Cooperation

As the voice fell, Ran Qingmo looked at the handsome and earnest face of the man before her, though her eyes betrayed nothing of what she was currently contemplating.

Xu Yuan did not urge her, waiting quietly for her reply.

No one wanted to die, and he was no exception.

Although the Third Young Master whose body he now inhabited wielded power that could topple the entire Great Yan, distant water could not quench a near thirst.

In his current isolated and helpless situation, the only person Xu Yuan could rely on was the very woman who had kidnapped him: Ran Qingmo.

Everyone else wanted him dead, but she—she was merely holding him for ransom.

After the Flame Spirit Python died, its blood gushed out in torrents. The blood was as scorching as magma, stirring up waves of mist in the cold winter rain and shutting out the bleakness beyond the cave.

Amidst the silence, "Fine, speak."

Ran Qingmo's clear, indifferent voice echoed slowly through the quiet cave.

Xu Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He had truly been afraid that she might strike him with another blow at that moment.

Carefully choosing his words, Xu Yuan looked at her and said softly:

"Master Ran, what I want to say is simple: for the sake of my life, and yours, it is best that we cooperate."

Ran Qingmo watched him silently, waiting for what he would say next.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan continued in a slow, gentle tone:

"I know that speaking like this as a prisoner might be a bit presumptuous, but as you saw just now, Master Ran, if you hadn't intervened, I would already be dead."

He paused, a self-deprecating smile tugging at the corners of his lips:

"I know that because of my father, many people in this world want me dead, but I find it hard to believe that a beast living in the Wanxing Mountain Range would be influenced by him."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan looked into Ran Qingmo's eyes:

"Yet, this python wanted to kill me. Even with its vitals pierced by you, a Flame Spirit Python—a creature inherently terrified of death—still fought to its last breath to kill me."

"Master Ran, don't you find that strange?"

The sound of the lingering rain drifted in, leaving the cave in total stillness.

Ran Qingmo's clear, deep eyes flickered slightly, and she gave a faint nod.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath:

"Someone wants me dead while I am being taken by you."

"If I die here, my father will assume that you were the one who killed me."

He paused, Xu Yuan enunciated each word clearly:

"And you will die as well."

The woman before him, who always appeared in black robes and was as cool and clear as water, was truly strong.

But she was not the only strong person in this world; capturing the son of Xu Changtian and causing his death would be the beginning of her own end.

In Cangyuan, Xu Yuan had actually quite liked the character of Ran Qingmo.

She was essentially half a heroine—"half" because she would always die before the player could develop a romantic bond with her, perishing hastily before she could even remove her veil.

Out of the twenty-five endings in Cangyuan, Ran Qingmo only had one official Easter egg where she escaped overseas, but the prerequisite for achieving it was for the player to actively use cheats.

Only by grinding stats to the cap and forcibly defeating a boss that was impossible for players to beat at that time could one save her.

Xu Yuan had once thought this Easter egg was quite interesting.

A character's fate could change based on the player's choices, but the impact of that change was limited unless one cheated.

But now, he suddenly felt that she and his current host were, in a sense, two of a kind—dying twenty-five times across twenty-five world lines.

Ran Qingmo did not speak, and the eyes visible above her veil showed no emotional fluctuation.

She remained completely unmoved by the death threat Xu Yuan had presented.

Xu Yuan realized that this line of reasoning seemed ineffective on a woman like Ran Qingmo, so he took a breath and changed his approach:

"Master Ran, you captured me because of those forty thousand disciples of the Sword Sect, right?"

Ran Qingmo's gaze shifted, and the warm air in the cave seemed to drop a few degrees.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan understood and continued in a low voice:

"You don't need to look at me like that. I won't ask for your sources, and you don't need to probe how a 'useless' person like me knows this information. We are in the same boat now; digging into it serves no purpose."

The look in Ran Qingmo's eyes softened for a fleeting moment.

Xu Yuan glanced at the giant python carcass outside and said slowly:

"Although I still do not agree with your judgment that capturing me can be used to threaten my father, I think that even if you want to threaten him, you at least shouldn't show up with a corpse, right?"

