With that, the young woman steeled herself, bit her lower lip with pearly teeth, grabbed the sword hilt, and began channeling Dharma Power into the spirit sword.
But Mo Chen's next words left her utterly embarrassed.
"I came to bring you spirit fruit, fellow Daoist, yet you have quite the temper, calling for a duel the moment you open your mouth."
As he spoke, Mo Chen swept his sleeve. The spirit fruits scattered on the ground bounced up, gathered beside the woman, and hovered in a cluster.
Seeing Mo Chen's youthful appearance and easygoing manner, the woman felt he did not seem like a bad person.
After a moment's hesitation, she put away her Flying Sword with an apologetic expression and gathered the cluster of spirit fruits into her arms.
"Thank you for the trouble, fellow Daoist. I thought some bandit had come here..."
The woman bowed as she spoke.
Mo Chen returned her greeting with a smile. His gaze passed over the obviously oversized men's robe with broad sleeves she wore, and he teased:
"I see you're wearing a man's broad-sleeved robe, and your Storage Bag bears a Kui Dragon pattern. There must be a male cultivator here as well! And... is your surname Wu?"
Mo Chen glanced at her waist token again. A character meaning "Wu" was indeed carved on it.
Hearing his words, the woman surnamed Wu neither concealed it nor put her token away.
"Heh, you have sharp eyes, fellow Daoist. You spotted my waist token at once."
With that, the woman surnamed Wu bowed to Mo Chen with the spirit fruits in her arms, then turned to leave.
She had only taken two steps when, hearing no footsteps behind her, she looked back in confusion.
"Why aren't you leaving, fellow Daoist? This valley is dangerous.