Chapter 602: Chapter 490: Xiao Mo, When Will You Wake Up?

"Eh? Sister Liu Shui, you’re leaving?"

Tushan Jing Ci said, surprised.

"Yes."

Liu Shui nodded gently, a hint of resignation in her expression.

"My second uncle started a rather large business over in Ironhawk City, in the Liang Kingdom. He’s been short on trustworthy relatives lately, so he wrote to us. My mother is insisting on going to see him, saying she has to go and help. I have no other choice but to go with her."

It was true that Liu Shui’s second uncle had struck it rich.

But Liu Shui knew in her heart that her mother’s insistence on going to rely on her second uncle wasn’t just about living a better life. The more important reason was that her uncle had mentioned in his letter that there were a few good families there and he wanted to arrange a marriage for her.

Her mother’s heart was set the moment she heard, and she was determined to take her daughter to have a look.

Liu Shui couldn’t win an argument against her mother.

However, Liu Shui had secretly made up her mind. After she rejected those young masters to their faces, if her mother still insisted on her getting married, then she would have no choice but to reveal the truth that she was a Cultivator.

She hadn’t said anything before because she didn’t want to create a sense of distance with her mother.

In the minds of most mortals, it seemed that once a person set foot on the path of cultivation, they became a lofty "Immortal." It was as if a daughter was no longer a daughter, a son no longer a son. Everything changed.

She was worried her mother would be the same.

"Then, Sister Liu Shui... about when will you be able to come back?" Tushan Jing Ci asked softly, her eyes filled with reluctance to see her go.

"I don’t know how long it will be." Liu Shui smiled faintly, her tone gentle. "Once everything over there is settled, I’ll come back to visit you, Miss."

"Alright..."

Tushan Jing Ci lowered her gaze, unconcealable disappointment in her eyes.

She was silent for a moment, then took a sachet she always carried from her sleeve and gently offered it to Liu Shui. "Sister Liu Shui, there are some Spirit Stones and Elixirs in here. It should be enough for your cultivation."

"No, I can’t!" Liu Shui quickly waved her hands, declining with a flustered look. "You and Young Master Xiao have already given me a new lease on life. How could I dare take anything more from you, Miss?"

"It’s fine, Sister Liu Shui. Just take it. It’s not worth much, really." Tushan Jing Ci pushed the sachet into Liu Shui’s hands without taking no for an answer, her tone carrying a girlish pout. "If you don’t take it, I’ll get truly angry—and I’ll never see Sister Liu Shui again."

"This..." Seeing Tushan Jing Ci’s stubborn expression, Liu Shui swallowed the words of refusal on the tip of her tongue and could only accept the sachet. "In the future, I will definitely repay you properly, Miss."

"What are you talking about, Sister Liu Shui?" Tushan Jing Ci’s lips curved into a faint smile. "We’re friends. There’s no need to talk about repaying anything. But you must be careful on your journey, Sister Liu Shui."

"Yes, Miss."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Tushan Jing Ci, Liu Shui bowed, turned, and left.

Tushan Jing Ci stood where she was, quietly watching Liu Shui’s figure recede into the distance.

Even after that figure had completely vanished from sight, she still didn’t look away.

The young woman couldn’t help but gently bite her lip, a small hand unconsciously pressing against her heart.

"Why..."

Her voice was very, very soft, as if she were talking to herself.

’Why am I so reluctant to see Sister Liu Shui go... I don’t want her to leave... but... but why is there a part of me that’s faintly worried that if Sister Liu Shui stays here, she’ll take away the most important thing I have?’

She lowered her head, her innocent little face showing such a complex and conflicted expression for the first time.

’Just... why is that...’

’I feel... so strange...’

...

「The sweltering summer had passed, and autumn had arrived.」

The bamboo leaves in the grove gradually turned a withered yellow. They drifted down gently in the breeze, like countless golden butterflies dancing in the air, before finally settling leisurely beside Xiao Mo.

Before he knew it, Xiao Mo had been in seclusion for half a year.

Tushan Jing Ci came to the bamboo courtyard as usual to help Xiao Mo clean up the fallen leaves.

She bent over, sweeping the yellowed bamboo leaves into a pile in the corner.

As if suddenly struck by a fun idea, Tushan Jing Ci crouched down, picked up a few nicely shaped bamboo leaves, and with a flutter of her nimble fingers, wove them into a small leafy circlet.

She pursed her lips, stifling a giggle, and tiptoed over to Xiao Mo’s side, gently placing the leafy circlet on his head.

Seeing Xiao Mo adorned like this—with a crooked leafy circlet on his head, yet still sitting perfectly still and completely unaware—the young woman couldn’t help but let out a "PFFT" of laughter.

