Chapter 75: The First Experience of the Nameless Valley and the "Domesticated" Demon King
First experience with the nameless valley and the "domesticated" demon king
After the dizziness of the teleportation wore off, everyone found themselves in a desolate and remote valley. The valley was devoid of spiritual energy, with sparse vegetation and only jagged rocks and a nearly dried-up stream. It looked worthless, and therefore exceptionally secluded and safe.
After confirming that there were no pursuers for the time being, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, fatigue washing over them like a tide. The memory of the previous battle and the sea of red spider lilies had consumed a great deal of their energy.
Li Jiuyou plopped down on a large rock, the Jinsheng Knife tucked into his side. He was breathing heavily, his expression unsightly. The exhaustion emanating from the other end of the blood contract and the dull ache in his sea of consciousness made him even more irritated. Especially since his mind kept replaying the hazy fragments of Jiang Xuelan he had just seen—the scorched earth ruins, the worried little beast... What on earth was going on?!
Jiang Xuelan leaned against a stone wall, eyes closed, breathing in and out, his face pale as paper. He, too, needed to suppress the violent emotions coming from Li Jiuyou on the other end of the blood contract, as well as the disturbing scene in his memory—that sob, that half-sliced bun… Was it an illusion? Or… He didn't dare to dwell on it, instinctively rejecting the thought that might overturn his fifteen years of knowledge.
The atmosphere was a little dull and weird for a while.
"Um... well... are you all hungry? I... I still have some dried meat and fruit I hid here..." Che cautiously broke the silence, pulling out some food from his small backpack. After the nightmare in the dungeon, he always had a habit of hiding some food.
Man Gu touched his rumbling stomach and said innocently, "Thank you, Che. I'm really hungry." He took the food and looked at Li Jiuyou worriedly, "Wang, are you okay? Those flowers just now were so weird!"
Li Jiuyou snorted unhappily, "You won't die!" But his eyes unconsciously glanced in the direction of Jiang Xuelan. The blood contract clearly told him that the other party was in a very bad condition. The nameless anger in his heart grew stronger and stronger, but he didn't know who he was angry at.
Xuan Jia slid off Man Gu's shoulders, and he slowly crawled to the stream. He drank a few sips of water and sighed, "The sea of red spider lilies, the corridor of memories... I didn't expect the legend to be true. That scene just now was probably the obsession left behind by a pair of immortal demon lovers who perished here thousands of years ago. Tsk, what a pitiful person."
Xingtong tidied up her messy skirt and hair, and chuckled when she heard this: "Love between immortals and demons has never had a good ending since ancient times~ However, the obsession that can last for thousands of years is quite touching~" Her eyes swept across Li Jiuyou and Jiang Xuelan meaningfully.
Both of them frowned, but this time they didn't have the energy to yell. The resonance and impact of the memory were too strong, leaving them feeling uneasy.
A Che distributed the food to everyone, and then held the Jianmu fragments and tried to heal Jiang Xuelan's wounds: "Brother, you look so pale, will this help?"
The warm green light of the Jianmu fragments did indeed make Jiang Xuelan feel a little better, but it had limited effect on the shock to his soul and his old injuries. He shook his head: "It's okay, just rest for a while."
Li Jiuyou watched Jiang Xuelan's forced appearance. The constant feeling of weakness coming from the other side of the blood contract made him feel uneasy. He suddenly stood up, walked around angrily twice, and then, as if making up his mind, he said to A Che in a stern voice, "Hey! Little medicine pot! Can those dried meat and fruits fill your stomach? Go and see if there's any edible game in this broken valley!"
After saying that, without waiting for a response, he flashed and rushed directly into the depths of the valley, as if he wanted to escape from the suffocating atmosphere, or as if... he was going to look for "game".
Everyone was stunned.
Man Gu scratched his head: "King...what's wrong?" Isn't this the kind of thing he is usually ordered to do?
Xuanjia's green eyes rolled around, revealing an expression of "I understand." "Tsk, some people are just hard on the outside but soft on the inside. They care about others but it makes them look like they're going to fight."
Jiang Xuelan: "..." He pursed his lips. Through the blood bond, he could vaguely sense Li Jiuyou's mixed feelings of irritation, worry, and a hint of... clumsiness when he left. This feeling disturbed him more than the direct pain.
Not long after, a chaotic commotion came from the depths of the valley, mixed with Li Jiuyou's impatient growl and the terrified squeaking of some small animal.
Then, Li Jiuyou returned, carrying a fat, still-kicked gray-haired hare with a furious, "I won" expression on his face. His robe was stained with grass debris, and a strand of his hair seemed to have been tangled by a branch. He looked a bit... awkward and comical.
"Here! This!" He threw the rabbit roughly to the ground. "That's enough to eat!"
The hare was so frightened that it trembled and dared not move.
A Che: “…”
Man Gu: “…”
Xuan Jia: "Puff..."
Xingtong laughed so hard that her body shook. "Oh my~ Our demon king is really... talented in both literature and martial arts~ He can even hunt~"
Jiang Xuelan looked at the gray hare, and then at Li Jiuyou's expression that said "please praise me" but was trying to look ferocious. The subtle expectation of praise (?) and forced calmness on the other end of the blood contract were clearly discernible, and the corners of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
**…How stupid.** He muttered to himself.
But a very faint warmth, which even he himself did not notice, quietly crossed the frozen lake of his heart.
Man Gu quickly went over to prepare the rabbit, while A Che helped light the fire. Xuan Jia leisurely pointed out the tenderest parts and the best roasting spots. Xing Tong, on the other hand, pulled out some wild fruits from somewhere and said with a smile, "dessert."
Soon, the aroma of barbecue wafted through the valley, dispelling a sense of desolation and fatigue.
Li Jiuyou folded his arms and sat on a stone not far away, seemingly waiting impatiently, but his eyes would occasionally sweep across the fire and... the icy face sitting quietly beside the fire, his face slightly flushed by the firelight.
In the blood covenant link, what came from the other side was no longer pure coldness and pain, but a kind of... temporary, tired calmness, and even a very faint appetite aroused by the aroma of food?
This feeling... seems... not bad?
Li Jiuyou was startled by his sudden thought, and turned his head away abruptly, his ears feeling slightly hot.
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