In the evening, as the overbearing rays of the sun vanished from the mountain and the night split open and emerged, Morse was supposed to leave with Ni Ni Layan. However, until now, he still didn't know how to tell her.
Inside the cave again, after being outside for a long time searching for any food, he had already asked her what she ate. She told him that she used to hunt after coming to this mountain, but since her aura spread across the mountain, the huntable animals had disappeared, leaving only fruits to sustain her for the rest of the day without dying.
Who knows? What a Phoenix feeds on might be edible to her, but if he tried to take some of her fruit and eat it, he might die from an unknown poison. From the past until recently, Morse was the Young Master of the family and the legitimate heir; he never needed to risk finding food or worry about what was edible. Even in his previous life, salted cabbage and canned foods made up most of his dishes. All he knew were bits of information his mother told him before her death.
"Morse, if you ever get lost in a forest, do not be afraid. Look carefully for food that isn't bright in color and without black spots. If you find those fruits, know they are inedible."
His expression darkened whenever he recalled these memories.
Anyway, he gathered some fruit that didn't seem harmful in his spatial ring and brought it out inside the cave before Ni Ni Layan, signaling her to eat with him.
"Here... I gathered this."
When Ni Ni Layan emerged from her meditative state, she had already felt that she had broken through to the second stage of True Qi Condensation.
"Where did you gather this from?"
Morse pointed to the dense trees on Mount Shuiling. Ni Ni Layan looked at the fruit.
"These things are inedible... they are poisonous."
Then, Ni Ni took a bunch of them and ate them. After a while, she began to eat all the fruit Morse had brought without mercy.
"Why are you looking at me like that? I told you they are poisonous. Do you want to try?"
Morse reached out his hand to take the last fruit, but Ni Ni Layan beat him to it, devouring it in one bite. The fragrant juice dripped from her unrefined mouth as she indifferently ground the food.
"Better luck next time. I've saved your life. Bring me another batch, and thank me for saving you."
His features contorted as he glared at her with pure rage, as if he were looking at a fat boss right before slapping him and getting fired. He stood there, frozen like a fool who had just been exploited. And oh, what a surprise—he was a fool who had just been exploited.
"Hey, don't look at me like that! I told you they were poisonous. Why do you look so angry?"
He wasn't just angry; he was seething. He had spent the entire morning gathering these fruits. If these were the poisonous ones, then where were the safe ones? Morse remembered how he had lost his entire food supply along with his belongings in the carriage that had been taken from him.
"I'm not angry. You want more fruit? No problem."
No problem, no problem... The day was wasted anyway. They wouldn't be able to return at night. So, since he was going out again, he decided to make her taste every fruit that looked more garish than anything else. Ideally, something looking like green fluorescent nuclear waste—something that would definitely hurt this girl's feelings after she ate it.
Not much time passed before he returned through the night, carrying everything in his path, smiling to himself.
But as he was walking, he stepped on a branch. Then, he felt a flicker of air brush against his back. A draft followed the line of his neck. A disturbing shiver ran down his spine, making him suspicious. When he put his hand on the back of his neck, he heard a faint growl from behind. He immediately pointed in the direction of the sound and swore he saw a shadow moving rapidly.
"Damn it!" He instantly pulled his sword from his storage ring, pointing it around in terror. He was anxious, disoriented, not knowing where the strike would come from. Paranoia suddenly seized him, and he began imagining sounds everywhere.
He started panting, his hand trembling on his sword. He began to raise his cultivation aura—though it seemed trivial, his Yang aura was high.
"Ah..."
Morse gasped, hearing a strange sound like a moan. He increased his caution. Suddenly, he saw a massive silhouette moving gracefully between the thick trees. Terrifying. He had to run, fast.
He ran without looking back, panting as he dashed toward the cave. "A monster! A monster! It's a monster!"
His voice was incredibly loud. Suddenly, Ni Ni Layan emerged from the cave entrance, looking at the terrified man before her. Morse had advanced to the third level of Qi Condensation, but he was instantly struck with fear by that strange shape.
"What is the matter? Why are you so terrified?"
"There... a monster... huge... goat horns... giant muscles... green eyes... the body of a bear... a full-spec monster!"
The girl tried to calm him down, then smiled as she looked at him. "Don't worry, I'll handle it. But do not leave the cave."
As she headed toward the forest, he retreated into the cave, utterly terrified. Once she was far enough away, Ni Ni Layan laughed softly, looking at the berries and fruits he had dropped while running.
"This man is such a coward... and he tells me to call him 'Mentor'."
She picked up the fruits and decided to take them back. Morse clearly wanted to leave the mountain, but she thought: I haven't had my Dual Cultivation yet.
She didn't know what challenges awaited her outside. Therefore, to increase her strength and avoid problems, she needed a round of Dual Cultivation to boost her power and points before leaving. To prevent him from departing, she had followed him out and used one of her illusion techniques to form a terrifying monster to make him afraid of leaving without her—or without her consent.
She wouldn't leave until she made sure they practiced Dual Cultivation. It seemed her plan was working. Using her Qi, she formed the shape of the monster's head, complete with blood as if she had decapitated it.
"You won't escape again." Every time she tried to get close, he would flee. Why was he so afraid of sex? He didn't seem to have any sexual dysfunction. But whenever she approached, he pulled away.
When Ni Ni Layan returned with the "monster's head" to Morse, she felt a momentary sense of relief on his face.
"I know it's scary. But it seems these monsters have a nest at the mountain exit. You survived because the monster was confused by your voice, which made it retreat. Next time, don't go out without my knowledge."
Afterward, she threw before him the pile of fruit he had dropped while running in terror.
"This is the fruit you gathered... I don't feel hungry, so you eat it."
She was clearly taking her revenge on him.
In Morse's terrified mind, he swore he would never go out. Though he wondered why a monster of that size would fear his voice. For five days, Morse stayed in and around the cave, paralyzed by fear, while Ni Ni Layan tried to seduce him. He wanted to leave, but she kept telling him she hadn't cleared all the monsters yet.
When he asked about leaving under her protection, she said shamelessly: "If you really want to leave, let's practice Dual Cultivation."
He had heard it so much that the sentence became an obsession for him. He couldn't take it anymore. In a dream, he lured her into a narrow corner and began Dual Cultivation, feeling bliss... but suddenly, she turned into an evil sorceress who sucked his life force away.
He woke up from the nightmare, terrified and trembling. It was the middle of the night. He found her very close to him. This was the safest way to collect points: proximity.
Panting, he looked at the System window with a distorted smile.
{Dual Cultivation Points: 155}
"Finally, I can get you."
He opened the shop with a twisted grin on his face.
{Automaton Guard (Foundation Establishment Level 1): 150 Points}