Fairy, Please Listen to My Explanation

Chapter 10: Problem

Several seconds later, Ran Qingmo descended from the sky, slamming a massive white tiger onto the ground with a heavy thud.

The white tiger’s massive body, over twenty feet long, was like nothing more than an oversized cat in Ran Qingmo’s hands, pinned to the ground by its neck and unable to move.

Ran Qingmo released her grip, pointed at the white tiger lying on the ground, walked toward Xu Yuan, and tilted her head.

“Will this one do?”

Xu Yuan said nothing.

He saw that as soon as Ran Qingmo let go, the big tiger stealthily raised its head, its vertical pupils fixed in an ominous stare upon Ran Qingmo’s back.

The next moment, the white tiger showed Ran Qingmo exactly what it meant to prefer death over humiliation.

The massive white beast suddenly lunged at the slender figure of the woman, only to be immediately struck on the skull by the sheath of Ran Qingmo’s sword as she casually reached behind her.

For a moment, Xu Yuan caught a glimpse of the white tiger’s dazed expression as it was sent flying into the air, looking as if it were about to ascend to heaven from the blow.

Boom!

The tiger’s enormous body flew backward like a blur, crashing heavily into the roots of a towering tree dozens of meters away.

Ran Qingmo paused in her steps toward Xu Yuan, turned to look at the tiger, and murmured with slight disappointment.

“It seems this one won’t do yet…”

She said to Xu Yuan in a low voice, “Wait a moment,” then walked towards the cloud of dust with her sword.

After a moment of silence, a white blur suddenly shot out from the settling dust. This time, it didn’t attack Ran Qingmo but scrambled desperately towards the depths of the forest.

This human woman was terrifying. It had to escape.

Ran Qingmo stomped her foot and vanished from where she stood.

THUD!

A dull impact broke the silence of the forest, startling a flock of birds into flight.

Ran Qingmo landed gracefully. She looked at the massive white tiger whose head was now buried motionless in the dirt. She silently grabbed it by the fur on its head and dragged it back slowly to Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan’s eye twitched as he watched the scene before him.

Stopping before him, Ran Qingmo nodded to Xu Yuan.

“It should be fine now. Go on, try getting on.”

Xu Yuan opened and closed his mouth, looking at the white tiger lying motionless on the ground.

The tiger was clearly playing dead, its eyes half-closed, fixed on Xu Yuan with a warning glare.

All demonic beasts possessed intelligence, be it high or low. By now, the white tiger understood that this terrifying human woman intended to give it to the human man before it as a mount.

Xu Yuan hesitated briefly before deciding to put his trust in Ran Qingmo’s strength. He cautiously approached the tiger lying on the ground.

The moment he drew near, the tiger’s half-closed eyes snapped open to glare at Xu Yuan. It lifted its head slightly, a low, warning growl rumbling in its throat.

“Grrr…”

One may kill me, but not humiliate me.

THUD!

The woman standing nearby immediately struck it with her sword sheath upon hearing the sound.

“Awooo…” The white tiger wisely lowered its head.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan grabbed the tiger’s fur and climbed onto its back.

The tiger’s fur was smooth and soft, pleasant to the touch, reminiscent of petting a cat in his previous life.

Xu Yuan tried stroking the tiger’s head a couple of times and felt several swollen lumps.

“Grrr…” The tiger bared its teeth and growled.

THUD!

Another lump was added.

“Woo…”

The tiger obediently laid its head down.

Ran Qingmo slowly withdrew her sword sheath and said softly.

“Let’s go.”

As she spoke, she glanced sideways at the tiger.

With just one look from Ran Qingmo, Xu Yuan felt the white tiger beneath him tremble. It didn’t rise immediately but first rubbed its head against the hem of Ran Qingmo’s black robe.

Xu Yuan almost laughed seeing this. Just as the corners of his lips turned upward, a tightness in his chest mixed with a slight itching sensation suddenly spread through his heart.

“…”

His smile faded as Xu Yuan frowned.

He had experienced this itching sensation several times over the past two days.

