Charcoal-Grilled Tenderbone Rabbit

Xuan Qing spoke casually.

"More or less. I still have quite a few fifth- and sixth-tier medicinal pills. As long as you can offer something of equal value in exchange, I can give them to you."

As his words fell, a faint glimmer flashed at his fingertips, and he took several ancient jade bottles from his storage ring.

Three smooth jade bottles lay quietly in his palm, a faint medicinal fragrance seeping from them as wisps of medicinal energy slowly escaped through their openings.

Yun Yun's breathing hitched slightly, and the shock in her eyes could no longer be concealed.

Sixth-tier medicinal pills!

Those were treasures that even the Misty Cloud Sect coveted. Ordinary alchemists might spend their entire lives without ever managing to refine one.

Yet the young man before her spoke of such high-tier pills as though they were ordinary goods.

Ripples rose in her heart, while her curiosity grew wildly like weeds.

Just who was this person? At such a young age, he had actually stockpiled such a large number of high-tier medicinal pills.

Countless questions swirled through her mind.

She stared fixedly at Xuan Qing and only spoke slowly after a long while.

"Your identity is truly impossible to fathom."

Xuan Qing smiled faintly without revealing his origins.

Just then,

Yun Yun shifted her body slightly, and the edge of her torn clothing happened to brush against the savage claw wound on her chest.

"Hiss..."

A sharp pain suddenly shot through her.

She could not help drawing in a cold breath. A faint cry of pain escaped her lips, her delicate brows tightly knitting together as a thin sheen of sweat formed at her temples.

The composure she had barely maintained instantly crumbled, replaced by a constant, piercing ache.

She tried to raise an arm, but her entire body felt limp and weak. She had almost no strength left even to tend to her wound.

A faint blush rose on Yun Yun's cheeks as she bit her lower lip in embarrassment.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz, carrying a trace of barely noticeable shyness.

"Um... my injuries are too severe, and I have no strength left. Could I... trouble you to help me treat the wound?"

After saying that,

Her long lashes lowered, and she instinctively avoided Xuan Qing's gaze. Her heartbeat could not help quickening slightly.

For the dignified sect leader of the Misty Cloud Sect, allowing an unfamiliar man to handle such an intimate wound was undoubtedly an extremely embarrassing matter.

Yet the wound was still bleeding. If she ignored it, it could easily become inflamed and worsen. She had no other choice.

Xuan Qing looked at the torn wound on her chest, and his gaze paused slightly.

After pondering for a moment, he slowly nodded.

"Sure. But let's make this clear first—don't cling to me afterward using the excuse that I saw your body."

Yun Yun softly murmured an "Mm," the tips of her ears growing slightly hot. She turned her body a little to the side and tried her best to relax.

Xuan Qing slowly crouched down and took out a roll of clean gauze along with a small bottle of healing ointment.

The cave was utterly silent, with only the shallow breaths of the two of them remaining.

Xuan Qing's expression was calm. Suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his heart, he reached out and carefully pulled aside the damaged lapel of her clothes.

The savage claw wound was clearly exposed, with faint traces of blood still slowly seeping out.

Warm, gentle red Dou Qi flowed out slowly, first softly soothing the tense flesh around the wound.

Then,

He dipped his fingers into the ointment and applied it to the wound with extreme gentleness.

Waves of warm, tingling comfort spread through her, and the tearing pain rapidly faded.

Yun Yun's body trembled slightly, her slender shoulders tensing faintly. She kept her breathing light, but her heart was in complete disarray.

Xuan Qing's movements were very gentle, and his fingertips tried their best not to touch the uninjured skin around the wound.

In truth, the fifth-tier healing pill he had fed her earlier was extremely potent.

If Yun Yun had been able to circulate her Dou Qi and guide the medicinal power, this minor injury would have already healed by more than half.

Unfortunately, the Dou Qi throughout her body was temporarily sealed, and the massive medicinal power had accumulated within her meridians.

Without guidance, it could only disperse slowly on its own, naturally making it difficult to rapidly repair the external wound.

Yun Yun's body gave a tiny shudder, her long lashes trembling ceaselessly.

Warmth spread from the wound on her chest, flowing through her blood vessels to every part of her body.

The medicinal power accumulated within her body faintly stirred.

Yet no matter how instinctively she tried to mobilize her Dou Qi to draw it along, the invisible restraint on her meridians tightly locked every channel of circulation. All her efforts were futile.

The ointment slowly covered the wound, and the last trace of stinging pain gradually faded away.

Xuan Qing withdrew his hand, carefully wrapped the gauze around her, and properly covered the wound.

Yun Yun softly exhaled a breath of stale air, and her tense heart eased slightly.

She gathered her scattered thoughts and thanked him gently.

"Thank you for helping me today."

Xuan Qing straightened up. His gaze fell upon her slightly flushed cheeks, and a teasing curve formed at the corner of his mouth.

"It's nothing. You also gave me quite a feast for the eyes."

The moment those words entered her ears, Yun Yun's entire body stiffened.

With a boom, a burning blush rapidly climbed across her beautiful face, spreading all the way to her pale earlobes.

Embarrassed and annoyed, she lightly bit her lower lip. Her voice was as faint as a mosquito's buzz as she softly spat out, with a touch of coquettish reproach,

"Shameless rogue."

The cave had already been quiet, and with Xuan Qing's hearing far surpassing that of ordinary people, every word of her small complaint reached his ears clearly.

He could hear the faint sweetness in her tone and knew she was not truly angry.

Xuan Qing knew that Yun Yun had not really lost her temper.

Otherwise, given the temperament of the Misty Cloud Sect's sect leader,

Even with her Dou Qi sealed, she would have fought him fiercely.

He sighed inwardly.

Gu He had fawned over Yun Yun for who knew how many years, constantly offering her all kinds of precious medicinal pills and exhausting every effort to please her. In the end, he had probably never even held her hand.

Still, a man had to be a little bad to women sometimes. If they were curious about you, blindly fawning over them would get you nothing.

The thought flashed through his mind.

Xuan Qing looked at the woman before him, whose cheeks were crimson, and the teasing in his eyes deepened.

Yun Yun sensed his slightly playful gaze, and panic rose in her heart.

She hurriedly turned her head slightly away, avoiding his eyes. Her chest rose and fell faintly, still carrying traces of embarrassment and annoyance.

"What are you still looking at?"

Her voice was soft and gentle, carrying a trace of barely perceptible panic.

Xuan Qing laughed softly and stopped teasing her.

"Alright, I won't make fun of you anymore. I'm going out to find something to eat, or I'm afraid you'll starve to death."

Xuan Qing returned carrying a plump tenderbone rabbit.

Outside the cave, he cleaned the rabbit meat, gathered dry branches to start a bonfire, then deftly skewered the meat on a branch and slowly roasted it over the flames.

Grease slowly dripped from the tender meat onto the burning coals, producing a series of faint crackling sounds as the enticing aroma of roasted meat drifted lazily into the cave.

Curled up against the rock wall, Yun Yun caught the scent, and an empty hunger immediately rose in her stomach.

After days of running and fighting, followed by severe injuries and unconsciousness, she had not eaten for a long time.