Four hours, a full four hours, passed before Zhongshan recovered from his severe injuries. Perhaps due to excessive use of the Demon Body Strengthening Technique, his recovery was much faster than usual. Although his strength hadn't fully returned, his injuries were mostly stabilized.
Opening his eyes, Zhongshan caught Tianling's big eyes gazing at him, sparkling.
"Are you hungry? Let's eat something," Zhongshan smiled.
"Zhongshan, I'm sorry for this time. I'll listen to you in the future and won't act recklessly again. I won't be temperamental anymore," Tianling said, full of regret.
"Huh? Haha, it's okay. At your age, it's normal to be temperamental. Wait until you're old and become a little old lady. If you still throw tantrums, it'll be ugly," Zhongshan chuckled heartily.
"Pfft, I won't get old. I want to be forever young and beautiful," Tianling's mood immediately improved.
"Haha, that's the Tianling I know," Zhongshan shook his head, smiling.
"Zhongshan, over there are the bodies of Liu Ming, Wang Gui, and Zhong Di. It's disgusting, but fortunately, we had you this time," Tianling pointed to the three bodies in the distance, looking disgusted.
Seeing the three corpses, Zhongshan frowned.
"Have something to eat first, I'll take care of it," Zhongshan said, heading towards Zhong Di's body.
Looking at Zhong Di's deformed corpse, Zhongshan took a deep breath, shook his head, and sighed softly.
Grabbing his large knife from the side, Zhongshan quickly dug a large pit not far from Zhong Di's body. Soon, he dug it out and, with a final sigh, carried Zhong Di's body, along with some parts, into it. Then, with a heavy heart, he buried it.
Tianling watched silently, not interrupting as Zhongshan performed this inexplicable act. Why would Zhongshan bury the person who tried to kill him?
With his large knife, Zhongshan carved out a stone slab and placed it in front of the grave. After a deep breath and a shake of his head, he ultimately didn't inscribe any words. An empty slab.
Then, Zhongshan turned to the other two bodies, Liu Ming and Wang Gui.
For these two, Zhongshan showed no mercy, directly rummaging through their bodies. Each had a long sword and a storage bracelet.
"Tianling, can you open the storage bracelet? And this sword, it should contain an Ethereal Pearl. Can you extract the internal metal?" Zhongshan asked Tianling.
"Yes, both the storage bracelet and the sword contain an Ethereal Pearl. However, the Ethereal Pearl has a peculiar trait. Once removed, it immediately disappears without a trace," Tianling explained.
"Oh?" Zhongshan looked at Tianling strangely.
"I don't know why either. You'll have to ask my father. Anyway, once the magic tool is destroyed, the Ethereal Pearl that originally imprisoned the material inside it disappears like a bubble bursting. It's just gone. The storage bracelets are filled with the material of the Ethereal Pearl, so when the bracelets are destroyed, the material appears, but whatever was inside the storage bracelets before is lost," Tianling shook her head.
"Gone? How is that possible?" Zhongshan frowned.
"I don't know. You'll have to ask my father. Anyway, it's gone," Tianling said.
Listening to Tianling's explanation, Zhongshan felt helpless.
"Okay, we'll each take one storage bracelet, and as for these two swords, one for each of us," Zhongshan smiled.
"I don't need the storage bracelet. I already have one with a large internal space. You can keep these two, and as for the swords, the materials are too poor. Refining them will require a lot of my true essence and mental energy. I'd rather not," Tianling said straightforwardly.
"Alright," Zhongshan nodded.
Taking out his large knife, Zhongshan swiftly chopped at the two storage bracelets. Suddenly, the two white storage bracelets shattered, and the previous shine vanished, leaving behind two broken bracelet-like fragments.
At Tianling's side, she took out the Ethereal Pearl she had won from Tang Xiaoyou's hands last time and slowly turned it into a bracelet, just like the first time. Zhongshan's bracelet was crafted very smoothly and thinly. It wasn't eye-catching, but Zhongshan didn't care about aesthetics. As long as it could store items, that was enough. Being thinner meant fewer collisions and less chance of damage.
Injecting the material inside, he quickly formed a bracelet that was almost the same color as his skin. At first glance, it was hard to tell.
Because the Ethereal Pearl was soaked in his own blood, as long as he had a thought, he could see inside, a small space of about two cubic meters.
The space wasn't large, but Zhongshan was satisfied.
