Chapter 146: The Raina Mountains

Returning to the hotel, Qin Mo was sitting quietly by the window alone, eating her breakfast. When she caught sight of Ji Ning, she paused her movements, revealing a smile that illuminated the entire polar night.

Ji Ning himself had not realized that upon seeing Qin Mo, a smile would subconsciously form on his face.

It was the heartfelt joy born from seeing the person he loved, though to Qin Mo at this moment, that smile carried a deeper implication.

Ji Ning removed his gentleman's hat, greeted her with an elegant bow, and following local custom, took her hand and kissed it in accordance with Viking etiquette. "Long time no see, my exclusive Miss Qin Mo."

Qin Mo glanced around, and letting out a sigh of relief upon noticing that no one was paying attention to his actions, scolded, "What do you mean exclusive? Even if you're going to say such things, don't say them in public! You really have no shame! Forget it, now is not the time to argue about this."

"Hand over the recording from yesterday!" Qin Mo glared aggressively at the smiling Ji Ning. Although she tried her best to look fierce, the young girl had yet to learn how to properly mask her emotions, and her stunning visage failed to conceal her bluffing and guilty conscience.

Beaming, Ji Ning flatly refused, "No."

"Then I'm angry." Qin Mo turned her head away, refusing to look at him, and resumed packing the items she might need once aboard the ship.

"It doesn't matter. I have always been lenient with unreasonable girls, especially the lovely Miss Qin Mo. We have plenty of time to make amends."

Qin Mo turned back, tilting her head with a pitiful expression. "Please, give me the recording, okay? I don't want you to remember me looking so foolish. I can promise you one favor, anything as long as it's not too outrageous."

The girl who was feigning anger just a second ago had instantly switched to a pleading expression. Even if God Himself were to descend, He could only sigh "what a pitiful beauty" and readily agree to the young girl's request. However, having witnessed Qin Mo's various sides since last night, Ji Ning had already developed an immunity. He tilted his head as well. "If I give it to you, it can only be traded for one favor. But if I don't give it to you, I can keep using it as leverage. Miss Qin Mo, adorable as you are, the essence of a transaction is fairness."

Qin Mo lowered her head, and just as Ji Ning was about to say something more, she pressed her hand against his chest and spoke with a slight sob in her voice, "Don't be like this."

Ji Ning's defenses crumbled instantly. He whipped out his phone, hastily deleted the recording in a flurry of fumbles, and flurriedly comforted the girl in his arms. "It's deleted, really, look if you don't believe me. You weren't foolish last night; I just thought you were adorable, so I wanted to record it. I'm sorry, I thought you wouldn't mind..."

Qin Mo raised her head, her smile brilliant. Where was there a single trace of tears in her charming brows and eyes?

"Really deleted?" Qin Mo gently poked his chest, showing not the slightest hint of remorse for having deceived him. She smiled faintly and stood on tiptoe to lightly brush her cheek against his.

Ji Ning nodded helplessly. "You actually tricked me." Zhang Wuji's mother was truly right—the prettier a woman is, the better she is at lying, even Qin Mo.

Qin Mo lifted her chin and spoke righteously, "What did I trick you about? You're the one who assumed I was crying."

"Fine, then can I make my request now?" Ji Ning chose not to dwell on it; no one could ever win an argument against the girl they loved.

Qin Mo broke free from his embrace and went back to organizing her things. "You already made it, and I agreed to it."

Ji Ning thought for a moment and asked, "What is it?"

Although Qin Mo kept her head down, her blushing profile was breathtakingly beautiful. She mumbled, "I know who helped me change my clothes yesterday."

Ji Ning raised an eyebrow slightly, a faint wave of regret rising in his heart once again. Who on earth invented garments like undergarments?

Qin Mo fidgeted and said, "Defaulting only applies to the first half. The remaining half definitely counts as going too far."

"How heartbreaking. I had foolishly assumed our relationship had already reached the point of baring our souls—and bodies—to one another."

Embarrassed and annoyed, Qin Mo gave Ji Ning a light punch to the chest. "Stop saying such lewd things with a straight face! Besides, you weren't just planning to take off half, you just didn't know how to handle the rest."

Ji Ning cast a lingering glance at her. "It was only because I was afraid of hurting you; otherwise, I have ten thousand ways to take it off."

Despite someone constantly interrupting Qin Mo like an eager puppy trying to win its master's favor, she quickly finished packing everything. Of course, during this process, she inevitably had to pay a small price.

