Her True Face

A drop of clear water fell slowly from a stalactite on the cave ceiling.

"Drip."

It splashed into the pool, sending ripples across the surface. In the dead silence, even the falling water sounded remarkably clear.

After who knew how long unconscious in the darkness, his awareness gradually seeped back into his body, like clear water flowing into a channel.

Xu Yuan's eyes twitched faintly. A moment later, he slowly opened them.

Perhaps it was the temporary blurriness caused by his prolonged unconsciousness, but he couldn't quite make out the dim surroundings.

Amid the silence, a soft female voice came from beside him:

"You're awake."

"Mm."

Xu Yuan replied in a low voice without thinking. His vision gradually sharpened, and he saw who had spoken.

Ran Qingmo sat quietly beside him, turned slightly to one side.

They were very close. Through their clothes, he could faintly feel the warmth of her jade-like legs.

It was a little strange. He couldn't understand why Ran Qingmo was sitting so close.

His stiff thoughts slowly began to turn, and Xu Yuan pushed himself up from the ground bit by bit.

Then,

he suddenly realized she was sitting so close because he was still gripping her slender wrist.

He held it tightly. Red marks had even appeared on her fair wrist.

As his earlier memories came flooding back, Xu Yuan recalled that this had been his last stubborn thought before he passed out.

With his original body's astonishing 3 points of fortune, he hadn't dared let go of Ran Qingmo even after losing consciousness.

But now that they had landed precisely inside the cave, Xu Yuan released her, rubbed his brow, and softly explained:

"Sorry. I had no choice."

Ran Qingmo shook her head, her clear, beautiful eyes meeting his.

"Thank you."

Her thanks were sincere and earnest.

Xu Yuan, however, was taken aback by this sudden expression of gratitude.

He didn't understand why she was thanking him.

But after a moment's thought, he soon understood.

The Big Ice Block before him didn't know that entering this cave dwelling required the intangible thing known as fortune.

Perhaps, in her eyes, it was because he had clung to her even while unconscious that she had made it into the cave safely, too.

Thinking this, Xu Yuan had no intention of explaining.

Let this lovely misunderstanding continue, hehe.

He smiled faintly and raised his eyes to look at her.

"Mr. Ran?"

At the sight of her, Xu Yuan's mind suddenly went blank.

"..."

She wasn't wearing a veil.

The black veil she had worn all this time had quietly blown away when they fell off the cliff.

This was the first time Xu Yuan had seen her without it.

When the narrative shifted to the first person, no amount of words could do justice to the beauty described. Yet before her true face, all those descriptions seemed shallow.

Xu Yuan composed himself and gave a soft, wry smile.

No wonder those novels always described their heroines as breathtaking beauties. Only now did he truly understand.

His gaze settled back into calmness. Looking at her beautiful eyes, Xu Yuan spoke softly:

"Mr. Ran, 'thank you' are the most worthless words in the world."

As he spoke,

Xu Yuan braced his hands on his knees and stood up, watching her with a smile.

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

Ran Qingmo raised her head slightly and fell silent for a moment.

"Fine."

After a pause, she asked softly:

"What do you want me to do?"

At her words, Xu Yuan smiled faintly.

"Keep it for now. I don't have anything I need you to do for me yet."

With that, Xu Yuan looked away and surveyed the surroundings.

This seemed to be a cave. Some white beads embedded in its walls gave off a faint glow. They resembled the luminous pearls of legend, and by their light, Xu Yuan could make out most of the cave.

The cave dwelling wasn't very large. In the units of measurement from his previous life, it was probably only about twenty square meters.

A pool of water and a round jade bed, one zhang in diameter, made up the entire place.

Xu Yuan's brows slowly knitted together at the sight.

The cave's size, along with the appearance of the jade bed and the pool, had all been within his expectations.

But,

where was the huge golden treasure chest beside the head of the bed?

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

"Is something wrong?"

Ran Qingmo seemed to have noticed the change in his breathing. Her clear voice reached him softly.

Xu Yuan collected himself and steadied his breathing, replying casually:

"Nothing. I just realized there might be something wrong with my memory."

"Oh." Ran Qingmo said no more and continued sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, regulating her breathing.

Xu Yuan walked toward the jade bed at the very back of the cave.

After calming down, he figured the chest's disappearance was probably the world's way of filling in the details.

A glittering golden treasure chest in such a mysterious cave would clearly seem out of place.

Since he had already confirmed that the cave drew people in according to their fortune, there was no way the things Cangyuan had placed here would simply disappear.

Standing before the jade bed, Xu Yuan lowered his eyes to examine the round platform.

The bed was pure white all over, like white jade, and gave off a faint glow.

There were no quilts or anything of the sort, but there were two rectangular pillows. The only place on the bed where anything could be hidden was underneath them.

After hesitating briefly, Xu Yuan slowly reached out and grabbed a pillow.

It felt cold in his hand, like black ice.

He moved the pillow aside and, just as expected, found an exceedingly ancient-looking black ring beneath it.

The moment he saw it, Xu Yuan realized what it was.

A storage ring, a Sumeru Ring—or simply, a spatial ring.

Xu Yuan had never imagined he would find one here. Suddenly, he felt that the world's way of filling in details could be quite useful at times.

Unlike certain other cultivation worlds, where everyone seemed to have a storage ring,

in this world, Sumeru Rings were supreme treasures.

One need only look at a great expert like Ran Qingmo, who still had to carry her things in a travel pouch, to see as much.

The formula book had offered an explanation for this.

It was a simple matter of logic:

Sumeru Rings involved cutting through space.

If they were common as dirt, wouldn't that mean any random blacksmith was a spatial master?

Regardless, with the world filling in the details, having the "golden treasure chest" replaced by a Sumeru Ring was a pleasant surprise.

Xu Yuan picked up the ancient black Sumeru Ring and held it in his palm, grinning.

But the grin soon faded.

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

A Sumeru Ring needed Source Qi to activate, and he was still 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 eyes to inspect it. She had seen something similar at her master's place, so she recognized the ring at a glance.

But even with such a supreme treasure in her hand, her expression didn't change. She merely looked at Xu Yuan with a hint of confusion.

She couldn't understand why he had tossed her the Sumeru Ring.

Xu Yuan met her gaze and smiled faintly, speaking softly:

"There's medicine inside to treat your injuries, along with some of my things from when I was alive. I can't take them out right now, so I'll need your help."

There'll be another update later. Barring any surprises, there'll be two updates every day from now on.

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ONZ