Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 547: Living with Shelly

Lady Three opened her eyes.

Indeed, their foreheads had originally been pressed together, but at some point, they had separated. Zhao Changhe’s head had instinctively shifted downward, seeking comfort, and was now nestled against her chest.

They say that the stuff you put in your mouth either tastes bad or it gets you fat, and if it does neither, then it’s addictive. Zhao Changhe’s mouth seemed to have discovered something of the third kind. His eyes were closed, and he was even making a contented noise.

Lady Three’s eyes flashed with a dangerous glint. She raised her slender hand and delivered a sharp slap.

In his soul sea, her yin spirit did the same, smacking the little misty figure in perfect synchronization.

The little figure was sent tumbling from the blow, completely stunned as the Lady Three’s yin spirit vanished right after slapping him.

Zhao Changhe, too, awoke to find Lady Three glaring at him furiously. She asked, “Does it taste good?”

Zhao Changhe cautiously rolled away to the side, only to find himself crashing into the octopus’ jelly-like body. He was instantly bounced back and landed on top of Lady Three again.

Lady Three: “...”

She suppressed the laughter threatening to escape, keeping her expression impassive. “You’re hurting me.”

Zhao Changhe sprang up, rubbing his head. To his surprise, it no longer hurt.

Lady Three casually readjusted the fabric covering her chest and lazily leaned against the giant octopus. “Your soul sea was just fragile due to the spiritual assault from the Sea Emperor. It wasn’t actually injured... Though I’ve helped you straighten it out, it’s still weak right now. If you rest properly, you should recover... I’d say within ten days to half a month.”

Zhao Changhe glanced at her cautiously. She did not seem particularly upset about what had just happened, so he let out a sigh of relief and examined himself internally.

The weakness in his soul sea was obvious. It was why he was so mentally drained. Matters involving the mind and spirit were always troublesome, and needing to rest for a week or two was just par for the course. But since the turmoil had subsided, theoretically, his condition was not supposed to impede the restoration of his true qi. Yet he still felt that his true qi was recovering extremely slowly, and he could not figure out why.

Seeing his confusion, Lady Three said calmly, “After you broke through to the Profound Mysteries, you’ve become accustomed to drawing energy from external sources. You’ve been channeling the energies of heaven and earth in a cycle from the Tianling point on your head to the Yongquan points in your feet. With your soul sea in its current state, this cycle is obstructed... Well, you should forget all that for now and think of yourself as a Profound Gate martial artist, focusing on internal recovery.”

Zhao Changhe blinked and tapped his head. Ah, that makes sense.

In other words, the antenna receiver was broken, but the internal generator was still fine. With this understanding, when he had asked Dragon Bird for medicine earlier, he should have taken something that restored true qi.

But now, that opportunity was gone.

It was not a huge problem, though. His Six Harmonies Art also allowed for fairly rapid true qi recovery. Once he recovered enough true qi to use the Crane Controlling Art, he could take out more medicine from his ring and speed up his recovery.

The major difference between a Profound Mysteries and a Profound Gate martial artist lay in their ability to form an unending cycle with the energy of heaven and earth. Take controlling water to walk on waves, for example. It did not require immense true qi to achieve, but to sustain it over a long distance—to cross a hundred li, for instance—now that was impossible without the support of an external energy cycle.

In other words, even if his true qi recovered, he would not be able to ride the waves back as he did on the way here. He would have to wait until his spirit recovered for that. And judging by Lady Three’s current state, her recovery time might be even longer than his.

Are we really going to be stranded here for about half a month?

Zhao Changhe was lost in thought.

Lady Three glanced at him from the corner of her eye, finally asking after a long pause, “What?”

Zhao Changhe asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Are you asking about how it felt when you were munching on me or how it felt when I slapped you?”

“...”

Lady Three lazily replied, “The latter felt wonderful.”

“And the former didn’t?”

Lady Three: “?”

Zhao Changhe coughed lightly. “I was asking about your injuries. How long will it take for you to recover?”

Lady Three, still irritated, replied, “Haven’t you ever heard that it takes a hundred days for bones to heal?”

“That’s for regular people. You’re a tor...”

“A what?”

“You’re a goddess, so that doesn’t apply to you. Besides, you’ve had really good medicine applied.”

Lady Three kept her face expressionless. “No matter how nicely you phrase it, they’re still human bones. It’ll still take about half a month for them to heal.”

Half a month... Zhao Changhe sighed. “So, we won’t be able to return anytime soon. Do you think they’ll come find us?”

Lady Three did not look pleased either.

Hua Zhenming and Tang En would surely realize something had gone wrong when they saw that the two had not returned after so long. But the problem was that the pursuit had involved constant changes in direction. The ocean was vast. Being off-course even slightly meant ending up huge distances apart once they traveled far enough. Even if a search was conducted, finding the two was easier said than done.