With everything ready, the two of them called Afra. Afra had gone out alone after breakfast, claiming she was going to buy the invitation cards. Although Qin Mo was skeptical about whether money could actually buy an invitation to the "Eye of Tiat, " things had reached this point, and she had no choice but to trust Afra. Regardless of anything else, this was her dream, and she was the unwitting monarch of this world.

Though the polar night was approaching, it had not yet fully descended into the eternal dark. There were still a few hours of sunlight each day—dim, yet it made people subconsciously cherish this precious sliver of light. Dragging his suitcase, Ji Ning instinctively looked back at Qin Mo, who had also paused to bathe in the glow.

Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her slender, pearlescent neck nearly overwhelmed him with the impulse to kiss it. Because she had changed into loose casual wear for ease of movement, it still could not conceal her exquisite and graceful curves. Bathed in the sunlight, she shone as brilliantly as a gemstone, forcing anyone's gaze to linger upon her.

Ji Ning offered a gentle compliment, "How beautiful."

Qin Mo pointed at herself and let out a soft, faint chuckle. "Me?"

"The sunlight."

Qin Mo stepped closer, staring straight into Ji Ning's eyes as if trying to see through to his heart. She smiled warmly. "I heard you. You were talking about me."

Ji Ning naturally took her hand, walking forward while stubbornly denying it, "I didn't name any names. Since when did you become so narcissistic...?"

The two of them bantered all the way toward their scheduled destination, everything brimming with the flavor of youth under the sunlight.

Before contacting Afra, Ji Ning had been guessing whether Afra would choose a musical theater or a high-end restaurant. After all, anyone would assume that a transaction involving millions of dollars should take place in a quiet, private space. Yet the place Afra asked them to come to turned out to be an abstract art gallery.

After paying for the admission tickets, the two walked straight inside. To Ji Ning's surprise, there were actually quite a few people viewing the paintings.

Ji Ning had always kept his distance from places that collected, displayed, and sold abstract art. He simply could not fathom why randomly smearing some paint could command a joke of a price tag, and what was most terrifying was that people actually bought them at those prices—such as the famous *No. 5, 1948*. He had always suspected that the sole purpose of that painting's existence was to allow its collector, the Mexican financial tycoon David Martínez, to legally launder money. He even darkly wondered if Jackson Pollock couldn't actually paint at all and was merely a raving lunatic.

Qin Mo, on the other hand, looked with genuine interest at the brushstrokes that twisted like the trails left by abyss-crawling entities. Ji Ning had to gently nudge her shoulder. "Can you actually understand this stuff?"

Qin Mo flashed an apologetic smile and shook her head. "I'm just looking at the prices beneath the paintings. I'm not very good at appreciating these things."

Ji Ning let out a long sigh of relief. "That's good. I was just worried that if you happened to like this stuff, I'd have to start looking at it too in the future. I've always suspected that looking at these things too much gets you taken away by the Old Gods."

Qin Mo shook her head. "What nonsense. Existence is reasonable. Just because you don't understand abstract art doesn't mean you can spout nonsense; these are works of art."

"There is only one work of art in my heart in this entire world." Ji Ning held Qin Mo's hand as they slowly strolled through the art exhibition. If he were alone, he would never have slowed his pace or wasted time like this, but he had to consider Qin Mo's curiosity.

"What is it?" Qin Mo looked at him curiously.

Ji Ning didn't speak; he simply stopped walking and gazed at her quietly.

Qin Mo quickly caught on, shyly averting her gaze. "Why are you always like this lately? There are other people here; how embarrassing would it be if someone heard?"

Ji Ning looked completely unbothered. "Let them hear. If worse comes to worst, we'll find another place to keep talking."

Qin Mo was both embarrassed and amused. "You really have no shame!"

Intent on teasing her, Ji Ning deliberately said, "Alright then, I won't say it anymore. I'll just be a piece of wood."

Qin Mo feigned helplessness. "Since you won't, I suppose I can't force you. In the future, when there's no one else around, you can just whisper it secretly for me alone to hear."

"Forget it. Even the most moving sweet words cannot melt Miss Qin Mo's stone-cold heart, seeing as she has never responded to me anyway." Ji Ning put on a heartbroken expression of unrequited affection.

Everything was under Ji Ning's control. Even though Qin Mo knew he was just making a fuss over nothing, so what? She was always soft-hearted.

Qin Mo stealthily glanced at the crowd of people nearby viewing the paintings. Gritting her teeth, she leaned in close to Ji Ning's ear and whispered shyly, "I... I like you too."

