Chapter 563: Chapter 547: Living with Guigui

San Niang opened her eyes.

Indeed, at some point when the two were no longer forehead to forehead, Zhao Changhe’s head had instinctively burrowed downwards, nestling into her embrace…

A question once arose, what is something that feels incredibly good when sucked but is harmless and non-addictive?

Zhao Changhe was sucking on that very thing, smacking his lips with eyes closed.

A flash of Evil Qi appeared in San Niang’s eyes, and she stretched out her slender hand to deliver a resounding “slap.”

The Yin God in her Soul Sea mirrored the action, syncing inside and out, slapping the little white mist figure head over heels.

Dazed by the slap, the little figure lost sight of the big sister in the dream; San Niang.

Zhao Changhe was also startled awake to find the real San Niang frowning at him in anger, “Taste good?”

Carefully, Zhao Changhe rolled to the side, only to bump into the corpse of an octopus, bounce back, and end up right back on top of San Niang.

San Niang: “…”

Suppressing an urge to laugh, she kept a straight face, “You’re hurting me by lying on top.”

Zhao Changhe bounced up at once, touched his head, and realized it wasn’t hurting anymore.

San Niang methodically adjusted the chest wrap he had dislodged, leaning lazily against the octopus, “Your Soul Sea is just relatively fragile. The turmoil caused by the Sea Emperor’s psychic blast isn’t a wound… While it’s tidied up now, it’s still weak. If you can rest well, you can recover… Maybe you’ll need ten days to half a month.”

Zhao Changhe glanced at her carefully. Seeing that she didn’t seem overly emotional about the recent incident, he sighed in relief and checked inwardly.

The weakness of the Soul Sea indeed caused a notable lack of mental clarity. Matters of the Divine Soul were always troublesome, and needing to be bedridden for ten days to half a month was common. However, he thought that since the chaos was no longer tearing him apart, it shouldn’t impede the recovery of his True Qi. Still, the replenishment of True Qi felt extremely slow, and he didn’t know why.

As if seeing his confusion, San Niang said indifferently, “After your breakthrough in the Secret Treasure, you began to rely on external energy, accustomed to the cycle of heavenly energy from the Heavenly Spirit to your feet. Now, with a troubled Soul Sea, this cycle is blocked… You should temporarily forget these and consider yourself a Mystical Gate martial artist, focusing on internal recovery.”

Zhao Changhe was stunned for a moment, tapped his head, and realized the truth.

So, the antenna receiver was broken, but there wasn’t any issue with his own production. By this logic, when he had asked Dragon Sparrow to fetch medicine earlier, he should have requested Inner Strength recovery medicine instead—that would be the most fitting!

Now it was gone…

This wasn’t too big of a problem, actually. The Six Harmonies Divine Skill had fast self-recovery. He could generate enough energy for the Control Crane Skill after some time; then he could just get the medicine out, and that would settle it.

However, the major difference between a Secret Realm martial artist and a Mystical Gate martial artist was the ability to cycle ceaselessly with the energy of the heavens and the earth. Take Water Manipulation Wave Stepping, for instance—although it didn’t require much True Qi quality, endless endurance to travel a hundred miles was impossible without the celestial cycle.

In other words, even if his True Qi recovered, he wouldn’t be able to return by treading on waves like he did before; he had to wait until his Divine Soul was restored… Seeing San Niang’s condition, the recovery might even take longer than his own. Were they all going to be stuck here for ten days or half a month?

Zhao Changhe was momentarily lost in thought.

San Niang glanced at him sideways and finally asked, “What is it?”

Zhao Changhe asked, “How do you feel?”

“Are you asking about the feeling of you biting me just now, or the feeling of me slapping you?”

“…”

With lazy indifference, San Niang said, “If it’s the latter, then it felt great.”

“The former didn’t feel good?”

San Niang: “?”

Zhao Changhe cleared his throat, “I’m asking about your injury—how long until you’re well?”

San Niang responded irritably, “Haven’t you heard? Injuries to muscles and bones take a hundred days to heal.”

“That’s what’s said to mortals, but you’re a… Turtle…”

“Hmm?”

“You’re a Goddess, no need for that. Plus, you’ve had some really good medicine.”

San Niang kept a stern face, “No matter how sweetly you talk, it’s still a human’s bones. It will take at least ten days to half a month to heal.”

Another ten days, half a month had passed. Zhao Changhe sucked in a breath with irritation, “So, we can’t get back in the short term, huh? Will they realize something has happened to us and come to our aid?”

San Niang’s expression was also quite grim.

Hua Zhenming and Tang En, having seen the two of them chase the enemy for so long without returning, should have realized that something had gone wrong. But the problem was, during the pursuit, their direction was constantly changing, not in a straight line. With the vastness of the sea, a slight deviation could mean a huge difference, and even if they came out to search for them, it would be very difficult to find their exact location.

