“Really... truly?”

Tushan Jingci lifted her face slightly, blinking as she looked at Xiao Mo. Her gaze was a little dazed, yet brimming with expectation.

“Xiao Mo, you really aren’t lying to me?”

The young girl sought confirmation from the boy before her, as though afraid she might be deceived.

“Really.” Xiao Mo smiled faintly, his tone gentle but certain. “That is, if the art of deduction in Great Dream of Yellow Millet hasn’t deceived me.”

“Good... then I’ll wait for you. You’re not allowed to break your word!” Tushan Jingci stretched out her slender little finger straight toward him, her eyes carrying a childlike seriousness. “Let’s hook fingers.”

“I would not dare break my word.” Xiao Mo smiled and reached out his hand.

One little finger, broad and one slender, lightly hooked together.

A moment later, Xiao Mo released the girl’s finger and stepped back.

“Young Lady, it’s getting late. I should take my leave now. During this time, please take good care of yourself.”

“I... I’ll wait for you...”

Tushan Jingci pressed one hand lightly to her chest, her beautiful eyes fixed straight on Xiao Mo, as if she wanted to carve his appearance into her heart bit by bit.

Xiao Mo smiled and nodded. He straightened his sleeves, gave Tushan Jingci a deep bow, then turned and slowly departed.

Tushan Jingci remained standing where she was, her gaze clinging tightly to the figure receding farther and farther away.

Unconsciously, she took a step forward, as if she wanted to chase after him.

But in the end, she stopped.

When Xiao Mo’s figure gradually shrank to a tiny dot, the girl could not help rising onto her toes, lifting her chin slightly as she strained to look into the distance.

Even after that tiny dot had completely vanished beyond the edge of her sight, she still stared in that direction.

Only after a very, very long time did she bite her lip lightly and slowly withdraw her gaze.

“Sister Yueshi...”

Her voice carried the faintest trace of a tremor.

“Will Xiao Mo’s seclusion this time be dangerous?”

Yueshi quietly glanced at her Young Lady and gently shook her head.

“Whether human or demon, whenever one goes into seclusion to cultivate, some degree of risk is unavoidable.”

The moment those words fell, Tushan Jingci lowered her head, and the worry in her expression deepened even further.

“But please rest easy, Young Lady.” Seeing her mistress like this, even Yueshi could not help feeling a little ache in her heart. “I believe Xiao Mo will definitely emerge from seclusion safely. Since he promised the Young Lady, then he will certainly do it.”

“Mm...”

Tushan Jingci lifted her head again and looked toward the direction in which Xiao Mo had disappeared.

“He said he would never lie to me.”

“Since he promised me...”

“then he definitely won’t break his word.”

...

After descending Elementary Learning Peak, Xiao Mo went to Liu Family Village.

He had originally meant to let Liu Shui know that in the future she need not keep coming to his courtyard to wash his clothes and cook for him.

But unexpectedly, Liu Shui was not at home.

Xiao Mo asked one of the nearby neighbors and only then learned that she and her mother were selling goods in the market and would not be back until later.

So Xiao Mo wrote a letter and asked the neighbor to pass it on to Liu Shui for him, then turned and returned to his bamboo courtyard.

Once back in the bamboo courtyard, the first thing Xiao Mo did was take out a series of formation flags from his storage pouch and carefully plant them one by one around the courtyard.

These flags could help him gather the spiritual power of heaven and earth, and they also served as a warning to some extent.

Even so, if Xiao Mo were to enter a full seclusion state and those formation flags tried to rouse him, the interruption to his cultivation would still injure him.

But whatever the case, having them was better than not.

After finishing all his preparations, Xiao Mo swallowed several pills to replenish spiritual power and vitality and blood, then sat cross-legged in the center of the courtyard, quietly regulating the spiritual power within him so that he could face the coming seclusion in the best possible condition.

The whole night slipped by in silence.

The sun rose, and a pale wash of white spread across the far horizon.

Xiao Mo slowly opened his eyes.

Xian Xichun had already arrived outside the bamboo courtyard.

Brushing his blue robe smooth, he sat cross-legged atop a green stone and gave Xiao Mo a slight nod.

“I’ve troubled Master Xian.”

Xiao Mo spoke softly, then closed his eyes once more.

The instant Xiao Mo entered meditation, a breeze stirred through the bamboo grove, filling it with a fine rustling sound.

A squirrel in the grove lifted its head and curiously looked toward the human sitting with closed eyes in the courtyard, then suddenly sprang away into the distance.

An aura of resonance of the Way drifted from Xiao Mo’s body, gradually gathering into a long river of dao resonance.

Black and white wove together into twin yin-yang fish, which leapt up within that river of dao resonance, then fell back into it with a splash, again and again in endless cycle.

“He’s only in the Dragon Gate Realm, yet his first true seclusion can already trigger a Daoist phenomenon like this.”

Xian Xichun nodded in satisfaction, a trace of praise in his eyes.

“This young man truly is exceptional...”

Before his words had even fully fallen, Xian Xichun’s divine sense moved, and a long sword dropped into his palm.

With a shift of thought, the blade was out of its sheath in the next instant, and a flash of sword light tore through the air.

Deep in the bamboo grove, a man in black dropped out of midair and crashed onto the soft earth, blood spreading out to stain the newly sprouted bamboo shoots and the damp soil red.

“This matter has nothing to do with Master Xian. Must Master truly interfere?”

In the empty bamboo grove, a voice sounded faintly from somewhere unseen, neither male nor female, its words steeped in cold killing intent and piercing chill.

“I don’t care how much Tushan paid you,” Xian Xichun said calmly, though his tone carried an authority that admitted no challenge. “Before he comes out of seclusion, if any of you want to touch him, you’ll have to get past this sword of mine first.”

The moment the words fell, Xian Xichun swung his sword again.

The person hiding in the dark and speaking just now had their pupils contract sharply.

But by the time they reacted, it was already too late.

The sword light passed through their body and split it cleanly in two.

“I may have spent centuries reading books and centuries cultivating my temper,” Xian Xichun said as he reversed the blade and drove the sword straight into the earth beside him, then tipped back his head and took a drink. “But that doesn’t mean I no longer have a temper.”

His gaze swept coldly across the surrounding bamboo grove.

“Anyone not afraid to die is welcome to try!”

...

Master Xian’s voice echoed through the bamboo grove, then gradually faded away.

Silence filled the area.

For a long, long time, no one answered.

After a while, the bamboo stalks began to tremble slightly. Every shadow hidden in the dark retreated soundlessly, and even the bodies of their companions were taken with them.

“That little courage, and they call themselves assassins? Laughable.”

Xian Xichun gave a cold laugh, tipped his head back, and went on drinking from the jug in his hand.

“But then again...”

Xian Xichun raised his head and looked toward the road leading halfway up the mountain, and a smile tugged at his lips.

“The one who shouldn’t have come is here. As for the one who should have come... when will that one arrive?”

“Sister Yueshi...”

In the courtyard early that morning, Tushan Jingci had gotten up at daybreak and was already tugging at Yueshi’s arm.

“Just let me go down the mountain...”

“Sister Yueshi...”

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