Of course I knew

"Why were you waiting by the door?"

Carrying a bag of fruit, Lin Zhishui opened the door and stepped inside. He found his Little Snake standing right at the entrance. He was about to tease her for being greedy when he noticed that her eyes were distinctly red, and she had changed clothes.

He froze for a moment.

I'd only been out for half an hour. Why had she been crying?

And what was with the change of clothes?

Just as he was about to ask what had happened, She Xilu suddenly took two steps forward and wrapped both arms tightly around his waist. Pressing her forehead against his chest, she leaned silently into his embrace, as though they had not seen each other in ages.

What was wrong?

Lin Zhishui was a little stunned, but all he could do was hold her gently and pat her back. "Don't be scared. I'm here," he said softly.

At a time like this, it was better not to ask why just yet. He would comfort her first.

"I... I'm scared..." She Xilu's lips trembled, and her eyes reddened again.

She did not know what had come over her either. She had clearly prepared herself earlier, but now, seeing Lin Zhishui and remembering how close she had come to never seeing him again, she felt so frightened in hindsight that she wanted to cry.

It was like suddenly seeing the most important person in her life again after narrowly escaping death. Her emotional defenses crumbled in an instant.

"Don't worry. I'm right here," Lin Zhishui reassured her softly.

She Xilu was about to speak when Youchan's cold voice, threaded with serpentine hisses, rang out in her mind:

"He should be just a mortal. You can't tell him the truth. 'It' is one with the Heavenly Heart, lurking deep within the consciousnesses of countless mortals. Once he learns about us, 'it' will know too, and 'it' might find us."

Youchan's words were like a bucket of ice water poured over She Xilu's head, bringing her instantly to her senses.

Although she did not know about these things, she had written this setting into her book.

It was the great calamity brought upon the world by the Outer Demons. The Heavenly Dao itself was the world's great consciousness, but during the calamity, part of it had been corrupted by the Great Outer-Demon Consciousness. Using mortal lives as its eyes, the Great Outer-Demon Consciousness unleashed countless Outer Demon disasters, cutting off the path of cultivation in the mortal world.

Once a cultivator was discovered by a mortal, death was all but certain!

Even though she had only written a few vague details for the ending, if her novel had arisen from memories of a past life, those details should be true.

Now that Youchan had awakened, they were two souls in one body, so she no longer counted as a mortal being. If Lin Zhishui found out, then...

She Xilu's heart trembled.

She took a deep breath, hesitated, and slowly lifted her head. Closing her eyes, she kissed Lin Zhishui on the lips, then quickly lowered her head again. Her heart raced as she nestled against his chest and stammered, "I... I'm fine. I just... just wanted... wanted to ask... the peach... yes, the... the peach. Where did it come from?"

"You're stammering again..." Youchan's helpless voice sounded in her mind.

She Xilu felt a little aggrieved. The moment she saw Lin Zhishui, she went soft. Add lying to the mix, and she suddenly could barely speak again.

"The peach?"

Lin Zhishui paused and looked down at She Xilu. Her whole face was buried against his chest, as though she did not dare look up, so he could not tell what expression she wore.

Still, she had clearly been crying, and she had suddenly brought up the peach as soon as he returned... He had not said much before going out, either. Over their meal, he had only mentioned a newcomer at the shop named Yan Shanshui...

Hmm?

So that was it... Lin Zhishui suddenly understood.

Little Snake was a thoughtful, sensitive girl who liked to keep her pain hidden. She had probably already been terribly jealous during their meal and had simply forced herself to smile. He had not paid much attention at the time.

After he went out, when Little Snake reached into his bag for the peach, she had probably found something in there-

He remembered that his bag still held a packet of tissues Yan Shanshui had given him the day before yesterday. Only a young girl would use that pink packaging and perfumed scent. He had accepted it without thinking much of it at the time. Little Snake had probably found that packet of tissues.

With Little Snake's ability to make connections and imagine things, once she discovered that there was only one peach, she might even have suspected it was a token of affection from Yan Shanshui.

All those things added up, so... she had cried?

And she was stammering this badly, which clearly meant she was lying. She was asking about the peach as a pretext; what she really wanted to know was whether he had cheated on her.

Yes, that was almost certainly it. Otherwise, there was no explaining why she would cry.