Not to mention, they could not search openly and extensively—after all, they were still being pursued themselves. If only a few ships could be sent out to search covertly, they might not find anything for a month. They really needed to prepare themselves for the possibility of being stuck here for half a month. Also, they had to hope that the coalition forces from the different nations out at sea did not find them first.

Even just the task of staying here for half a month would not be easy. Sure, Zhao Changhe’s headache was gone, and catching fish was simple enough, but where would they get fresh water?

Even if they tried entering a meditative state to slow their metabolism, were the two of them really going to spend that long, barely clothed, on this deserted island together? It was only the first day, and they had already touched pretty much everything. By the tenth day, would they be thinking about what to name their future child and whose martial arts the child should learn? Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Lady Three glared at him. What’s he even sighing about? Does he think that I’m just going to let him get away with everything he’s done? I haven’t even said anything, yet he’s already acting like a martyr!

The two of them stared at each other for a long time. Lady Three was about to say something when the scent of something cooking suddenly wafted over.

Zhao Changhe turned his head to see the large fish skewered on a stick, with a small part of its lower section already slightly charred while the rest remained untouched.

The fire was too small, and the fish was too big. At this rate, they might have it as the last meal before they left the island.

Lady Three, embarrassed, muttered, “I didn’t have the strength to do it properly.”

“I’ll handle it,” Zhao Changhe said, stepping forward. With a few quick motions, he scaled, gutted, and cleaned the fish, cutting it into smaller pieces. He then skewered the smaller pieces on sticks to roast before adding more wood to the dwindling fire.

Before long, the scent of grilled fish filled the air.

“Here,” Zhao Changhe handed a skewer over to Lady Three. “We don’t have any seasoning, so it might be a bit bland, but it should be enough to replenish some energy. I’ll think of a way to get us some fresh water.”

Lady Three took the skewer, took a small bite, and was surprised to find it actually tasted pretty good. Her mood inexplicably improved, and she smiled. “How do you plan to get us water?”

“That energy crystal has been absorbing the surrounding water... I’m thinking of intercepting some of the water that’s being absorbed. I feel like it should be drawing in pure water.” Zhao Changhe bent down and picked up his previously discarded wet shirt that had been left on a rock. Thanks to the combination of the crystal drawing moisture and the fire drying it, the shirt had already dried completely. A bit of salt had even crystallized on the surface.

Zhao Changhe shook his head, amused, then walked over and draped the shirt over Lady Three. “It smells a bit salty and fishy, but it’s better than nothing for now. Once I’ve recovered enough true qi, I’ll fetch you a new set of clothes from my storage ring.”

Lady Three was taken aback. She had not expected him to immediately think of giving her his shirt. For a moment, she sat there, clutching the fabric, stunned.

Shouldn’t a normal man be trying to find a way to get rid of the last bit of fabric covering me? Is there really something wrong with him?

Or... is he actually a gentleman? But then what the hell was he doing earlier?!

Poor Shelly found her thoughts in complete disarray, unable to make any sense of them.

Meanwhile, Zhao Changhe had crawled back into the octopus, retrieved the crystal, and placed it on a rock. He then took the lid of the jade box that contained the ointment, set it atop the crystal, and watched silently.

The surrounding water element continued to gather toward the crystal; some of it was intercepted by the lid, and gradually, a small droplet of water began to condense in the lid.

It works! We’ve got water!

With a relieved smile, Zhao Changhe said, “Sure, we could have survived by meditating, but that could make us miss any rescue attempts or leave us vulnerable to attacks. Having water is still the best... Even if it’s a bit slow, it’ll be enough to keep us going.”

Lady Three slowly ate the grilled fish, her eyes genuinely filled with a sense of amazement.

In truth, once she recovered a bit, she could have extracted water herself. She had originally planned to wait a couple of days, then show him what it meant to have a big sister around. But here he was, solving the problem so easily.

This guy really is quite clever. He almost makes it seem as if he’s capable of doing anything.

Zhao Changhe, unaware of her thoughts, smiled and said, “Let’s leave it like this. I’m going to meditate for a bit and see how much true qi I can recover. You keep watch, and if anything happens, just throw a rock at me to wake me up.”

Lady Three nodded.

She simply watched him as he sat down cross-legged to meditate, and that inexplicable emotion from before welled up again in her heart.

She suddenly understood what Cui Yuanyang must have felt back then. An innocent young girl encountering a man like this, a man so brilliantly resourceful and fiercely courageous.... The sense of safety and reliability he provided must have made him seem like a god, someone she could rely on like the pillar of a family.

And he really is a gentleman, strangely enough. Whether there’s something wrong with him down there or not, he’s handled things without taking advantage of me or even sweet-talking me. Just how did he manage to win over Qing’er back then?

Surely it wasn’t that fierce woman, whose mind has always been filled with either martial arts or rebellion, the one that chased after him first, right?