"Why do you think I have to want something from you to be good to you?"
The girl's simple question left Xiao frozen in place.
His past as a slave had made Xiao reluctant to trust others.
After becoming the Three-Eyed Five-Manifestation Immortal, Xiao had met countless people seeking the adepti over thousands of years, and every one of them had wanted something from him.
That had only deepened his disbelief that anyone would give without expecting anything in return.
Yet the girl's question struck the depths of his soul like a sledgehammer.
He wanted to refute her, but as he carefully thought back, he realized that aside from asking him to teach her the Skyward Freedom Technique at the very beginning, she really hadn't asked him for anything.
With her power and resources, the girl could easily have obtained a life of wealth, leisure, and widespread admiration if she wanted.
Yet for these fifteen days, she had stayed with him, clearing out evil spirits, eating and sleeping in the wilderness.
Every night, the soul-soothing chimes of bells and the sound of chanting would ring out, calming his restless soul and steadying his unsettled mind.
He couldn't understand it. They had only just met. Why would she go so far for him without asking for anything?
"Human thinking is truly strange. Incomprehensible!"
After a long silence, Xiao left her with those words, turned away, and went back to watching the rain.
But this time, the sound of rain could not soothe the tangled thoughts in his heart.
For all that he kept calling Ellin a mortal or a human to her face, he didn't actually regard her as human at all.
He could sense a powerful aura of wind around Ellin.
Over the past dozen days or so, he had