Chapter 79: Truly Moving

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: Truly Moving

Qiao Suluo listened to Chu Moyuan’s words, easily discerning the serious tone in his voice. He clearly had every intention of driving her away. He certainly hadn’t been like this when he kissed her.

However, Qiao Suluo calmly remembered her mission. Gripping Chu Moyuan’s sleeve tightly, she blinked and looked at him with utmost sincerity. "I don’t have any ulterior motives. I just want to take you home."

Take him home?

Chu Moyuan’s eyes, usually as cold and deep as an icy pool, suddenly flickered with a fragmented light. It was as if a snow blade had cleaved through the solid ice in his heart, leaving a crack in its impenetrable walls. Even the harsh, cold lines of his face seemed to soften a fraction.

But very quickly, Chu Moyuan steadied his mind. "Those words are truly touching," he said coldly. "So that’s your goal. You want to take me home just to have me—to make me sleep with you?"

"COUGH, COUGH!"

Startled by his brazen words, Qiao Suluo burst into sudden coughs. "I didn’t mean it like that."

Chu Moyuan didn’t believe a word of it. "Do you take me for a fool?

"I won’t go back with you. Give up on that idea."

She wanted to call him back after selling him once, only to sell him for silver again? Even though she seemed different now, there was no guarantee she wouldn’t pull the same trick. He couldn’t trust a single word out of her mouth.

Qiao Suluo looked at him with a resentful, aggrieved gaze. Meeting her eyes, Chu Moyuan frowned slightly. Why was she acting as if he had wronged her?

Qiao Suluo’s gaze fluttered as she put on a delicate, vulnerable expression. "You kissed me in the Spiritual Sea. Shouldn’t you take responsibility?"

Normally, it was the female who took responsibility for the male. But if she said that, this wretched man would definitely say he didn’t need her to. So she needed to make him take responsibility, forcing him to go home with her. She had to complete her mission.

"Kissed you?" Chu Moyuan looked down at her, a layer of doubtful mist seemingly clouding his eyes.

Seeing his reaction, Qiao Suluo’s eyes widened. "No way. Don’t tell me you forgot?

"Or do you remember, but just don’t want to admit it so you can avoid taking responsibility?"

Even though she didn’t actually need him to take responsibility, wasn’t this all to complete the mission? Besides, the system had said there would be points rewarded for completing it.

Chu Moyuan truly didn’t remember certain things from the Spiritual Sea, but under Qiao Suluo’s accusatory and indignant glare, a few vague scenes began to resurface. It seemed... he had pinned her down and kissed her...

At the thought, his frosty eyelashes trembled slightly, casting fine shadows over his lower eyelids. A dark, complicated look flashed through his eyes. He continued to gaze down at her as the memories gradually sharpened. Recalling that kiss in the Spiritual Sea, it was as if a pebble had been dropped into the tranquil lake of his heart, stirring up a sudden ripple.

Unable to read his expression, Qiao Suluo babbled, "Don’t try to claim I seduced you, because I didn’t. I was just trying to save you. I didn’t initiate or force you into anything... Mmm—"

Before she could finish, Chu Moyuan slapped a hand over her mouth, terrified of whatever shameless words might spill from those soft lips next. He couldn’t even believe he had actually done such a thing.

But as he covered her lips, he became acutely aware of the sensation against his palm. Her fragrant, gentle breath fluttered against his skin like a butterfly’s wings, sending a tingling numbness straight from his hand to the depths of his heart.

It also reminded him of their time in the Spiritual Sea. When he kissed her, her flawless, delicate face had been filled with lingering shock. As he plundered her breath, her almond eyes had been wet and misty, looking so pitiful that it easily aroused certain dark urges within him.

But Chu Moyuan firmly believed he had merely been bewitched by his own spiritual mania at the time.

Looking at her now, a dark undercurrent surged in his eyes, his gaze growing increasingly heavy. "Stop talking," he said in a low, hoarse voice.

Qiao Suluo reached up to pull his hand away, but the lines of his arm were so perfectly sculpted that she couldn’t move it an inch. In fact, the more she patted it, the more tense it became. His muscles pulled tight, hard as rock and brimming with a pulsing, vigorous strength.

