Qin Rou walked a few steps ahead, hips swaying with deliberate exaggeration as if flaunting the curve of her waist for Mo Li. Her playful smile never faded, though her eyes glittered with faint cruelty every time she glanced back.
"Hurry up, Mo Li.Why are you lagging behind? It's not that far."
She let out a tiny huff, rolling her eyes.
"I know you're just an outer disciple from a peasant background, but if you can't even gather a few herbs to please Senior Sister, maybe you're only good for scrubbing latrines."
Mo Li simply inclined his head, following her without protest, the faintest smile curling at the corner of his mouth. His eyes stayed lowered, hiding the faint red sparks that danced across his pupils.
They soon left the open practice fields behind, stepping into the shadowy hush of the eastern inner forest. The air here was cooler, heavy with damp moss and the scent of wild spiritual herbs.
Tiny flecks of light filtered through thick canopy, making everything look dim and wavering.
Qin Rou wrinkled her nose.
"Ugh. This place always gives me chills. But Senior Sister said she saw you lurking here yesterday, so don't think you can lie. I want you to pick the frost dew leaves and bring them to me — on your knees, if you know what's good for you."
She crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them up, her chin tilted in smug triumph.
Mo Li didn't argue. He merely walked past her, deeper into the dark underbrush. His eyes scanned the forest floor with casual familiarity — in his past life, he'd hunted beasts whose roars could split mountains. Finding a few frost dew leaves was laughable.
But he let her bask in her petty power.
"Keep talking, little sparrow," he thought, voice dark inside his skull."The more you flaunt your fragile superiority, the sweeter it'll be when you start trembling."
A sudden breeze rustled the leaves overhead, brushing icy tendrils across Qin Rou's bare nape. She flinched, arms hugging her chest.
"Hah… this damned forest," she muttered under her breath."Always feels colder than it should."
She glanced around. The path behind them had vanished into shadow, swallowed by twisting trees. Even the faint chatter of birds was gone, replaced by a deep, heavy silence.
Qin Rou licked her lips, her earlier smug expression faltering just a touch.
"Mo Li… don't wander too far. I don't want to have to drag your corpse back if you get eaten by spirit beasts."
Mo Li didn't reply. His steps were slow, deliberate, moving further into the shadows where the trees grew thickest.
His demonic qi, still faint from his low cultivation stage, nevertheless pulsed out in hungry tendrils, brushing along the forest floor, whispering over Qin Rou's skin in subtle caresses.
She shivered violently, hands flying to her arms.
"W-What… is there a formation here? Why does it feel like something's watching us?"
Mo Li finally turned back to look at her — and for the briefest instant, crimson flickered in his gaze. A tiny smile curved his lips, not warm, not reassuring.
"Come along, Qin Rou.You wanted to play the superior master, didn't you?Then watch closely — I'll find what you asked for."
Qin Rou's throat bobbed. She tried to toss her hair back and sneer.
"Hmph. You outer disciples are always eager to please once you're reminded of your place."
But her voice was thinner now, her hands fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve. The forest seemed to press closer around them, shadows creeping like living things.
She couldn't explain why her heart raced so wildly, or why her thighs pressed together under her robes as if instinctively trying to protect her yin from… something.