The air suddenly froze, and her little head briefly short-circuited.
When Hu Tao finally understood what Chen Mo had meant, her blood pressure shot up, and her beautiful hair seemed to bristle with anger.
“You’re messing with me again!” The Staff of Homa appeared in her hand.
Even without using elemental power, Hu Tao’s pretty face was burning as hot as a Pyro Slime.
Her slender brows furrowed tightly.
She struck the ground hard with the butt of her spear, her momentum overwhelming.
“Miss you, my foot!
This Hall Master thinks you’re asking for a beating today!” “Don’t be mad, don’t be mad.
I was only joking…” Chen Mo immediately admitted defeat.
He shuffled over to Hu Tao’s side in small steps and cautiously placed both hands on her shoulders.
Seeing that she did not resist, he finally put on a flattering smile and invited her to sit down by the bed.
Looking at Hu Tao’s affection score of 82 on the system list, Chen Mo felt very fortunate that his teasing had not gone too far.
However, there was only one bed in the room, and that was indeed a practical problem they could not avoid.
Chen Mo did not want either himself or Hu Tao to sleep on the floor or by the table.
He gently kneaded Hu Tao’s tired muscles, helping her relax.
After the girl’s expression softened and much of her anger faded, he realized that his chance had come.
“Comfortable?” “Hmph.
I’ll admit your hands are skilled.” Hu Tao glanced slightly to the side, trying her best not to look at Chen Mo.
Little did she know that the lingering blush on her face had not faded at all, and it was completely exposed before his eyes.
“It’s getting late.
You should rest.
I’ll just make do outside.” Chen Mo left the bed, his movements carrying hesitation and reluctance.
A trace of unwillingness appeared on his face as he picked up his coat and walked toward the door.
Before he could even take a step, the hem of his clothes was tugged by a soft, delicate force.
“Don’t go yet…” A shy whisper reached his ears.
Chen Mo paused, suppressed the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, and pretended to be confused.
“What’s wrong?” The girl before him looked embarrassed.
Her plum-blossom pupils darted left and right, avoiding his gaze.
Her soft pink lips murmured a quiet attempt to keep him there.
“You said you would be honest with me…” Her slender fingers clenched tightly.
“You still haven’t clearly explained your guardian spirit.
Don’t think you can run away so quickly…!” Chen Mo held Hu Tao’s small hand, hiding his joy and excitement beneath a doting expression.
He sat back down beside her and smiled faintly.
“‘Guardian spirit’ is a very vivid way to describe it, but it would be more accurate to call them ‘Stands.'” “Stands…?” The unfamiliar term made Hu Tao’s curiosity temporarily overpower her shyness.
She had long since noticed that those two figures did not seem like ordinary guardian spirits.
She simply had not known what better word to use to describe them.
“A Stand is a body of spiritual energy.
It is also the manifestation of a special ability within me.” “Each Stand represents a different ability.
For example…” The figure of Golden Experience appeared beside Chen Mo.
It floated over to the table and took a Mora coin from the money pouch.
Without making any attempt to hide it, he infused life energy into the Mora.
“This guy is called Golden Experience.
His ability is to inject life energy into matter, creating living beings from it.” The Mora in Golden Experience’s hand glowed with a warm golden light.
For a moment, its brightness even surpassed the candlelight in the room, illuminating the entire house.
Hu Tao watched as the Mora softened, stretched, and gradually changed shape, finally turning into a small plum blossom branch that landed in Chen Mo’s hand.
Her eyes filled with disbelief.
“So the arrow you shot back then had actually been tampered with?” “As expected of Little Master Hu.” The girl’s expression startled slightly.
For some reason, even though it was a compliment she was used to hearing, it inexplicably made her heart race.
Before Hu Tao could even let out a humph, her petite body uncontrollably leaned to the side, and her head gently bumped against the inside of Chen Mo’s shoulder.
She felt her hand being carefully caressed by him, and the plum blossom branch was then gently placed in her palm.
“As a reward, I’ll give you this little plum blossom.” Hu Tao instinctively raised her hand toward the hat on her head, but she found nothing there.
When she took it off and looked, she discovered that it was empty.
She had never noticed when or where the plum blossom originally sewn onto her hat had been lost.
The girl stared at the hat in her hand, motionless like a piece of wood.
When her eyes turned toward Chen Mo, she seemed to realize that his attention had never truly left her from beginning to end.
The feeling of being cherished so dearly made her body temperature rise bit by bit.
She did not know what to say next, nor what she should do.
She merely sat there trembling slightly, letting the warmth of her body pass to the person beside her.
“What’s wrong?
Are you feeling unwell?” Sensing that something was off with the person in his arms, Chen Mo’s first reaction was that she had caught a chill.
After all, Wuwang Hill tonight was indeed colder than usual.
He reached out to touch Hu Tao’s forehead, but it seemed to trigger some kind of switch.
The girl’s entire body tensed, and she sprang up from her seat by reflex.
Yet in the very next second, she lost her balance and began falling toward the floor.
Thud.
The plum blossom and the hat fell to the ground together.
Only Hu Tao was firmly caught by a pair of large hands.
The shadow of Star Platinum slowly disappeared.
Chen Mo stared directly into those flustered eyes and scolded her lightly.
“How old are you already?
