Lin Mo accepted the innkeeper’s suggestion and only booked one room.

After entering the room, Qu Ruyan, already thoroughly drunk, soon fell asleep on the bed.

“Big Brother Lin Mo, I want a kiss…”

“Last time when you kissed me, it felt really good.”

On Gu Qingxue’s side, she took the initiative and leaned over.

Lin Mo hadn’t expected that Gu Qingxue would become so forward after getting drunk. She had completely lost her usual shyness and was now quite bold.

Seeing her cherry lips getting closer and closer, Lin Mo thought for a moment, then gently kissed her. Afterward, he soothed her, saying, “Be good, Qingxue. Go rest now. We still have to travel tomorrow.”

Gu Qingxue puffed her cheeks, “Big Brother Lin Mo, not like that—I want the kind from last time.”

“If you don’t get proper rest, how are we supposed to travel tomorrow after you wake up?”

As Lin Mo spoke, he began to use his spiritual energy to calm her.

In no time, Gu Qingxue started feeling sleepy. “Big Brother Lin Mo, Xue’er is so sleepy… but I haven’t applied my medicine yet. Will you help me—”

Before she could finish her sentence, she lost to the drowsiness and fell asleep.

Lin Mo felt a bit of a headache—she’d really left him with a tricky task before falling asleep.

In the end, after gritting his teeth, he carefully applied the medicine for her, and then sat cross-legged nearby to cultivate.

—

Jinling, Chen family.

“Patriarch, based on the image you provided, we may have found someone in the city who looks extremely similar,” a Chen family disciple reported, bowing to the middle-aged man in the main seat.

The middle-aged man looked anxious. “Where is this person?”

“In an inn at the northeast corner of the city.”

Hearing that, the man took a life stone from his storage ring. “Take my son’s life stone with you. If it reacts near that person, they are definitely the one who killed my son.”

“Yes, Patriarch.” Receiving the life stone, the disciple slowly retreated.

This middle-aged man was Chen Sheng, the father of Chen Huai, who had been killed by Lin Mo during a previous group training exercise.

Before his death, Chen Huai had used a secret technique to transmit Lin Mo’s appearance to Chen Sheng.

But the cultivation world was vast—finding someone based only on a portrait was like searching for a needle in a haystack.

No one expected that, nearly a year later, someone who looked exactly like the person in question would appear right in their own territory.

Chen Sheng’s eyes were filled with murderous intent. If that person really was his son’s killer, he would make sure they were utterly destroyed.

—

The next morning, when Gu Qingxue woke up, her head was still spinning, and her mouth felt especially dry and parched.

Lin Mo, as if he had anticipated this, handed her a cup of spirit tea he had brewed in advance.

“Thank you, Big Brother Lin Mo.”

She accepted the tea and thanked him.

“Did I get drunk last night?”

“Mm, kind of.”

After drinking the spirit tea, Gu Qingxue’s mind gradually cleared. Seeing that she and Lin Mo were alone in the room, and that Qu Ruyan was still lying on another bed, her face turned red as she softly asked,

“Big Brother Lin Mo… last night, did we…?”

Lin Mo certainly knew what she meant. Smiling, he replied, “Do you remember asking me for a kiss last night?”

Reminded by Lin Mo’s words, Gu Qingxue suddenly recalled everything.

Her face grew even hotter.

She looked at the small medicine bottle on the table and quickly changed the subject. “Big Brother Lin Mo, why is this bottle empty?”

“If it’s used up, of course it’s empty.”

Used up… Gu Qingxue instantly remembered it all.

She vaguely recalled asking Big Brother Lin Mo to apply medicine for her last night…

So, did he… apply it down there too?

Now thoroughly overwhelmed with embarrassment, Gu Qingxue let out a shy little “Ah!” and dove under the blanket.

Seeing this, Lin Mo easily guessed what she was imagining.

“There’s one spot left—you can apply the medicine yourself,” he said, opening the door and stepping outside to wait quietly.

Once she had calmed down, Gu Qingxue realized she had misunderstood.

Clearly, Big Brother Lin Mo was a gentleman… How could she have thought of him that way?

After a while, Gu Qingxue finally called out toward the door, “Big Brother Lin Mo, you can come in now.”

Lin Mo pushed open the door, smiling as he stood in the doorway. “All done with the medicine?”

Gu Qingxue nodded shyly. “Mm.”

“Then about that kiss from last night—do you still want to continue it now?”

The question caught Gu Qingxue completely off guard. “I… I…”

She stammered for quite a while but couldn’t say anything clearly.

She did want it—but more than that, she was too shy.

Noticing this, Lin Mo suddenly leaned in closer, lowering his head toward her face.

They were so close that they could feel each other’s breath.

Gu Qingxue felt her heart pounding wildly. Inhaling the faint scent on Lin Mo’s body, she closed her eyes almost instinctively.

In that moment, she looked just like a flower waiting to be picked.

Just as Lin Mo was about to kiss her—

A surprised female voice interrupted the tender atmosphere.

“Senior Brother? Sister Qingxue? What are you two doing?”

At some point, Qu Ruyan had woken up.

She was now staring at them curiously.

Lin Mo sighed, grabbed the scruff of Qu Ruyan’s neck, and tossed her out the door.

Bang! The door shut behind her.

“Meow?” Qu Ruyan, now in cat form outside the door, wore a blank expression.

“Meow meow… what did I do wrong?”

When Lin Mo and Gu Qingxue finally came out, Qu Ruyan looked up at them with grievance written all over her cat face. “Senior Brother, you secretly ate without me.”

Gu Qingxue’s face turned red as she lowered her head.

