The sudden quarrel made both of them feel depressed, especially because they both had no experience with quarreling before. The feeling of sulking was just too uncomfortable.

　　Unfortunately, the space in the small cave became larger, and they could each occupy one end and not touch each other. There wasn’t even any reason for them to break the ice.

　　It didn’t take long for Qin Xi to regret it. Why did he bother to enlarge the cave just now? If the cave was as it had been, the situation would’ve been better if he just had the audacity to approach her. But now they were on opposite sides, and he wasn’t humble enough to apologize or just say something.

　　He had never done anything like this, and he didn’t know how to get along with a woman. He only felt that she was sometimes one way and sometimes the other and wouldn’t listen to anything, which… really made him at a loss for doing anything.

　　But he didn’t think he was wrong. There were many Dual Cultivation partners in this world—how was it possible that each pair was an equivalent cultivation level? There were always strong ones and weak ones, and what was wrong with counting on your partner?

　　Thinking like this, he forgot his own broken self-esteem that was smashed to pieces because of the two words “Human Furnace” and hadn’t healed for decades.

　　Mo Tiange kept her back to him and was gathering the medicine bottles calmly. Qin Xi didn’t know how she had so many things to put away; they were just coming one after another, never ending.

　　Until another steamy devil aura floated over from outside, blocking the entrance to the light.

　　“I’m sorry.”

　　Qin Xi was stunned.

　　Relying on the darkness and the fact she had her back turned to him, Mo Tiange coughed lightly and tried to show grace. “I know you mean well, but, but… some things aren’t so simple. You might think it’s nothing, but it means a lot to me.”

　　“…”

　　After a long time, he still didn’t respond. She couldn’t help feeling annoyed. She wasn’t good at quarreling, and she was unhappy about it.

　　Then this annoyance carried over into her words again. “Of course, if you feel that all your ideas are right and I must do everything you say, then I have nothing to say.”

　　A gust of wind came over. As she was about to turn her head, she was hugged from behind.

　　“I’m sorry.” His voice was low but clear.

　　These two words made her feel that all her previous anger was gone.

　　The two then sat in front of each other just like that.

　　“I know I was too impulsive just now, and I didn’t give you time to think about it,” he said.

　　“You don’t have to say that,” she whispered, pulling his hand away. Then she turned around and looked into his eyes in the darkness and said earnestly, “I apologize for my attitude just now; I was also very impulsive. But, some things must be made clear, don’t you agree?”

　　“En!”

　　“I…” Mo Tiange pondered for a long time yet didn’t know where to begin, so she simply started talking from the beginning. “I came from an ordinary background and was an ordinary village girl, but I was given my mother’s last name, belonged to a clan generation, and my mother raised me like a boy from the beginning. When I was a child, I was sent to school with those boys and I felt I had to do better than them. My mother always said that my father thought his children, no matter girl or boy, should be brought up well, so she offered me everything she had, and all I could do was try my best.”

　　“… Later, my mother left the world. I set foot on the path of becoming an immortal. I went to Kunwu and met Second Uncle. He told me that perhaps other female cultivators could slack off, but I couldn’t. My constitution was both an advantage and a nail in the coffin. So, not only do I have to be better than female cultivators, but I have to work harder than male cultivators…”

　　Her rambling went on and on for a long time, and she almost forgot what she was going to say. She rarely reminisced on these things now, because every time she fell into her past memories, she was alone. But now she had an audience, so she couldn’t help talking about the joys and sorrows she had experienced with Second Uncle in those dozen years.

　　“… I’ve been used to this way of life and it also became part of my own beliefs. It’s not that I don’t trust you or don’t want to listen to you, but… but it goes against what I’ve believed for so many years. Second Uncle said that being amorous and weak was the enemy of female cultivators, so he always asked me to stand on my own feet and not rely on anyone, even if one day I found a person who could accompany me on the way.” She looked up to meet his eyes. “If I really don’t have to do anything in the future, it would be equivalent to the denial of my previous 80 years of life.”

　　“…”

　　The devil aura dispersed and there was light again in the cave.

　　Qin Xi didn’t speak for a long time, but he also didn’t let go of her.

　　What she said reminded him of their three years in Yunwu Sect. In those three years, he was indifferent at first then discovered her secret, then became very interested in her.

　　When he first learned her secret, he was puzzled because she was different from those women he despised. Then he thought that perhaps she was the kind of person he appreciated, like Martial Uncle Miaoyi and Senior Martial Sister Suxin. Then he felt that she was tenacious and hard-working. When a cultivator had such qualities, and with enough luck and fated chances, they would definitely achieve something. Then over the next few decades, he watched her grow step by step…

　　He used to think she couldn’t have had a stronger character, and she had qualities he admired or at least she wouldn’t become a woman he hated. But now, their relationship was different, and he felt differently.

　　What if she just counted on him? What was the point of being with him if he couldn’t give her anything? He was confused, so he told what he felt honestly.

　　Mo Tiange widened her eyes all of a sudden and turned to glare at him. “Do you think you have to give me something for it to be meaningful?”

　　Qin Xi also widened his eyes. “Isn’t that the case?”

　　“…” Mo Tiange was speechless. She was only now discovering that they had such issues in communicating with each other.

