At last, Mei was dumped into a dark cavern deep underground, the ceiling closing above her.
Xiao Mei thought the turtle would have said something, but it kept quiet. While to her, the surroundings were no darker than usual, Mei was fumbling around in the dark.
"Lantern... lantern..." she mumbled.
...
Right... Mei's lantern broke. And she forgot to buy a new one.
Though, while fumbling in her bag, she realised it was unusually heavy. There were pouches of something smooth and cold- no, it was jade!
There was a bag with 8 larger jades that Mei could tell was green jade, along with a pile of white jade. Then, beside it was a bag that probably had over a hundred white jade inside.
Why was all her jade with her? She normally kept most of it in her drawer to prevent theft. Not to mention, this was more jade than she owned! Too suspicious...
"Xiao Mei, how did we get here?" she asked.
"The big Xuanwu turtle kidnapped us for revenge..."
Xiao Mei began to panic as soon as Mei found the jade bags.
"So, I was sleeping all the way back in the sect, and the turtle managed to teleport me here anyway?" Mei asked.
"Apparently..."
"Why wouldn't it teleport Senior Han instead?"
"Maybe it wanted more hostages. Or Senior Han is too strong to teleport?" Xiao Mei said.
"Wait, I just realised something! If it could teleport us, then why would it bother digging us down here with earth magic?"
"Maybe to cut costs?"
"Then it would have teleported us here directly! No matter how you look at it, this doesn't add up!"
Gahhh!
Xiao Mei was aghast. Since when was Mei so perceptive? Did Mei read some detective novels while she wasn't paying attention?
"Xiao Mei, I know you're hiding something, and I can guess what. Stop lying to me!"
Mei harrumphed, crossing her arms.
"Recently, I've been tired even after waking up sometimes. Hmm, I wonder what could be the cause of that?"
...
It was all over now...
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"Fine..."
Xiao Mei decided if she tried to lie any further, Mei would just distrust her more. The jig was already up anyway...
"The truth is, I've been possessing your body to take walks at night-"
"Ehhhh!?" Mei shouted.
"What? Why are you acting so shocked?"
"It was only a suspicion... I didn't expect it to be actually the case, like the sect master warned me!"
...
She should have just kept quiet.
"Even if I possessed you, all I did was to read some books or wander around for the most part!" Xiao Mei argued. "If you don't trust me, you can ask Li Xuan. She already knows I've been waking around at night and decided I'm harmless!"
Mei scrunched her face.
Okay... This was actually really scary!
She didn't exactly doubt Xiao Mei was just "lazing around" while possessing her. After all, if it was her, she'd be doing the same. But that was now; what about in the future?
She imagined a certain scene...
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"Hahaha! Mei, your days as Mei are over!" Xiao Mei laughed.
"Please, no!"
Ignoring her pleas, she shoved Mei into the dantain.
"Now I'm the real Mei, and you're the nascent soul! And now you will cultivate for me, forever! Muahaha" she laughed evilly.
"Nooooo!" the real Mei screamed.
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Mei paled at the thought. She had to do something about it! Maybe some kind of anti-possession talisman? But what if Xiao Mei got mad about that, and got even more determined to screw her over?
Meanwhile, Xiao Mei could vaguely guess what the real Mei was thinking. After thinking hard for moment, she finally thought of a good excuse.
"Mei... I have to tell you the truth..." she said.
"The truth? You've only been lying to me!"
...
Slowly, Xiao Mei told Mei about how she had had visited the cultivator city. Teleporting back to her hometown to sell the pills for a profit, going to Ming Apothecary... of course, conveniently not mentioning how she was originally planning to pocket all the money for herself.
...
"And you're saying... all I need to do is to ask Yong Hao and he will confirm it?"
"Yes, after hearing about needing to clear our debt in 5 years, I wanted to do something about it! Mei, I only want the best for both of us!" Xiao Mei lied, putting on her most passionate voice.
"Is that so..."
"Of course! And plus, soon I'll be able to make a puppet that I can control, so I no longer have to possess you!"
Mei felt a bit guilty. Was the reason why Xiao Mei so quiet normally because she didn't want her to subdue her for the ability to possess her?
No, something still felt like it wasn't quite adding up. In that case, why didn't Xiao Mei just tell her how to make money, instead of earning it in secret? Why make clearing the debt a surprise?
What a headache...
Still, was Xiao Mei dumber than her? If Xuanwu was angry, why would she go to the country of Wu to buy pills? Mei, unfortunately, was not aware of the concept "obvious in hindsight".
"Anyway, we'll be fine!" Xiao Mei hurriedly changed the topic after Mei's silence. "I've learnt a few simple spells in my free time."
With a wave of her hand, she summoned a small light that floated beside Mei, illuminating the dark caves. Still, with the sheer size of the caverns, everything in the distance was still shrouded in darkness.
Somehow, this was more creepy than pitch black...
"How are you using light magic when our element is wood anyway?" Mei asked.
"Oh, you know how all spirits can glow regardless of element? It's that kind of light."
"I see..."
Maybe she should spend some time to read up on magic too. If she didn't, she probably wouldn't ever be able to use crazy techniques like in the novels she read.
Mei trudged along the rough, uneven ground in silence. Too silent, if anything. All she could hear was her own footsteps, and dripping water in the distance.
Sure, she had been underground before back in Xiagu and Sanyang, but they had been teeming with life.
These caverns, meanwhile, were about as lifeless as it got. It was dreadful and claustrophobic.
Nothing but endless rock... there probably wasn't any breathable air either. It was good thing she was a Foundational cultivator.
First Ning Xing and now the stupid turtle... Mei vowed to herself that she needed to do something about her teleportation token getting stolen. She couldn't just let people trap her as they pleased!