13 Out of the cave!

"So, what are you gonna do about the one outside?" Goldy asked me.

"Eh? What about Zhang Wei?" I didn't catch the drift.

"Well, are you just gonna straight up reveal that you can cultivate now? Or are you just not gonna address it?" He asked.

"Hmm, if I revealed the truth to him, I can't be the hidden strong mob, eh? So, I'm not gonna reveal the part where I got the ability to cultivate. However, I can't just put him in the dark about everything that happened either. So, I gotta say something like I don't have to take Qi pills every now and then, but I'm not completely fixed. However, I'm sure the guy might have some way to judge that I'm lying." I muttered as I immersed in thought.

"I guess so. One can understand the situation of someone else's Qi center if you are to get in contact with them and concentrate well enough. So, just don't allow him to touch you. Simple." He shrugged.

"It isn't gonna be that easy. If he's to request me so that he could check on me, what reason could I possibly give for denying his request?" I asked.

"You're a woman?" Goldy suggested.

"But he's not suggesting it with malice in his mind!" I retorted.

"Maybe… Then what do you wanna do?" He asked.

Just then, I had a spark of an idea. "Hey! Can you make illusions like that God did with this place?" I asked.

Goldy remained silent for a while. "I can't do that wide of an illusion since I lost my power. Could've done something similar if I was still on the ancient stage." He sighed.

"Well, can you make it seem like my Qi center is kinda fixed but not fixed yet?" I asked.

"Sure. If it's just illusions involving a singular person, I can even make you look like the most powerful being in the entire planet!" He said with pride.

"Geez, I don't want people thinking that!" I freaked out as I heard that. I don't want such rumors to be spread about me. "Anyhow, with the illusion in place, I just could lie to Zhang Wei about the events." I spoke as we walked towards the entrance.

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A day or so passes. However, the lady still wasn't out. Zhang Wei was worried. He felt as if he failed to protect her. Only if he was strong enough to defeat all these monsters in one swoop, then he could've entered the cave with her… well, that's what he initially thought.

However, no matter how much time passed, the monster horde didn't decrease even a single bit. Hell, he felt as if they were growing in numbers and strength. He thought maybe it was because he was fatigued. He felt ashamed of himself for thinking this way.

Even then, he cleared out the monsters every time they came around since he believed that it would be a fuzz if the lady's gonna come by anytime soon. The monsters had a certain attack pattern, so once he learned of it, the hunt became simpler. However, no matter how much he hunted and waited for her, the lady didn't exit the cave.

But, after hours of waiting, all of sudden, the entire mountain shook and the cave door slowly opened. And Zhang Wei finally was able to see her. He couldn't control his emotions, knowing that the lady is finally safe. He made a promise to himself that he'd protect the lady earnestly from now on and he'll never let her face any danger alone as he ran towards her with tears in his eyes.

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"MY LADY!!!" Zhang Wei came running towards me as soon as I stepped out of the cave. Honestly, I think he's changed a bit. Like, following me to this cave, waiting for me this entire time while fighting the illusionary monsters… I can tell you for sure that the Zhang Wei from a month ago wouldn't have done those things. And oh yea, most importantly, he's got happy tears in his eyes because I arrived safely. Ah, I kinda miss the times he used to curse me with his eyes.

"Chill, Zhang Wei!" I slightly pushed him apart, before he could reach me. Well, he has more height than me. So, if he's to cry beside me or while hugging me, the entire tears would be on me. And I don't really want that.

"Yes, my lady!" Zhang Wei quickly controlled emotions. "How are you doing, my lady?" He asked with a straight face.

"I'm doing mighty great! I don't have to consume Qi pills regularly anymore!" I replied in a cheerful tone.

"And your cultivation?" He got straight to the point.

"Ah, well… Couldn't fix it, sadly." I dawned the saddest expression that I could.

"I see. Can I just check upon your situation? I just wanna know how much better you got…" He requested.

"Sure."

He checked on me for some time and finally looked at me, surprised. "I guess you're right! I mean, what happened in that cave? For someone to even fix your center to that extent is a straight up miracle!" He exclaimed.

[Imagine how much he'll freak out if he's to know the truth!]

"What the!" I was surprised by the sudden voice inside my head. When I looked around, I saw Goldy slyly smiling at me.

[You see, since you're the only person who can see me, since I'm gonna hide my presence before everyone and you can't just simply talk before everyone, I thought it would be great if we are to establish a channel in your mind, where we can freely converse without actually speaking!]

{Damn it! You should've told that to me beforehand! What do you think Zhang Wei will think if I spout out random "What the!" every now and then?}

[Well, he's not gonna think anything more than what he's already thinking, seeing you unresponsive to his call and all.]

{Shoot!}

"My Lady!" Zhang Wei was literally shaking me to the core when I finally came to senses.

"Yea? What happened?" I asked, trying to act as inconspicuous as I could.

"You were spacing out!" He cried. It felt weird, you know… Seeing him this emotional.

"Hmm, I see. So, what were we talking about?" I quickly reverted the topic back before he ask why I spaced out or some stupid shite like that.

"Oh, I was asking about what happened in the cave?" He asked.

[Idiot! He would have forgot to ask you that if you didn't drag this conversation back to this point]

{Shut up! I got an answer. A smart one at that!}

[We'll see.]

"Well… I'm not allowed to speak of what happened inside the cave." I replied.

[My goodness! Is the criteria of being smart too little these days?]

{Hey! I tried my best!}

"Did someone place a curse on you or something, my lady? If they did, I'll just crack that cave door open and beat the shit out of whoever did that!" Zhang Wei angrily walked towards the cave door as I desperately held on to him.

[Well, he isn't really wrong about that, you know? But what can I say… He's right for all the wrong reasons.]

{Hey, what am I supposed to do now? He's gonna break the door and he's gonna see your body!}

[Sheesh, if he's capable of doing that, don't you think my soul would've left the cave a lot early?]

"You're right!" I mumbled as I left my hold onto Zhang Wei. Since he was still fuming, he headed over to the cave door and struck a few hard punches on it. Upon learning that the only thing that was ever gonna get damaged was his hand, he gave up and returned.

[By the way, ask him if he could still see those monsters?]

{What?}

[Just ask him, will ya?]

I sighed. "Hey, Zhang Wei! What about the monsters that you saw previously?" I asked.

"Oh, shoot!" He vigilantly looked around, then all of a sudden dropped his guard. "They… they are not here!" He cried out loud. It was more of a cry of victory than relief.

"Really?"

"Yea! I guess I drove them away!" He replied as he rubbed his nose in pride. However, I felt like there was someone else responsible for the mysterious disappearance of the monsters.

{Okay, what did you just do?}

[What do you mean?]

{Geez, don't play coy with me, okay? I know you're responsible for it. Or else, why would you make me ask him about it, huh?}

[Look, I'm not kidding when I say this, but I didn't really know that! I had my hypothesis that once I escape this place… or once someone conquers the entire path, the illusions would automatically turn off.]

{Wait a minute! Does that mean that the God that tried to imprison you here will be aware of your escape?}

[Well… Not yet! I did something that could give us a little time.]

{Little? How little?}

[I don't know… Ten-twenty years or something.]

{I really should've imagined how long your "little time" would actually be!}

[Isn't that great? You got time to grow powerful enough that I finally could get my body at the end of it! So, let's try hard, shall we?]

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