Picnic

Far North Mountains, Cold Spring shore.

Jiang Lan gathered some dry firewood nearby and started a fire in an open spot by the shore to cook.

The sisters Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er bathed in the Cold Spring, their playful shouts and lilting laughter ringing out without end.

With his back to the Cold Spring, Jiang Lan calmly cut the rehydrated beef jerky into small pieces, then tossed them into a pot of cold water to blanch.

Supreme Bone.exe not responding.

With Jiang Lan's Innate Domain protecting them, the Cold Spring's low temperature and the bone-chilling wind had no effect on them at all.

The spring water was slightly cool, but for Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er, it was actually just the right temperature.

Of course, cold water was never as comfortable as hot water.

Still, conditions in the wilderness were rudimentary. Having somewhere to bathe was already pretty good.

Jiang Lan skimmed the foam from the pot, scooped out the beef jerky after it had stewed until tender, then poured away the dirty water. Calmly stepping around the clothes Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er had left on the shore, he carried the iron pot to the Cold Spring and rinsed it with the spring water.

"Junior Brother, take this!" Shui Yue'er was submerged in the Cold Spring, with only her little head showing above the water. When she saw Jiang Lan crouching by the spring and rinsing the pot, she was suddenly overcome by a playful impulse. Grinning, she cupped a handful of spring water in both hands and splashed it at him.

"Trying to catch me off guard? Senior Sister, you've got a long way to go." Jiang Lan merely raised a hand, and the water Shui Yue'er had splashed at him stopped strangely in midair, then reversed course and splashed her in the face.

Water control was one of his innate abilities.

"Ah! So cold!" The icy spring water hit her face, making Shui Yue'er cry out.

"Yue'er, stop fooling around. Aren't you worried about exposing yourself?" Shui Bing'er couldn't help reaching over to tap Shui Yue'er on the head, chiding her.

The water in the Cold Spring was dark and deep. Even on a night with a bright moon and sparse stars, you couldn't see what lay beneath its surface, let alone when dusk had fallen.

But they still had to be careful.

"Junior Brother isn't an outsider," Shui Yue'er said, completely unconcerned.

"You little rascal..." Shui Bing'er rubbed her forehead helplessly.

Did this girl have no idea what it meant to be modest?

After rinsing the pot, Jiang Lan sat back down by the fire.

He heated the pot, added cold oil, then tossed in the spices and stir-fried them until fragrant. Next, he added the blanched beef jerky and stir-fried it.

Once the beef jerky had developed a seared aroma, he poured in enough boiling water to cover it completely, then put the lid on to stew.

After bringing it to a boil over high heat, Jiang Lan added the seasonings one by one, occasionally stirring the bubbling broth to keep it from sticking to the bottom.

Before long, the sound of splashing water suddenly came from behind him.

Clearly, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er had climbed out of the spring.

"Junior Brother, don't turn around~" Shui Yue'er said with a giggle.

"Yue'er! Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Shui Bing'er scolded, her pretty face tinged pink.

Jiang Lan: "..."

They really didn't treat him like an outsider.

What a shame. He only liked older women.

Go back, you're too old.JPG

Jiang Lan's resolve was unshakable. He wasn't tempted in the slightest.

Then came another rustle of clothes as they got dressed.

Before long, the rustling stopped, and a fragrant breeze, like the scent of lilies, drifted over.

"That smells so good! Junior Brother, when can we eat?" Shui Yue'er flopped onto Jiang Lan's back, looped her arms around his neck, and asked with a grin.

"Almost ready." Jiang Lan added the chopped pickled cabbage to the pot to stew with the beef. The golden broth bubbled away, and the aroma of meat mingled with the rising steam, curling upward in wisps of white mist.

"I never knew you were such a good cook, Junior Brother. Yue'er and I can't cook at all." Shui Bing'er walked over and slowly sat down opposite Jiang Lan. Resting her chin in her hands, she watched his handsome face, softened by the orange-red firelight, with bright, lake-blue eyes and a smile.

She truly admired Jiang Lan. With such limited supplies, he could use pickled vegetables and dried meat to make all sorts of delicious food.

"I used to live alone, so I guess that's how I learned to cook," Jiang Lan replied casually with a smile.

"You're not alone anymore, Junior Brother. Big Sister and I are your family!" Shui Yue'er said with a grin.

"Yue'er is right." Shui Bing'er nodded in agreement.

"Mm." Seeing the two girls gazing at him with such concern, Jiang Lan felt warmth rise in his heart.

"Gurgle~"

Just then, Shui Yue'er's stomach, as she lay across Jiang Lan's back, suddenly rumbled. Its growling sounded especially clear in the quiet night.

Shui Yue'er's pretty little face turned bright red in an instant.

The cozy atmosphere was broken. Jiang Lan smiled with pursed lips but said nothing. He merely picked up his chopsticks and prodded the beef, now tender from stewing, then took a spoonful of broth and tasted it. Smiling, he said:

"Alright, it should be ready."

As he spoke, Jiang Lan took out three sets of bowls and chopsticks. He filled a bowl to the brim with pickled cabbage and beef stew for each of the sisters, then handed them the flatbreads, which he had heated over the fire until steaming and fragrant with the rich aroma of wheat.

"Mmm~ Hot food really is the best." Shui Yue'er took a small sip of the hot broth. Warmth slid from her throat into her stomach, driving away the weariness in her body and leaving her feeling warm all over. She narrowed her eyes slightly, looking completely content.

The Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave was cramped and stifling, no more than ten square meters in all.

That was without counting the space taken up by the more than forty pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow. With them included, the actual usable space was less than half of ten square meters. The three of them lived in there with hardly any room to move.

Although the environment inside the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave helped speed up cultivation, meditating to cultivate was a very dull, tedious business.

Besides, people weren't machines. They got tired and fed up; they couldn't meditate and cultivate for all twelve hours of the day.

It was manageable for a short while, but nobody could stand it over the long term.

So every two or three days, the three of them would head to the shore to breathe in some fresh air, wash up, enjoy a hot meal, and get a good night's rest.

Of course, even when they came out for a change of scenery, they rarely strayed far from the Cold Spring.

To them, the Cold Spring was a safe zone. If they ran into danger, all they had to do was dive into it.

As the three ate, a streak of water-blue light flew toward them from afar.

Jiang Lan and the sisters immediately went on guard. They hurriedly put down their bowls and chopsticks and instinctively backed toward the Cold Spring.

"Lan'er, Bing'er, Yue'er, why have you come out of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow Cave?" Shui Qinghan descended from the sky with Xue Wu. Looking at the bonfire burning before her and the three of them standing warily nearby, seemingly ready to jump into the Cold Spring at any moment, she asked in surprise.