　　“What’s the problem? Tell me!”

　　She thought about it for a moment and asked him, “What if we switch?”

　　“What?” He didn’t know what she meant.

　　She said again, “What if… we switch genders and you be the female?”

　　“…” This hypothesis made Qin Xi a little gloomy. “Do I look like a woman?”

　　Mo Tiange patted away his hands. She leaned back on the rock wall and looked at him with arms crossed in front of her chest. “You don’t think much of women, do you?”

　　“… No.” Although he knew it was better to deny it, he chose to admit it honestly.

　　“Do you despise me?”

　　“Of course not!” he explained hurriedly. “If I despised you, I wouldn’t have associated with you in Yunwu Sect. I knew you were a girl, but…”

　　Seeing him behaving in this way, Mo Tiange laughed first. “What are you worrying about? I didn’t say anything about you.”

　　He sighed and felt he couldn’t explain anything.

　　Mo Tiange looked at him and continued: “See, you have a certain degree of prejudice against women because some of them don’t aspire to anything. If I was like those women who don’t have ambition, would you still think differently of me?”

　　“… No.”

　　“That’s it then,” she said brightly. “Isn’t it my personality that makes you think differently of me? If… If we’re together and I count on you in the future, as time passes, maybe you’ll think I’m boring.”

　　“… How’s that possible?!” He denied it instinctively, but he didn’t know why. “This…”

　　“Stop saying this or that—I’m not giving you a hard time here.” Mo Tiange pressed his hands and said seriously, “Actually, I didn’t discover this other side of you until we journeyed out this time.”

　　“What are you saying?” He was a little nervous.

　　“Let’s assume that…” she weighed her words carefully, “If I was with you, you’d take care of everything, wouldn’t you?”

　　“… What’s wrong with that?”

　　She didn’t answer and just continued, “You might want to do everything, take all responsibility, and solve all problems. Wouldn’t it be like that?”

　　“…” He didn’t know how to answer.

　　Without needing to listen to his answer and just going from his look of guilt, Mo Tiange already knew the answer.

　　“I’m not saying it’s bad for you to be like that,” she said. “From a mortal person’s perspective, you’re very responsible and will do things for the one you like, instead of ordering others about.” He wasn’t like those village men in Mo Family’s Village who always pushed their wives around.

　　“But we’re cultivators—I’m not an ordinary mortal woman. If I have to follow you and do nothing, I wouldn’t have any sense of presence.” As she finished speaking, she didn’t know what else to say, so she asked, “Do you understand that?”

　　“…” Qin Xi was still silent and seemed to be thinking about something else.

　　After waiting a long time, he said, “I think… I understand what you mean now. You’re telling me that the way I treat you will turn you into the kind of woman who does nothing but depend on others, right?” Just like he would never expect Martial Uncle Miaoyi and Senior Martial Sister Suxin to stand behind men… Tiange wouldn’t do that, either.

　　“Almost like that…” What she wanted to say was that his personality was too strong, and she was also a tough girl. If they stayed together the way they were, there would be conflict. But if she told him that, he would be nervous again, wouldn’t he?

　　“All right…” he said earnestly. “I’ll try to change and not take control of everything. I’ll give you opportunities to grow up and let you make progress on your own strength. Would that be enough?”

　　She smiled and didn’t say anything, but she leaned closer and opened her arms to hold him voluntarily for the first time.

　　So he also smiled, but he then said seriously, “But I have some requirements from you.”

　　“En?”

　　“First…”

　　She cut in at once, “You have a list of them?”

　　“I just started talking!” He was unhappy.

　　“Okay, go ahead.”

　　“First—no matter what happens in the future, don’t try to solve things by leaving me.”

　　“…”

　　“Do you agree?” he urged.

　　“Okay.” Mo Tiange didn’t hesitate for too long. This request wasn’t excessive. If they could have heart-to-heart openness, there was certainly nothing that couldn’t be resolved.

　　“Second—you can try to ask me for something.”

　　“Huh?” What kind of requirement was this?

　　Seeing that she seemed confused, Qin Xi smiled. “I appreciate independent women, but you’re too competitive and I won’t have any sense of presence. So, if you need to count on me for anything, just count on me.”

　　“…”

　　She didn’t answer for some time, and he became quite nervous. “Would that be okay?”

　　“Okay, we’ll both compromise a little.” She couldn’t ask him to back down on everything. If so, what would be the difference between her behavior and making unlimited demands? She was a very fair person. “But is there a third one?”

　　Qin Xi smiled and held her tighter. “No.”

　　“En.” Mo Tiange nodded. Then she said while pulling her own fingers, “You have two requirements, so I can also have two of them. Why don’t we set a two-point law?”

　　“Huh?” They… needed to have the same number of requirements? Wouldn’t that be too fair?

　　She ignored him and continued simply, “First, I need you to trust me. Whatever the case, you should believe in what I say. As long as you can do it, I will also trust you, completely.”

　　“Okay.” He had no hesitation at all.

　　“Second, you should give me a chance to grow up by myself until I can stand beside you.”

　　“No problem.”

　　“Third…”

　　“Didn’t you say it’s a two-point law?”

　　“I’m just saying…”