With a blank expression, Ji Ning shook his head. "So quiet, I can't hear you at all."

Her face burning red, Qin Mo could no longer hold back. She bit down hard on Ji Ning's ear, and only when the fellow cried out in pain and begged for mercy did she angrily wipe her mouth and stride resolutely toward the far end of the gallery.

Rubbing his ear, Ji Ning hurried to catch up, thinking to himself that he really needed to do better risk management next time—getting bitten for nothing was a terrible deal. He was still plotting how to bite her back when he finally spotted Afra.

Unlike the two lovers whispering sweet nothings, Afra was currently facing a major crisis. Standing before her was a man wearing a beret and holding a palette, who was lost in concentration as he slashed away with his brush on a blank sheet of paper. Afra still had no idea how to give him an answer once he stopped painting.

Seeing Qin Mo, Afra instantly let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly pulled her into the corner of the gallery to pour out her predicament.

"This Mr. Eliot is the person in charge of the 'Eye of Tiat' in the Narvik region. To board the 'Eye of Tiat' here, one must obtain an invitation letter provided by him. I only remember my parents saying that the ticket was equivalent to one million US dollars. I thought 'equivalent' meant as long as it converted to one million dollars in Norwegian Krone, it would be fine. But just now, Mr. Eliot refused to accept the money. He said he's merely a painter and is only interested in paintings; money means nothing to him."

"So, what he means is that he requires you to provide a painting worth one million dollars in order to give you the invitation?"

Afra nodded helplessly. Boarding the "Eye of Tiat" was of paramount importance to her, which was why she was currently gripped by panic.

Taking advantage of the time Afra and Qin Mo were consulting, Ji Ning, having understood the ins and outs of the situation while massaging his ear, walked up behind Mr. Eliot. He watched the man smear paint on the canvas with the detachment of someone watching a kindergarten child draw. True to being an abstract painter, judging by the way he was flailing his brush, he probably didn't even know where his next stroke would land.

Noticing someone standing behind him, Eliot paused his brush. As the owner of the gallery, he had always held a favorable view of guests capable of appreciating his art. Just as he turned around to explain his painting to the visitor, the moment he laid eyes on Ji Ning, both men froze, identical scenes flashing through their minds simultaneously.

On the mountains of Reine town! This fellow was that painter from before who had offered to paint portraits of him and Qin Mo (the man who had rejected his request for a portrait)!

It was then that Ji Ning suddenly understood. This was Afra's dream. Meeting this painter on the Reine mountains was undoubtedly an arrangement by her subconscious; this painter was a crucial figure for them to unlock subsequent tasks. It was a pity he had thought the guy was acting bizarrely back then—it made things a bit awkward now.

The so-called "enemies crossing paths" probably described this exact situation. Had Ji Ning known back then that he would one day need a favor from this painter, he would have held his nose and let the man paint him and Qin Mo into his work. But who could have foreseen that?

A mere second after Ji Ning and Eliot locked eyes—just as a look of sudden realization dawned in Eliot's eyes—Ji Ning executed the optimal solution in a flash of lightning.

"You're the one from the mountains of Reine town last..." Before Eliot could finish, Ji Ning smiled and nodded, cutting in to take over the conversation.

"Yes, it is indeed the person you met last time. My visit this time is also because of that previous encounter. At that time, neither my fiancée nor I knew your true identity. When we got home and I looked up your background, both of us felt such deep regret. After all, not everyone is fortunate enough to be painted into a masterpiece by you. Coming to your gallery this time is also an attempt to make up for that past regret. I wonder if you might still have the interest to finish painting that piece for us? To express our apology, I am willing to pay a certain remuneration. We truly desire a painting of yours."

Such rhetoric was well within the curriculum of Deer Academy. After all, students never dealt solely with the supernatural realm; they also had to deftly handle ordinary people, and ultimately, ordinary people made up the majority of this world.

Naturally, Eliot wasn't going to agree immediately. Having had his offer to paint them rejected last time, even for the sake of his pride, he had to decline politely.

"I'm afraid I don't have the time..."

"It's fine. My fiancée and I are willing to wait at any time; you can contact us whenever you are inclined." Ji Ning replied crisply and cleanly, without a trace of hesitation, before turning to walk toward Qin Mo.

