Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 271: Helping Each Other in Dire Straits

Thud!

Crash!

Zhao Changhe emerged from the water while holding the unconscious Yue Hongling.

After entering the vortex and falling, they unexpectedly landed in water. Moreover, it was a boundlessly vast expanse of water with no shore in sight.

Zhao Changhe was utterly speechless, unsure whether he even had enough strength to swim around while carrying someone. Moreover, he did not even know in which direction he had to swim to find the shore.

It would be quite ridiculous if what killed him was not one of the powerful experts or the army chasing him, but a glorified pond. If word of this were to spread to Chi Li and the others, wouldn’t they die of laughter?

When he looked up, he could not see the sky.

It was pitch black all around, and it seemed like they were enclosed in spatial barriers. This was a separate alternate space, perhaps one where an ancient ocean or a large lake had been isolated into.

Taking the formation outside into consideration, it was clear that this space had been artificially concealed or hidden. After all, there was no way such a formation was something that appeared naturally.

Uninterested in figuring out which ancient story this place corresponded to, Zhao Changhe stretched his senses to the limit. Making full use of his Back Eye, he finally spotted what seemed to be a faint coastline to the east and began desperately swimming toward it.

His injuries were no lighter than Yue Hongling’s. The battles and the frantic escape had not been any less intense for him. However, Yue Hongling, despite having higher cultivation, had already passed out. If it was not for his recently enhanced physique, he would likely have long since lost consciousness, just like her.

With that said, he was truly at his limits. He felt as if the shore, within easy reach normally, was a thousand miles away. As he swam toward it, his movements only grew slower and heavier.

With his left hand still holding Yue Hongling, he weakly paddled toward shore with just one hand. His strokes were weak and feeble. Several times, he felt like he was going to sink, but he forcibly kept himself afloat with a breath of qi in his dantian, clenching his teeth as he pushed himself to stay conscious.

No matter how difficult it got, he never even entertained the thought of letting go of her, not even once. His mind remained resolute even when letting go of her may just decide whether or not he would be able to make it to shore.

He never considered abandoning her.

The only thought in his mind was to get her to shore.

Gradually, Yue Hongling regained consciousness and groggily looked around before quickly realizing the situation they were in.

Seeing Zhao Changhe’s face, which had turned ferocious from overexertion, Yue Hongling’s eyes gradually misted over, and the comment of the Tome of Troubled Times flashed in her mind.

The long river reflects the sunset.

Maybe it’s not the sunset being reflected on the river, but rather the other way around... Perhaps poets and scholars could endlessly debate the poetic imagery of that statement, but at this moment, there’s no need for dispute. He’s the one who’s taking care of me, even when it risks his own chances of survival.

While in his arms, Yue Hongling could clearly feel that Zhao Changhe had already completely exhausted his true qi, and he was even overdrawing his energy. His meridians, which were already embarrassingly inadequate, were beginning to atrophy. He was now purely relying on his muscular strength to slowly paddle them to shore.

However, the more he relied on his muscles, the more his wounds were aggravated. Beneath the dark surface of the water, one could guess that blood was profusely flowing out from his body. Who knew whether the water was even clean or not, and an infection at such a time could easily prove to be fatal.

As Yue Hongling watched him, she unconsciously drew closer to him.

Zhao Changhe was nearly delirious, completely unaware that the woman in his arms had come to. He just continued moving on instinct, slowly paddling with all the strength he could muster. Suddenly, a wave of warmth brushed his lips.

He jolted back to his senses, realizing that their lips had fully joined together.

A breath of clear qi passed from her mouth to his. It was warm and refreshed his body.

Zhao Changhe promptly made use of the dual cultivation technique, and he immediately felt like he was drought-stricken land being watered, blossoming in an instant. His dantian was nourished, his true qi was restored, and his depleted meridians began to recover. The energy she was passing to him permeated his very flesh and bones.

It was an experience akin to being reborn.

The effects of dual cultivation in a moment of utter depletion were simply beyond words.

He instinctively wanted more and began to suck harder, trying to deepen their connection.

Yue Hongling was stunned for a moment, but she ultimately relaxed and let him do as he wanted.

Fainting is a form of self-preservation autonomously enacted by one’s body. And when a cultivator fainted, they would automatically circulate their internal energy according to the internal arts they practiced, partially restoring some of their true qi. At this moment, all the energy she had recovered was drawn from her to him, with not a single drop left. Continuing on like this made her into nothing more than a tonic, but Yue Hongling offered no resistance, even willingly relaxing her dantian’s defenses to allow him to harvest her energy.

In reality, merely kissing could not achieve such a harvesting effect. As a result, although their meridians were not nourished that much, their parched lips did become quite moist and vivid.