He understood his Little Snake very well. With his unparalleled powers of deduction on top of that, figuring out the truth was easy enough, wasn't it?

Ah, this was my fault for being so inattentive.

Lin Zhishui sighed inwardly, then said, "Silly girl, don't overthink it. I bought this Lesser Immortal Peach myself. They're rather rare, though, and there were only three left at the time. I ate one, gave one to an old man who was dying, and saved the last one especially for you."

He had not actually bought the Lesser Immortal Peaches, but he could hardly say Cheng Qiyue had given them to him, could he?

There was already Yan Shanshui, a beautiful girl with long legs. If he added a cool, androgynously dressed high school beauty to the mix, Little Snake would probably start crying again.

"You... you bought it?" Little Snake froze, then looked up at him.

This was a Lesser Immortal Peach, which could only grow in the Heavenly Realm. It could not survive in the mortal world, where there was not enough immortal energy. Where could he possibly have bought it?

Could some exalted immortal have deliberately sold it to Lin Zhishui?

Youchan immediately said in her mind, "Ask him where he bought it."

"Of course." Lin Zhishui lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "I know what you're like. How could I ever overlook you?"

She Xilu murmured an acknowledgment and lowered her head, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Where did you buy it...?"

Lin Zhishui smiled smoothly and naturally. "From a regular customer at my shop. Old Cheng, the one I told you about before. Actually, I wouldn't really call it buying them. I gave him a piece of calligraphy, and he gave me a few peaches in return. Ah, I really got the short end of that deal. Still, the peaches tasted pretty good, didn't they?"

Meanwhile, he thought to himself, Good thing I never told her Old Cheng had passed away. He made the perfect cover. Now the dead couldn't contradict me.

"Old Cheng? You mean Old Master Cheng from that wealthy Cheng Family you mentioned last time?" She Xilu asked.

"Yes, that's him." Lin Zhishui nodded with a smile.

"Old Cheng?"

Youchan quietly repeated the name in She Xilu's mind, then said, "Since it's a wealthy family in the mortal world, it should be easy to investigate. Look into this Old Cheng when you get the chance."

Now that they had a lead, they could follow it. Perhaps they would discover which exalted immortal was behind the peach she had been given.

"I'm sorry."

Lin Zhishui slowly lowered his head and rested his forehead against the top of She Xilu's head. Breathing in the fragrance of her hair, he said softly, "I should have explained things clearly beforehand. You must have felt awful earlier..."

Now that he had explained things, it was time to set a romantic mood.

The intimate way he spoke made She Xilu blush bright red.

Youchan, however, froze for a moment in her mind. "Wait, what does he mean by that? How did he know your head hurt earlier? Explain things beforehand? Did he know my Primordial Spirit would awaken after you ate the Lesser Immortal Peach?"

"You knew?" She Xilu asked in astonishment.

She was still unsure whether Lin Zhishui really was a mortal, so she did not dare say it outright.

"Of course I knew. You're my favorite Little Snake."

Seizing the opportunity, Lin Zhishui launched an offensive of sweet nothings. "Even though you hide it deep inside, I've long since seen through to who you really are... I know the real you has been sleeping all this time. I also know she's been shutting herself away, only showing a little of herself when you go online. Only after you grow will you let your true self out... I really want you to grow soon too, my Little Snake."

After saying those words he had plagiarized from Han Suxin, he lowered his head and kissed Little Snake on the lips without giving her time to react.

If he didn't take this chance to bring their relationship a step further, when would he?

Little Snake closed her eyes in a daze. Unable to spare any attention for what he had said, she blushed fiercely and lost herself in his tenderness.

Youchan, however, was stunned inside her mind. "What he meant by that... wasn't he saying he knew I existed? He wants you to grow? Is that why he gave you the Lesser Immortal Peach? This..."

Although Lin Zhishui's words had been somewhat veiled, he was clearly saying that he had discovered her existence!

"How could that be... He's clearly a mortal. What's going on?"

Youchan grew increasingly baffled, only to discover that She Xilu had already lost herself completely. Gritting her teeth, she said, "You... this is my body too! Could you show a little restraint? No tongue!"

PS: (Thanks, everyone, for your recommendation votes and tips~)