"..."

Ran Qingmo fell silent for two seconds. From beneath the black veil covering her face came her crisp, clear voice:

"But, you have no Qi."

Xu Yuan was stunned upon hearing this, but after a moment of thought, he understood what she meant.

In this extraordinary world, having no Qi was synonymous with being an ordinary person.

And to a cultivator at Ran Qingmo's level, an ordinary person was almost no different from an ant.

If a third party were truly bold enough to strike at Xu Yuan in her presence, their strength would naturally be formidable.

Once she began fighting them, the mere shockwaves would be enough to kill Xu Yuan a hundred times over.

Since she was already tasked with protecting him, there was no need for any form of cooperation.

Xu Yuan had no intention of intervening in the fight anyway. He smiled and asked in a low voice:

"Do you have a map of the Wanxing Mountain Range?"

Ran Qingmo blinked, turned around, and rummaged through a pack in the deepest part of the cave. She walked back with a roll of parchment and handed it to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged, spread the parchment out by the campfire, and scanned the map by the flickering light.

The moment he saw the map, Xu Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Although there were some discrepancies in the details, this map was largely consistent with the map of the Wanxing Mountain Range in the game Cangyuan.

After a pause, Xu Yuan beckoned to Ran Qingmo, signaling for her to sit down as well:

"As long as you can confirm where we are, I can provide a place for us to hide."

Ran Qingmo slowly lifted the hem of her black dress and sat down beside Xu Yuan, though her gaze remained wary.

Xu Yuan realized the impropriety in his words.

Even if she was a bit dense, Ran Qingmo was certainly not stupid.

Lowering his eyes to the map and deliberating for a moment, Xu Yuan said casually:

"I know my father's men must be searching for me in the Wanxing Mountain Range right now, but you don't need to worry too much.

"I cannot contact them, and in front of a cultivator like you, everything I do is transparent; there is no need to worry about me leaving any marks.

"On the contrary, if you continue to drag me aimlessly through this mountain range, we are much more likely to be discovered."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan turned his head to meet her serene eyes, his voice still somewhat hoarse:

"You can mask your aura, but I cannot."

Like many extraordinary worlds, cultivators here could track people using their energy signatures.

Ran Qingmo's eyes showed she was deep in thought for a long time, but eventually, she nodded gently and said very earnestly:

"I will watch you."

Xu Yuan smiled slightly, "As you wish."

After saying this, Xu Yuan turned his gaze back to the spread-out map and said softly:

"When I was a child, my father brought me and my two brothers to this Wanxing Mountain Range. He has a hidden cave dwelling here filled with cultivation resources, enough for the two of us to live there for a very long time."

This was a fabrication by Xu Yuan; his cheap father had no idea about this treasure trove, but that didn't stop him from pinning the blame on the man.

In any case, it was impossible for Ran Qingmo to confront the man to verify the truth.

Ran Qingmo's dark brows furrowed slightly at his words, her voice cold: "Your father knows about it too?"

Xu Yuan had already prepared his response and replied nonchalantly:

"My father has to hold down the Imperial Capital right now; he cannot come to find me himself, and his subordinates could not possibly know of that place. Besides, even if they knew of that cave, Miss Ran, what are the odds they would go there to look for me?"

"..." Ran Qingmo remained silent.

Xu Yuan tapped lightly on the parchment:

"Alright, point out where we are, and then let's get moving as soon as possible."

Ran Qingmo nodded slightly at his words, her beautiful eyes lowering.

But after staring at the map for a long while, she hesitated before extending a slender, jade-like finger to point at a spot.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan's narrow eyes narrowed slightly.

That was quite close.

Before he could even feel happy, The next moment, He then saw that slender, delicate finger move once more, tapping on the other side.

Then three more spots, and a fourth.

"..."

Xu Yuan looked up in silence, words hovering on the tip of his tongue.

The firelight flickered, and they stared at each other in silence.

Ran Qingmo averted her gaze and whispered:

"I—I don't know."