Chapter 14: The Bet

Ran Qingmo has arrived.

The thin veil covering her face tears in half, and with the faint breeze from the mountain peak, glimpses of her flawless, exquisite beauty emerge.

A single glance—like a thousand years.

Regaining composure, Xu Yuan slowly rises, his brows furrowing, one by one.

Aside from the gentle, untouched gaze in her eyes, as if she had never changed, her physical state is visibly disheveled.

Her right arm, once holding the sword, now hangs lifeless. The black robe is torn in large patches, and the sleeve on her left arm is nearly completely shredded, revealing delicate skin that can be broken by a breath. A few drops of blood seep from the wounds on her arm, like slender crimson serpents spreading to her fingertips, dripping steadily.

He glances at the enormous serpent's head beneath her feet—a creature towering several stories high.

At the serpent's crown, seven lotus blossoms grow. Six of them have now bloomed, vivid and lifelike.

For a moment, Xu Yuan's pupils contract sharply.

He recognizes this great serpent before him.

Seven-life serpent.

The seven-life serpent can shed its skin and regenerate seven times; upon the seventh shedding, it truly transforms into a human, its cultivation pace becoming indistinguishable from that of the human race.

A natural sovereign among the serpent demons—had it been her, it would be easy to understand why the Yan Ling Python would go to any lengths to kill him.

But—

Why did she die?

How could she die like this?

Xu Yuan stared into the colossal serpent's eyes, now choked with the creeping aura of death. A sense of absurdity, of rebellion, began to seep into his heart.

This great serpent would become one of the main female characters!

After her seventh shedding and transformation into a human, she would journey to the Great Inflammation Dynasty, becoming a legitimate giant bear girl, taking the name "Ji Qingyue," and meet the main protagonist in Jingjiang City.

Yet, at this very moment, she was so easily slain by Ran Qingmo?

The gears of a once-familiar plot had begun to shift subtly with his arrival.

Xu Yuan blinked, caught off guard—

the woman in black atop the serpent's head, her grip on the sword, moved imperceptibly. She swung it casually.

A streak of blood flashed across the air, and Xu Yuan snapped back to awareness.

At the peak of the seven lotus blossoms adorning the serpent's head, a deep gash of blood appeared instantly. Then, a tiny crimson lotus was lifted from the wound, suspended in midair.

As it emerged, a wave of overwhelming bloodstench surged across the entire mountain peak.

Serpent Heart Lotus.

More precisely, Sixth-Turn Serpent Heart Lotus—a treasure of incalculable value, one of the most elite ingredients in *Cangyuan* for alchemical preparation, capable of forging the Golden Scale Pill or the Blood Spirit Transformation Pill.

The Golden Scale Pill could break through barriers.

The Blood Spirit Transformation Pill, however, served to calm the spirit and fuse it with the body—exactly what Xu Yuan needed now. To fully merge body and spirit, eliminating any flaw or gap.

But at this moment, Xu Yuan had no mind for such thoughts.

While playing through *Cangyuan*, Xu Yuan had grown fond of Ji Qingyue—the mischievous little girl with a spirit as wild as the wind—but that affection had remained confined to the gentle care of a paper-cut wife.

Compared to the death of such a fictional spouse, what now truly occupied his thoughts was the ripple effect of her demise—whether it would alter the course of the entire worldline narrative.

The Wanxing Mountain range, stretching for tens of thousands of miles, formed the southwestern frontier of the Da Yan Dynasty. Beyond it lay the unforgiving region known as Ancient Deep, where dozens of disparate and monstrous tribes had banded together into a loosely formed demonic kingdom.

Ji Qingyue hailed from that place.

Now, with the noble serpent princess slain by Ran Qingmo’s single sword strike, severing her head, Xu Yuan had no idea whether the demonic king of the kingdom might, under pressure from the serpent clan, take actions contrary to the original storyline.

Yet soon, Xu Yuan realized he had no need to ponder these matters at all.

Because he might not survive to witness such a moment.

After extracting the serpent’s heart lotus from Ji Qingyue’s body, the black-robed woman atop the serpent’s head collapsed instantly, her form sliding down the curved body of the massive serpent like a leaf falling from a tree.