Lin Mo was stunned—since when did this girl get so sharp?

“I heard it loud and clear outside—you and Sister Qingxue were in there smooching, and it sounded super tasty!”

“I don’t care. If you don’t let me eat too, I’ll get mad.”

Only then did Lin Mo realize that when Qu Ruyan said “eat,” she meant actual eating.

Helplessly, he turned to the system and drew a random bag of candy.

“Wow, it’s candy I’ve never seen before!”

With the candy in her hand, Qu Ruyan showed a catlike smile. “I knew it—Senior Brother would never forget me!”

After leaving the inn, Lin Mo didn’t rush to depart and instead made his way to the Treasure Pavilion.

In Jinling City’s Treasure Pavilion, the receptionist noticed that Lin Mo’s membership level wasn’t low, and promptly welcomed him with respect to the second floor.

Lin Mo was there to pick out a high-quality magical robe for Gu Qingxue.

In the end, he selected two: one mainly red, and the other primarily white.

The white robe was a high-grade spiritual treasure, while the red one was of slightly lower quality—only a top-grade mortal item.

Gu Qingxue tried on both.

“Big Brother Lin Mo, how do I look?”

She spun slowly in front of him.

There was no denying it—Gu Qingxue in the white robe looked ethereal and graceful, like a celestial being.

But when she changed into the red one, Lin Mo’s eyes lit up even more. It was dazzling but not gaudy, with a touch of allure behind the purity.

It proved that a beautiful person could pull off any color.

“The white one suits you more,” Lin Mo said, “but the red one has its own unique charm.”

“It’s just that the red one’s quality is too poor.”

“Let’s go with the white one.”

He paid decisively.

Gu Qingxue felt a little embarrassed. Big Brother Lin Mo spent so much because of me… Once I start earning spirit stones, I’ll repay him double.

Lin Mo noticed the look on her face and smiled gently. “There’s no need to talk about repayment between us. If there’s ever a chance in the future, just give me a gift in return.”

Once she regains her memory, Lin Mo thought to himself, she won’t even need to earn spirit stones—she’ll already have more than enough.

Gu Qingxue quietly remembered those words—and noted that her Big Brother Lin Mo seemed to prefer her in red.

Lin Mo then looked down at Qu Ruyan, who was still in her cat form, happily munching on her candy. “Yanyan, which one do you like more?”

Qu Ruyan shook her head. She didn’t seem interested in anything in the Treasure Pavilion this time.

“Rather than these,” she said, “I’d be much happier if Senior Brother gave me more tasty treats.”

Since Qu Ruyan was still in cat form, it wasn’t like she needed clothes anyway. Lin Mo lightly patted her little cat head.

“You, always thinking about food. Once we get back to the Lin family, I’ll cook you a meal myself.”

“Really?” Qu Ruyan’s face lit up with excitement.

Lin Mo was quite confident in his cooking.

After all, his cooking skill had already reached over level six.

Once they left the Treasure Pavilion and exited the city, Lin Mo immediately noticed someone tailing him.

Just as he extended his spiritual sense to investigate, the person reacted quickly and vanished without a trace.

Lin Mo was intrigued. Could someone in Jinling City be trying to rob me?

Or maybe… they’ve got their eyes on Gu Qingxue?

At the thought, Lin Mo’s gaze turned cold.

If that person dared to keep following, he was confident he could catch them.

Unfortunately, the shadow never reappeared for the rest of the journey.

Assuming it had just been a false alarm, Lin Mo flew off with Gu Qingxue on his sword toward the Lin family estate in Tianxing City.

—

At the Lin family home, Lin Tian was busy bragging to the group of peers who didn’t qualify to enter the secret realm, enthusiastically singing Lin Mo’s praises.

“You guys don’t even know! Cousin Lin Mo—he slashed down with one sword! It was like a god descended to the mortal world—like the Grand Star God himself! He completely overwhelmed that so-called genius from the Xia family. The guy didn’t even have a chance to fight back!”

One of the juniors asked, “Then what were you doing, Lin Tian?”

Lin Tian rolled his eyes. “With Cousin Lin Zijian already defeated, what else could I do?”

“Of course, I was there to cheer for Cousin Lin Mo!”

“My cheering wasn’t just ordinary cheering—it was passionate, worshipful! It totally boosted Cousin Lin Mo’s morale. I played a crucial role in that battle!”

A peer who had actually been in the secret realm couldn’t take it anymore. “Lin Tian, give it a rest. When Cousin Lin Mo defeated Xia Qianqiu, you were still unconscious. What morale could you possibly have boosted?”

That said, there was no denying it.

Lin Mo had completely won over the younger generation of the Lin family with true strength.

Even Lin Zijian didn’t object while listening to Lin Tian hype Lin Mo up. If it weren’t for the image he had to maintain in the clan, he would’ve joined in too—he really wanted to tell everyone just how strong Lin Mo was.

Seeing someone ruin his bragging, Lin Tian didn’t care about saving face anymore. He ran straight over to Lin Zhan and Gu Ningxin, grinning: “Grand-Uncle, Grand-Aunt, from now on, just treat me as your own grandson!”

“The bond Cousin Lin Mo and I built in the secret realm? It runs deep!”

“You guys just don’t know—Cousin Lin Mo’s skills in combat are insane, but his skills in flirting? Also top-tier!”

That term “cousin” he kept using? Technically, Lin Tian and Lin Mo were over five generations apart in bloodline.

Lin Zhan was basically a distant, distant grand-uncle to Lin Tian.

Hearing this, Lin Zhan and Gu Ningxin exchanged a smile—amused and helpless.