Moreover, they couldn’t afford to cast a wide net to search, since they were still being hunted down. If they sent a few ships to search in secret, they might not find them for a month, and they really had to be prepared to spend ten days or half a month on this island… and at the same time, they had to pray they wouldn’t be found first by the besieging army from various countries…

Just staying on the island for half a month wasn’t easy. Zhao Changhe wasn’t suffering from a headache anymore, and catching fish was easy, but what about the lack of fresh water?

Even if they could get by with Turtle Breath meditation, could the two of them really stay bare and exposed on this deserted island for so long? They had already explored every corner on the first day, so by the tenth day, could they consider what to name the kids or whose Cultivation Technique to teach them?

What irritated her the most was, I haven’t even said anything, and you’re already sucking in a breath of cold air? Taking advantage of the situation and still pretending to be cute—how much do you charge per pound for being cute?

The two of them locked eyes for a long while, and just as San Niang was about to say something, a fragrant scent suddenly wafted over.

Zhao Changhe turned his head to see a large fish skewered on a stick, with the bottom part slightly charred, but the rest of it mostly unchanged.

The fire was too small for the big fish. At this rate, it wouldn’t be ready to eat by tomorrow.

San Niang muttered with a lack of face, “I can’t exert any strength, can’t handle it.”

“I’ll do it.” Zhao Changhe stepped forward, removed the fish, and with a swift motion, scraped off all the scales. He quickly gutted, washed, and cut it up before skewering and roasting it in pieces, and also refueled the dwindling, flickering flames.

Soon after, the delicious aroma was overwhelming.

“Here.” Zhao Changhe passed a skewer to her, “There’s no seasoning, so it might taste pretty bad. Just make do for now, to replenish some energy. I’ll think of a way to see if I can get some fresh water.”

San Niang accepted the roasted fish, took a small bite, and to her surprise, found it actually tasted quite decent, better than she had imagined. Her mood inexplicably brightened, and she smiled, “How are you going to get water?”

“That Energy Crystal, it’s been absorbing the Water Energy around… I’ll see if I can collect some, and that’ll be pure water.” Zhao Changhe bent down to pick up the wet clothes he had earlier stripped off and tossed beside a rock. Indeed, under the combined effects of the crystal’s absorption and the nearby fire, the clothes had already dried out in a short time, even forming a bit of salt on them…

Zhao Changhe shook out the clothes speechlessly, then draped them over San Niang, “It smells a bit fishy, please don’t mind and use it for now. Once I have enough True Qi for the ring, I’ll get you some new clothes.”

San Niang had never expected that he would think to find her clothes to wear first thing. She stood there dumbfounded, gripping the collar.

Isn’t it normal for a man to rack his brains trying to get rid of the last bit of covering on a woman’s chest?

Are you really that clueless in that area?

Or is it that you are truly noble? But what were you doing just now?

Poor Guigui, whose brain was sluggish, had completely lost track of what she was thinking.

However, Zhao Changhe had dived back inside the octopus’s body again, pulling out the crystal and placing it on a stone outside. He turned the lid of the jade box previously used for ointment upside down over the crystal and watched silently.

Water Element gathered constantly towards the crystal, and some of it was intercepted by the jade lid, gradually condensing a drop of water inside.

It worked, it really could be done.

Zhao Changhe showed a relieved smile, “Although Turtle Breath could sustain us for these days, it might cause us to miss any rescue efforts or leave us vulnerable to sneak attacks. Having water is best… even though it’s a bit slow, if we ration it, it should be enough to sustain us.”

San Niang slowly ate the grilled fish, her eyes filled with admiration.

Actually, once she recovered some of her strength, she could extract fresh water herself. She had originally planned to endure for a couple of days and then take action, to let him know what being an elder sister was all about. But he had solved the problem so quickly.

What a smart man, he almost seemed capable of anything.

Zhao Changhe had no idea what she was thinking, and said with a smile, “We’ll just leave it here to collect. I’ll meditate for a while to recover as much True Qi as I can. Please keep watch on our surroundings; if anything happens, just throw a stone to wake me.”

San Niang nodded without a word.

But as she watched him sitting cross-legged to meditate, that indescribable feeling resurfaced in her heart.

She suddenly understood Cui Yuanyang… To a naive girl, meeting a man as intelligent and exceedingly brave as him, who exuded the feeling of being utterly safe and reliable, was like a Heavenly God shining brightly, or relying on a family’s pillar of support.

And he was actually a gentleman, so odd… Despite his apparent lack of interest, not taking things any further or using sweet talk, how did he manage to win over Qing’er back then?

Don’t tell me it was the brutal woman, obsessed with Martial Arts and rebellion, who took the initiative to pursue you?

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PS: Here it is~ seeking monthly ticket~