Fragments burst from the porcelain, slicing his fair fingers, but he ignored it entirely. His eyes fixed on the purple-gold powder dusting the vial’s interior.
…He remembered.
Back then, he wanted a vial for the pill. He had just found an empty one when the cavern’s withered vines suddenly twitched, emitting a shrill whoosh through the air.
Startled, he dropped the empty vial back into his Storage Bracelet. Fearing further mishaps, he hastily grabbed the nearest vial and dumped the Purple-Gold Immortal Pill inside.
It turned out the vial he grabbed held Spirit Replenishing Pills.
It turned out he had already mixed that priceless purple-gold pill with a heap of cheap Spirit Replenishing Pills worth no more than twenty Spirit Stones and poured them into the mouth of the waste Mu Cheng.
“Crack!”
Lian Yunzhi hurled the porcelain shards viciously!
With a “boom,” the massive log pierced by the shards collapsed under the furious strike of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Face dark, Lian Yunzhi pulled a robe from his Storage Bracelet and loosely tied it on. Step by step, he approached the crude new cavity where Mu Cheng lay.
Mu Cheng was sleeping.
And sleeping quite soundly, it seemed.
Lian Yunzhi had clearly tossed Mu Cheng and the bedding separately into the cavity, yet now Mu Cheng was tightly wrapped in the soft, fluffy quilt. His nose pressed against the fabric, teeth nibbling the edge, brows relaxed, appearing almost serene.
Lian Yunzhi ground his teeth and yanked the quilt off him.
The thick, soft cotton bedding instantly turned to flying ash in Lian Yunzhi’s grasp.
Mu Cheng now lay on the cold, hard ground clad only in thin undergarments. His brows immediately furrowed, but he still did not wake.
Lian Yunzhi tossed out a seed, infused it with spiritual power, and in an instant, a thick vine climbed the cavern walls.
“Boom!”
Lian Yunzhi flicked another item onto the vine, and raging flames erupted skyward, instantly illuminating the dim cavern brightly.
Under the firelight, Lian Yunzhi expressionlessly regarded Mu Cheng’s face.
Good.
The gruesome whip scar that had torn across his entire right cheek had healed considerably, nearly scabbing over.
This was certainly not the effect of Spirit Replenishing Pills.
Spirit Replenishing Pills replenished spiritual power for fatigued cultivators or sustained the barely alive. Their utility was comparable to Spirit Stones, but since the raw material was the ubiquitous Spirit Capturing Grass, they were far cheaper.
He had never heard of Spirit Replenishing Pills having such immediate wound-healing effects.
Lian Yunzhi checked Mu Cheng’s heartbeat, which had clearly grown much stronger, and then tore off his tattered single garment to examine the other injuries on his body.
He had vaguely sensed before that the bones in Mu Cheng’s body seemed to have been broken by someone, yet at this moment, he could clearly perceive that every inch of bone in Mu Cheng’s body was healing properly. Mu Cheng’s Dantian had clearly been pierced through by someone before, but now a clump of spirit power, neither large nor small, had gathered there. Mu Cheng’s meridians had also been shattered inch by inch by someone earlier, yet at this moment, those meridians were reconnecting root by root and strand by strand.
The more Lian Yunzhi touched, the angrier he became. He was so furious that he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood!
This Immortal Pill with its heaven-defying effects was supposed to be his!
Yet now, it had inexplicably benefited this guy!
Lian Yunzhi could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. He stood up and viciously kicked Mu Cheng!
In his sleep, Mu Cheng tightly furrowed his brows, as if he were having some nightmare. Under the reflection of the firelight, his lips moved silently, and beads of sweat continuously slid down his forehead.
Lian Yunzhi was still not satisfied and kicked him again!
But this time, it did not succeed.
Because as soon as his foot extended, it was tightly gripped by a scalding hot hand at the ankle.
Mu Cheng opened his eyes in the darkness and firelight. His pupils were pitch black with a reddish glow, like flames in the night or eerie night ghosts.
“Release!”
Lian Yunzhi barked sternly.
But Mu Cheng turned a deaf ear. Not only did he not let go, he instead yanked fiercely!
Lian Yunzhi toppled unprepared onto Mu Cheng’s bare chest.
Whether it was because the fire on the giant vine burned too fiercely, or because a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was being restrained by a cripple, which was truly infuriating, Lian Yunzhi’s entire face flushed red, and even fine beads of hot sweat seeped from his back.
Lian Yunzhi gritted his teeth and cast a spell, trying to flip the Mu Cheng beneath him away harshly. But in the next instant, he felt a viscous, icy aura blocking every acupoint on his body, preventing him from mobilizing even a shred of spirit power.
This unprecedented experience made Lian Yunzhi’s hairs stand on end, and his hot sweat instantly turned cold.
Mu Cheng still did not release him. While staring tightly into his eyes, he rubbed Lian Yunzhi’s bare ankle and the back of his foot with his rough, scalding fingers.
Lian Yunzhi realized that he was trembling slightly amid this unbearable fear.
“…You want to eat me too?” Mu Cheng asked him in a hoarse, decayed voice, as if trapped in a nightmare.
Lian Yunzhi’s eyes widened in shock. This absurd statement drove away even some of his fear: “Are you out of your mind? Who wants to eat you? You stink so much!”
Mu Cheng: “…I don’t stink.”
Lian Yunzhi said with disgust: “You do! I’m going to have to take another bath later!”
“…All right.” Mu Cheng’s voice was hoarse and gentle. “I stink, you smell good.”
Lian Yunzhi suddenly felt that something was off.
His intuition was correct.
This cripple, whom he had unwittingly saved and who had wasted his incredibly expensive Immortal Pill, suddenly seized his right hand.
“…You smell good.”
The cripple’s eyelashes drooped lightly, his gaze falling on the bead of blood that had already solidified at Lian Yunzhi’s fingertip.
As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the minor cut from the porcelain shard was nothing to Lian Yunzhi. The wound had already healed by now, leaving only this drop of congealed blood hanging at his fingertip, looking vividly red and alluringly fresh.
Mu Cheng gently drew his hand up and placed it by his lips.
Then he stuck out his tongue and licked it lightly.
“So sweet…”
He seemed to sincerely praise something, but Lian Yunzhi did not hear clearly, for goosebumps had already risen all over his body.
Mu Cheng smiled at him, then put his finger into his own mouth.
“Release!” Lian Yunzhi sensed that something was seriously wrong.
Mu Cheng smiled again, then opened his mouth—
And bit down without hesitation!
“Ah——”
Slap!
The scream and the slap sounded at the same time.