Yue Hongling’s mind was dazed by the kiss, and a nonsensical thought arose in her mind—Is this what the phrase “to help each other in dire straits” actually refers to?[1]

Tchak!

While they were kissing, Zhao Changhe had instinctively continued paddling onward, and what had once seemed like an insurmountable chasm had been easily breached. Zhao Changhe’s right hand had already reached the solid ground of the shore.

The both of them reacted simultaneously, slightly parting before silently climbing onto shore, their hearts pounding.

Before this, Yue Hongling had kissed him on the cheek and said that it was just a reward.

This time, not only had they kissed on the lips, it was a much deeper kiss than when Sisi had pretended to be her.

Yue Hongling recalled Sisi’s words at that time: “If it were you, you would have probably done the same.”

She might have been right... especially now. He’s been so stirring in every aspect. I was walking alone in the desert when suddenly, a spring breeze came, and I found an oasis before me.

Her heartstrings had been touched.

Zhao Changhe turned to look at her. After falling into the water, her hair had become disheveled and stuck to her forehead. Her gaze was misty, and her head was slightly bowed in a bashful manner. Her current look was extremely different from her usual spirited self, displaying a vulnerable contrast. Her modest, bashful bowing of her head without saying a word seemed to be her last act of prideful defiance as a heroine, yet it struck a deeper chord.

At this moment, she truly seemed like a woman.

He swallowed hard and broke the silence. “How’s your internal energy?”

Yue Hongling calmed down and responded simply, “There’s none.”

I mean, I did manage to recover some when I fell unconscious just now. But I just gave all of it to you...

In fact, she knew what Zhao Changhe wanted to say at this moment.

Both of them were injured, their physical conditions were not great, and they were both soaking wet. It was still uncertain if they were at risk of being inflicted with some kind of disease. If they stayed as they were, even if nobody found them, they would likely still fall ill.

Although they had their luggage with them, the bags were soaked through, and they simply could not change into dry clothes at the moment.

So, what were they to do?

Zhao Changhe took off the Grassland-style clothes that Batu had given them and tossed them aside, revealing his naked, muscular body.

Yue Hongling felt quite envious. Men have it so easy.

Zhao Changhe grabbed his travel bag and fumbled around for a while to find a flint and steel. He set them aside to dry. “These are generally better than a flame stick when it comes to reliability. Let’s see if we can start a fire once they’re dry. I’ll look around for some tinder we can use to start a fire. Meanwhile...”[2]

He stood up and walked slowly into the darkness. “You should take off your clothes and dry off first. I... I won’t look.”

Yue Hongling watched him staggering into the darkness, her mood complex as she pursed her lips.

In fact, given the atmosphere just then, it did not matter to her whether he looked or not. If he had undressed her, she might not have even resisted. But they were both injured and tired, dirty and smelly, so they really were not in the best of states for anything intimate.

Yet for some reason... she felt like it would have been better if he had just taken advantage of the earlier atmosphere to undress her.

In the open space with no cover, even if he could not see properly in the darkness, how could she just bring herself to undress with him close by.

While she was feeling conflicted and fiddling with her collar, Zhao Changhe’s voice came from the darkness, “There’s a pile of rocks over here. It looks this is a pretty standard beach... Bring the flint and steel here and hide among the rocks while I look around. I’ll try to find some plants or something.”

Yue Hongling arranged the items he had laid out on the ground and followed the direction of his voice. Sure enough, in the darkness, she saw a pile of jagged rocks. There were some huge stones that stood on their own and created a small natural hut. Coupled with the boundless darkness, they inexplicably gave her a sense of security.

Even though, in reality, there was no difference—after all, it was not like there were any doors or windows to block him from looking—the shelter did psychologically provide her with some assurance.

Yue Hongling bit her lower lip and slowly undid her wet clothes, letting her white, jade-like body be exposed in the darkness.

Who says I stink... Actually, my body cannot even be touched by dirt, it’s just my clothes that smell. No, you’re the stinky one!

Meanwhile, Zhao Changhe was straining his eyes to search around, and indeed, he found some dried grass on the ground with some withered trees nearby. Enduring the severe pain in his lower abdomen, he took out Dragon Bird and chopped some dead branches.

Yue Hongling quietly watched him from behind the rocks, feeling strangely safe despite their weakened state. The feelings she was experiencing at the moment felt incredibly odd and inexplicable to her.

She felt like a frail wife watching her imposing husband clearing an area and creating a safe haven for her.

It was like he was her pillar of support at the moment.

1. The phrase mentioned here is written “相濡以沫” in the raws. While the meaning of this phrase is “mutual help and relief in times of poverty,” it literally translates to “to moisten each other with spittle”. ☜

2. The flame stick (火折子) is a primitive lighter used in ancient China and it kinda works like a flare. ☜