Chương 69: Grilled dried meat

Dreams of blood, fire, and pain filled Tianhu's consciousness. Only occasionally would they give room for a more gentle dream to emerge. Gradually, he started becoming aware, but he couldn't even bother to open his eyes; he just drank some water offered to him before falling unconscious once again. …

'Right. Did I escape? Is Xiaoshi alright?' One day, Tianhu woke to find himself finally free of the fever that had ailed him. In much better condition, Tianhu opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Xiaoshi, looking down at him with her hair disheveled.

"Tianhu? How do you feel?" Xiaoshi asked.

"I'm fine," Tinahu said, looking around, "Where are we?"

"I managed to find a cave, somehow," Xiaoshi answered.

"Don't worry, it's safe. Are you sure you're feeling alright? I've given you medicine, but I don't think any of it works for burns…" Tianhu struggled to lift his right arm and took a look. Yeah, it didn't look pretty. He clenched his fist and discovered that it actually didn't hurt that badly.

"I don't think the damage got very deep," Tianhu said. He could feel that his fingers worked just fine. He didn't get hit straight on by the fireball, thankfully.

"That's good," Xiaoshi said with a smile as she watched Tianhu's fingers move.

"That's good," She repeated, closed her eyes, and leaned back against the cave wall, seemingly falling asleep.

"Xiaoshi?" Tianhu asked.

"Mm," Xiaoshi hummed softly.

'She must be exhausted. Let her sleep.' Tianhu then noticed that his head was actually resting on Xiaoshi's lap. He hadn't even thought about it; his body was already used to the sensation.

'Comfortable.' Tianhu closed his eyes and fell asleep as well, too tired to think too much. … When he woke up again, Tianhu immediately noticed that Xiaoshi was gone. He shot up with a start and looked around.

"You…Are you okay?" Xiaoshi asked from just a few feet away. She seemed to be lighting a fire.

'Oh.'

"I'm fine," Tianhu said.

"It's important to eat now that you're awake again," Xiaoshi said.

"I haven't dared to go outside, so we only have the few pieces of dried meat I had on me. I thought warming it over a fire might make it…well, it's nice to have a warm meal."

"Have you eaten?" Tianhu asked, "I'm not that hungry." Xiaoshi rolled her eyes, "Just eat obediently when I tell you."

"Oh," Tianhu nodded, a little dazed by how pretty Xiaoshi looked when rolling her eyes. Xiaoshi fixed her hair and blushed slightly as Tianhu stared, "What are you looking at?"

"You?" Tianhu answered.

"Well…fine," Xiaoshi muttered, turning her attention back to the fire, heating the dried meat. Tianhu felt his body was stiff and uncomfortable, so he tentatively got up on his feet to stretch.

"What are you doing? Don't move around," Xiaoshi said, getting up to press him down to the ground again.

"Just rest," Xiaoshi said,"I'm feeling fine," Tianhu answered. Xiaoshi hesitated slightly before nodding, "Alright, take it slow. There is no rush. And be careful not to open up your wound." Seeing Xiaoshi looking at his left shoulder, Tianhu peeked down at it.

'Right. My arm is gone.' Where his left arm used to be was now empty space. He tried to move it slightly, and only a short stub of flesh below his shoulder moved. Tianhu noticed Xiaoshi had bandaged it.

"It actually doesn't hurt," Tianhu said, a little surprised, "You must have done a good job with it."

"Well," Xiaoshi said, her voice suddenly choking up. She turned her head away, and Tianhu noticed she was crying.

"What's wrong?" Tianhu asked worriedly.

"Your arm…It's gone. You're so hurt," Xiaoshi said through the tears, her face still turned away from him, "It's all my fault."

"How is it your fault?" Tianhu questioned, frowning.

"I'm a Grandmaster. I'm supposed to be powerful! But I couldn't do anything; I could only stand there, watching you die," Xiaoshi said. Tianhu reached out his arm and pulled Xiaoshi into a hug. Xiaoshi fell into his embrace, burying her head in his chest. It wasn't the first time they had hugged. Once, during the months they had been together, Tianhu felt the atmosphere had become a bit strange, and he had pulled Xiaoshi into a hug almost on instinct. To his surprise, she had just accepted it.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Of course, after a short while, Xiaoshi broke free of the hug and ran off, calling him crazy. This time, the hug lasted a while longer.

"It's not your fault. And I didn't die, did I?" Tianhu asked.

"Almost," Xiaoshi said into Tianhu's chest. Tianhu recalled the battle, and it had indeed been close.

"Right, what happened to you? Why couldn't you move? Are you alright now?" Tianhu asked.

"I don't know. All of a sudden, I was frozen stiff and couldn't circulate my qi. It must have been some strange magic those people used. I became completely useless in a single moment, and I still don't even know how they did it," Xiaoshi said. Tianhu frowned. He was also confused. Just who were those people?

"Well, we're both still young. It's normal that there are things we don't understand, and people who are stronger. We just need to keep moving forward," Tianhu said. Xiaoshi let out a soft laugh and pulled away from the hug. She turned her head away and dried her face with her shirt.

"You're right," She said, "Come. Eat." Xiaoshi took a seat next to the small fire and grabbed the dried meat from it, placing it on a small piece of wood. Tianhu sat down next to her. Xiaoshi pulled out a knife and cut the meat in two.

