Fairy, Please Listen to My Explanation

Chapter 7: Cooperation

Silence followed his words.

Ran Qingmo studied the handsome yet solemn face before her, her calm eyes betraying nothing of her thoughts.

Xu Yuan didn’t rush her. He waited quietly for her response.

No one wants to die, and he was no exception.

Although the Third Young Master’s family held immense power, the distant water couldn’t quench the present thirst.

In his current isolated predicament, the only person Xu Yuan could rely on was ironically Ran Qingmo, the very woman who had abducted him.

Everyone else wanted him dead, but she only wanted to hold him hostage.

As the Flame Serpent died, its blood gushed forth like molten lava, rising in steamy mists in the cold winter rain, blocking out the desolate world outside the cave.

In the silence.

“Very well, speak your mind.”

Ran Qingmo’s cool voice slowly echoed through the quiet cave.

Xu Yuan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He had genuinely feared she might strike him with her stick again at this moment.

Choosing his words carefully, he met her gaze and spoke softly.

“Heroine Ran, what I want to say is simple. For both our sakes—for my life and yours—we should cooperate.”

Ran Qingmo silently watched him, waiting for his next words.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan continued in a measured tone.

“I know it might sound presumptuous coming from a hostage, but you saw what just happened. If you hadn’t intervened, I’d already be dead.”

Pausing briefly, Xu Yuan’s lips curved into a self-mocking smile.

“I know that because of my father, many people in this world want me dead. But I don’t think a demonic beast living in the Wanxing Mountain Range would hold a grudge against him.”

His gaze sharpened as he looked directly into Ran Qingmo’s eyes.

“Yet this serpent wanted to kill me. A Flame Serpent, a creature known for its extreme fear of death, still desperately tried to kill me even with its vital point impaled by you.”

“Heroine Ran, don’t you find this strange?”

The persistent sound of rain gently filtered in, while the cave remained silent.

Ran Qingmo’s clear, deep eyes flickered slightly, and she gave a slight nod.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath.

“Someone wants me to die while in your captivity.”

“If I were to die here, my father would assume you killed me.”

After a pause, Xu Yuan emphasized each word.

“You would die too.”

The woman before him, always dressed in black with a demeanor as calm as water, was truly powerful.

But she wasn’t the only powerful individual in this world. Capturing Xu Changtian and causing his death would be the beginning of her own downfall.

In Ancient Origin, Xu Yuan had actually quite liked Ran Qingmo’s character.

She was a pseudo-heroine. Not a fully fledged one because she would always die first before she could develop romantic feelings with the players. Often gone before the players could even lift her veil.

Among the twenty-five endings of Ancient Origin, there was only one hidden ending containing a special scene, where Ran Qingmo escaped to a faraway land and survived. But triggering this ending requires the players to actively cheat and max out their attributes and defeat an otherwise unbeatable boss. Only after doing all of that could they save her.

Back then, Xu Yuan had found this easter egg amusing.

A character’s fate could change based on the player’s choices, but the effect of these changes was limited unless you cheated.

But now he suddenly felt that she and his current body were, in a sense, kindred spirits—dying twenty-five times across twenty-five endings.

Ran Qingmo remained silent, her eyes showing no emotions.

She remained completely unmoved by Xu Yuan’s death threat.

Recognizing that this approach wouldn’t work with a woman like Ran Qingmo, Xu Yuan took a deep breath and changed tactics.

“Heroine Ran, you kidnapped me for the sake of those forty thousand disciples from the Sword Sect, right?”

Ran Qingmo’s eyes shifted slightly, and the warm air in the cave seemed to drop a few degrees.

Noting her reaction, Xu Yuan understood and continued speaking quietly, “You don’t need to look at me that way. I won’t ask about your sources, and you don’t need to worry how a useless person like me came by this information. We’re in the same boat now; there’s no point in dwelling on it.”

The look in Ran Qingmo’s eyes eased slightly.

Xu Yuan glanced at the giant serpent corpse outside.

