Chapter 31 Neither Immortal nor Demon She hadn't expected Shen Zhou to get hurt. (Second update...)
During its slumber, the lights lost all sensation.
She can't see, hear, or touch.
But she had a feeling; she sensed that Chen Zhou was beside her.
He held her hand and called her name.
Having inexplicably come to believe this, Hua Deng no longer panicked and waited calmly.
She waited for an unknown amount of time, and suddenly, for a moment, she heard a sound in her ear, indistinct yet unmistakably present.
After waiting for a while, her sense of touch returned. She seemed to be lying in a soft place, surrounded by quiet, with a bitter medicinal scent.
Finally, she struggled and opened her eyes.
Her vision cleared, and she could see everything around her.
She was inside the Immortal Spirit Pearl, lying on the bed. Not far away, Su Yiqing was holding a fan and squatting in front of a small stove, brewing medicinal soup.
She coughed, and Su Yiqing immediately turned around and rushed over with delight.
"Dengdeng! You're finally awake! Waaah, I was so worried!" She hugged Huadeng's blanket and cried bitterly.
Hua Deng wanted to comfort her, but she was too weak to do so, and could only manage to say, "I'm fine... how are you?"
"I'm fine too," Su Yi said, sobbing slightly. "Thanks to your Daoist partner, he refined the antidote for the Immortal Slaughtering Powder, and we're all alright now."
"Chen..." Hua Deng paused, then continued, "Where is Chen Zhou?"
Su Yiqing already knew his true identity, but didn't say anything: "Don't worry, Shen Zhou is fine, he's outside."
As she spoke, she helped up the lantern: "Are you feeling weak? Shen Zhou said that it's normal to feel like this when you first wake up, and you'll feel better after lying down for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."
"Why are you here too?" Hua Deng asked worriedly. "They shouldn't be after you, right?"
"No, but I'm worried about you." Su Yi scratched her head lightly. "Besides, your partner is quite busy, so it's just right for me to stay here and watch over you."
She explained, "When Yu Heng died, Shen Zhou took you away, but those people rushed at him like they had no eyes, demanding that he hand over the Heavenly-level magic weapon."
"He probably didn't plan to take me with him, but later, I guess because I'm your friend, he just included me."
Recalling that scene, Su Yiqing was still somewhat dazed.
She thought she was going to die, but then Shen Zhou returned and suddenly appeared in front of her, asking indifferently with his eyes downcast, "You and Hua Deng are very close?"
"Is...right?"
"Would she be sad if you died?"
"I think so," Su Yiqing replied cautiously.
Shen Zhou didn't say anything, turned around and left, but not quickly. Su Yi was taken aback and suddenly realized that this meant she should follow.
Without waiting, she jumped up and followed after him eagerly.
From behind, Shen Zhou's chest wound was extremely deep, penetrating near his heart. A black aura swirled around the wound; Su Yiqing didn't know what it was, only that it possessed a terrifying corrosive power.
Shen Zhou remained completely calm, holding the lantern as if nothing had happened. If anyone dared to disturb him, he could send them flying with a flick of his wrist.
He drove away more and more people, and the black aura around him grew stronger.
Neither human nor ghost, neither immortal nor demon.
Su Yiqing was completely convinced that this was indeed the villain described in the book.
But.
She looked at the lantern in the man's arms.
If the streetlights can be protected, then what's the point of the villains?
"Did they... hang you up?" Hua Deng asked.
Su Yiqing pulled herself out of her reverie, her words carrying a weight: "It's like, hanging a chicken in the trunk of your car after you go home for the Spring Festival travel rush."
"..." Hua Deng felt ashamed. "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's alright, it's safer to follow him anyway." Su Yi waved her hand and laughed. "Later, I followed him and we searched for the medicinal herbs needed for the antidote together."
It took three days to find all the medicinal materials, and another two days and two nights to refine the medicine. The process was extremely complicated and tedious. Fortunately, Shen Zhou had enough spiritual power to accelerate the refining process.
"Is there still a place to refine pills in the secret realm? It's really hard on him..." At this point, Hua Deng paused, a bad feeling creeping over him.
Su Yiqing smiled shyly across from her: "You're so annoying, you know the answer already!"
The streetlights suddenly turned chilling.
She couldn't hold back any longer: "Ugh—"
Of course, nothing came out. Su Yiqing said softly from the side, "Don't think about it. It's been ingested for ten days, turning into nutrients and becoming part of your bones and blood..."
"That's enough!" Hua Deng's vision blurred. "I understand, I really understand, thank you!"
"Let's not talk about that now. Are you feeling any better?" Su Yiqing said, supporting her. "Why don't you go out and check on things quickly? I'm afraid if you don't wake up soon, he'll really destroy the entire secret realm."
Hua Deng helped her up, his arm around hers, and asked with mixed feelings, "Did he kill a lot of people?"
"Oh, no." Unexpectedly, Su Yiqing gave a negative answer. "Although I think he seemed to want to kill people, in the end he didn't kill a single one. Only two idiots came over and self-destructed with him."
