Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation
139. What Do You Like About Me?

A faintly blue portal shimmered into existence a foot away from Jin Shu. He stepped into it—and found himself in slipspace. With a sigh, he stepped back out, returning to the place he and Tian Li had started calling the Island.

“Did it work this time?” Tian Li asked hopefully.

He shook his head and took a seat beside her, where she sat dipping her feet into a small pond.

“How much longer until—what did you call it? Nano?—finds a solution?” she asked.

“Based on my calculations, I should have a solution within forty-eight hours,” Nano replied, his voice calm and precise.

“Two days at most,” Jin Shu echoed.

Tian Li kicked her feet gently in the water, watching her rippling reflection with a quiet, contemplative frown.

Jin Shu stared into the pond a moment later, his own reflection wavering beside hers.

They’d been trapped on the island for two hours, and he still couldn’t recreate the portal that had brought them here. Nano had volunteered to comb through Jin Shu’s memories to figure out what went wrong.

It turned out to be far more complicated than any of them had expected.

After reviewing the memory, Nano discovered that Jin Shu had not only reversed the sequence of the technique by accident—but had also infused it with metal qi alongside the wind element.

Aunt Zui had taught them the Ripple Walk Technique like this: use wind qi to form razor-thin blades that slice open a wound in space, then infuse it with water qi to open a passage to the water element domain—what Jin Shu called slipspace.

But Jin Shu had done the opposite. He created a film of water first, then cut through it using wind blades sharpened by metal qi. The result had torn a much deeper wound into reality and flooded it with water qi—healing the tear, yes, but also anchoring a portal to wherever this place was.

He didn’t fully understand the underlying principles—Aunt Zui had never explained them in detail. That’s why he needed Nano to reconstruct it.

“Jin Shu,” Tian Li called softly, the sound of splashing water trailing her voice.

He glanced over. She was cupping the crystal-clear pond water in her hands, letting it stream back through her fingers.

“Hm?”

“What do you want? Now that you’ve beaten me.”

He tilted his head, squinting as sunlight caught his eyes. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me what you wanted? You were the one who brought up the bet.”

A flicker of hesitation crossed her face. “...I wanted to go on a date. Outside the sect.”

Her eyes lingered on his, uncertain, before she took a slow breath and added, “With you. As you are now.”

“Ah…” He scratched his neck, unsure how to respond. “I won’t be in this form much longer. In fact—”

He released his transformation technique. His qi settled as the drain eased, and a faint sigh escaped him.

It hadn’t cost much to maintain—barely a trickle, really, since it was designed to run indefinitely—but it still felt oddly refreshing to be back in his true body.

“I don’t want you to like that version of me. It isn’t real.”

“I know…” she said softly. “But I can’t help it. I don’t like men—except you—but I’m still only attracted to women.”

He had no response. No clever line, no comforting words.

He didn’t even know why he was so drawn to her—and to the other two. Part of him whispered that he should let them go. Choose one, maybe. Move on.

But he didn’t want to. He wanted their love. All of it. All of them. And he wanted to give his love in return.

Screw it. I’m done waiting around, he thought. Jinshu always says we should make the most of the time we have. Then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to ask for something selfish—but you can decline," he said, turning to her with a dead serious expression. "But first, let me explain my feelings."

She turned to face him and nodded.

"I'm not sure what love is… and yet, I know that I love you. As well as Biyu and Li Xue. I also know it's unfair to each of you," his voice started soft, but gradually gained strength. "Even so, I can't—and won’t—give up on any of you."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"I started falling for Biyu as we spent time together. Then, Li Xue snuck her way into my heart with her overflowing energy. Finally, I met you—and it was your overwhelming beauty that caught my eye."

"Was it just my beauty? Or what exactly do you like about me?"

"I won’t lie. It was your beauty that made me think I’d fallen in love at first sight. Then it was your fragility that made me pity you. But what I truly like about you is… you."

