A Brief Journey Through Time (2)

Zhao Xiaotian gave a disdainful laugh. "Spirit Hall's foremost theorist? But from what I've heard, Spirit Hall has no foremost theorist. It only has scholars in various fields, such as scholars of soul beasts, scholars of soul rings, and scholars who research all kinds of medicine."

After a pause, Zhao Xiaotian looked at Yu Xiaogang and asked, "May I ask which field Scholar Yu specializes in?"

Yu Xiaogang's face had already darkened like the bottom of a pot. He did not know which field he should be considered a scholar of. He had always relied on fooling ignorant commoners to call himself the foremost theorist.

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was growing unpleasant, Liu Erlong handed each of them a grilled fish. "All right, all right. Come taste the grilled fish I just made and see how it is."

Zhao Xiaotian stopped paying attention to Yu Xiaogang and took a bite of the grilled fish Liu Erlong had handed him. To be honest, the heat had been handled well enough, but the flavor was a little bland.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang took a bite and suddenly stood up. "It's delicious! Erlong, your grilled fish is incredible!"

Liu Erlong smiled faintly. "Thank you! Since you like it, I'll grill some more."

Zhao Xiaotian glanced at Yu Xiaogang and thought to himself, What a suck-up.

Zhao Xiaotian took out cumin and chili peppers from his Soul Tool storage necklace and sprinkled them over the grilled fish. At once, a fragrant aroma spread throughout the camp.

Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang, and Flender, who had just returned with a basketful of fish, all caught the scent. The three of them fixed their gazes on Zhao Xiaotian, puzzled as to why merely sprinkling on some powder could make it smell so delicious.

Just as Zhao Xiaotian was about to take a bite of the seasoned grilled fish, Liu Erlong snatched it away. He was still somewhat confused when he saw her bite into the very spot he had just bitten.

Zhao Xiaotian's face reddened at the sight. Whether in his past life or this one, he had never touched a woman. Seeing a fiery, beautiful woman like Liu Erlong take a bite from the grilled fish he had just eaten made his cheeks flush.

Yu Xiaogang and Flender watched the girl they loved indirectly kiss another man, and their hearts shattered. Flender in particular, being such a devoted bootlicker, already had tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.

Zhao Xiaotian's ears twitched. He felt as though he had heard the sound of glass shattering, but there were only the four of them around. How could there be glass breaking?

After finishing the grilled fish, Liu Erlong laughed happily. "It's so delicious! I never expected those powders you sprinkled on just now to make such an ordinary grilled fish taste this good."

Liu Erlong waited for a long time without receiving any response. Confused, she raised her beautiful eyes toward the three of them. When she saw the strange looks on Zhao Xiaotian and the others' faces, she instantly realized what embarrassing thing she had just done.

Liu Erlong immediately covered her flushed pretty face with both hands, not daring to look up at them. Zhao Xiaotian also felt a little awkward, so he looked at Flender and Yu Xiaogang. "How about I grill some for you myself?"

Flender and Yu Xiaogang both nodded, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "Sure, sure!"

Flender and Yu Xiaogang seemed to have forgotten Liu Erlong's earlier action. Once Zhao Xiaotian had grilled two fish and sprinkled them with cumin and chili powder, he handed one to each of them.

Flender took the grilled fish and bit down. Instantly, golden light shone from his eyes, as though he had entered an ocean filled with grilled fish, where he could freely eat grilled fish whenever he was hungry and hug grilled fish to sleep whenever he was tired.

Yu Xiaogang looked suspiciously at Flender beside him, whose eyes were glowing with golden light, then took a bite of the grilled fish in his hand. At once, it was as though Yu Xiaogang had opened the door to a new world, as though he had fallen into a world filled with grilled fish.

Zhao Xiaotian did not notice the changes in the two of them. Instead, he grilled another fish and handed it to Liu Erlong, whose pretty face was still flushed. Liu Erlong grabbed the grilled fish and began eating, her small face still rosy red.

Zhao Xiaotian did not pay it any mind. He grilled one for himself and began eating as well. After some time, the night gradually grew darker.

Flender alone cleaned up the fish bones scattered all over the ground and put them into a bag, while Zhao Xiaotian sat on the branch of a towering tree and gazed at the sky.

Flender did not understand what was wrong with Zhao Xiaotian. He only felt that Zhao Xiaotian had become very strange. Even if he racked his brains, he would never have guessed that Zhao Xiaotian was not looking at the sky for anything else, but at the string of numbers floating proudly above his head. The numbers above Zhao Xiaotian's head now read: 99 hours, 46 minutes, 43 seconds.

Although Zhao Xiaotian did not know what the numbers meant, he could understand that once they reached zero, he would return to his original Douluo Continent timeline.

While eating grilled fish earlier, Zhao Xiaotian had learned that the pale blue bead had transported him to the Douluo Continent several decades in the past. Though Zhao Xiaotian did not understand why that bead had sent him to this timeline, he definitely would not bring any cultivation progress with him during these ninety-nine hours.

"Brother Xiaotian, we're leaving the forest. Are you coming with us?"

Hearing Flender call out, Zhao Xiaotian looked at him and smiled. "All right! Wait for me!"

Zhao Xiaotian jumped down from the tree and patted the dust from his clothes. Flender stepped forward, slung an arm around Zhao Xiaotian's neck, and said, "Let's go! Tonight, Big Brother will take you to the inn where the three of us are staying so you can clean yourself up properly. Tomorrow, you'll come outside and train with us."

After packing up the tent at the temporary campsite, Liu Erlong walked over. "Boss Flender, everything's packed. We can go."

"Good!"

Half an hour later...

Zhao Xiaotian followed Flender and the other two to the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. Flender collapsed onto the bed and began snoring soundly. Yu Xiaogang was not doing much better. Since his Soul Power cultivation was inferior to Flender and Liu Erlong's, he was so exhausted that he slept on the bed like a useless dog.

Since Liu Erlong was a woman, she had a room to herself. Flender and Yu Xiaogang, being men, shared one room.

Originally, Zhao Xiaotian was supposed to sleep in the same room as Flender and Yu Xiaogang, but he took out two Gold Soul Coins from his Soul Tool and rented a single room for himself.

After taking a bath in the washroom, Zhao Xiaotian came out in a robe and muttered to himself, "I wonder if I'll still be in this time period when I wake up tomorrow. If I return to my own time after one night's sleep, will I forget this memory?"

After thinking about it, Zhao Xiaotian could not be bothered to care. He walked to the bed, lifted the covers, and lay down. The moment he got under the blanket, waves of drowsiness washed over him.

The night was quiet, and the moon was bright. The soul beasts that hunted at night also began their hunt to fill their stomachs.