"..." Hua Deng said softly, "Is that so?"
He still remembered the agreement not to kill.
"Are there many people here?" Hua Deng asked as she walked out. Her body felt weak, and she walked with difficulty, but she could still move around.
"There are many, I've seen at least several hundred."
"He's been fighting these people all along?"
Su Yiqing couldn't answer.
Does a one-sided crushing victory count as a battle?
Moreover, it was only a matter of lifting a finger for Shen Zhou to drive them away. Before, he had been guarding Hua Deng every day, never leaving his side, and he was too lazy to deal with these people.
Rather, it was only this morning, when the Immortal-Slaying Powder in Hua Deng's body was completely cleared and she was about to wake up, that he left the room, leaving Su Yiqing to brew medicine for her.
Looking at it this way, how can it seem like he doesn't want to meet Hua Deng?
The idea struck Su Yiqing as absurd, so she didn't say anything, but instead vividly described the events of the past few days to Hua Deng.
For example, how he sat on the edge of the bed, taking her pulse again and again, and calling her name tirelessly.
"Hua Deng, can you hear me?"
"Hua Deng, how are you feeling?"
For example, before Su Yiqing fell asleep, she saw Shen Zhou sitting there, using his magic to protect her. When she woke up, she found him still sitting there, quietly with his eyes lowered.
Hua Deng thought to herself, "Oh no, I'll have to give him a raise to repay him."
Stepping out of the Immortal Spirit Pearl, before even seeing Chen Zhou's figure, the sounds of fighting in mid-air came first.
Su Yiqing helped her sit down on the rock. She looked around and surveyed the surroundings.
Despite Shen Zhou's mercy, half of the secret realm was still destroyed. Forests collapsed, mountains crumbled, and the ground was riddled with craters of varying sizes and shapes.
Looking around, even the water in the river had dried up.
With a loud crash, two figures fell to the ground, and the lanterns disappeared from view.
The familiar figure landed on the ground unhurriedly and lifted the person up from a distance.
The two men were horrified; blood was gushing out, and it looked like all their bones were broken.
Shen Zhou casually tossed the person aside and said, "Get lost."
His tone and posture remained calm, and his expression was neither irritable nor gloomy.
The blood dripping from the corner of his clothes made his entire figure appear particularly eerie.
Hua Deng couldn't help but recall those moments from the past. How many times had his perpetually calm face been like this, as he exerted every effort to suppress the murderous aura emanating from him?
He turned his head and saw the streetlights, but his expression remained unchanged.
However, the dark clouds overhead dispersed somewhat, and his gloomy black eyes seemed to be illuminated by the light of day. The bloodthirsty murderous aura gradually faded, and he returned to his familiar appearance.
Su Yi quietly slipped away.
Hua Deng remained oblivious, sitting in place as Chen Zhou approached.
His clothes were covered in blood, so much that he was too lazy to clean them.
Hua Deng's gaze slid downwards, noticing a sword hanging at his waist—formerly his beloved No. 5, now resembling a Coke and Sprite. The tassel she had given him was on it, swaying with his steps.
He did not use any of the eleven swords, nor any of the one hundred and seven swords, but left this one outside.
Because this is a sword he would never draw blood with, a sword placed outside to stop him from killing... and a sword tassel.
He walked up to the streetlights, seemingly unaware of her gaze, his voice as usual, low and cold like ice clashing.
"woke up."
"Um……"
After that, there was a moment of silence.
Hua Deng hesitated before speaking, "I'm fine, I'm sorry to have worried you."
Shen Zhou hummed in agreement and asked, "Are you scared?"
“I’m not that scared,” Hua Deng said. “I knew you would come to save me.”
Shen Zhou looked at her shoulder: "You said someone hurt you."
His eyes seemed to want to see into her past, to kill the person who stabbed her along with her.
"This will never happen again," he said.
Hua Deng smiled gently, nodded, and said, "I know, I believe you."
This is true. But she lied about the previous statement.
She was actually very scared, scared that the plot in the book would really happen, scared that Shen Zhou wouldn't come to save her.
The person who stabbed her didn't stab her in the shoulder, but in the heart; she almost died.
However, she didn't know why, but as soon as she saw Shen Zhou, she completely forgot all these emotions.
Even though his cold, sharp eyes were stained with blood, making him far more terrifying than the other cultivators in the secret realm, she still felt at ease.
Upon hearing her answer, Shen Zhou neither agreed nor disagreed, and silently sat down beside her, leaving Hua Deng unsure of his thoughts.
She recalled the scene of Shen Zhou killing people. Although he was extremely fierce and cruel, he never showed any excitement. He was obviously not addicted to it and even felt some disgust.
...That can't be right, he would hate killing?
The sudden idea was so impractical. The lanterns erased the speculation, but he still hesitated before opening his purse, taking out something and stuffing it into Chen Zhou's hand.
Shen Zhou, who was sitting in deep thought, suddenly felt his palm being opened. When he looked down, he saw a small ball wrapped in white paper in his palm.
