We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?

After Liu Shui left, Xiao Mo walked back to the bamboo courtyard alone.

The moment he stepped through the gate, he saw a graceful woman in a white dress standing quietly in the courtyard.

Looking at that figure, Xiao Mo felt a little surprised, and a small thread of helplessness rose in his heart.

Today, his tiny bamboo courtyard really did have no shortage of visitors coming and going.

“Greetings, Madam.”

Xiao Mo stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

“No need for such ceremony.”

Tushan Xinhua nodded lightly, her gaze falling on the young man before her, who had already grown into adulthood.

Her alluring eyes moved slowly over him. The emotion in their depths was difficult to distinguish, as though she were examining him, yet also as though she were remembering something.

After all, in the blink of an eye, the little boy who had been sold into the Tushan residence had become a Golden Core Realm cultivator before even turning twenty. It truly gave one a dazed feeling.

“I came today because there is one question I want to ask you,” Tushan Xinhua said slowly. “Xiao Mo, can you answer me honestly?”

“Naturally.” Xiao Mo nodded. “As long as it is something Madam asks, I will answer truthfully.”

“Why?”

Tushan Xinhua did not circle around the matter any longer. She asked directly, her words filled with confusion.

“Xiao Mo, why did you not leave with Daoist Yunxi? If we are speaking of appearance, Junmeng looks exactly the same as Jingci. Moreover, Junmeng has a human body and an innate Dao-seed constitution. If you became dao companions with her, you could reach the Great Dao in the future. To be honest, I truly cannot think of any reason you would refuse.”

“There is no especially particular reason.” Xiao Mo smiled and shook his head frankly. He was not surprised in the slightest that Madam knew everything that had happened tonight. “I simply felt that I could not leave Young Lady alone.”

“Could not leave her alone...” Tushan Xinhua’s eyes carried a little surprise, and also a little amusement. “Compared with a path to heaven, is Jingci more important to you? And do you know how many people in this world would not mind selling out even their own wives and daughters for that illusory Great Dao?”

“That is other people, not me.” Xiao Mo raised his head. His gaze was calm and firm. “If I were to watch an important person die before my eyes, then what use would that Great Dao be, even if it reached the heavens?”

“...”

Listening to Xiao Mo’s answer, Tushan Xinhua was speechless for a time. She only stared blankly into his eyes, as though confirming something.

But she could feel that every word Xiao Mo had said came from the heart.

“You really are strange...”

Tushan Xinhua shook her head, and an indescribable smile rose at the corner of her lips.

“But you humans... sometimes, you do seem to be this strange.”

Tushan Xinhua lightly folded her hands in front of her and turned to walk out of the bamboo courtyard. Her steps were calm and steady.

“In two months, you and Jingci should end your studies at Cold Mountain Academy early. The demon-race world is changing greatly now. Although Cold Mountain Academy has Cun Caiguang holding it down, this place is not truly that secure either. Too many people regard Cold Mountain Academy as a thorn in their side and intend to move against it.”

“And the two of you should see this world with your own eyes as well. As for what road you will take in the future, you can only walk it yourself.”

She paused, turned her face slightly, and added in a mild voice, “In addition, if you want to see Jingci, you may go see her at any time. I will no longer place restrictions on the two of you.”

“Madam.” Xiao Mo called out to Tushan Xinhua, his tone solemn. “I also have a question. May I ask Madam?”

“Speak.” Tushan Xinhua lightly uttered a single word through her thin lips.

“Gui Junmeng... what does she mean to Madam?”

As Xiao Mo’s words fell, the entire courtyard sank into silence.

The bamboo leaves stopped rustling. Even the moonlight seemed to freeze for an instant.

Only after a long while did Tushan Xinhua turn her head slightly and glance back. Her voice was gentle and clear.

“Whether it is Jingci or Junmeng... to me, they are both my daughters.”

...

The next morning, Tushan Jingci slowly woke from sleep, her awareness gradually clearing.

“Mother... Mother...”

Once awake, the young woman recovered the broken fragments of memory from last night and remembered what had happened.

She remembered that she had originally been planning to go find Xiao Mo, only to run straight into her mother in the courtyard.

Her mother said she was waiting for someone’s answer.

Tushan Jingci did not know who her mother was waiting for.

No matter how she asked, her mother refused to say even half a word more.

In the end, Tushan Jingci had given up and stopped asking. But she had then made an excuse, saying she wanted to visit one of her close friends, when in truth she wanted to slip away and find Xiao Mo.