But as she laughed, her eyes couldn’t help but droop, her expression tinged with a faint sense of loss.

"Xiao Mo, when are you going to wake up?"

Tushan Jing Ci sat down beside Xiao Mo, propped her chin in her hands, and gazed at his tranquil face, blinking slowly.

’Although being able to look at Xiao Mo like this every day is already very satisfying...’

’...I also want to talk with him more.’

’Even if it’s just to hear him call me "Miss."’

’Even if it’s just to see him give a small smile.’

’That would be nice, too...’

...

「Several more months passed, and winter arrived quietly.」

The first snow of the year came earlier than usual.

White snow rustled down from the gray sky, falling thick and fast. In just half a day, the entire bamboo forest was painted a pure, snowy white.

A thin layer collected on the bamboo leaves. When the wind blew, the tips of the bamboo stalks would bend slightly, and the accumulated snow would slide off with a SWOOSH, scattering into a white mist that silently melted into the air.

The paths through the forest were no longer discernible, with only the faint sight of shallow depressions winding into the depths. Occasionally, a few spirit birds would FLUTTER up, shaking off a flurry of sleet that sprinkled finely onto the surrounding bamboo stalks, making a very faint rustling sound—a sound so soft it was like winter whispering in one’s ear.

The entire bamboo forest looked as if the goddess of winter had waved her brush and ink, splashing a flawlessly beautiful scroll painting across the world!

In the courtyard, snowflakes as large as goose feathers thickly covered Xiao Mo.

He sat there, unmoving, covered in snow from head to toe. From a distance, he looked just like a silent, waiting snowman.

Meanwhile, Xian Xichun was still sitting on the green boulder.

He had set up a small rack beside him, on which a pot of wine was warming and two plump wild rabbits were roasting. With a book in his hands, he was reading with rapt attention, his expression relaxed and carefree. The aroma of wine and roasted rabbit wafted out of the courtyard.

Just as Xian Xichun was lost in reading "Knowledge and Action Combined," the sound of light footsteps approached from deep within the bamboo forest.

The young woman, having just finished her class at the Book Hall, came running over.

She wore a red jacket. It was a muted vermilion, not glaring, and tailored to fit her perfectly. The satin surface had a faint sheen, and a black trim lined the collar, fitting snugly against her snow-white, swan-like neck.

The jacket cinched at the waist, revealing a slenderness that one could wrap a hand around.

Even this loose-fitting jacket couldn’t seem to hide the young woman’s stunning figure.

Beneath the jacket was a dark green cotton skirt that hung straight down, only hinting at the length of her legs when she walked.

The young woman’s small feet left a series of deep and shallow footprints on the white snow. The hem of her skirt brushed lightly across the ground, stirring up a faint, fragrant breeze.

She ran into the courtyard, not even stopping to catch her breath, and began to gently but continuously pat Xiao Mo with her small, slightly reddened hands, carefully brushing every last bit of accumulated snow from his body.

"Honestly, Teacher, Xiao Mo has turned into a snowman, and you didn’t even help." Tushan Jing Ci complained as she turned her head, still brushing the snow off Xiao Mo. "All you do is watch from outside the courtyard..."

Xian Xichun chuckled and took a slow sip of his warm wine. "He’s not my man. I’m only responsible for his safety, not for taking care of him."

"Hmph."

Tushan Jing Ci turned her head away and ignored her teacher.

She quickly unwrapped the scarf from her neck and carefully wrapped it around Xiao Mo, covering most of his face, which had turned pale from the cold.

She wanted to build a fire around Xiao Mo to warm him up, but Xian Xichun stopped her the moment the thought occurred to her.

The reason was that a fire would interfere with Xiao Mo’s cultivation.

But seeing Xiao Mo frozen like an ice sculpture, Tushan Jing Ci couldn’t bear it.

In the end, she reached out her small, soft, and fair hands, gently taking hold of Xiao Mo’s large, ice-cold hands that were red from the chill. She cupped his hand in her own, lowered her head, and breathed warm air onto it again and again, trying to bring him a little warmth with her own body heat.

"This young couple..." Xian Xichun, watching from outside the courtyard, couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. ’I wonder if those old geezers from the Tushan Clan would drop dead from anger if they saw this.’

But as he chuckled, he suddenly realized something—

’That fellow Xiao Mo is in seclusion, yet he has someone to accompany him, watch over him, and dote on him.’

’And here I am, a living, breathing person guarding him, but I can only drink alone outside the courtyard.’

Xian Xichun glanced down at the wine pot in his hand.

He suddenly felt that...

...this wine didn’t seem to have much flavor anymore.

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