"Me?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Yes. You," he nodded, looking into her eyes. "You remind a part of me of a distant world. But more than that—it’s your gentleness, the way you carry yourself, and your deep love for my daughter, for Yin’er."

She blinked rapidly, her cheeks reddening.

"I may not show it much… but Yin’er is my most important treasure. And it means the world to me that you seem to cherish her just as much—if not more—than I do."

Her face flushed a deep shade of crimson. She clutched at her chest with a pained expression.

"What’s wrong?!" he asked urgently, glancing around for a nonexistent threat.

"My… my heart is beating so fast it hurts…" she said weakly.

"Are you sick?"

"No… embarrassed…"

"Huh?"

He blinked, confused, not fully processing her words.

Then she looked up at him, eyes filled with sudden determination—as if she'd come to a decision.

She reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling his head down to her height.

He was still confused… even as she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

When his mind finally caught up, he chose not to waste the moment.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her closer. She tried leaning back to break the kiss, but he placed a hand gently on the back of her head to hold her in place.

His tongue brushed against her lips, and they parted, allowing him to explore her mouth.

Her tightly shut eyes snapped open. She shoved against his chest with the full force of her cultivation, knocking him off balance—and pulling them both into the pond with a loud splash.

With another splash, both of their heads broke the surface.

“You…! You! W–why did you do that?!” she sputtered, water streaming down her face.

“Sorry! I thought… well… I don’t know what I thought.” He bowed his head, his voice sheepish. “I just acted. Without thinking.”

“I just wanted to know what it felt like to kiss a man! I didn’t want that!” she huffed, slapping the water in frustration, sending a small wave between them.

“But… did it feel… good?” he asked, hesitant, already bracing for another splash—or a slap.

He shouldn't have asked such a dumb question, but his curiosity was too strong.

But instead of the expected slap, her breath caught, and she turned her face away. “...It felt good…” she mumbled, barely audible.

A slow smirk tugged at his lips. “Then… would you like to try again?”

She snorted. “No!”

Without looking back, she waded toward the pond’s edge and climbed out.

Jin Shu couldn't help but stare. Her soaked robes clung to her body, outlining every curve—the swell of her chest, the gentle taper of her waist, the shapely outline of her legs and hips as she moved… especially her peach-shaped bottom. Blood rushed to his face—and other parts—as he tried, but failed to avert his eyes.

At the shore, she glanced over her shoulder. “Are you coming out?”

His cheeks flared crimson. “No… I’ll stay here a bit longer.”

He couldn’t get out right now—not unless he wanted to explain the very obvious effect her wet exit had on him. His robe, especially below the waist, was… unforgiving.

She arched her brow. “What were you going to ask earlier?”

“Ask…?” He blinked, thrown by the sudden shift.

“You said you wanted to ask me something selfish.”

“Oh! Right.” He nodded, suddenly remembering the original reason they’d started talking so seriously, before the unexpected kiss and… swim.

“I was going to ask you to marry me—to become my dao companion.”

Tian Li froze. Her eyes widened, her jaw nearly dropping. “W–w–what?! Dao companion?! Are you serious?!”

“Completely.”

She stared at him, then shook her head, as if trying to wake herself from a dream. “No way. You don’t really know what that means. If you did, you wouldn’t ask something that insane, right?”

He chuckled softly at her panic but didn’t blame her. If someone had casually dropped that on him, he might’ve reacted the same way.

“I know what a dao companion is,” he said, beginning to wade toward shore now that his thoughts—and body—had cooled down.

“Dao companions undergo a special ceremony. They vow to seek immortality together. If one fails to reach it, or dies… the other’s cultivation stops as well.”

He paused as he stepped out of the pond, squeezing water from his sleeve.

“There are benefits too. Dao companions can share cultivation insights. And they can never be truly separated. No matter the distance, they’ll always be able to sense each other’s location.”

He looked at her then, voice soft but certain. “There are more benefits, probably, but those are the ones I remember.”

She stood frozen, eyes locked on his. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. No words came—only stunned silence.