“I still don’t believe kidnapping me will sway my father. But even if it could, you’d need me alive, wouldn’t you?”

“…”

Ran Qingmo remained silent for two seconds, then from behind her black veil came her clear voice.

“But you have no Qi.”

Hearing this, Xu Yuan was briefly stunned, but after some thought, he understood her meaning.

In this supernatural world, having no Qi meant being an ordinary person.

And in the eyes of a cultivator at Ran Qingmo’s level, an ordinary person was practically no different from an ant.

If a third party truly dared to attack Xu Yuan in her presence, they would undoubtedly be powerful.

If she ended up fighting them, the mere shockwaves would be enough to kill Xu Yuan a hundred times over.

Since she already had to protect him, cooperation was redundant.

Xu Yuan had no intention of getting involved in combat anyway. He smiled and simply asked in a low voice.

“Do you have a map of the Wanxing Mountain Range?”

Ran Qingmo blinked, turned directly to her travel bag at the back of the cave, rummaged through it, and returned with a rolled piece of sheepskin, which she handed to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged, unrolled the sheepskin by the campfire, and examined the map in the flickering firelight.

Upon seeing the map, Xu Yuan felt somewhat relieved.

Although there were some minor differences in detail, this map was largely consistent with the map of the Wanxing Mountain Range in Ancient Origin.

After a moment, Xu Yuan beckoned to Ran Qingmo, gesturing for her to sit down.

“As long as you can confirm where we are, I can provide a hiding place.”

Ran Qingmo slowly lifted the hem of her black dress and sat beside Xu Yuan, but her eyes remained wary.

Xu Yuan caught his phrasing error.

Although she seemed somewhat clueless at times, Ran Qingmo wasn’t stupid.

Looking down at the map, he carefully chose his words.

“I know my father definitely has people searching for me in the Wanxing Mountain Range by now, but you don’t need to worry too much.

“I can’t contact them, and in front of a cultivator like you, everything I do is transparent. You don’t need to worry about me leaving marks either.

“On the contrary, if you continue to wander around the Wanxing Mountain Range with me, we’re more likely to be discovered.”

Saying this, Xu Yuan turned to meet her deep, clear eyes, his voice still somewhat hoarse from illness.

“You can conceal your aura, but I can’t.”

Like many worlds with extraordinary powers, cultivators here could use their Qi to track people.

Ran Qingmo’s eyes showed her contemplation for a long while, but eventually she nodded slightly and said very seriously.

“I’ll watch you.”

Xu Yuan smiled faintly, “As you wish.”

Then, Xu Yuan returned his gaze to the open map.

“When I was young, my father brought me and my two brothers to the Wanxing Mountain Range. He has a cave dwelling here with many resources, enough for the two of us to live there for a very long time.”

This was a lie Xu Yuan had made up; his so-called father knew nothing about this hidden location, but that didn’t stop him from placing the blame on the man.

Besides, it wasn’t like Ran Qingmo could confront his father directly to verify.

Ran Qingmo’s brows furrowed. “Your father knows of it?”

Xu Yuan had already prepared for this question and replied nonchalantly.

“My father was anchored in the Imperial City for now; he can’t personally come looking for me. His subordinates couldn’t possibly know about that place. And even if they did know about the cave dwelling, Heroine Ran, how likely do you think they are to look for me there?”

“…” Ran Qingmo fell silent.

Xu Yuan tapped lightly on the sheepskin scroll.

“Alright, point out where we are now, and then let’s hurry on our way.”

Hearing this, Ran Qingmo nodded slightly and fixed her eyes on the map.

But after staring at the map for a while, she hesitantly extended a slender jade-like finger and pointed at one spot.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan’s narrow eyes narrowed slightly.

Quite close.

But before he could celebrate, the next moment, he saw that slender, delicate finger move again, pointing to another location.

Then a third place, and a fourth…

“…”

Xu Yuan raised his head in silence, about to speak but holding back.

In the flickering firelight, they stared at each other wordlessly. Ran Qingmo averted her gaze and said softly, “I… I don’t know.”