The Storage Ring and a Strategic Sob

The countryside stirred to life remarkably early. As soon as dawn broke, with the sun just peeking over the mountain’s edge, people were already traversing the morning mist, bustling about in their fields and vegetable patches.

Outside the window, a cow passed by, letting out a languid moo as it was urged on by the crack of a whip.

It was unclear what the old woman was doing, but muffled thuds from outside were faintly accompanied by the gurgle of boiling water.

Once the sunlight slanted in, striking Su Mo’s rosy cheeks, her eyebrows twitched, and she groggily opened her eyes.

“This place feels so unfamiliar,” she murmured. “Could I… No, that’s not right.” The sudden realization of her transmigration into a book jolted her.

And hadn’t she, it seemed, slept with a man?

“How could I have slept through that?!” A terrifying possibility struck Su Mo, instantly clearing her mind.

She hastily rolled over, only to tumble directly into Xu Qingzhu’s embrace.

Carefully, she turned her head, meeting his unnervingly silent gaze, and swallowed hard.

“G-good morning,” she stammered, his warm breath caressing her face. She couldn’t tell if it was shame or humiliation she felt, or perhaps she was still too muddled to distinguish, as she blurted out the greeting foolishly.

“You’re pressing on my arm,” Xu Qingzhu stated, withdrawing his hand.

Only then did Su Mo realize that what she had been resting her head on was ‘his’ arm!

‘Oh no! I was so far away before sleeping; how did I end up rolling into his arms?’

“It must be the blanket’s fault!” Su Mo fretted, looking at the quilt that she had rolled halfway around, completely enveloping herself.

She used to love rolling in her blanket when she slept, cocooning herself into a warm ball.

She had no idea how she had unconsciously snatched the blanket last night, ultimately forcing Xu Qingzhu closer to her.

Scrambling out from under the quilt, she hastily extricated herself from Xu Qingzhu’s embrace. Su Mo felt her head swell, as if it were inflating.

She seemed angry at herself, yet also found the situation utterly absurd, blushing crimson with embarrassment.

‘If I could, I would never have fallen asleep. I’d rather freeze to death than stay here.’

What she didn’t know was that with a first time, there would be countless more.

At least, Xu Qingzhu, for his part, found having someone by his side rather agreeable.

Although this ‘wife’ had an utterly frantic way of hogging the blanket; although this ‘wife’ loved warmth, and had nudged him awake several times last night by burrowing into his chest beneath the covers.

Even when he pinched her nose, she slept on like a pig.

What astonishing sleep quality!

“Rather amusing, actually,” Xu Qingzhu mused with a faint smile.

That smile sent a shiver down Su Mo’s spine, draining the color from her face, and she scrambled off the bed.

But as the breeze swept across her delicate body, delivering a ‘chill to her heart’ across her chest, Su Mo realized that her thin nightgown had slipped, leaving one shoulder bare and her ‘grand aspirations’ — her cleavage — fully exposed.

Feigning composure, Su Mo clutched at her chest, her face scarlet, and turned her back to him.

She merely glanced back and said:

“Young Master, did you say you had spare clothes?”

“…” Without a word, Xu Qingzhu propped himself up on the bed, his gaze lingering on the sight of the woman’s side profile as she glanced back.

Truth be told, her dress was half-covering, half-revealing, on the verge of slipping off. Her cheeks were flushed with shyness, yet her words avoided the topic, creating an alluring impression of ‘playing hard to get,’ almost hinting for him to approach her from behind.

He was also acutely aware that this woman was Su Mo of the Su family, known by the monikers ‘Demoness’ and ‘Poison Woman’.

With her inherent allure, such a display now likely harbored ulterior motives.

But it mattered little. He had already ‘borrowed’ her storage ring, and all her weapons were safely in his keeping.

Xu Qingzhu didn’t believe that the Fourth Miss, rumored to be uninterested in cultivation, could possibly defeat him.

“So, are you planning to ensnare my mind with a honey trap, only to ultimately drain my essence?” Xu Qingzhu narrowed his eyes, observing her delicate, flushed profile.

Having dared to target Su Mo for his ‘slaying his wife to prove his Dao’ path, he was confident in his ability to maintain control.

However, before allowing himself to be tricked into loving her, Xu Qingzhu needed to confirm Su Mo’s ‘harmlessness’.

