do with a simple satchel to carry her belongings.

The official guidebook had provided an explanation for this.

It was a very simple principle:

A Sumeru Ring involves the manipulation of space.

If Sumeru Rings were as common as dirt, wouldn't that imply that any random blacksmith was a master of spatial arts?

Regardless, under the world's self-correction, replacing that "golden treasure chest" with a Sumeru Ring was truly an unexpected delight.

Xu Yuan reached out, gripped the archaic black Sumeru Ring in his palm, and grinned.

But the smile quickly faded.

The treasure was good, but he couldn't use it.

A Sumeru Ring required Origin Qi to activate, and he was currently nothing more than an ordinary person.

Taking a deep breath, Xu Yuan casually tossed the Sumeru Ring to Ran Qingmo, who was sitting nearby.

Ran Qingmo caught it and lowered her gaze to look at it. Having seen similar items at her master's place, she recognized what the ring was at a glance.

Yet, even with such a top-tier treasure in her hand, her eyes remained unchanged, merely looking at Xu Yuan with a hint of confusion.

She did not understand why Xu Yuan would throw the Sumeru Ring to her.

Meeting her gaze, Xu Yuan smiled slightly and said softly:

"Inside are medicines to heal your wounds, as well as some things from my previous life. I cannot retrieve them right now, so I must trouble you to help me."