Kunpeng Wings Successfully Cultivated

"Look what good thing I caught."

"Smack!"

"Get lost! You dare snatch my stuff?"

"I found her first."

"Bullshit, she's mine."

"Get back here, you stinking bitch! You actually dare run?"

Die suddenly jolted awake from her dream. She glanced around and found the cave shrouded in darkness. Even the campfire had gone out.

Then she realized she was holding a warm, sturdy body.

With every breath, she was filled with the scent of the man in her arms.

"Ah, how could I have fallen asleep?"

Die reproachfully smacked her forehead, then checked Chen Mo in front of her. His temperature had returned to normal.

Die immediately breathed a sigh of relief. By the faint light, she examined the wound on his back and found that the blade wound had begun healing without becoming infected.

Die wiped away the cold sweat on her forehead from the nightmare, a faint smile appearing on her face.

She stopped holding Chen Mo. Seeing that he had not awakened, she left the cave.

Finding a spot somewhere in the canyon, she clasped her hands together and gazed at the bright moon overhead, murmuring, "Who exactly am I?"

Somewhere in the desert.

Inside a tavern built upon a sheer cliff.

"Even the renowned Ice Emperor failed to find the whereabouts of that Snake-Woman?"

The room's lamplight flickered. The speaker was a fat middle-aged man dressed in a lavish brocade robe, his face covered in flesh. He wore a smile, but it seemed more like a sneer.

"The Snake-Woman was rescued. I followed the clues south for a day, but found no trace of her," Hai Bo Dong said.

"Oh, she was rescued? Someone could actually save her from under the hands of the Ice Emperor?" The man's smile became even more mocking.

"She was taken away before I arrived. I only came to tell you that. Don't worry. Within the two deadlines stipulated in the contract, I will bring you the Snake-Woman in the portrait."

Hai Bo Dong frowned slightly. As he turned to leave, he added, "Speak to me like that again, and I'll twist off your head and use it as a piss pot, even if you're a partner of the Mite'er Family."

As soon as he finished speaking, a wine jug on the middle-aged fat man's table instantly froze into ice.

The middle-aged fat man shuddered and was so frightened that he could not say a word.

Not long after Hai Bo Dong left.

A black shadow darted through the window into the middle-aged fat man's room.

The middle-aged fat man was about to call for someone when the shadow spoke. "Where are they?"

The middle-aged fat man froze. Seeing that the shadow wore a white mask, he said, "You look unfamiliar, honored guest. What do you mean by that?"

"Whoosh!"

Before he could finish, the shadow flicked a hand, and a portrait appeared before him.

Realizing that this person was connected to the employer, he said, "Why isn't the person who usually contacts me here?"

"I'll ask one more time. Where is she?"

The middle-aged man did not get angry. "The goods are on the way. Besides, the time we agreed upon has not yet arrived. Please wait a little longer, honored guest."

"Tell me their location."

"Ah, that would be against the rules." The middle-aged fat man turned his chair around, facing his back to the shadow, and spread his hands. "The man I hired is the highest-priced expert in the Jia Ma Empire, with not a single failed job on record. However..."

Changing his tone, the middle-aged fat man turned his chair back around. Smiling greedily, he said, "If you're willing to add another twenty Snake-Woman servants, then perhaps I'll reconsider."

The shadow nodded slightly.

Seeing this, the middle-aged fat man burst into laughter, the fat on his face jiggling as he said:

"Straightforward. A small accident happened during the day. The Snake-Woman was rescued, but rest assured, honored guest, we'll send more people to find her. Once we find her, we'll notify you immediately."

Hearing this, the brows behind the mask furrowed. The fist clenched beneath the black robe loosened as the figure said, "Once you find her, I'll bring what you want."

With that, the figure leaped out through the window.

"Someone!"

"What is it, boss?"

"Get out there and search! Find me the whereabouts of the Snake-Woman in this portrait."

"Yes."

When Chen Mo woke from his unconsciousness, a faint, needle-like pain ran throughout his body.

Chen Mo opened his eyes and immediately sensed that something was wrong. Looking down, he suddenly found two slender arms wrapped around him, with a soft pressure against his back.

Chen Mo paused slightly. He raised his arm, intending to move Die's hand from his waist, but she had not been sleeping deeply. The moment Chen Mo placed his hand over hers, Die woke up.

For a moment, both of them froze.

Although Chen Mo could not see Die, he could still tell whether she had awakened.

"Cough, cough." Chen Mo gave a dry cough and released Die's hand, so she would not think he was taking advantage of her. "Um, I need to get up."

"Ah... okay."

Die jerked in surprise. She had not felt anything last night, but now that he was awake, she looked again and instantly blushed deeply. She hurriedly let go of Chen Mo and stood up.

But when she saw the wound on Chen Mo's back, she bent down and reached out again. "I-I'll help you up."

"Alright." Chen Mo did not stand on ceremony.

Die helped Chen Mo to his feet. When he turned around and their eyes met, Die instantly lowered her head, her face turning even redder.

She did not know what she had been thinking. After sorting through her thoughts last night and returning to the cave, she had somehow been compelled to embrace Chen Mo again.

Ding! Favorability +1. Received one Favorability Coin.

Chen Mo: "???"

To ease the awkwardness in her heart, Die pointed at Chen Mo's back. "Y-you suddenly have two tattoos on your back. They look like golden wings."

It had been too dark for Die to notice last night. Only when she woke up just now did she discover that Chen Mo had two palm-sized golden tattoos on his back.

"Golden wings?" Chen Mo was startled, but then he recalled the Kunpeng Wings he had cultivated last night and murmured, "Could it be the Kunpeng Wings?"

Chen Mo inspected himself internally and found that two tiny branch meridians had opened on his back. The Dou Qi in his body moved with his will and flowed into those newly opened branch meridians.

As Dou Qi flowed into them, the golden wing tattoos immediately released a faint golden radiance, eventually transforming into wings with tangible form.

Moreover, the golden feathered wings expanded from palm-sized to nearly a foot across.

"Y-you grew wings!!!"

Die was stunned, covering her red lips with her fair hand.

Having lost her memories, she could not yet understand such things.

"This is a flying Dou Technique!"

Chen Mo curiously examined the pair of golden wings. Their feathers resembled flames. With a gentle flap under his control, a faint buoyant force emerged beneath him.

It lifted Chen Mo's body one centimeter off the ground.

Chen Mo tried to fly a little higher, but his flight was somewhat clumsy. He needed more practice.

Chen Mo grinned. From now on, he finally had a means to save his life.