These are the malt candies that Hua Deng loves to eat; she always carries them with her.
“Children’s stuff,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
"What? Take it or leave it!" Hua Deng reached out to snatch the candy back.
But this same guy who just moments ago complained that the candy was childish easily peeled off the wrapper with his fingers, opened his lips, and put it in his mouth.
Hua Deng rolled his eyes silently, wondering who was the child here.
The child smiled at her with a slight smirk.
The smile quickly faded, but the candy entered her mouth and melted into a very faint, sweet taste.
"Are you feeling better?" Hua Deng observed his complexion and noticed that he was still slightly pale. "Did you exhaust yourself by consuming too much spiritual energy?"
After all, in order not to destroy the secret realm, he had kept his cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage. However, there were hundreds or even thousands of cultivators who came to kill him, most of whom were at the Golden Core stage or above. Even those at the Divine Transformation stage could not withstand such a relentless attack.
"I'll be fine after a rest. I've been like this before," Shen Zhou said casually, pressing his temples.
"Next time, even without my permission, anyone who wants to hurt you can go back and kill them," Hua Deng said softly, pursing her lips.
Shen Zhou paused upon hearing this, then chuckled softly before resuming his languid tone: "There's no need to deal with them yet."
They were extremely arrogant.
But this is the familiar sight of the streetlights. She smiled and said, "I'm serious, it's no big deal, just kill if you need to."
Shen Zhou gave a perfunctory reply, saying, "I know, I'll kill them all from now on."
Hua Deng: "..." No need for that, she wants to live a few more years!
After a few jokes, the subtle atmosphere between them dissipated. Shen Zhou stretched and stood up: "Go back and stay there. You'll need to lie down for a couple more days."
"Okay." Hua Deng didn't object; she was indeed exhausted.
Just by glancing up, one could see the wound on Shen Zhou's right shoulder blade. Unlike the other bloodstains on his clothes, this blood belonged to Shen Zhou himself.
A deep sword wound ripped through his dark clothes, flesh rolled back, and blood soaked his back, but Shen Zhou was completely unaware.
He stretched his limbs as usual, reaching out to help the streetlight up. As he moved, blood began to seep from his wound again, making it look gruesome.
"Wait a minute," Hua Deng blurted out, stopping him in his tracks.
Shen Zhou cast an inquiring glance at him.
The light from the lanterns grew hot, and she suppressed the stinging in her eyes as she slowly pulled Chen Zhou down.
She hadn't expected Shen Zhou to get hurt.
But now, the wound was clearly laid out before her, telling her that this person was not made of steel. He was injured just like any other person; he bled and felt pain.
Meeting her suddenly reddened eyes, Shen Zhou suddenly remembered something: "A wound?"
The trick to conceal the injury covered the wound on the chest, but forgot that there was one on the back as well.
"...The wound is a bit deep and it's bleeding," Hua Deng said in a low voice. "Let me heal you; I'm a healer."
Shen Zhou frowned disapprovingly and said lazily, "You're just recovering, don't waste your spiritual energy."
"Please let me get treatment, otherwise I'll feel terrible."
Hua Deng looked up at him, his pale face listless, like a fox that had been caught in the rain.
Shen Zhou was speechless and had no choice but to sit down, watching her reach out and cover the wound.
Hua Deng was unaware of the situation until she started treatment, and then she discovered that Shen Zhou's condition was even worse than she had imagined.
His spiritual energy has been completely depleted. If he doesn't raise his cultivation level to above the Nascent Soul stage, he probably won't be able to recover for a while.
However, the secret realm cannot accommodate cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage.
She lowered her hand, her mind in turmoil, unable to utter a single word of comfort.
As if guessing what she was thinking, Chen Zhou smiled and said, "Feel it again."
Hua Deng reached out to sense his spiritual power, puzzled, and was surprised to find that it had recovered more than half in an instant at an astonishing speed.
This is a forbidden technique, and Hua Deng is well aware of it.
This means that during the ten-plus days she was in a coma, Shen Zhou was constantly exhausting his spiritual power and squeezing his soul to recover.
She took a few deep breaths, said nothing, and began to focus on treating Shen Zhou's wounds.
However, after a short while, she lowered her head in frustration: "I'm sorry, I'm too weak."
"It's none of your business." Shen Zhou had expected this and smiled indifferently. "Those that could hurt me are not ordinary magical artifacts. They are difficult to heal by external forces. Once my spiritual energy recovers, the wounds will naturally disappear."
Hua Deng remained silent, but his smile deepened, and he flicked her forehead with his finger.
"He's not dead, stop crying."
Hua Deng cried out as he flicked the lamp, clutching his forehead and saying, "I know, don't hit me!"
Shen Zhou stood up and said, "Go back, you should rest."
"oh."
Hua Deng was carried back into the Immortal Spirit Pearl by him and lay down on the bed again.
She shrank under the covers, closed her eyes, and listened to Shen Zhou leave. Suddenly, she raised her hand and secretly touched the spot where he had just flicked her.
"...Childish brat." She muttered, pressing her hands to her lips.
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