Chapter 16: A Bet Is a Bet

As the sun set and dusk painted the sky, He Yimo lay flat on the staircase halfway up the mountain, his body completely drained of energy.

He had overestimated his Foundation Establishment cultivation and underestimated the challenge of climbing a 2,700-meter peak.

Forget about using lightfoot techniques to scale it vertically…

That technique defied gravity, consumed immense stamina, and left He Yimo nauseous after just a few hundred meters. He had thrown up and given up.

Now, he was halfway up the mountain.

He was utterly spent. Forget about the senior sister’s promised reward or maintaining his dignity as a man—nothing could get him back on his feet tonight. Not even the Emperor himself could make him move.

“Well, might as well sleep here.”

He Yimo was too exhausted to speak, let alone unpack his bedding. He simply sprawled out on the steps and prepared to pass out.

Ah, youth. The ability to fall asleep anywhere.

“Get on the sword.”

At some point, Mo Yuyan’s voice broke through his drowsiness, jolting He Yimo awake. His eyes snapped open.

The white-clad fairy stood before him, hovering on her sword.

Her face showed no trace of amusement, returning to its usual cold and indifferent demeanor.

He Yimo no longer had the energy to banter with her. He obediently propped himself up and climbed onto her Yinshuang Sword.

Standing behind Mo Yuyan, he waited for her to take off—but she didn’t move.

“You don’t know how to control wind techniques yet. If you stand behind me, you’ll fall off.”

Mo Yuyan said flatly.

But her words were met with silence. Behind her, He Yimo hesitated before carefully wrapping his arms around her waist.

“…?”

Mo Yuyan raised an eyebrow.

After a moment, she sighed and grabbed his arm, pulling him from behind her to stand in front.

The sudden movement snapped He Yimo out of his daze.

“Wait, I didn’t mean to—”

He stammered, trying to explain.

He Yimo had been so tired that he acted on instinct when she mentioned falling off. Wrapping his arms around her waist felt natural—probably a habit from riding motorcycles in his past life.

Fortunately, Mo Yuyan remained calm and didn’t react harshly.

She didn’t say much, simply steadying him with her hands.

“Hold on tight. Don’t fall.”

Her words instantly brought He Yimo back to full alertness.

As she spoke, a terrifying surge of force propelled them forward. The wind roared around them, and the scenery blurred into streaks of light.

Adrenaline coursed through He Yimo’s veins as he instinctively closed his eyes against the cold wind. But after a while, he realized there was no stinging sensation on his face.

“This is a wind technique. It cuts through the cold air.”

Mo Yuyan explained from behind him.

She held onto He Yimo as she continued: “But my wind technique can’t counteract inertia. That’s why standing behind me would’ve been dangerous.”

“I see…”

He Yimo nodded thoughtfully.

This was new information for him. In the game, once you reached the Core Formation stage, you simply unlocked the flying sword skill—no need to worry about such details.

“Are you hungry?”

As they neared the summit, Mo Yuyan spoke again.

He Yimo nodded, his eyes fixed on the courtyard at the peak of Dye Ink Peak, where faint plumes of smoke rose into the air.

“Senior Sister, is your house on fire?”

As they got closer, He Yimo’s confusion deepened at the sight of smoke wafting from the courtyard.

Mo Yuyan didn’t answer until they landed at the courtyard gate. She dismounted gracefully and walked inside with feigned composure.

“It’s not really on fire… is it?”

Standing outside the courtyard, He Yimo caught a whiff of roasted meat in the smoky air.

Following Mo Yuyan’s footsteps, he pushed open the door and saw a recently extinguished bonfire. On a stone table sat a plate of charred grilled fish.

“What’s this?”

He Yimo looked at the burnt fish with visible hesitation.

Meanwhile, Mo Yuyan casually swung her sword, summoning a gust of wind that cleared the courtyard of smoke.

