Relaxation

"Do you want some fish?" At dusk, Xiao Heng stood at the cave entrance, a roasted fish skewered on the wooden stick in his hand!

After an entire afternoon, the woman had finally accepted the fact that she had basically been seen naked by a strange man. She had originally planned to put on a tough front and say she did not want any! But the hunger in her stomach and the tempting aroma of the roasted fish made it hard for her to control herself!

Seeing that the woman inside did not respond, Xiao Heng said again, "Have some. Otherwise, you won't be able to hold out!"

Still, there was no response!

"Um..." Xiao Heng wanted to say something, but he no longer knew what to say. He really was terrible at talking to girls! Just as he was thinking of a way to handle the situation, the woman spoke.

"I can't get up. Help me, please." Her voice carried a slight tremble.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Xiao Heng froze for a moment before reacting. He walked over, holding the fish in one hand while reaching out with the other to wrap around her slender waist.

His hand felt a patch of smooth, delicate skin. Only then did he remember that he had merely covered her up earlier and had not put any clothes on her. She was still naked!

He quickly pulled his hand back and hurriedly apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

The woman turned her head away, her face flushed with embarrassment. "It's fine. Could you... help me put it on?"

By the time she finished those last few words, she felt as though she were about to be roasted. Her face was unbearably hot!

After confirming that he had not misheard, Xiao Heng nodded. "All right!"

Taking out another black robe, Xiao Heng slowly helped the woman sit up. Just seeing her back left him staring blankly again!

"Be careful with your eyes!"

Her cold yet bashful tone pulled him back to reality. Xiao Heng hurriedly draped the black robe over her, then slowly guided her arms through the sleeves before tying the sash.

Whew...

Xiao Heng let out a long breath, and the woman did the same! She was about to go crazy. When the man tied the sash for her, she could clearly hear his heartbeat. Every time he breathed, the air he exhaled brushed past her ear! Right now, she only wanted to recover her strength as soon as possible. Her ears were as red as apples, yet she still had to force herself to remain calm!

"Um... the fish!" Xiao Heng held the fish out in front of the woman. As though afraid she would not understand, he even added an explanation. He had no choice—he really had little experience dealing with women like her!

"Feed me."

"Huh?"

"I still can't move my hands!"

That made sense. If she could move her hands, she would have gotten up by herself long ago!

Xiao Heng brought the fish to the woman's mouth. She opened her lips, took a bite, and savored it carefully.

When Xiao Heng saw her stop, he became puzzled again. He had already removed the bones! He had worked as a cook in his previous life, so removing fish bones was easy for him. Besides, this fish did not have many bones.

Just as Xiao Heng was about to ask, the woman parted her pearly teeth and said, "My name is Yun Zhi!"

Was she answering yesterday's question?

"My name is Guigu Zi!"

After thinking it over, Xiao Heng still did not reveal his real name. Another silence followed.

Yun Yun began eating the fish one bite at a time. She stopped after eating about half of it.

"Why did you stop?" Xiao Heng asked, puzzled.

"I'm full," came her cool voice.

After introducing themselves, the atmosphere between them seemed to improve all at once! Although she had only said one sentence, Xiao Heng could still tell that her tone had become noticeably gentler!

"Mm." Since she said she was full, she should be full, right?

Xiao Heng threw away the half-eaten fish, then picked up the remaining two fish, one in each hand, and began gnawing on them. His table manners were not exactly refined! He had never cared much about that sort of thing.

"Which clan are you from?"

While eating fish, Xiao Heng answered, "A small clan. You probably haven't heard of it."

"Not from the Jia Ma Empire?"

After swallowing a mouthful of fish, he said, "You could say that."

Strictly speaking, he was indeed not from the Jia Ma Empire. He did not even belong to this world!

At once, a story surfaced in Yun Yun's mind: a boy who had been ostracized by his clan but refused to submit, then traveled alone to a strange country to cultivate.

"When I recover, I'll take you somewhere. With your talent, you'll receive the best possible training there!"

Xiao Heng did not slow down his eating. "We'll see." He neither refused nor agreed outright.

Silence fell again. After finishing both fish and tossing out the bones, Xiao Heng took out a waterskin and asked Yun Yun, "Do you want some water?"

"Mm!"

He held the mouth of the waterskin to Yun Yun's lips. After making sure she had drunk enough, Xiao Heng put it to his own mouth and gulped down the remaining water!

He... drank straight from it? Wait, he threw away the fish I had eaten earlier. Did he look down on me? She recalled the fish she had gnawed on. All right, it was a little ugly. Yun Yun's ears flushed red again. She forcefully stopped herself from thinking about it and looked toward Xiao Heng.

The young man had already walked off to the side and begun cultivating cross-legged. Looking at his handsome, refined face, she did not know what came to mind. Her ears, which had yet to cool down, turned red again. She closed her eyes as well and began thinking of a way to break the seal.

An hour later, Xiao Heng suddenly heard a soft moan. He opened his eyes and saw Yun Yun struggling to get up, but she could not manage it no matter how hard she tried.

When she saw Xiao Heng looking at her, her face flushed instead.

"Do you want to get up?"

Yun Yun's face grew even redder. Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. "No! I just... just wanted to..."

Xiao Heng did not catch the last few words, but he had already figured out what she wanted to do.

He smiled. "I'll help you." He reached out to support her.

Yun Yun glared fiercely at the detestable fellow.

Xiao Heng helped Yun Yun stand with difficulty. A waterfall lay outside the cave, and she could not get wet right now. When they reached the cave entrance, Xiao Heng stopped.

