The more Chen Xi dug through her bag, the clearer it beca to Xu Kai: she lived more in fiction than in reality.
For the past several minutes, she had been pulling out books. Just books. More books. Piles of them scattered across the ground like fallen leaves after a storm.
Xu Kai almost asked why she didn't simply Will the specific book out of her Bag of Withholdings. But he held his tongue. Maybe she just preferred doing it this way. He didn't know. Everyone had their own preferences, no matter how absurd.
Still, he had a feeling the real reason was simpler: she wouldn't rember which book she needed until she saw it.
Who would, with books like these? Xu Kai wouldn't just forget a title, he'd forget his own na and accidentally start calling himself after whatever protagonist he'd read about last.
He glanced at the ss around her feet.
'This had to be why her cultivation hadn't progressed.'
The addiction to fiction. The hours she spent buried in stories instead of training. Her cultivation base barely moved.
Or maybe not.
He couldn't be certain. But the feeling sat heavy in his chest, solid as certainty.
"Found it!" Chen Xi bead, her smile wide as she thrust a book into the air.
Xu Kai froze. A bad feeling crept into his gut.
'Please don't be the sa genre as the one I was manipulated into picking earlier.' His eyes widened. 'Or worse, the sa exact book.'
"Now I just need to find the right page~," Chen Xi murmured, flipping through it with quick fingers. "Where are you~"
"Wait."
She stopped.
"Huh, Master?"
"What book is that?" Xu Kai asked carefully.
Chen Xi held it up.
"This? It's a novel."
'So that's also a novel. Why am I not surprised? But—'
"That's not what I'm asking. What genre?"
She paused, tilting the book back and forth as if the cover might whisper the answer.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
"The genre..." Her brow furrowed. "Can't rember again."
"Ah."
"Well, that's not important right now. I didn't bring it out for the genre. It's for the source."
'It is important!'
Xu Kai kept the thought to himself. No way he'd say it aloud. If he did, Chen Xi would demand an explanation, which would lead to him talking about that other book he'd picked up...
'No. Not necessary.'
He could live without knowing the genre. He wasn't going to read the whole thing anyway, just one scene—
"Wait." His head snapped up. "It's a novel?"
He'd just realized: the "confird source" Chen Xi had ntioned wasn't an informative text. It was fiction.
How did that relate to anything real? What could a made-up story possibly teach about an actual situation?
Chen Xi hesitated.
"…Yes."
"You an the confird source you talked about is just fiction?!"
"Uh… yes."
Xu Kai slapped a hand over his face.
"Why ?" He spoke into his palm, voice low and defeated. "Why? What did I do to deserve this?"
"Uh… I don't know," Chen Xi replied.
She'd heard him.
Xu Kai dragged his hand down his face and looked at her. It might have been a glare, but he didn't have the energy, so he just stared.
Chen Xi blinked, uncomprehending.
He gave up with a sigh.
A drop of water landed on his nose.
He felt it slide down, fall, and soak into his robe.
Right. He was drenched. Not dry. He'd sohow forgotten.
Chen Xi was watching him. From her expression, he could tell she'd noticed the exact mont he rembered.
Xu Kai looked at her again.
"That…" She avoided his gaze.
He sighed again. He'd lost count of how many tis he'd sighed since arriving in this world. In his past life, his job had made him sigh plenty. But staying with Chen Xi made him realize: all that sighing had just been the prologue.
He'd thought coming to another world would end his stress. He hadn't known it was only the beginning.
He'd t sothing worse than any job. And it was literally glued to him.
'I miss my work.'
In his old job, he could retire once he reached a certain age, or even earlier if he planned well. But with Chen Xi? He wasn't sure retirent existed. If there was a way, he was already looking forward to that day.
'Assuming I live long enough to see it.'
"How am I going to get dry now?" He touched his wet hair, then patted down his soaked robe. "Looks like I'll have to change and clean up again."
He stood and spared her a glance.
"You can get up. We've eaten. Do whatever you want."
"Ah, Master, thanks." Chen Xi rose, then frowned briefly. "Master, where are you going?"
"To change. Because of what you caused." He pinched his robe and lifted it slightly.
"Ah. That…"
Xu Kai waved a hand and turned to walk away.
"I think I have an easier solution," Chen Xi said suddenly.
He stopped. Turned. Raised an eyebrow.
"A solution?"
"Yes. A spell, actually. It would help your current situation."
"A spell?" Curiosity crept into his voice. "Why is that a solution?"
"It's called Dry Command," Chen Xi said. "It dries any kind of liquid. Drains moisture from anything that contains it."
"Hmm."
Xu Kai considered this. His expression turned thoughtful.
"That's useful. Especially in my current situation." Then his gaze sharpened into a glare. "You had a spell that could have dried off this whole ti, and you're telling now?"
Chen Xi gulped. She could sense the shift in his aura, the temperature drop, the weight pressing down. Her hands waved frantically as she shook her head.
"No, no! Master, I don't know how to use it."
"Huh?" His expression crumpled into confusion.
"I only know about it. I don't know how to use it yet."
"Then why bring it up now? What good is information that's useless when you actually need it?"
Chen Xi shook her head again, more firmly this ti.
"It's not useless, Master."
"Then why?"
She smiled.
"Because it was never about using it. It was about you."
She took a small step closer.
"I'm going to teach you."
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