It was likely a withdrawal symptom from the original body’s drug use. Usually, if he endured for half a quarter-hour, the feeling would naturally subside.

As this thought crossed his mind, Xu Yuan prepared to speak up to delay their departure, but before the words left his mouth, the itching in his chest suddenly spread like a wild infection, transforming within seconds into a maddening craving.

A powerful sense of suffocation instantly made Xu Yuan’s vision go dark.

Instinctively, Xu Yuan tightened his grip on the tiger’s smooth fur to steady himself, but waves of dizziness continued to wash over him. His once-straight back gradually hunched over, and his hands, which had been firmly gripping the fur, slowly lost their strength. His body, no longer under his control, fell sideways.

Ran Qingmo immediately noticed Xu Yuan’s abnormal state. With a flash, she caught him before he hit the ground, her fine eyebrows slightly furrowed.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Xu Yuan’s vision swam. He tried to speak, but a rush of metallic sweetness suddenly surged up from his throat.

“Huagh…”

A mouthful of fresh blood spilled onto the brown earth. The overwhelming nausea made him instinctively push Ran Qingmo away and fall to his knees.

His consciousness grew hazy as the pain and suffocating craving caused him to dig his fingers deep into the soil.

There’s something wrong with this body.

This wasn’t the kind of pain caused by drug withdrawal. This was the kind of pain that originated within the soul.

Xu Yuan’s mind raced through all the information related to the original Xu Changtian, but even after turning it over repeatedly in his thoughts, he still had no clues.

The game’s wiki, the game’s plot, even fanfictions—none of them ever mentioned the original owner having such symptoms, let alone explained the cause.

Was this… the world’s auto-correction at work?

A thought flashed through Xu Yuan’s mind.

Even though Ancient Origin had millions of words worth of text, it was still too little to describe an entire world. The gaps in the narrative were naturally being filled in and perfected by the world itself.

But why would the world’s automatic correction give the original body this affliction?!

Xu Yuan tried to find clues and analyze them in his mind, but his consciousness was already beginning to dim. But the crushing weight on his eyelids forced him to shut them in agony…

He didn’t know how much time had passed, and when he awoke again, the stars had shifted, and the sun was gone.

Through his fingers, Xu Yuan could vaguely see the bright moon and countless stars beyond the tree canopy. He stared blankly at the night sky for a long time before the memories from before he collapsed surged back like a tide.

Frowning slightly, Xu Yuan immediately sat up and anxiously touched his chest, but the source of pain that had gripped his heart earlier had completely disappeared.

“Awake?”

The woman’s calm voice drew Xu Yuan’s attention. Xu Yuan turned his head to look at the familiar black-robed woman sitting by a tree with her eyes closed in meditation.

Xu Yuan scanned his surroundings.

The surroundings had changed completely from before he had fainted. The towering trees, reminiscent of Pandora’s forest from the movie Avatar were gone, replaced by a barren, snowy landscape.

It seemed that Ran Qingmo had carried him for a considerable distance while he was unconscious.

Xu Yuan rubbed his brow and asked, “How long was I unconscious?”

“Four days,” Ran Qingmo replied.

Xu Yuan was surprised. “I was unconscious for that long?”

He quickly composed himself, recalling the symptoms before he blacked out. Worry flickered in his eyes.

Now awake, he recalled that bone-deep pain and suffocation that had seemed to emanate from his very bones. Xu Yuan was even more certain that drug withdrawal couldn’t be the cause.

Given his father’s character, anyone who dared give him such a dangerous drug would have their entire family, along with their nine generations, exterminated.

Could it be his constitution?

As a Chinese Xianxia game, Ancient Origin featured various naturally blessed constitutions that befit the innate talents of a protagonist, such as the Sword Embryo Spiritual Body, Dao Soul Divine Bones, and so on. But after racking his brain, he couldn’t recall any that matched his current condition.

Xu Yuan frowned, lost in thought as his mind raced for the cause.

As he was lost in thought, the serene eyes of the woman beside him opened. Her indifferent voice drifted to his ears.

“Has your Soul Rejection subsided?”