"How about you do it here?"

Seeing Yun Yun glare at him fiercely again, Xiao Heng hurriedly continued explaining, "I mean, you shouldn't touch the water right now! Besides, that kind of smell can easily attract Magical Beasts. You know how sensitive some of them are to odors. The entire Monster Mountain Range is looking for you right now. If we're discovered, we probably won't even be able to escape!"

"Don't peek!"

Hearing her coquettish rebuke, Xiao Heng raised one hand. "I absolutely won't peek!... I promise! Um, can you manage on your own?"

Afraid that she might not be able to, Xiao Heng asked uneasily. In response, she glared at him again!

He turned his back to her. Listening to the sound of running water, Xiao Heng muttered under his breath, "What are you getting so fierce about? I've already seen so much!"

Although his voice was quiet, it was still easy to hear in the cave.

Hearing that, Yun Yun nearly fell over! Performing such an act in front of a strange man had already embarrassed her beyond belief, but this fellow... he...! The blush on her face instantly spread to her neck!

Under tremendous tension, she finally finished. She tried to stand, only to discover that her legs had no strength at all. No matter what she did, she could not get up. Trembling, she said, "I'm done!"

Although she was unwilling, she could not keep squatting there forever, could she?

Seeing the goddess whom who-knew-how-many people worshiped in this position, Xiao Heng could not help laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" She glared at the fellow coquettishly. She did not care anymore. He had already seen nearly everything, so what difference would this little bit make?

Fortunately, she was wearing a black robe and did not need to pull up her pants. Otherwise, Xiao Heng really would not have known what to do! He lifted Yun Yun up by the waist. He had to admit, this woman really was light! But her figure... tsk, tsk, tsk! Even the black robe could not conceal it, and his eyes kept drifting toward the curves of her body. He was still staring even after placing her on the stone bed!

Sensing his heated gaze, Yun Yun clenched her silver teeth. "Have you looked enough?"

"Not yet! Oh, oh, oh! Enough, enough!"

Realizing that he was acting inappropriately, Xiao Heng hurriedly tried to defend himself.

Ahem! Ahem! Ahem! "Um, I didn't mean to! You're just too alluring!"

"Why are you still saying it?" Yun Yun nearly ground her teeth to pieces. How could this fellow's skin be so thick?

"Uh... Then I won't look next time."

"You're already thinking about a next time?"

"No, no, no! There won't be one, there won't be one!"

"Hmph╯^╰!" Yun Yun turned her head away and stopped talking to the fellow.

Xiao Heng scratched his head helplessly. He sat down and continued cultivating.

The next day!

Xiao Heng opened his eyes and saw that the woman was already sitting cross-legged. Her complexion was much rosier as well. She had also put the black robe back on, covering a little more than before. His heart suddenly felt empty. Still, it was not too bad. After sneaking a few more glances, he left contentedly. He had to deal with the problem of food, then look for some medicinal ingredients. He did not know whether it was because he had run out of pills, but he was also running low on medicinal ingredients! He had never expected something like this to happen. He had used up almost all his pills in one go—those had originally been enough to last him two months!

Sensing that Xiao Heng had left the cave, Yun Yun opened her eyes. Remembering what had happened yesterday, her ears reddened again. She cursed, "Hmph! You little hooligan!"

There were plenty of medicinal ingredients in the Monster Mountain Range, but the entire mountain range was currently under lockdown, so she could only search nearby! Although he found some, none of them were particularly good.

Another two hours passed! Yun Yun lay on the stone bed. Seeing that Xiao Heng still had not returned, she stared intently at the cave entrance, somewhat worried.

That little bastard couldn't have gotten into trouble, could he? No, if he hasn't returned after another hour, I'll go look for him! She steeled herself and made the decision. She currently did not have even a thread of Dou Qi. Going outside would be courting death. In the Monster Mountain Range, someone without Dou Qi absolutely could not survive for more than two hours. Anyone who could survive longer might as well go jump off a cliff—there would definitely be a powerful expert's dwelling waiting below!

"I'm back!"

Xiao Heng returned to the cave and used Dou Qi to evaporate the water from his body. Seeing Yun Yun looking at him, he asked in confusion, "Why are you looking at me? What's wrong?"

Seeing Xiao Heng return completely unharmed, she also relaxed. That little bastard finally came back! But no matter what she thought inside, she still had to remain calm on the surface.

"Nothing! I'm hungry!"

"All right, then I'll make something to eat!" As he spoke, he took out a Magical Beast leg. He removed the hide, washed it clean, then took out a pile of bottles and jars and smeared everything inside onto the meat before placing it over the fire.

Before long, an enticing aroma wafted out! Looking at the fragrant leg, Yun Yun swallowed despite herself. She then walked over, crouched down, and stared at it.

"Is it ready yet?"

Xiao Heng laughed helplessly. "Almost! It'll be ready soon!"

He then teased her, "What a big little gluttonous pig!"

Yun Yun did not react at first. "What gluttonous pig?" After a pause, she realized what he meant and replied coyly, "You're the pig!" She even shot Xiao Heng an angry, coquettish glare.

Then she smiled sweetly.

Xiao Heng smiled as well and continued turning the roast.

Yun Yun did not realize that they had only known each other for one day. How had they become so close? Perhaps it was because they had shared life and death, or perhaps it was because she had not had a friend for far too long!

She did not know how long it had been since she had had any friends or family. Everyone around her was a subordinate, and every relationship was based on benefit! That was why this current state made her feel so comfortable. It felt as though she had finally relaxed.