As Xu Yuan regained consciousness, he leapt forward and caught the woman’s falling form in his arms, frowning slightly, and softly called out twice:

"Ran sir... Ran sir?"

The hand gripping the woman's shoulder trembled slightly, Xu Yuan trying to rouse her, yet her delicate eyes remained firmly closed.

After a fierce battle with Ji Qingyue, this woman in black robes, her attire as dark as ink, had reached the point of utter exhaustion.

Gradually,

Xu Yuan noticed the woman in his arms breathing more and more rapidly. The pale skin beneath her torn veil turned crimson, her chest beneath the black robe rising and falling swiftly, her body temperature rising visibly and rapidly...

Watching the changes in Ran Qingmo's body, Xu Yuan's thoughts flashed through countless images, yet at last he exhaled deeply.

He remembered that the seven-life venom seemed to lack the kind of lustful poison people commonly feared.

Therefore, Ran Qingmo's current state must stem from something else.

Perhaps she was channeling qi to heal her wounds, or perhaps some toxin was erupting within her.

But no matter which it was, at this moment, Xu Yuan could only watch helplessly.

In the previous life, he had learned only rudimentary first aid—clearly insufficient to treat a superhuman from this world.

The feeling of silently waiting for others to decide his fate was unbearable.

If Ran Qingmo died, or if, during the time he was channeling energy to heal, Ji Qingyue’s men or the men of his original father arrived, there was no escape—only death.

But all he could do now was wait.

Xu Yuan cradled her body beneath a great tree at the summit, while he sat quietly beside her, guarding her.

Time passed, one second at a time.

The rising sun had long since climbed into the sky, yet Ran Qingmo’s flushed complexion remained unchanged.

Then, after an indeterminate stretch of time,

a cold, desolate wind swept through, and Ran Qingmo’s soft voice, calm and faint, drifted from beside him:

“You… said the cave was somewhere. Where?”

She awoke, but her voice was hard to mask as weak.

At the sound, Xu Yuan immediately turned his gaze to assess her condition and replied:

"Below the Hanging Sky Cliff."

Pausing, he added, "How are you feeling?"

"........"

Upon hearing that response, Ran Qingmo said nothing, and slowly closed her eyes again.

A long while passed,

with her eyes shut, she murmured softly:

"Xu Changtian's father's men are almost here."

"........"

At this, Xu Yuan's pupils suddenly constricted.

Her voice was soft, yet it exploded across Xu Yuan's mind like a bomb.

"You... what did you just say?"

Ran Qingmo repeated it, eyes closed, voice devoid of any emotion:

"The men from Xu Changtian's father are almost here."

Her heartbeat slowed, then quickened, one beat after another. Xu Yuan slowly stood up.

"How long until they arrive?"

Ran Qingmo replied softly:

"Less than half a moment."

Less than half a moment?

Xu Yuan's mind jolted, took a deep breath, and asked again:

"How is your body now?"

Ran Qingmo leaned against a tree root, opened her eyes, glanced at Xu Yuan, and instead of answering, asked:

"You seem uneasy. Why? I won't tell anyone about your matter."

Xu Yuan scanned the surrounding clouds and mist atop the mountain, forcing himself to steady the trembling in his heart, and spoke in a low, steady voice:

"You don't know that possession can be detected, do you?"

"......"

Ran Qingmo stared at Xu Yuan, puzzled.

It seemed she only knew that possession would trigger an abnormal reaction, and had no awareness that there were methods capable of detecting possession even after the symptoms had subsided.

Xu Yuan didn't explain the rules of this world to Ran Qingmo, quickened his pace, and asked again:

"Can your current body float?"

Ran Qingmo remained silent, then shook his head:

"I... am very injured."

Xu Yuan pressed his fingers hard into his brow, puzzled, asking:

"So why can you sense someone approaching?"

Ran Qingmo replied with calm certainty:

"Physical injuries have little impact on the spirit."

Xu Yuan said nothing, rapidly thinking through the next steps in his mind.

What should he do?

Stay here and wait for his original body's father's men to arrive, then begin acting?

The men under the original body's father had no idea at this moment that Ran Qingmo had taken control of the original. He could easily blame the filth onto Ji Qingyue. Claiming Ji Qingyue had bound him—well, it was Ran Qingmo who had rescued him. After all, Ji Qingyue had no witnesses left to prove otherwise.

