Chapter 49: The Adventure Begins!

Four people moved as a team, gradually approaching the entrance of the cave where Gu Yi was lying in wait.

“Mingchang! Mingyuan!”

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.

Peering through the cracks between the stones, Gu Yi saw it was Chen Mingguang.

“Mingguang? You’re here too?”

“Shule called all the third-year students over, so of course I came. Why have you all stopped?”

“There’s something…” One of them pointed toward the stone grotto. “Something’s moving up there.”

He Xian’s heart tightened instantly.

Gu Yi’s eyes, however, lit up. He noticed two mice on the cave wall, so he summoned his spiritual energy to draw them over from afar, then urged them to scurry out through the cave’s mouth.

“Squeak! Squeak!”

The poor mouse tumbled from a height, landing sprawled in every direction.

The students below all looked up.

Chen Mingguang laughed. “Is Mingchang’s ‘movement’ just referring to a mouse?”

The three behind Chen Mingguang couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Mingchang’s face was a bit stiff, his lips twitching. “Let’s go.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Gu Yi remembered there were eight people; he had to make sure everyone had left. He also noticed, at the last moment, Chen Mingguang turned and cast a deep glance back toward them.

But he gave no sign, and with the others, Gu Yi had no choice but to keep pace, leaping forward.

“Hoo…”

Seeing everyone gone, He Xian finally let out a breath of relief. “Thank goodness you’re clever. I never thought a mouse could save us.”

“Who said it was just one?”

“Huh?” He Xian was caught off guard.

Gu Yi nudged her arm. “There’s another one!”

“Ah!”

He Xian jumped in fright, ready.

Wasn’t this the moment for a girl to lose her footing, tumble, and then for him to catch her—a princess carry, spinning gently to the ground?

Everything went as predicted:

He Xian hurried to her feet, stepped on a stone, slipped, and fell.

But instead, with a loud thud—

Gu Yi was frozen in place.

Because as she lost her balance and fell, her foot swung upward and struck him below the belt.

“Damn…” Gu Yi clutched himself, kneeling on the ground, slapping the stone surface repeatedly.

He Xian only landed on her backside, but seeing Gu Yi’s face flushed with pain—neither prone nor kneeling—she was at a loss.

“Gu Yi, what’s wrong?”

“Hoo…” He gritted his teeth, curled up on the ground, trembling slightly.

“Are you alright? Why are you shaking?” He Xian was panicked by his reaction.

“Do I look alright to you?”

“But I didn’t use much force…”

“You hit the spot that’s every boy’s weakness. Even with little force, it hurts enough to knock someone out!”

Gu Yi was still in agony. If she’d kicked a bit harder, he might have mastered the ‘Bishui Ten Bends Yang’ technique.

“Every boy’s weakness? Is it really that bad… So now that I’ve hit your weak spot, what do I do?”

Since they had to wait for the rain anyway, Gu Yi decided to tease her.

“It’s… not so bad.” He endured the pain. “But do you know about Lady Ye’s illness?”

He Xian was full of concern, crouching down, unsure what to do. “I know. Sometimes she feels hot, sometimes cold.”

“I’m her brother, and I have the same illness. Right now… I feel very cold. You know how serious it can be.”

“Oh no, what should I do? I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault—I made you sick!”

He Xian was suddenly frantic, unsure what to do. Thunder rumbled overhead, and rain poured down in a sudden torrent, the chill making things even harder.

What now? Gu Yi shivered (from pain), and here they were in a stone grotto, outside a downpour, with nothing to light a fire!

The young girl crouched and touched Gu Yi’s palm. “You’re so cold!”

Of course—

The ground was covered in stone.

If you touch it, you’re cold too!

“It’s… it’s fine. I can bear it.”

“Tsk, oh dear…” He Xian spun in place, then as if making up her mind, said, “This is all I can do. When you go back, explain to your sweetheart that I only did this to save you.”

She bit her lip a few times, hesitated, then finally opened her arms and wrapped Gu Yi in a full embrace, pressing his head to her neck, skin to skin, leaving not an inch between them.

Gu Yi had never felt more like a scoundrel!

“Do you feel a bit better?” He Xian asked, cheeks burning.

“I do. In fact, you’ve saved me three times now—once on Little Yuan Mountain, once in the Technique Pavilion, and now in this nameless cave.”

“Don’t say that, I just accidentally kicked your weak spot and made you suffer the chill illness.”

Outside, the rain beat down in waves, pooling in the shallow hollow at the cave’s mouth, droplets dripping from the stone wall. In this setting, a young girl held Gu Yi close.

“How could I ever blame you? My life is yours—saved by you. I know the debt of a drop of water should be repaid in torrents. Though I’m from a poor family, I do understand honor.”

He Xian felt a surge of admiration. “You’re willing to give your life for the one you love—that’s true feeling. And to repay my kindness—that’s true honor. In this world, there are still men of feeling and honor.”

What a pity…

She thought silently: What a pity that such a good man already loves someone else.

So she hugged him tighter, though the closer she held, the more she felt… he wasn’t so cold after all; his body was actually quite warm.

She touched his forehead and was delighted. “You’re hot! You’re much better now!”

Gu Yi knew he couldn’t keep up the act; a bit of mischief was enough. He slowly sat up. “Much better, much better. This illness just makes you cold one moment, hot the next.”

How wonderful—this excuse was flawless.

Time to get to work.

He patted his backside and glanced outside. Rain poured, the scent of earth rising. “This is really a downpour. Let’s wait a bit longer, and soon we can set out.”

There was still some preparation to do.

He needed to write a protective talisman for He Xian, shielding her from the rain.

Actually, spiritual talismans often revolve around weapons, but in some sense, they can protect the body as well.

Gu Yi, now at the Meditation realm, moved his hands, light flickering with every gesture…

“What’s that?” He Xian asked.

“Look at these leaves. When they fall into the water, they don’t dissolve.” Gu Yi used his spiritual energy to pick up a leaf. “That’s because they contain cellulose—a high-molecular compound—with many hydroxyl groups. Because of intramolecular hydrogen bonds, their water solubility is reduced.”

He Xian was instantly dumbfounded.

“I always thought you never lied to me, but this sentence—are you lying?”

Gu Yi: “…”

It was a random answer, but honestly, this one wasn’t a lie.

Cellulose really doesn’t dissolve in water for that reason.

Forget it.

Anyway, surrounding her body, Gu Yi drew a shield in the shape of leaves, faintly glowing, protecting her from the rain.

Next, they would leave the cave, head toward the lakeside under the Bridge of Returning Immortals they’d just passed, and the adventure would begin…

…