Chapter 263 The Eighth Day of Entering a Xuanhuan Novel

Chapter 263: The Eighth Day in a Fantasy Novel

Shouts of shock and fury rose one after another.

They frantically searched every corner of the valley, digging three feet deep, yet found nothing.

Aside from those young spiritual plants, there wasn't even a trace of the earth-shattering treasure they had imagined!

"ROAR——!!!"

A deafening tiger's roar, brimming with rage and resentment, exploded suddenly, its sound waves rolling forth and shaking the entire valley.

The mountain lord reared up on its hind legs, its three-meter-tall frame towering, its massive tiger eyes blazing with the fury of being played for a fool.

It had waited half a month, only for it all to be for nothing!

Its sharp claws slammed heavily into the ground, leaving deep gouges as it vented its fury.

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Meanwhile, An Yi had long since left that trouble spot, now standing by a secluded stream hundreds of miles away.

He stopped, slowly turned around, and looked at Xie Xuandu, who had been shadowing him the whole way.

"Why are you following me?" An Yi spoke.

Xie Xuandu also stopped, standing by the stream, gazing at the flowing water. He gave a slight bow. "I am Xie Xuandu."

He offered his name first, then raised those smiling phoenix eyes, his gaze falling directly on An Yi as if trying to see through him from the outside in. "Seeing that you carry yourself with such extraordinary grace, I'm filled with admiration. The road ahead is long, and traveling alone gets lonely. I wonder if I might have the honor of traveling with you, to take in the sights of this world together?"

An Yi looked at the earnest Xie Xuandu, unmoved by that elegant facade and gentle tone.

He tilted his head slightly, a few strands of ink-black hair slipping across his fair cheek. "No."

The refusal was crisp and clean, with zero room for negotiation.

The smile on Xie Xuandu's face remained unchanged, as if he had already anticipated this answer.

His phoenix eyes arched slightly, with just the right hint of confusion, his voice warm. "Oh? I wonder where I have displeased you. Please, enlighten me."

He kept his posture low and his tone so sincere it seemed he genuinely wanted guidance.

An Yi looked at him feigning ignorance and felt speechless. This guy had some nerve, no doubt about it.

But then again, he'd met plenty of shameless people. This one was nothing special.

However, the way this guy had zero sense of decency back in the valley was seriously annoying.

An Yi let out a cold snort. So he liked seeing people naked?

What a creep!

Xie Xuandu did not receive an answer, but he had his guesses.

It could only be about what had happened earlier.

At that thought, instead of any embarrassment or shame, he actually laughed.

"I see."

He stopped smiling. "That was rude of me earlier." He owned up to it with surprising ease, almost with an air of self-righteousness.

Then, he shifted the topic, his gaze tracing An Yi's slender frame beneath the loose robes, and that face, flawless from every angle, his tone sincere enough to sound like a sigh. "It's just... the sight of you at that moment was truly too captivating. I'm only mortal, and I was so overwhelmed I momentarily forgot my manners. I hope you can forgive me."

His words seemed like an admission of fault and an apology, yet every word emphasized how beautiful An Yi looked at that moment, and the impact it had on him. More than a defense, it was a blatant compliment and a flirtation.

An Yi: "..."

This guy wasn't just shameless—he had a twisted excuse for everything.

Seeing An Yi silent, the smile at the corner of Xie Xuandu's lips grew wider.

He suddenly stepped forward, closing the distance between them, standing three steps away.

Xie Xuandu leaned in slightly, those pitch-black eyes locked onto An Yi. The smile on his face remained, but his gaze suddenly turned deep and direct, as if ripping away the gentle mask to reveal the true, predatory nature underneath.

His voice lowered, with an almost whispered intimacy. "Since you take issue with it, then I'll speak plainly."

His gaze swept without apology over the elegant curve of An Yi's neck before he continued. "When I saw you right after you transformed, your eyes were innocent and clear, your body untouched by dust, truly like a blank slate... What I was thinking wasn't keeping my distance, but rather..."

He deliberately paused, savoring An Yi's still-calm expression, as if nothing he heard could faze him in the slightest, before slowly letting the next words out:

"Getting closer."

He uttered those two words softly, yet they carried an unmistakable heat to them, forming a stark contrast with his refined, otherworldly looks.

An Yi's lips twitched slightly at the corner.

Like he'd just heard something utterly absurd.

He looked Xie Xuandu up and down, from his spotless Daoist robe to that handsome, smiling face of his, and finally, a cold, mocking laugh slipped out of his throat. "Hmph."

He raised his eyes, meeting Xie Xuandu's gaze directly, his tone carrying a faint trace of derision. "So, back then, were you planning to take advantage of my innocence and ignorance to do something?"

Xie Xuandu met his eyes, and his smile only grew brighter, a flicker of delight passing through his gaze, as if An Yi's question hit exactly where he wanted it.

He nodded without hesitation, his candor almost shocking.

"Yes."

His gaze burned. "I wanted to take the chance... to have my way with you."

An Yi: "..."

A brief silence fell. A forest breeze swept by, stirring a few loose strands of hair across An Yi's forehead.

He looked at the man who spoke such mad thoughts with such unapologetic confidence, took a slight breath, and uttered a single sentence in an utterly flat tone:

"Are you out of your damn mind?"

Xie Xuandu blinked, a genuine, unfeigned confusion flashing through his eyes.

"Out of my... mind? What's that mean?" He repeated the unfamiliar phrase, his pronunciation a bit clumsy, then looked at An Yi thoughtfully and took a guess. "Judging by your tone... is that you calling me a fool?"

Not only was he not offended, he actually thought for a moment. "Perhaps so."

An Yi heard him admit it and couldn't help but laugh.

Xie Xuandu watched that fleeting, rare smile, and his gaze went dark.

Now that's a beautiful smile.

He had roamed the mortal world before, encountering many things that could be called beautiful—people, demons, and spirits alike.

None of them had moved him in the slightest.

But now, for reasons unknown...

He hadn't figured it out yet, but he wasn't in a hurry either. He would follow this elegant figure before him, and eventually, he would understand.

An Yi held back that fleeting smile. Too lazy to explain the modern meaning of the word, he just glanced at Xie Xuandu, silently accepting his interpretation.

"Xie Xuandu." Xie Xuandu gave his name once more, his gaze fixed intently on An Yi. "May I ask yours..."

"An Yi," An Yi said.

Without another word, he turned and headed downstream along the creek.