Clearing her throat, she placed the plate of grilled fish on the stone table in front of He Yimo without saying a word. Her gaze clearly signaled for him to sit down.

Obediently, He Yimo took a seat and stared at the blackened fish before him.

“This… wouldn’t happen to be my reward, would it?”

He forced a polite smile.

Mo Yuyan sheathed her sword, her cold and elegant expression faltering slightly.

Closing her eyes briefly, she explained in a soft but slightly resentful tone: “If I hadn’t been worried about you freezing to death, I wouldn’t have gone down to save you—and this fish wouldn’t have burned.”

“I see. Senior Sister is so kind to me…”

He Yimo’s gaze softened with gratitude. He couldn’t bring himself to criticize the fish anymore.

Under Mo Yuyan’s expectant gaze, he picked up his chopsticks, peeled back the charred skin, and took a bite of the tender meat inside.

It tasted awful…

Internally, He Yimo cringed but kept his expression neutral.

Swallowing the bite with effort, he smiled brightly:

“It’s delicious!”

He nodded earnestly in praise.

A glimmer of light returned to Mo Yuyan’s previously disappointed eyes.

But she wasn’t naive. She knew he was being polite. Without a word, she went back inside and returned with two side dishes and a small porcelain jug of wine to accompany the fish.

“Can cultivators drink alcohol?”

He Yimo asked in surprise.

The cozy scene felt out of place. He had expected Mo Yuyan to berate him for giving up halfway up the mountain.

But instead of scorn, she had prepared grilled fish—albeit poorly—and even brought side dishes and wine. This was far beyond anything he’d experienced in the game’s storyline.

“I don’t drink. This is for you.”

“Just for tonight, you can indulge one last time.”

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll no longer be a young master from Luo City. I thought you might miss worldly pleasures, so I prepared some wine and meat for you—though I misjudged the cooking time.”

Her tone remained cold and detached.

Perhaps seeing how exhausted He Yimo was softened her usual sharpness.

Looking at everything before him, He Yimo was too stunned to speak.

He was just a spoiled young master—what had he done to deserve such treatment on Dye Ink Peak?

“You eat first.”

Leaving those words behind, Mo Yuyan returned inside.

He Yimo wondered what she’d bring out next but focused on filling his empty stomach for now.

The grilled fish was terrible but large enough to provide sustenance. Though its exterior was burnt, the meat inside was tender enough to eat.

Without seasoning or marination, it wasn’t particularly tasty…

Did she not even clean out the guts?

Halfway through eating, He Yimo’s mouth was filled with a fishy taste. His expression twisted in discomfort but he forced himself to keep eating. His body desperately needed protein and calories after today’s ordeal.

“Senior Sister, what are you…?”

After some time passed, Mo Yuyan emerged from inside again.

This time, she wore a brand-new silk dress. The simple white fabric was adorned with ink-style patterns of mountains and cranes in flight.

She had put away her Yinshuang Sword and now carried an unfamiliar ice sword instead.

Her flawless fairy-like face was veiled with a thin layer of white gauze. Under the moonlight’s soft glow, only her clear pink-tinted eyes shone like jade.

He Yimo was mesmerized. His gaze froze as he sat there dumbfounded.

The fairy in her ink-patterned dress moved gracefully under the moonlight as if dancing with it.

The fabric was light and flowing yet clung delicately to her figure. Though it covered her entirely, it hinted at her curves under the translucent moonlight—a vision both modest and alluring.

She was more beautiful than any woman He Yimo had seen in this life.

But just as her dance reached its most captivating peak, He Yimo’s vision began to blur—

“This is…”

“The final feast?”

His eyelids grew heavy as if his entire body were shutting down from exhaustion.

Drip… drip…

He felt something warm trickle across his lips.

“He Yimo—?”

The dancing fairy noticed something wrong with him mid-performance.

Before she could react further, He Yimo collapsed forward with a thud—his face landing squarely onto the plate of grilled fish before him.

“——!”