He spoke:

“Yes, take a look.”

No sooner had he spoken than the quilt flew open with a whoosh. He sprang from the bed, a blur of motion, arriving sharply before Su Mo.

He simply reached out a hand behind him, and a black robe flew into his grasp, settling beautifully upon his frame.

In just a breath, the sophisticated attire was perfectly in place.

‘Holy hell! This man dresses with such flair, I want to learn that!’ Su Mo composed herself, then looked down at the dress he offered her.

It was a faint ink-black, not luxurious, almost plain in color, without any patterns or embellishments.

It seemed very familiar, as if Su Mo had bought it from a mortal shop during her escape, even getting back quite a bit of change.

“These appear to be my clothes?” Su Mo’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Correct,” he replied, succinct.

“Then, my storage ring…”

“I took it,” Xu Qingzhu said, casually adjusting his sleeve.

Her eyes wide, Su Mo recoiled half a step, pointing a finger at him, utterly speechless.

After several deep breaths, she managed to ask as gently as possible:

“Young Master, within that ring are items left by my family, precious possessions of this humble… this humble girl. In a world devoid of compassion, I often rely on these objects to remember my loved ones… I earnestly implore you to return them to me; please do not jest like this.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head and dabbed at her eyes a few times, as if wiping away tears.

She was, as the saying goes, ‘a sight that would move even the unfeeling’.

“Oh? Could it be those sets of torture instruments? Your esteemed family certainly has peculiar tastes,” Xu Qingzhu quipped, a laugh playing on his lips.

He stretched his tone dramatically, as if… deliberately?

If it were the ‘barbaric’ Su Mo, she would undoubtedly have been furious.

But who was she? The little punching bag at her company when she was raising tuition fees!

She was long accustomed to such things.

When one tactic failed, Su Mo immediately moved to phase two.

She dramatically collapsed to the floor, sitting sideways, one hand wiping away tears, weeping like a pear blossom drenched in rain.

‘I’ve been building this up for so long, thinking of every sad thing possible, and finally, the tears are flowing,’ Su Mo thought to herself, paying no mind to her slipping clothes.

She sobbed:

“W-w-w-young Master, you don’t understand… w-w-w… those were used by the one who slaughtered my entire family, to mock me… w-w-w… I watched with my own eyes as he murdered my loved ones with those cruel instruments…”

Running out of tears, Su Mo quickly rubbed her eyes, squeezing them to force more out.

She continued:

“This humble girl… w-w-w… uses these instruments to remind herself… never to forget the matter of vengeance, it truly is… w-w-w…”

Beneath his robe, Xu Qingzhu’s fingers twitched, utterly astonished.

‘Why does this faint ink-black dress I’m holding suddenly feel so heavy?’

‘This demoness is truly terrifying, twisting instruments of torture for mortals into something like this.’ Xu Qingzhu’s gaze grew solemn, and in an instant, his face was filled with sympathy.

After setting down the dress, he knelt, carefully took Su Mo’s slender hand, and tried to help her up.

His face was clearly flushed with self-reproach, having held his breath.

“W-w-w-w-w!!” Su Mo, with a hand over her face, stole a quick glance. Seeing his guilt, she immediately burst into louder sobs.

She displayed the dramatic flair of someone determined to make a scene, utterly refusing to be pulled up.

Having been inadvertently kicked a few times by Su Mo, how could Xu Qingzhu, a ‘True Person’ in his previous life, endure such insolence?

He simply wrapped both arms around her waist and lifted her.

‘Good heavens, is he going to do this?!’ Su Mo’s heart pounded. Deciding to go all-in, she wrapped her legs around his waist in a scissor-lock.

Her now-free hands flailed in a crying tantrum, her delicate fists pounding his chest.

What was his title, True Person Xu? The ‘True Person Who Slays Your Entire Family Tree,’ also known as ‘True Person of Annihilation.’ Could he possibly tolerate this indignity?

He carried Su Mo directly to the bed, bent down, and dropped her onto it.

Seeing her pinned to the bed, still flailing with her delicate fists, Xu Qingzhu’s large hand reached out and seized Su Mo’s wrists.

With a series of wriggles and frantic struggles, Su Mo’s chest rose and fell like surging tides.

His gaze unwavering, Xu Qingzhu looked into her eyes and said helplessly:

“Miss, isn’t it enough if I admit I was wrong?”