’Oh damn!’
My good God, fuck me ten times over — I had this much in my inventory?
I sat there for a long moment, scrolling through panel after panel, and carefully went through each and every single one of them.
Indeed, I hadn’t exactly forgotten that I was gaining resources from kills, but I also hadn’t exactly been keeping track. The past month had been battle after battle, crisis after crisis, with barely a moment to breathe for my band. Survival had taken priority over bookkeeping.
’I forgive myself.’
This was genuinely refreshing to see. I could make weapons, armor, and things... certainly things I wasn’t even thinking hard about right now. My mind was already racing through possibilities, each one branching into three more. All I needed was to secure a very good craftsman.
’Or summon a very good villainess who happens to be a blacksmith.’
That would low-key be hot. Strong women had always been sort of my thing, after all. Not that I wanted her to sit on me and ask me to call her mommy. Nothing of such.
And God, how I hated people who did this!
’Do not bring God into your bullcrap.’
The point was... the future wasn’t as bleak as it looked at all. I just had to train more, use my attributes, and find a great craftsman!
I finally pulled the panels away and let myself smile — a real one, not the diplomatic kind I’d been wearing for weeks. My shoulders dropped from a tension I hadn’t even noticed I was carrying.
After everything thus far, this growth, this moment of redefinition filled me with a different kind of contentment. Like finally seeing the shape of a path forward after stumbling through darkness.
I exhaled and closed my eyes to sleep, but at that moment, I heard a soft knock.
Instantly, assuming it was Po, I responded from my bed without opening my eyes.
"Get in!" I thought about adding ’you son of a fox’, but hesitated. Were Po and I really on those terms yet?
Having experienced how stern the guy could get when he wanted to be, I suppressed the words before they could escape.
When the door opened, however, it wasn’t Po that came in.
In fact, I was so startled that I slowly sat up, suddenly very aware that I’d just invited a stranger into my room while half-asleep. The atmosphere shifted into something... strange.
It was the jianghu wolf-kin.
She stepped inside and slowly, almost ceremonially, removed her straw hat, revealing black ears and black hair with straight bangs that cut just above her brows. Her face was pale, nearly white, and her eyes were inky black — the same deep shade as her hair and ears. She lowered her head in a gentle bow, the hat held to her chest.
"Greetings, young master. I hope this is not a bother to you..."
’Depending on the reason you’re here!’
I managed a polite smile and replied like a sensible person instead of voicing my actual thoughts.
"It’s not... I am baffled, though."
She nodded lightly, keeping her head slightly low. "That is understandable, young master. I just wanted to know... where are you from? Are you really an otherworlder?"
I narrowed my gaze for a moment. Why would she ask something so specific? The question felt rehearsed, like she’d been waiting for the right moment to ask it.
Then I nodded.
"Yes, I’m an otherworlder... although I’ve been hunted for the past month for that very reason."
Light seemed to explode from her eyes the moment I responded. Her whole posture transformed — tension releasing into something almost desperate, almost hungry.
"You’re an otherworlder! Then is it true?! The tales of swordsmen that can fly on their swords and cleave a mountain in two?! Is it true, that one can ascend to the heavens and become immortal?!"
Her voice was excited. Maybe a little too excited. The careful formality from moments ago had cracked wide open.
I frowned.
"Hold up. Rewind. Wait a minute..." I gave her a suspicious glare, leaning back slightly. "What’s going on here?"
She noticed her own enthusiasm belatedly, caught herself, and straightened. A polite smile replaced the naked excitement.
"Oh, I’m sorry, young master. My great-grandfather was an otherworlder. He was a cultivator who died and found himself in this world."
I stared at her.
The words took a moment to land properly.
’This is beginning to get a little serious.’
She meant reincarnation? This world had reincarnators?
She was talking nonetheless.
"He created a clan in the waterlands, and it’s safe to say that the majority of our culture there started because of him..." Her expression shifted, becoming somber. "Although many have now deserted his true beliefs and perverted the true way of the dao. Seeking things like the dao of big penis, the dao of wealth."
I bit the inside of my cheek... Hard.
Her face remained completely serious like she had no idea what she’d just said.
’This girl...’
I managed to keep it together, barely. And only because she was looking at me with such a heartbroken expression that laughing would’ve made me the worst person in this room.
She reached into her rags and revealed a sword — unmistakably a katana — holding it with the kind of resolve that belonged on a battlefield, not a bedroom.
"I go now to purge those bastards and take my rightful place as the bastard heir that they never thought would return."
I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
It wasn’t just her words. It was the fire in her eyes, the set of her jaw, the way her pale features had sharpened into something dangerous. The young lady was... striking.
’Strong women. Every damn time.’
I cleared my throat.
"I’m sorry — what is your name?"
She cupped her hands together despite still holding her hat, the gesture somehow graceful. "Forgive me. My name is Yue Yuan. I am the first daughter of the Moon Clan. And I came to seek your help, young master."
I smiled politely. "I’m Cade Marlowe. You can call me Cade." I tapped the space next to me on the bed. "Please, Lady Yuan, come have a seat. You can tell me about your clan in detail."
I pointed to the door.
"Also — help me close that so we don’t attract eavesdroppers. We want to keep your family matters private, right?"