Mo Wudu naturally noticed Ning Qingxue secretly glancing at him, so he said, “Qingxue, don’t always keep your head lowered. You should hold your head high and look forward. Whatever happened in the past is already over. From now on, live each day well.”
Hearing those words, Ning Qingxue assumed that Mo Wudu had finally let go of his past.
She had once heard disciples from the other peaks say that Mo Wudu had actually been a very gentle person in the past. However, after returning from a training journey, his personality had completely changed. From then on, he spent every day wasting away on the mountain, simply waiting for his life to pass.
If every peak had not been required to accept new disciples, Mo Wudu would never have taken her in as his disciple. Before today, Ning Qingxue could not even imagine her master showing such a gentle side.
Every day, Mo Wudu would sit at the stone table beneath the peach blossom tree and drink from morning until night. Once he finished drinking, he would sleep. Whenever he was in a bad mood, he would grab Ning Qingxue and beat her to vent his anger.
The wounds covering her body had come from yesterday, when Mo Wudu had suddenly found her displeasing and lashed her with a whip.
Of course, Mo Wudu’s true intention behind those words was much simpler. He desperately wanted Ning Qingxue to forget everything he had done to her in the past and live happily from now on.
Ning Qingxue, however, could not tell whether her master had genuinely changed or whether this was merely a sudden whim. She certainly did not dare make any real requests of him.
For all she knew, her master might simply be setting a trap for her.
Thus, Ning Qingxue merely replied, “Yes, Master.”
Mo Wudu nodded and said, “Good. If there’s nothing else, you can go back for now. I need some time alone to think.”
Hearing that Mo Wudu was allowing her to leave, Ning Qingxue felt relieved. In truth, she had wanted to leave for quite some time.
Her master was simply too strange today.
So strange that Ning Qingxue was beginning to wonder whether the world around her was even real.
Only after Ning Qingxue left did Mo Wudu finally breathe a sigh of relief. He repeatedly went over everything he had just said. There should not have been any major problems.
From now on, he was going to become a positive and supportive master.
At the very least, he needed to change the image Ning Qingxue had of him.
However, that was clearly going to be a long and difficult road. From their brief interaction alone, Mo Wudu could tell that Ning Qingxue was still deeply afraid of him.
Sure enough, after years of abuse, there was no way he could completely change her opinion of him in a single day.
Mo Wudu regretted it once again.
Why had he written his own character to be such a terrible person?
Couldn’t he have at least written himself as someone who treated his disciple well?
‘Ah, if only I could go back and change it. I really regret it now.’
Then again, judging from the current situation, he should still be in the early stages of the novel.
Ning Qingxue had not met the protagonist yet. The protagonist’s plotline had probably only just begun. According to the original plot, the protagonist should currently be leaving a small village hidden in the mountains.
In other words, there was still time to save everything.
Moreover, according to the novel’s setting, Mo Wudu should currently possess the strength of the Golden Core Realm. With his talent, as long as he cultivated normally, reaching the Nascent Soul Realm and even the Soul Transformation Realm should not be particularly difficult.
The reason Mo Wudu had remained stuck in the Golden Core Realm until the protagonist caught up to him was because of an extremely melodramatic backstory.
During one of his journeys down the mountain, Mo Wudu had fallen in love with a woman. At first, the two of them had loved each other deeply.
Later, for some unknown reason, the woman abandoned him.
From that point onward, the once brilliant genius Mo Wudu was devastated by heartbreak. He lost all motivation to cultivate and spent his days drinking alone on the mountain.
The problem was that Mo Wudu had originally written this character merely as a villain. His background had only been briefly explained, so even Mo Wudu himself, despite being the author, had no idea what exactly had happened between the two of them that caused their relationship to end.
Still, all of that belonged to the past.
Just as he had told Ning Qingxue, what mattered now was living each future day well.
A Golden Core Realm cultivator had a lifespan of 500 years. Furthermore, cultivators could already survive without ordinary food after reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm.
In other words, as long as Mo Wudu kept a low profile and avoided causing trouble, he was only in his twenties and could comfortably enjoy more than 400 years of peaceful life on this mountain.
Of course, there was one very important condition.
He could not let the protagonist kill him.
‘No, no. I can’t just sit here and wait. I need to take the initiative.’
He had to treat Ning Qingxue better.
With how timid and fearful she currently was around him, she would never dare ask him for anything. If things continued like this, the protagonist might arrive on the mountain before Mo Wudu could even change her opinion of him.
Mo Wudu thought for a moment.
Earlier, he had seen numerous scars exposed on Ning Qingxue’s skin. There was an 80% chance that the original Mo Wudu had caused them.
He should start by giving her some medicine to heal those scars. At the very least, it would be a small way to make amends.
‘Mm. That’s what I’ll do.’
The idea was simple enough.
There was only one problem.
Mo Wudu did not possess the original owner’s memories, so how was he supposed to know where the pills, medicines, and other items were stored?
As if responding directly to his thoughts, a flood of memories suddenly slammed into his mind like an iron hammer.
His skull felt as though it were about to split apart.
Mo Wudu collapsed to the ground on the spot.
Countless memories flashed rapidly through his mind like scenes from a movie. It was not until night had fallen that Mo Wudu finally opened his eyes again.
The peach blossom tree was still there.
The mountain beneath him was still the same mountain.
It seemed this truly was not a dream.
Mo Wudu slowly climbed to his feet. Although the sky had already grown dark, the memories in his mind had finally revealed where the original owner kept his pills and medicines.
However, Mo Wudu soon discovered something unusual.
The additional memories in his mind did not mean that he automatically knew everything that had happened to the original owner. Instead, he had to deliberately think about something before the corresponding memories surfaced.
The medicine was a perfect example.
Only after he thought about the pills and medicines did the relevant memory emerge, telling him that such items were stored inside the spatial ring on his finger.
“Something for external injuries… Let me see. Mystic Jade Skin-Healing Ointment. If I remember the novel’s setting correctly, this stuff can repair practically any damage to the skin. Its effect on scars is especially incredible. Not bad, not bad. You’re the one.”
With a thought from Mo Wudu, the Mystic Jade Skin-Healing Ointment instantly appeared in his hand.
He put it back into the spatial ring.
Then he took it out again.
He put it back.
Then took it out once more.
At that moment, Mo Wudu looked exactly like a three-year-old child who had just received an exciting new toy.
He could hardly be blamed.
Although he had personally written this novel, everything within this world had once existed only in his imagination. He had never actually experienced any of it himself.
“Important things first. Important things first.”
Holding the ointment, Mo Wudu headed toward Ning Qingxue’s residence according to the memories that had surfaced in his mind.
The mountain where Mo Wudu lived was called Jade Radiance Mountain, one of the smaller peaks belonging to the Jade Flower Sect.
The Jade Flower Sect possessed numerous peaks, and every peak had its own Peak Master. Mo Wudu was currently the Peak Master of Jade Radiance Mountain.
Originally, the position of Peak Master had belonged to Mo Wudu’s master. However, his master had entered secluded cultivation five years ago and had yet to emerge.
As a result, the position of Peak Master had been inherited by the only person remaining on Jade Radiance Peak, Mo Wudu.
Ning Qingxue had become Mo Wudu’s disciple only after he inherited the position of Peak Master.
Given Mo Wudu’s personality at the time, he had absolutely no interest in accepting a disciple.
Unfortunately, he had no choice.
If he refused to accept a disciple, Jade Radiance Peak would have been reclaimed by the sect.