From Tianling's side, he retrieved his items, put them in, took them out, put them in, took them out, tried several times before finally heaving a sigh of relief, a slight smile appearing on his face.
Storage bracelets, bags of holding, he had envied such magical items decades ago. Today, he finally had one of his own.
"Isn't it fun? When I first had a storage bracelet, I played with it all night before I could sleep. The next day, my eyes were red, and my father scolded me," Tianling laughed.
Looking at Tianling, Zhongshan shook his head and smiled. Tianling couldn't understand his feelings.
Looking at the two swords, Zhongshan shook his head. Both swords were top-grade, but their owners had died, so they couldn't be upgraded anymore. As Tianling had said, the materials were too poor, but even so, they were better than ordinary iron. He put them away for later.
Tianling was injured and couldn't move much, so the two of them rested at the bottom of the valley for the time being. Zhongshan laid out a blanket for Tianling to rest on, while he continued to meditate and recuperate.
As the sky gradually darkened, Tianling, with her keen eyesight, could still clearly see Zhongshan not far away, still meditating, evidently still recovering from his serious injuries.
At some point, Tianling frowned, a hint of distress flashing in her eyes as she looked at Zhongshan, her expression becoming extremely unnatural. She wanted to call out to Zhongshan, but every time she tried, she stopped herself, as if Zhongshan's current meditation state was better left undisturbed.
Seeing Zhongshan, Tianling's face flushed red, and upon closer inspection, she realized he wouldn't wake up. Only then did she gently adjust her body and slowly hobble to Zhongshan's back, keeping a distance and watching the entire valley below with growing anxiety.
Eventually, she even pressed herself against the mountainside.
Standing at a distance, she couldn't find a large stone. It seemed like all the large stones were in front of Zhongshan.
Surreptitiously glancing at Zhongshan in the distance, Tianling bit her pink lips, her expression extremely worried. But she had to relieve herself; she couldn't hold it in. Currently, she was still in the congenital stage and couldn't expel impurities from her body like a Golden Core stage expert.
Approaching the mountainside, Tianling glanced at Zhongshan again, who was still meditating with his eyes closed. Then she nervously undid her belt, her eyes constantly fixed on Zhongshan, afraid he might wake up suddenly.
The moment Tianling left the blanket, Zhongshan felt it.
What was she going to do? But Tianling didn't call out to Zhongshan. Instead, she awkwardly retreated behind him.
Zhongshan had a habit of keeping the safest spot behind him. In this valley, his back was against the secure mountainside, while the unknown valley passage lay in front.
When Tianling reached behind him, there was no problem, but what was she doing back there? Zhongshan didn't disturb Tianling but listened intently, tuning his hearing to the maximum.
Suddenly, there was a sparse sound from behind.
Listening to these sounds, Zhongshan frowned slightly. What was Tianling doing? He sat up straight, listening carefully.
"Splash, splash, splash..."
It wasn't until the sound of flowing water came from behind that Zhongshan suddenly felt his body stiffen, finally realizing what Tianling was doing behind him.
A sense of absurdity rushed into Zhongshan's heart, and at that moment, his body stiffened and trembled slightly. Immediately, he pretended not to notice, feigning deep meditation.
But Tianling was even more nervous than Zhongshan, her eyes fixed on him. When she felt Zhongshan's body tremble slightly, Tianling's own body also trembled anxiously. The previous sound of flowing water suddenly stopped.
Had he noticed? Was Zhongshan awake? Tianling's face was so hot it could fry an egg.
But holding it in halfway through was extremely uncomfortable. Seeing Zhongshan no longer moving, Tianling couldn't hold it any longer and resumed making the sound of flowing water.
Until finally, Tianling kept her eyes on Zhongshan.
The water stopped, and then came the sparse sound of clothes being put on.
Tianling limped back to the blanket she had been on before, but her mind was in chaos. Had Zhongshan woken up? Had he heard what she was doing?
Lying on the blanket, Tianling's face felt like it was burning up.
No, Zhongshan hasn't woken up. Otherwise, why didn't he turn around?
Tianling kept reassuring herself in her mind, constantly reassuring herself, and finally, after an hour, she felt much calmer. As her mind settled, Tianling thought of another problem: regardless of whether Zhongshan had woken up or not, she had done something embarrassing earlier—staring at a man while relieving herself.
How could this happen? Why did I do that? How could I stare at a man while...?
Tianling buried her face in the pillow Zhongshan had prepared, as if trying to cover up her flaming cheeks.
This night was destined to be a sleepless one.