The next moment, Pei Yuanxiu suddenly woke up and sat straight up, startling Xia Ruxi right out of her excited spinning circles.
“Why do you have to scare people the second you wake up? Good thing my heart is strong, or I’d have been scared to death by you.” Xia Ruxi patted her chest lightly, rolled her delicate eyes, and instantly returned to her usual aloof expression.
I almost let him see me acting so undignified. If he saw that, wouldn’t I lose all my elderly prestige? Even if I want to take him as a disciple, I can’t look like I’m throwing myself at him, Xia Ruxi muttered inwardly.
Now it was Pei Yuanxiu’s turn to be dazed. He clearly remembered being driven by his assassins to leap off a cliff and taking two gunshots in the process. Although he had landed on a halfway platform, how was he still alive? Could he already be in the netherworld? And why was the woman in front of him dressed so strangely?
Though a stormy uproar churned inside Pei Yuanxiu, his handsome, straight-standing face remained completely unruffled and free of panic. Instead, using his sexy, raspy voice, he calmly asked, “Did you save me? Have you seen anyone else? How did my injuries heal up so fast?”
Xia Ruxi had also calmed down by now, replying in a lukewarm tone, “I saved you. There’s no one else around—just you falling off the cliff and crashing right at the entrance of my cave. Upholding the spirit that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, I reluctantly managed to pull you through.”
While speaking, Xia Ruxi quietly observed Pei Yuanxiu’s expression, as if trying to pierce right through him to catch a glimpse of what his world was like.
“Then I truly am indebted to… um, what should I address you as, madam? My name is Pei Yuanxiu—Pei as in ‘not clothing’, Yuan as in New Year’s Day, and Xiu as in cultivation.” Pei Yuanxiu cupped his fists in gratitude. “Xia Ruxi—Xia as in summer, and Ruxi meaning ‘like a person’s xi, departing unlike the ancients’,” she replied. Though she didn’t quite understand the word “madam,” she could grasp its general meaning from context.
“I am the captain of a special forces team. While on a mission, I was ambushed and hunted down, and I lost contact with my teammates, which is why I ended up in such a sorry state.”
Pei Yuanxiu paused to think for a moment before roughly explaining what he could share with Xia Ruxi.
“I see. The wounds on your body healed so fast because I used a secret medicine I made myself. But don’t go getting any ideas about killing-to-take-treasure; putting aside whether I even have any left on me, you’re no match for me anyway.” Though she wasn’t afraid of him, Xia Ruxi felt a warning was still in order.
While Xia Ruxi didn’t understand what “special forces” meant, she roughly gathered that it referred to people who protected the mortal world. Knowing Pei Yuanxiu’s general background only made her even more eager to take him as a disciple—special forces sounded like someone who already had a solid foundation. Her hands were starting to itch with excitement again.
“Since you saved me, I naturally wouldn’t turn on you, and I will definitely repay your kindness. As long as it doesn’t cross my bottom line, I can help you with anything,” Pei Yuanxiu replied with a helpless smile.
He wasn’t the type to attack a lifesaver anyway, though staying cautious around strangers was a good habit. Pei Yuanxiu thought to himself.
A gleam flashed in Xia Ruxi’s eyes. “Very well! I need you to do three things for me right now. As long as you agree to and fulfill these three things, it will count as repaying my grace.”
Without a moment of hesitation, Pei Yuanxiu replied, “Could you please tell me what these three things are first, Madam Xia? That way I can consider whether I can agree to them.”
“The first thing is that you must tell me everything you know about this world. The second thing is to take me to the place where your people live. And the third thing—I want you to take me as your master!” Pacing back and forth, Xia Ruxi stopped right beside Pei Yuanxiu as she brought up the third point, staring fixedly at him.
“The first two are no problem at all. But taking you as my master, while not crossing my bottom line, I honestly don’t think there’s anything you could teach me. Besides, I already have a master.”
Pei Yuanxiu maintained a composed expression. Though he had no idea why this woman before him would make such a “simple” yet bizarre request, since his savior asked for it and it was within his power, he should naturally agree. It wasn’t that he judged a book by its cover, but he genuinely considered himself a martial arts grandmaster already.
Pei Yuanxiu never in his wildest dreams imagined that Xia Ruxi intended to teach him true cultivation.
You actually had the audacity to refuse a Tribulation-stage ancestor’s invitation to apprentice? Just wait until tomorrow—I’ll scare the wits out of you for turning down my master offer! Xia Ruxi thought to herself.
Plotting how to give Pei Yuanxiu the shock of a lifetime, Xia Ruxi kept her expression completely normal and prepared to invite him to eat some roasted fish.
“Fine then, we’ll put the third matter on hold until I figure out what else to add. You probably haven’t eaten yet, have you? I just caught a couple of fish from the nearby stream—let’s eat together!”
With that, Xia Ruxi walked over to her campfire. Though Pei Yuanxiu was bursting with doubts and grew increasingly curious about Xia Ruxi, he didn’t show a single trace of it on his face.
Calm and collected, he followed Xia Ruxi to the fire, sat down opposite her, and began eating the roasted fish she handed him in a slow, graceful manner.
As Xia Ruxi ate the fish she had grilled herself, a satisfied smile bloomed across her face, making her look a lot less otherworldly than before.
This woman is truly interesting. It should take Peng Pang and the others another day or two to trace the markers I left behind. I can use this time to observe her and figure out what kind of background she really comes from, Pei Yuanxiu thought as he finished his fish.
Xia Ruxi also finished eating, clapped her hands together, stood up, and told Pei Yuanxiu, “You can sleep on the stone bed tonight. I’ll go outside to keep watch just in case the people hunting you down track you here. Your injuries just healed and you need rest, so don’t bother arguing with me. Getting yourself fully recovered by tomorrow is the best way to lighten my load.”
Without giving Pei Yuanxiu a chance to reply, Xia Ruxi turned and walked straight out.
Pei Yuanxiu’s lips curved upward slightly. This young girl, who clearly didn’t belong to his world, was becoming more and more fascinating to him. He wondered just how she had managed to heal him so completely. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he decided not to dwell on it—he would find out soon enough anyway.
After wrestling with his thoughts for a moment, Pei Yuanxiu returned to the stone bed and closed his eyes to rest.