With his back to Eliot, Ji Ning cast a single glance at Qin Mo. Having coordinated countless times and sharing a tacit understanding, Qin Mo instantly grasped Ji Ning's meaning. She nodded at Eliot, linked her arm through Ji Ning's, and walked outward with him while quietly whispering to Afra without changing her expression, "Wait a while before you leave. Don't let it look like we know each other."

"He took the bait?"

"Mhm."

"How long will it take? We don't have much time."

"Very soon."

True to form, by the afternoon, Ji Ning received an invitation from Eliot. This was within reason; Ji Ning's few words had both preserved Eliot's pride and expressed genuine appreciation for his art. As a painter, Eliot would instinctively develop a favorable impression. According to Ji Ning's deduction, painters were a profession heavily reliant on inspiration. Since Eliot had previously taken the initiative to offer to paint them, he certainly wouldn't pass up the chance to make up for that missed opportunity.

When they met Eliot again, it was at the helipad of his estate. Wearing his beret and a long down jacket—the exact same outfit as last time—Eliot extended a hand to Ji Ning with a smile. "Barring any accidents, we should be spending this afternoon back in the town of Reine."

Ji Ning shook the hand, which was still stained with oil paint and calloused from years of holding brushes. "An absolute honor."

Aside from the flight crew, the only other person on Eliot's private jet was a male assistant; not a single service attendant was in sight. This prompted a silent internal scoff from Ji Ning—presumably another one of those eccentric quirks wealthy people possessed.

Even time had to bow before money. The journey that would normally take several hours by car was reduced to mere casual conversation aboard Eliot's private jet. Naturally, Ji Ning didn't waste the time; he kept busy probing for any information regarding Eliot's background through verbal tactics. By the time the plane landed, Qin Mo had already constructed a preliminary personality and psychological model based on Eliot's conversational patterns.

Taking advantage of the time Eliot went to gather his painting equipment, Qin Mo linked her arm through Ji Ning's as they walked out of the helipad, explaining, "Like many painters, he's someone who intensely emphasizes the self. Almost all of his viewpoints stem from his own center, and he views everything with a strong subjective bias. You could say he's a proud and arrogant genius, or you could say he's a conceited and egotistical fellow. People like this are actually the easiest to get along with; generally speaking, as long as you communicate by following his flow, you can achieve your goals effortlessly. The only slight difficulty lies in how to present the objective you want to achieve. The best-case scenario is to have him proactively offer his help, because once he realizes he might be exploited in some way, he will flatly reject all proposals."

"Make him offer it himself? A bit tricky, but worth a try."

Ji Ning quickly shifted into work mode. Compared to the frivolous and teasing Ji Ning, Qin Mo preferred this serious side of him. A rigorous Ji Ning seemed to possess a strange, captivating charm. Although Qin Mo knew this wasn't the time for romance, she couldn't help but fall for him all over again, sneaking glances at his profile and spacing out.

Just as Qin Mo was secretly thinking, *How can he look so good?*, Ji Ning had already formulated a plan. Noticing Qin Mo's gaze, he mistook it for an expression of worry, so he smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, I can pull it off."

Qin Mo nodded, then shifted her gaze back to fixate on Eliot, who was walking toward them from not far away.

"We're going to the same spot as last time. Only the scenery there can capture the feeling I'm looking for." Eliot, preparing to paint, looked full of enthusiasm. His assistant had already prepared a vehicle and presumably a cable car up the mountain; a man like this had long since moved past trading time for money and had begun trading money for time.

When they stepped off the cable car, the perpetually taciturn assistant set down the easel he had been carrying all the way and, upon receiving a gesture from Eliot, left on the returning cable car.

Revisiting the familiar location, Ji Ning no longer had the mood he'd had that day. Now, his mind was entirely occupied with how to obtain an invitation for the cruise ship "Eye of Tiat." "Do we need to strike a pose?"

Beneath the giant parasol, Eliot mixed paints without raising his head. "No, no. I'm not painting a portrait; you two can just stay like last time."

Like last time? Ji Ning looked at the scattered snowflakes in the sky, thinking that only a lunatic like this would want to go up a mountain in this ghost of a weather, let alone have the energy to skip and hop around like they did before.

Ji Ning simply took Qin Mo's hand, breathed warm air onto them, and after warming them up slightly, tucked them into his coat pocket before starting a aimless stroll. "I wonder how fast this guy paints. If you feel cold, let me know; I still have a Plan B."

Qin Mo asked curiously, "What's Plan B?"

Ji Ning curled his lip. "There are only three people here total, and there are no security cameras. Even if an accident happens, only heaven, earth, you, and I would know."