But how could something like that possibly deceive Tushan Xinhua?

Tushan Jingci had been knocked unconscious by her mother’s spell art.

When she woke again, it was already daybreak.

“Why did Mother suddenly come last night... It has not been any special day lately.”

Tushan Jingci grew more and more puzzled over her mother’s arrival.

“Wait! Mother couldn’t have come to harm Xiao Mo, could she?”

Suddenly, this thought surged up in Tushan Jingci’s heart. And the more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed.

After all, over these past three years, whenever she had free time, she had run to Xiao Mo’s courtyard.

And in Cold Mountain Academy, even if Sister Liu Shui would not send news to her mother, there were still other maids in Jingci’s courtyard.

Besides, Mother certainly had eyes and ears planted in secret as well.

How could Mother not have guessed Jingci’s feelings for Xiao Mo?

What if Mother had come this time to kill Xiao Mo?

The more Tushan Jingci thought, the more panicked she became.

The young woman suddenly sat up in bed.

She bit her pearly teeth, hurriedly put on her clothes, and was about to go find Xiao Mo.

But the moment she walked out of her room, she saw that her mother was still sitting in the courtyard, eating spirit-rice porridge in small, unhurried bites, her posture composed and leisurely.

Hearing the movement, Tushan Xinhua lifted her elegant head and looked at her daughter. Her tone was calm, neither rushed nor slow.

“A young lady already in the bloom of youth, and still so reckless. Your clothes are not even properly arranged, your hair is a mess, and you intend to go out like this? What sort of propriety is that?”

Tushan Jingci looked down and only then noticed that her dress was crooked, revealing a glimpse of fair shoulder. Her hair was in complete disarray as well. She truly did look unkempt.

“Mother, what exactly did you come to do last night?”

She hurriedly pulled the garment back over her shoulder, carefully straightened her dress, and circulated spiritual power to smooth her hair.

Tushan Jingci walked forward and sat beside her mother. Her little mouth puckered, and her expression carried a touch of wariness. “Tell me the truth! Were you planning to harm Xiao Mo?”

“Hehehe...” Tushan Xinhua laughed softly, and that laughter carried a somewhat meaningful note. “Even if I were going to harm Xiao Mo, what could you do?”

“I... I...” Tushan Jingci pressed her thin lips together.

“All right, all right. Stop making wild guesses.” Tushan Xinhua soothed her daughter. “Xiao Mo is perfectly well.”

“That is good, that is good.” Hearing her mother’s answer, Tushan Jingci let out a breath of relief. “But Mother, honestly, if you were coming, you should have told me beforehand.”

“What? Does Mother have to report to Young Lady Jingci in advance before coming to see you?”

“That is not what I mean.” Tushan Jingci’s eyes curved into two crescent moons. Her peach-ripe figure immediately shifted to her mother’s side, and she linked arms with her, saying sweetly, “It is just that if Mother is coming, your daughter should at least make some preparations. Right?”

“What preparations?” Tushan Xinhua set down her bowl and chopsticks, looking at her daughter with a smile that was not quite a smile. “Giving Young Lady Jingci a little more time to hide the matter between you and Xiao Mo more thoroughly?”

“Mother... what are you saying...” Tushan Jingci’s cheeks flushed a tempting red all at once. She gently bit her thin lip, her two fair fingers hooking together in embarrassment as she lowered her eyes and muttered, “What could there be between Xiao Mo and me...?”

“What do you think there could be? Were you not just asking me whether I meant to harm Xiao Mo? If nothing is going on between you, why would you ask that?”

Tushan Xinhua sighed softly, her tone carrying a touch of helplessness.

“And do not think I do not know. During the three years Xiao Mo was in seclusion, whenever you had time, you ran to his courtyard. You were practically wishing you could simply move into that bamboo courtyard.”

She looked at her daughter and shook her head. “A young lady, and without the slightest reserve. You are not even married yet, and you are already like this. If you truly marry into his household later, what will become of you?”

Hearing her mother’s words, Tushan Jingci’s eyes suddenly lit up, as though she had seized upon some extraordinary hope. She hurriedly took her mother’s arm and asked anxiously, “Mother, does that mean you agree to let Xiao Mo and me be together?”

“Did I say I agree?” Tushan Xinhua turned her head and looked straight into her daughter’s eyes, feeling that this girl had not even married out yet, and her heart had already turned toward someone else.

“I... I do not care!”

The young woman stood up with a sudden rustle. She simply stopped hiding it, lifted her chin, and spoke with complete confidence.

