Crack!
Sword energy smoothly swept down Mu Zixi’s green dress before splitting the branch beneath her with a surgical slash. Her perch destroyed, the young woman instantly plummeted earthward.
Xu Xiaoshou crossed his arms and watched with mild interest as the young woman fell.
Boom.
An enormous red flower blossomed from the ground right before she crashed, and Mu Zixi bounced heavily on the red floral cushion before landing on her feet.
“Xu Xiaoshou, you didn’t help me up!” the young woman yelled angrily before noticing that her face was slightly wet. She swiped at her cheek, then sniffed at her fingers. It was drool…
Her lovely face instantly flushed, and she whirled around to hastily clean herself up.
“Of course not. You were awake, so why would I help you up?” Xu Xiaoshou flashed a bright smile at Mu Zixi as he watched, bewildered, as her hands quickly moved to wipe off her face.
“Hah!”
Mu Zixi scoffed, and she couldn’t help but turn around. “You threw me out and nearly got me killed. Shouldn’t you have at least helped me down the tree?”
“Are we settling our debts now?” Xu Xiaoshou was tickled, and his voice was calm when he spoke next. “You should be thankful that I didn’t use you as a human shield.”
Mu Zixi was speechless.
Cursed, Passive Points +1.
The man was absolutely infuriating!
“Fine, that doesn’t count. I forgive you… but what’s your explanation for lying to me earlier?” Mu Zixi sulkily retorted.
Xu Xiaoshou was curious. “When did I lie to you?”
“You said that you would let me have the Spirit Mark of Life, but you gave me a Spirit Crystal instead.”
“Did I say that?”
“You didn’t…” Mu Zixi suddenly froze in the midst of her tantrum.
He was right. When did he say that?
Xu Xiaoshou openly and loudly denied her accusation. “I didn’t promise you that! You were the one who assumed that. Besides, you were the one who asked for the Spirit Mark of Life. I never said I would let you have it.”
“But how come you gave me a Spirit Crystal?” Mu Zixi glared with her lovely wide eyes. She sounded incredulous. “What was the meaning of that?”
“Was I supposed to let you have the Spirit Mark of Life just because you asked for it?” Xu Xiaoshou murmured to himself, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“I gave you the Spirit Crystal as a reward for throwing the Spirit Mark of Life out. As for your misassumptions…
“Well, you can’t blame your stupidity on someone else, can you?”
Mu Zixi was rendered speechless.
Cursed, Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1…
“My dear junior …”
Xu Xiaoshou placed his hand on the young woman’s head and gently ruffled her hair. “Your good senior is trying to teach you a valuable lesson. You can’t trust anyone in this world. The only person you can trust is yourself.
“Do you understand?”
Mu Zixi scrunched up her nose, slapped Xu Xiaoshou’s hand away, then turned around and marched off.
“Hah! Spoiled brat!” Xu Xiaoshou giggled before suddenly realizing that something was amiss. The young woman looked as if she were being led away by the sudden scent of prey, and from the looks of where she was headed…
Mo Mo?
No!
It was the Spirit Mark of Life!
Realizing that her intentions had been seen through, Mu Zixi dropped all pretense and leapt into flight, but Xu Xiaoshou wasn’t going to let her get what she wanted.
He extended his Master Level Agility and grabbed the spirit mark before she could reach it.
Cursed, Passive Points +1.
Xu Xiaoshou instinctively covered his ears when he caught the dangerous glint that flashed across the young woman’s eyes.
As expected, a deafening roar erupted the next second.
“Xu… Xiao… Shou!”
“That’s mine!”
Mu Zixi pouted and glared furiously at the spirit mark in his hands.
Xu Xiaoshou was the picture of innocence. “Didn’t you throw it away just now? You didn’t want it. It’s not like I had it easy trying to get myself a second-hand artifact.”
“… …”
Cursed, Passive Points +1, +1, +1, +1…
A sudden series of coughs interrupted their bickering.
Mu Zixi’s thunderous roar had failed to intimidate Xu Xiaoshou, but it had successfully awoken Mo Mo, who was lying on the ground.
Xu Xiaoshou was slightly startled. The Spirit Mark of Life was an incredible artifact indeed!
It had dragged Mu Zixi back from the gates of hell after spending a few moments in her arms, and now it had saved Mo Mo after merely resting briefly on her stomach.