Qin Mo caught his drift, then thought about it and decided there was no need to go that far. "We should commit fewer unlawful acts; this guy isn't a bad person, after all."

Ji Ning glanced at the focused Eliot not far away, the snow crunching beneath their boots with every step. "Whether he's a good person or a bad person, I couldn't care less. I only care whether you're cold."

Qin Mo chuckled softly. "You're always childish in these sorts of ways."

"My heart is entirely devoted to you, how is that childish? Miss Qin Mo's words are colder than this flying snow." Discontented, Ji Ning gave Qin Mo's hand a pinch.

"Because you were afraid I'd be cold, you were going to resort to Plan B? That way of thinking is a bit much, besides, I'm not that delicate." Qin Mo reached out with her free hand to adjust the collar of Ji Ning's coat, figuring turning it up would keep him a bit warmer.

"Even Bao Si could make King You light beacon fires to fool the feudal lords. For my dear Miss Qin Mo, I feel like I could give even more."

"You really ought to study your history properly; that fellow didn't meet a very good end."

"I know."

"Then why are you talking nonsense?"

Ji Ning smiled faintly, not directly answering Qin Mo. "I've known that story since I was very young, I think I read it in an encyclopedia of allusions. I remember each allusion used to have an explanation attached at the end—more like a warning than an explanation. The warning attached to the allusion of lighting beacon fires to fool the lords is something I still remember very clearly: a monarch must not indulge in female beauty; the foolish King You lost his state just to make Bao Si laugh. When facing the Quanrong, how much regret must he have felt? I remembered it so clearly simply because I was too young back then to understand what 'indulging in beauty' meant. At the time, I thought King You trying to make his consort laugh was sort of like me trying to make my female deskmate laugh. I didn't think he did anything wrong, until much later when I realized what kind of price King You paid. Like most people, I came to think of him as a foolish ruler, but then later on, my perspective changed again."

"What perspective?"

"That was after I met you. I started to sympathize with King You and understand everything he did."

"Why?"

"In a brief lifetime, for a person to meet someone they love is a miracle in itself, let alone having the person you love love you back. The probability of that happening is just too low. In an era as vast and sparsely populated as that, where the world felt so tiny, King You managed to meet Bao Si, to meet a woman he deeply loved. From his perspective, of course he would give everything for Bao Si. Although he was a supreme sovereign—'Under the vast heaven, there is no land that is not the king's; to the borders of the land, there is no subject who is not the king's'—before Bao Si, he was merely a fellow desperately seeking to be loved. Ever since I met you, I've truly grasped King You's state of mind. That emotion of wanting to give everything for the one you love is just like young lovers today always buying gifts for each other—spending money isn't the point, and giving gifts isn't the point; the real goal is just to make the other person happy. Forget lighting beacon fires to fool the lords; as long as it could bring a smile to his beloved's face, he would gladly burn himself like those signal fires. Because love is blind, purely emotional. I imagine that when facing the great fire of Haojing, at the very last moment of his life before the end, that man who had lost everything wasn't feeling regret, but rather worrying about Bao Si's whereabouts."

Qin Mo fell silent for a moment before softly saying, "Clearly a dissolute and tyrannical monarch, why does he sound so tragic when put the way you describe it?"

"Because I also love someone deeply, so I can understand everything he did." Ji Ning gazed quietly at the slightly melancholic young girl, and at some point, the two hands inside his pocket had intertwined fingers.

The tender sensation transmitted through the five fingers and palms—that warm, powerful hand made her feel invincible. She was deeply and firmly loved by the owner of that hand; this thought instantly filled her with boundless peace of mind.

Qin Mo quickly snapped out of her melancholy—after all, the person she loved didn't have to face the fires of Haojing, and she could still leisurely lean into his embrace. "Do you really like me that much?"

"Guess."

"I won't guess. I want to hear you tell me."

"What a bad egg, how can I say such embarrassing words out loud?" Ji Ning looked smilingly at Qin Mo, whose face resembled peach blossoms. She knew Ji Ning inside and out, and she waited with a faint smile for the rest of his sentence, "Unless you kiss me."

Considering there was still a fellow painting alone in the snow, Qin Mo shyly shook her head and whispered, "No need, I know anyway."

"I haven't even said it and you already know? You've actually stolen classified secrets from my heart. I must punish you—let me kiss you."

"No!"

Time trickled away bit by bit. Amidst a sky full of starlight, the two bickering figures, young and passionate, danced across the snowy ground like spirits of the mountains.