“Whether you agree or not, I am going to be with Xiao Mo! In this lifetime, I have decided on Xiao Mo, and no one else can do anything about it!”

“Oh...” Tushan Xinhua smiled, her brows and eyes carrying a hint of amusement. “And if I simply do not agree to you and Xiao Mo being together? What will you do then?”

“I...” Tushan Jingci straightened her chest, puffed up with anger, and gave a huff. “Then I will elope with Xiao Mo!”

Whenever it concerned the person she loved, and especially in front of her own mother, the young woman seemed to lose all the poise and elegance she had cultivated through reading and self-restraint. She became somewhat willful and unreasonable instead.

“Elope? Let us set everything else aside—has Xiao Mo even agreed to be with you? And you already want to elope?” A snow-white fox tail abruptly emerged from beneath Tushan Xinhua’s long dress and lightly patted Tushan Jingci on the head. “Sit down!”

Tushan Jingci turned her head away. Her hands planted themselves on her slender waist, and her cheeks puffed round, looking exactly like a squirrel with its mouth stuffed full of chestnuts.

“Sit down.” Looking at her daughter’s stubborn appearance, Tushan Xinhua sighed helplessly, her voice becoming a little gentler. “If you do not sit, then you truly will have to elope with Xiao Mo.”

“Sure enough, Mother, you do agree to Xiao Mo and me being together.” Tushan Jingci immediately sat happily back down beside her mother, her eyes shining as she looked at her full of anticipation.

“I said I do not agree.” Tushan Xinhua reached out a finger and lightly flicked her daughter’s forehead. Yet an almost imperceptible smile rose at the corner of her lips. “But from now on, I will not concern myself with you, little girl. Do whatever you like. In the future, you may meet Xiao Mo as well.”

“Thank you, Mother! I knew Mother was the best!”

Tushan Jingci threw herself forward at once, hugging her mother’s shoulders and rubbing her cheek against her mother’s again and again, delighted like a little fox that had been given candy.

Although her mother said “I do not agree,” since her mother did not object, that was already tacit permission in her heart.

And as long as she had her mother’s support, Tushan Jingci felt that was enough.

As for what the members of the Tushan clan thought, what did that have to do with her?

She cared only about two people.

One was her mother.

The other was Xiao Mo.

“Now you say I am the best? When you were glaring at me earlier, your eyes were as wide as bronze bells.” Tushan Xinhua gently patted the back of her daughter’s hand, her tone filled with indulgence.

“Was I? When? I did not.” Tushan Jingci hurriedly shook her head, putting on an innocent expression. Those beautiful fox eyes blinked and blinked, as though nothing had ever happened.

“All right, all right. You do not need to keep pretending to be foolish in front of me.” Tushan Xinhua’s smile gradually faded, and her eyes slowly turned serious. “But you should make preparations. In two months, take Xiao Mo and return to Tushan. Do not stay here any longer.”

“Return to Tushan?” Tushan Jingci was stunned. For a moment, she even wondered whether she had heard wrong, and she stared blankly at her mother.

“That is right. Return to Tushan.” Tushan Xinhua’s eyes grew deeper, like a pool whose bottom could not be seen at a glance. “The demon-race world is about to fall into great chaos, and Tushan will not be peaceful either. As members of the Tushan clan, since we have enjoyed the cultivation conditions the clan provided, we have an obligation to do certain things for the clan.”

She paused, and her tone softened somewhat. “All right. It is getting late. Mother must leave. When the time comes, someone will come to receive you.”

Tushan Xinhua reached out and gently rubbed her daughter’s head, the motion tender and familiar.

“Remember,” she said, her gaze suddenly becoming solemn as she instructed her word by word, “after you return to Tushan, you must keep this firmly in mind. Whatever person or matter you face, you must look with your own eyes and think with your own mind. You cannot easily trust anyone. Understand?”

“Do not worry, Mother.” Tushan Jingci nodded obediently, her tone certain. “I only trust you and Xiao Mo.”

“Silly girl...”

Tushan Xinhua shook her head helplessly. A complex smile rose at the corner of her lips, but she said nothing more.

She simply stepped forward, and her figure vanished instantly before Tushan Jingci’s eyes. In the blink of an eye, she was already above the horizon.

She looked back.

She saw that her daughter was still standing in the courtyard, head raised, quietly watching the direction in which she had left.

Silly girl...

You trust me and Xiao Mo.

But silly girl, do you know...

Xiao Mo and I can lie to you too...