The disheveled man tilted his head, staring at Yuan Shu with a bewildered expression. His dark green eyes blinked twice, but he still gave no response.
Yuan Shu frowned slightly. She glanced at the roast chicken in her hand, pressed her lips together, and asked, “Do you want some?”
This time, the man understood. He pointed at the roast chicken, then at his mouth, making an imperfect attempt at the word. “Eat… eat…”
Yuan Shu stepped closer, and the man dragged his chains toward her as well.
This time, he showed no hostility or aggression toward Yuan Shu. He merely stared at the roast chicken in her hand, swallowing greedily.
Yuan Shu handed it to him.
The man snatched it up, retreated a few steps, and sat back down in the center of the chains. Then he began wolfing it down again.
After watching him finish the chicken and chew the cleanly stripped bones until they cracked loudly, Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow and tossed him another.
Food was the one thing she had in abundance.
For one thing, she was accustomed to eating.
For another, carrying food could come in handy. If she happened to encounter a gluttonous beast, she could throw a couple of baskets at it and perhaps gain something unexpected in return.
On the path of cultivation, one’s appetite was important too. It had to be satisfied!
Yuan Shu tossed him ten roast chickens in succession. Including the three he had already eaten, he devoured all thirteen before rubbing his belly and letting out a satisfied burp.
Then he raised his head and gave Yuan Shu a radiant smile.
“Want… eat…?” he asked one word at a time, as if imitating what Yuan Shu had said earlier.
“Want to eat…?”
The second time, he repeated it a little faster.
“Want to eat?”
By the third time, he was already able to match Yuan Shu’s speaking pace.
The man lifted his head again and grinned at Yuan Shu. Beneath his tangled hair, two rows of clean, pearly white teeth were revealed.
Yuan Shu was amused. She smiled and asked, “You really can’t speak?”
“You… really… can’t… speak?” The man began repeating her words one syllable at a time.
“You really… can’t speak?”
His speech grew faster and faster.
“You really can’t speak?”
After three repetitions, he was once again able to match Yuan Shu’s pace.
When he finished, he grinned at her again.
Yuan Shu frowned and asked him several more questions.
“Who are you?”
“And how did you end up locked in here?”
The man’s expression remained blank and innocent. He did not answer, only repeating her questions.
Seeing that she could get nothing out of him, Yuan Shu had no choice but to give up for the time being. She wandered around the nearby caves, hoping to find something useful.
But she came up empty-handed once more.
As the sky gradually darkened, Yuan Shu returned to the cave.
Clatter, clatter.
The moment he saw her, the man hurriedly scrambled to his feet and came toward her. His eyes shone brightly as he looked at her.
Yuan Shu could not help thinking of Big Yellow, the guard dog at the entrance of the Hehuan Sect in her previous life.
Whenever Big Yellow saw her returning to the sect, he would look at her with the very same expression.
And she would casually toss him a few pills as a reward.
After thinking for a moment, Yuan Shu waved her hand and took a small table and two chairs out of the divine tree space.
She formed a Cleansing Spell to sweep away the grime on the ground, set out the table and chairs, and sat down.
Then she pointed to the seat opposite her, indicating that he should sit.
The man’s eyes lit up. He stepped forward and was just about to sit down when he seemed to remember something. He lowered his head and glanced at his filthy clothes.
His dark green eyes blinked. Then he imitated Yuan Shu’s hand seal.
A Cleansing Spell descended upon him.
White spiritual energy shimmered as the spell began at his hair and gradually removed the dirt covering his body.
A moment later, the light faded.
Standing before Yuan Shu now was a handsome young man with exquisite features and picturesque brows.
The young man’s features were extraordinarily delicate. His brows were light and soft, narrow and straight. His eyes were round and clear, with slightly drooping outer corners, while his lashes were long and thick, giving him an innocent, untouched-by-the-world purity.
His nose was straight, his lips pale, and his jawline smooth and refined. His entire face was soft-boned, his features precise and elegant.
His straight hair had been neatly brushed back, and his whole person radiated a uniquely pure and spotless air.
Yuan Shu froze.
She had not expected the filthy, disheveled young man to look so beautiful once he was cleaned up.
He also appeared to be quite young.
Perhaps the astonishment in Yuan Shu’s eyes was too obvious. The young man looked a little uncomfortable and hesitantly took two steps back.
But he was truly famished. His eyes drifted toward the food on the table before Yuan Shu.
“Sit. We’re having dinner tonight. There’s more if it isn’t enough.”
Yuan Shu pointed to the seat across from her. As soon as she finished speaking, she waved her hand and brought out a table laden with food.
Yun Sheng had prepared all of it for her whenever he had the time, storing each dish separately inside preservation formations.
Now, she only needed to warm the food over a flame before it could be eaten.
The moment the Red Lotus Pure Flame appeared, it swept around the dishes on the table. The aroma of the food immediately filled the air.
From across the table came the sound of the young man inhaling deeply through his nose.
The peerlessly handsome youth seemed as though he had never smelled the fragrance of cooked food before. At Yuan Shu’s nod, he eagerly began eating with his hands.
“Eat… good… eat,” he said in broken phrases. His gaze toward Yuan Shu also grew increasingly warm.
“You… are… a… good… person. Good person.” He smiled.
The fair, clean-skinned youth’s smile was dazzling. His dark green eyes were like a deep pool of emerald waters—mysterious and captivating.
Yuan Shu curled her lips but did not comment.
She picked up her chopsticks and ate a little herself, though she spent more time adding food to the young man’s bowl.
Only after he had finished the second full table of dishes and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction did Yuan Shu wave her hand and clear away the bowls and plates.
“Can you tell me your name now?” Yuan Shu looked up at him.
The young man learned quickly. After their brief exchanges and the meal, he was already able to communicate in simple sentences.
He blinked, then shook his head. “No… no name.”
“No name?” Yuan Shu was somewhat surprised. Having no name meant that he did not know his own identity.
Then why had he been imprisoned in this cave?
“Do you know how to get out?”
The young man shook his head again. “No… don’t know.”
Yuan Shu recalled the formation embedded in the stone wall and asked him about it. The young man continued shaking his head.
Yuan Shu knit her brows.
He knew nothing at all?
Perhaps she could only wait for someone from the Luoxian Sect to discover this place before she could leave.
Seeing that she would not be able to get out anytime soon, Yuan Shu could only suppress her restlessness and sit cross-legged to cultivate.
Night gradually fell. The cave grew silent, with only the warm yellow glowstones embedded in the stone walls emitting a faint light.
The young man sat in a corner of the chain-bound area, holding the dried meat snacks Yuan Shu had given him and slowly chewing them into pieces.
His dark green eyes remained fixed on Yuan Shu without blinking.
At an angle where neither of them noticed, wisps of dark gray energy wound around the young man’s feet and were silently absorbed by him.
During the process, the young man’s originally innocent and vacant eyes slowly began to change.
Early the next morning, Yuan Shu opened her eyes and found herself facing a pair of deep, beautiful dark green eyes. Her heart gave a faint jolt.
The chains behind the young man had been pulled taut, allowing him only to crouch reluctantly in front of her.
At that moment, he was looking up at her without blinking.
When he saw that she was awake, his eyes lit up, and the corners of his brows and eyes curved with delight.
“Sister, you’re awake?”