"Mmph, mmph..." she muffled. She wanted to speak.

Just then, a fierce wind suddenly whipped through the sky, accompanied by a sudden crash of thunder and a flash of lightning.

Chu Moyuan released her lips and looked up at the sky. "It’s going to rain."

"What do we do now?" There wasn’t a single place to take shelter in this stretch of the mountain forest.

They were in the southern region, where rain could fall at a moment’s notice. Judging by the rumbling thunder, a massive downpour was imminent.

"We need to find a cave to take cover first," he said.

"Chu Moyuan, you can’t just leave me behind."

A vein throbbed on Chu Moyuan’s forehead. "It’ll be faster if I transform into my true form and carry you."

Qiao Suluo’s eyelashes trembled. She shook her head, her voice faltering. "No, no... Can you not use your true form?"

She was still terrified.

"So delicate," he muttered. Despite his disdainful tone, he simply hoisted Qiao Suluo over his shoulder and broke into a rapid sprint.

"Do you even know how to treat a woman with tenderness?" she complained. Couldn’t he carry her on his back or hold her in his arms?

"This is faster," he replied.

"You could carry me on your back."

Chu Moyuan felt a fierce headache coming on, but he set her down anyway. "Get on," he said helplessly.

Qiao Suluo looked at his tall, straight figure. She jumped a few times but couldn’t reach his back. This wretched man had definitely never given anyone a piggyback ride before.

"You’re too tall," she gritted her teeth.

Chu Moyuan could only crouch down a bit. "Like this?"

"Still too tall."

Finally, Chu Moyuan had to squat all the way down before Qiao Suluo could securely drape herself over his back. He then stood up and began walking briskly with her in tow.

Soon enough, the rain began to fall. Though light at first, it was enough to dampen their clothes.

As he ran, Chu Moyuan casually snapped off a massive leaf from a passing tree. "Hold this. It’ll keep the rain off."

Qiao Suluo held the leaf over her head. Looking at his broad back, she couldn’t help but feel a flicker of emotion.

She knew that Chu Moyuan was born to a lowly concubine of the Marquis Mansion. He had gone to the battlefield at the age of ten, earning his merits through military achievements. Yet, all those honors had been claimed by the Marquis Mansion; none of it ever belonged to him.

He was different from Que Hongjin and the others. Que Hongjin had been born into nobility, growing up surrounded by fine clothes and rich food, enjoying the best of treatments until an incident caused him to be abandoned. Chu Moyuan, on the other hand, seemed to have suffered unfair treatment since he was a child.

Thinking of this, Qiao Suluo shifted the leaf forward slightly to cover Chu Moyuan’s head from the rain.

Sensing the shift, Chu Moyuan’s footsteps faltered for a split second, but he quickly resumed his rapid pace as if nothing had happened.

"There’s a cave up ahead. We can take shelter there."

"Okay."

But just as they reached the foot of the cave, the sudden, sharp metallic scent of blood hit the air. Then, a white figure washed down from the upper reaches of the river.

Peering through the misty rain, Qiao Suluo caught sight of it, and her face went pale. "Bai Qianluo? What happened to him?"

Floating in the river was a remarkably beautiful white whale. However, the white whale’s body was currently stained red, continuously bleeding and entirely unconscious. There was no telling what he had been through.

Forgetting the rain and everything else, Qiao Suluo hurriedly struggled off Chu Moyuan’s back. She sprinted frantically toward the riverbank.

"Bai Qianluo! Bai Qianluo!"

Qiao Suluo wanted to save him, but unfortunately, she didn’t know how to swim. She was completely useless in this situation. She hated herself in that moment for her lack of strength, unable to do a single thing to help.

However, the system had mentioned that as long as she formed a contract, she would receive rewards and likely awaken various abilities.

Watching her frantic display, Chu Moyuan realized she genuinely cared about Bai Qianluo. He stepped forward, tossing her a look of utter disdain. "You’re so clumsy. Stand back. I’ll do it."