Still this careless!” “It’s…
it’s your fault.
Why did you suddenly touch me…?” The two fell silent, listening to each other’s breathing.
Hu Tao grew embarrassed under his gaze and repeatedly looked away, trying to change the subject.
“You caught me again…
just like that…” “Did you twist your ankle?
Don’t tell me you’re pretending again like last time.” She shook her head and placed the plum blossom and hat on the table.
Then, when she sat back down on the bed, she deliberately kept some distance from Chen Mo.
“That big Stand’s ability definitely isn’t as simple as what the Abyss Herald said, right…?” Although Hu Tao’s tone was calm, her two little feet were very restless, lightly bumping against each other.
Chen Mo lowered his head and looked at the gap between them.
He froze for a moment, then quietly checked Hu Tao’s affection score toward him.
Not only had the number on the system list not dropped, it had actually risen.
Little Hu Tao was shy again.
The current situation was not suitable for pressing the attack.
Chen Mo decided to give her a little time to calm down.
“Of course.” He stopped teasing her and did not choose to move closer.
Instead, he explained seriously, “His name is Star Platinum.
His ability is to stop time.” “Stop time!?” Hu Tao’s whole body jolted.
The power to control time was something even adepti might not possess, let alone ancient demon gods.
Yet now, her seemingly ordinary childhood friend was saying that he could stop time?
“You…
you probably can’t stop it for very long, right?” Hu Tao’s first reaction was not to doubt Chen Mo.
Even though what he said was truly hard to believe, she knew that Chen Mo had never been the kind of person who liked to boast.
“Yeah.
Only for the blink of an eye.” “That’s already amazing!” Meeting those plum-blossom eyes, Chen Mo could read the pride that unintentionally flowed from them, as if the person capable of stopping time were none other than Hall Master Hu herself.
“Just what kind of great opportunity did you get?
Should I start going to Guyun Stone Forest often in the future too?” “What kind of people would you even find at Guyun Stone Forest?
If you went there every day, Wangsheng Funeral Parlor would probably go out of business.” “Pah, pah, pah!
What nonsense are you saying!” Hu Tao angrily lowered her body, raised her little rear, and leaned in so close that the tip of her nose was almost touching Chen Mo’s.
“You are, after all…
after all…” In a daze, her lively beautiful eyes quickly contracted.
Only then did she realize that she and Chen Mo were far too close.
Flustered, she hurriedly sat back down by the bed.
But Chen Mo would not let her off because of that.
“After all, what?” He gave a wicked smile.
“Deputy Director of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?
Or the future son-in-law?” “The Hall Master’s secretary!” “When did Wangsheng Funeral Parlor get a position like that?” “None of your business!” The girl lowered her brows and eyes, retorting coquettishly.
“I’m the Hall Master.
If I say it exists, then it exists!” A small gust of wind slipped through the cracks in the wall, nearly blowing out the candle inside the room.
Chen Mo looked at the flickering candle and took a deep breath.
“Then, Hall Master Hu, could you arrange a tiny little benefit for me, the one and only Hall Master’s secretary in history?” He wrapped an arm around Hu Tao’s slender waist and pulled the girl to his side.
While she was still confused, he launched another direct attack.
“For example, letting me sleep on the bed tonight too, or something like that…” Hu Tao opened her mouth wide, repeatedly confirming Chen Mo’s request in her mind.
“You…!” She was quite certain that she had not misunderstood.
But before her questioning words could leave her throat, Hu Tao once again thought of the cold mountain air tonight.
If she really made Chen Mo sleep outside, he would definitely catch a chill, right?
Although he could also rest on the floor or by the table, the comfort certainly could not compare to the bed.
Besides, he had worked hard tonight too…
Hu Tao closed her little mouth and lowered her head, twirling her hair.
It was not as if they had never slept in the same room when they were children.
Now they had both grown up, they had already confirmed their relationship, and they had even done that sort of thing…
Even if they were a little closer at night, even if they slept in the same bed…
There should not be any problem, right?
Before she knew it, the girl’s body had grown increasingly soft.
Pouting angrily, she kicked off her little shoes and slid to the inside of the bed as smoothly as if she had been oiled, hiding her head beneath the pillow.
Hu Tao said nothing, yet it was as if she had said everything.
Chen Mo glanced at the affection score, which had finally settled at 85, and his heart also could not suppress its restlessness.
He did his utmost to appear calm and composed, revealing not the slightest emotion on his face.
After silently arranging the shoes Hu Tao had kicked into a mess, he lay down on the outer side of the bed and carefully reached toward the girl.
“Hey!
I haven’t bathed.
Don’t get so close to me!” “What a coincidence.
Same here.” Although the candlelight had gone out, the warmth inside the room never faded.
The whistling mountain wind could not cover the noisy bickering of the two before they drifted into sleep.
On a small hill near Qingce Village, Xiao held his yaksha mask and stood alone beneath an old tree.
His gaze swept over the terraced fields before finally landing on a small wooden house.
“Ugh…” The vicious aura of karmic debt surged deep within his mind, stabbing at him until he had no choice but to press a hand against his forehead.
Drop after drop of cold sweat seeped from his temples.
Xiao recalled the pure life energy he had sensed at Wuwang Hill, and a rare trace of hope surfaced in his heart.
“Perhaps that power…”