Xin Cheng's words pulled Xiang Ling out of her thoughts and she rushed to collect the fruits. Though using her powers in front of him was not easy, the same couldn't be said about using her space. All she needed was a momentary distraction on his part to put the fruits inside her space.
Yet, there was a problem. If she stored the fruits inside her space, how she would explain it to Xin Cheng?
A long sigh escaped her lips as she took a moment to inspect her surroundings. Her eyes first landed on Xin Cheng who had taken a spot against a tree not far from her. His arms were folded across his chest and he was looking anywhere but at her. She still couldn't decipher his intent behind following her all the way here.
Only Xiang Ling knew how much she wanted him to just disappear. If not for his unwanted presence, she wouldn't be facing so many troubles in finishing such a simple task of collecting fruits from the mountains.
Turning her attention away from the man, she once again started searching for the thing that could solve her problem. She had to walk a little in search before she finally found what she was looking for - bamboo trees.
With a bright smile on her lips, she took out a sharp dagger from her space and started peeling the skin of the bamboo into thin strips. It was easier to explain the sudden appearance of a dagger as she could just say that she was hiding it in her sleeves.
It took her around ten long minutes before the bamboo basket was ready. What she didn't know was that Xin Cheng had been watching her working expertly while she made the basket as if she were an expert.
Beeming happily after solving the issue of how she was going to carry the fruits back to the village, she returned to the plum tree to collect all the fruits in the basket.
Once she had all the ripe plums collected in the basket, she dragged Xin Cheng toward the tree of Fiery Cherry. The man gave in to her request again and performed that hand trick. Once the Fiery Cherries were on the ground, Xiang Ling didn't waste any time and started collecting them.
The last fruit she collected was Persimmons before she decided to look for some herbs. Since they had ventured quite deep into the mountains - a part completely untouched by mortals because of how dangerous it was, it didn't take long before she found the herbs that could help with healing injuries. She grabbed as much as she could and added them to the basket which was filled to the brim.
She struggled to pick up the basket on her back as her mortal body was quite weak for holding such a heavy load. She was almost about to fall when the crushing weight of the basket disappeared from her back.
Shocked and confused, she turned around and found Xin Cheng holding the basket in his hand. While she was struggling to hold the basket with her entire body, the man was able to do it with only one hand as if it weighed nothing at all.
"What are you doing?" She asked while looking at the man suspiciously. Her level of trust in him was at par with his level of trust in her.
"We are returning to the village, right?" Xin Cheng asked instead of answering her question. He seemed to have a tendency of ignoring her questions.
A sigh left Xiang Ling's lips and she moved forward to take back the basket. "Give it back to me." She tried to grab the basket but Xin Cheng swiftly dodged her move.
Surprised by his agility, Xiang Ling again tried to grab the basket but once again, Xin Cheng was quick enough to easily dodge her move without making much of an effort.
A mischievous atmosphere suddenly filled the air as the two kept playing around - Xiang Ling trying to grab the basket while Xin Cheng dodged all her moves. By the time of her tenth try, Xiang Ling could no longer hold back the chuckle that left her lips as she put a little bit more force in her next move and threw her whole body at the man.
The plan was to surprise him and successfully grab the basket but things started going wrong from the very moment when Xiang Ling's right foot landed on a stone and she lost her balance because her ankle couldn't handle the sudden change in angle.
Xin Cheng's eyes grew wide as he noticed her body getting closer to him but all that he was able to do was put down the basket before Xiang Ling landed straight into his arms. The sudden movement and powerful force caused him to lose his balance as well, and the next thing he knew, both of them were hitting the hard and cold ground.
He landed first and Xiang Ling landed on him. Her small frame hit his hard muscles and her hair fell around her shoulders like curtains. Her face came so close to his that they could feel each other's breathing.
Xiang Ling's eyes went as wide as Xin Cheng's as she stared at his beautiful face that was way too close. A few long seconds of complete silence passed before the two started moving at the same time.
Xiang Ling tried to crawl away from him, and unfortunately, Xin Cheng chose that exact moment to push her off his body. Their uncoordinated movements caused Xiang Ling's hand to slip, the one she was using to balance her upper body, and she landed back on Xin Cheng right as she tried to pull away from him.
Their chests crashed and so did their faces. Xiang Ling felt her lips landing against something soft and it didn't take long for her brain to realize that the softness belonged to Xin Cheng's lips that were now pressed against hers.