"Here."

"Thank you," Tianhu said, grabbing one of the pieces and putting it in his mouth. He didn't really get the point of grilling dried meat, but as long as Xiaoshi liked it. A strange calm settled over Tianhu as he sat next to Xiaoshi, eating and staring into the small fire. He had been through quite a lot, and the pain had not been insignificant. The fever was almost even more uncomfortable. But now, it was like it was all in the past. Even his lost arm didn't matter that much.

As long as he could sit next to Xiaoshi like this, he was content. If he had to go through more pain in the future, he thought it would be easier knowing a moment like this was waiting for him at the end of it.

"You can still use your sword intent, right?" Xiaoshi asked after a while.

"Of course," Tianhu said. He didn't even need to test it. He was sure he couldn't lose that ability. Even if his right arm was the one cut off, Tianhu felt like it wouldn't take away his sword intent.

"Can you hollow out this coin for me?" Xiaoshi asked, pulling out a gold coin from her pocket.

"Hollow it out?" Tianhu asked, accepting the coin.

"Yeah. Cut out the middle, leaving the edges," Xiaoshi said. Tianhu hadn't really used his sword intent like that before, but he should be able to do it even with just his Innate qi. Still, he gave it a shot and focused on the coin. Without even a sword in his hand, a mysterious, sharp force arose from his palm and cut through the coin.

'Neat.'

"Like that?" Tianhu asked, handing her the coin back.

"Mm," Xiaoshi hummed, blushing slightly as she accepted it. When she took the coin, she also left something else in Tianhu's hand.

'Her ring?' Tianhu thought, confused as he looked at the blue ring Xiaoshi had always worn on her right middle finger.

"Now we've shared a warm meal and exchanged rings," Xiaoshi said. Tianhu's head swirled around and looked over at Xiaoshi in shock. Her head was turned away, but Tianhu could still see her ears turning red. Tianhu swallowed hard and asked with a slightly hoarse voice, "What do you mean?"

"I accept your proposal, don't I?" Xiaoshi answered, her voice shy and uncertain.

'She… accepts my proposal? My proposal to marry her?' Tianhu could hardly believe it. But he wanted to believe so badly that he smothered all doubts before they had a chance to grow. Even if he was in some kind of fever dream, he didn't want to wake up. He reached over with his right arm and grabbed Xiaoshi's chin, turning her around to face him. Xiaoshi didn't resist, and she met his gaze. Her beautiful eyes stared right back at him, looking determined. Tianhu didn't even think. He didn't want to think.

He leaned in and kissed her lips.

'So soft.' A lost arm? What was the big deal? He'd happily offer both of them in exchange for this moment. … Tianhu opened his eyes, feeling both blissful and a little distraught. He had been woken up by his stomach growling. He was really hungry. Unfortunately, there was nothing to eat in this small cave. He and Xiaoshi had finished the last of their rations a few days ago, the night they had exchanged rings.

"Tianhu, my hair," Xiaoshi muttered softly from beside him.

"Sorry," Tianhu said, moving away slightly. He looked over at Xiaoshi and couldn't turn his eyes away from her. They didn't really have anything to cover themselves with here, so her beautiful body was on full display. Even if he had seen it many times over the past few days, he could never get enough. Xiaoshi's sleepy eyes shot open, perhaps intuitively feeling where Tianhu's thoughts were heading.

"Crazy!" Xiaoshi scolded him, covered herself with her hands, and hurriedly got dressed. Tianhu leaned back and stared up at the cave ceiling, letting out a sigh of regret.

"We're out of food, and you're still wasting energy on…on," Xiaoshi stammered, looking flustered.

"It's important to keep active," Tianhu stated, looking over at Xiaoshi with a serious expression.

"Crazy," Xiaoshi muttered, finishing dressing herself.

'But hiding here any longer really isn't an option.' Tianhu had basically healed from his injuries already. At least there were no open wounds and no significant pain. But Xiaoshi had refused to leave the cave. Perhaps she was still a bit scarred from the battle. Tianhu could understand. Even he felt a little overwhelmed at the thought of having to fight those people again. Especially if they came with their 'Elders.' And Xiaoshi was bound to be even more scared.

She had been frozen stiff by some inexplicable magic, without even a chance to fight. She had to watch one Master after another get killed, while Tianhu edged ever closer to death right in front of her. It's natural that it takes a while to get over that kind of experience. Still, starving to death in a cave wasn't an option.

"We need to leave," Tianhu said. Xiaoshi was silent for a while before finally agreeing, "Okay." Tianhu looked at her, a little surprised. He had said they had to leave for many days, and Xiaoshi had always shot him down. Tianhu never argued, either. Deciding to wait for another day to pass before bringing it up again. But now, it seems the hunger had gotten to Xiaoshi as well.

"Really?" Tianhu asked. Xiaoshi took a deep breath and nodded, "Really."

"Good," Tianhu said, hurriedly getting dressed as well.

"But we'll only go out to get some food," Xiaoshi said, "After that, we'll return here immediately."

"You don't want to go back home?" Tianhu asked.

"Do you think we can? Without ever being spotted along the way? If it were just Masters, I'd be confident, but these… people- who knows what kind of methods they have?"

"Well, I guess you're right," Tianhu said. He would take it one step at a time. Going out for food was enough for today.