But the problem was, in "Cang Yuan," there was only a brief mention that Xu Changtian was a decadent young man, skilled in drinking, gambling, indulgence, and pleasure—no detailed account of his habits. If anything were discovered to be inconsistent, he'd only have one option: to face death.

What to do? What to do!

A thousand tangled thoughts flashed through his mind.

A moment passed.

Xu Yuan suddenly exhaled deeply, as if surrendering to fate.

He gave up.

Xu Yuan glanced sideways at the black-robed woman sitting against the tree:

"Can you walk?"

"........." Ran Qingmo didn't understand Xu Yuan's sudden question.

"Can you walk?" Xu Yuan repeated, his voice flat.

Ran Qingmo paused, then shook her head.

Xu Yuan remained silent, bent down, picked up the serpent-heart lotus from the ground and tucked it into his chest. Then, with both hands, he slipped through the bends of her legs and around her back, lifting her effortlessly in a princess carry—right before her slightly startled gaze.

Ran Qingmo's body felt as if it had no bones, light as a feather. Even this once-weak, kidney-deficient playboy could lift her with ease.

"..."

The air stilled for a moment.

Ran Qingmo didn't struggle; she was forcibly carried in his arms. She only stared at him, calmly.

Ran Qingmo stared at Xu Yuan, yet Xu Yuan did not look back at her.

Holding Ran Qingmo in his arms, Xu Yuan walked toward the edge of the Hanging Sky Cliff, softly asking:

"Master Ran, do you wish to die?"

"...."

Ran Qingmo didn't understand Xu Yuan's question, yet she didn't want to die, so she shook her head.

Xu Yuan caught the glint in her eyes with a glance, and smiled gently:

"Not wanting to die is exactly right. If we stay here, we'll just be captured by Old Father Xu Changtian—only the difference between dying early and dying late."

As he spoke, Xu Yuan had already placed Ran Qingmo in standing position at the very edge of the Hanging Sky Cliff.

The cold wind tugged at his robes, and the chasm below stretched a mere step away.

Ran Qingmo paused, seemingly realizing what Xu Yuan intended, her voice tinged with confusion:

"Do you... want to take me and jump down?"

"Are you not afraid?" Xu Yuan smiled.

Ran Qingmo glanced sideways at the abyss shrouded in swirling celestial mist, her gaze sharp as if examining a fool:

"Yet, this is Xuan Tian Cliff."

Xu Yuan looked into her eyes for a moment, then chuckled softly:

"Jumping in and dying would at least be preferable to being tortured to death by the officials of the Imperial Household, wouldn't it?"

Ran Qingmo thought deeply, then said:

"Oh, go ahead and jump then."

Xu Yuan didn't rush. Instead, he looked at Ran Qingmo and smiled gently:

"Master Ran, shall we make a wager?"

Ran Qingmo didn't understand why this man was so theatrical, his eyes so calm, and she nodded.

"You say."

Xu Yuan replied:

"If we survive, you owe me one favor—you must help me with one thing."

Ran Qingmo glanced once again at the abyss below:

"We won't survive."

"I mean, if we somehow do survive," Xu Yuan smiled lightly.

Ran Qingmo remained silent for a moment, then slowly spoke:

"Why should I owe you a favor if we only survive by chance?"

"..." Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan fell silent. In the face of life and death, he had long since lost all reservations:

"If we survive, it must be because my hidden sanctuary saved us. I think your life deserves at least one debt of gratitude."

Ran Qingmo pondered for a moment, finding his words convincing, and nodded:

"Very well. If we survive, I owe you one favor."

"Keep that in mind."

As the words faded,

Xu Yuan instantly stepped forward without hesitation.

The mountain's cold wind caused the silk veil covering the black-robed woman's face to drift gently downward.

At that instant, the entire world seemed to fall silent.

Floating through the mist, his senses gradually faded—around him, only the sharp rush of wind against his ears and the warm, soft pulse of the woman in his arms remained...

For how long in the mist, he did not know.

He glanced down at her, already closed-eyed and waiting to die.

Suddenly remembered,

Ran Qingmo's fortune seemed to have ninety-three.