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墨書 Inktalez
As autumn arrived, the darkness fell particularly quickly, and before long, the colors faded. With the dimming light, the temperature dropped as well. I held a bowl in my hands and took a comfortable sip of porridge; it was warm and incredibly soothing.
"By the way," Xia Liyi said after finishing half a piece of Rice Cake and a bowl of Rice Porridge, pulling out a bag she had been holding earlier. "This is for you."
"What is it?" I asked curiously while opening the bag.
"It's all about reciprocity; just open it and you'll find out," Xia Liyi teased.
"Why so mysterious?" I laughed as I opened the bag, only to find myself hugging the nearest tree and retching at the sight of a package of Mealworms—alive!
I wasn't afraid of corpses or ghosts at all, nor did I feel disgusted by them. However, when it came to something that was gross yet could be considered food, I chose to keep my distance. I could tolerate many things, but not food.
"What are you afraid of?" Xia Liyi grabbed five or six Mealworms, closed her eyes, and popped them into her mouth. "These are high in protein; although they don't taste great, they're the best source of protein when we're out here."
Watching Xia Liyi eat the worms made me gag again, and I clung to the tree as I threw up.
"Please, for the love of all that's holy, put away your treasures! I really can't handle this," I said weakly, clutching my stomach. I maintained a distance of over two meters from Xia Liyi.
"Just give it a try; it's not bad," she insisted, offering me a worm again.
"No thanks, I'm a monk; I eat vegetarian," I replied while trying to suppress my nausea.
"A monk? Can't tell at all," Xia Liyi said as she finally put away the Mealworms. "You're a grown man; why are you afraid of worms?"
"I'm not afraid of worms, but just don't let me think about them as food. Keep that thing away from me."
Xia Liyi tucked the bag away and continued sipping her porridge. Still shaken, I sat down and picked up my bowl again, but no matter what, my appetite was gone—just thinking about those wriggling Mealworms made me feel sick.
The atmosphere became quite awkward as we sat across from each other with our bowls in hand, silently sipping our porridge.
At that moment, we heard some rustling sounds from inside our tent; someone must have stepped out. Then we heard footsteps getting closer. Xia Liyi and I quickly lowered our voices as if we were thieves. However, the person who came out eventually walked over and bumped right into me face-to-face.
Lin Zhao walked into the woods behind the tent with a dark expression, as if he hadn't seen me and Xia Liyi.
"Wow~" It seemed Lin Zhao had come out to relieve himself. It was tough for him to pretend not to see us, but to be fair, Xia Liyi and I did look quite strange at that moment.
Lin Zhao didn't say anything and returned to the tent with a frown. Before leaving, he quietly made a hand gesture to me, which was a military sign for 'stay safe.'
I knew what this safety meant, but seriously? What’s the point? I thought angrily.
"Um, did your captain misunderstand something?" Xia Liyi asked with a flushed face.
She must have seen the gesture Lin Zhao made towards me.
"You don't need to mind him; he's just a simple-minded guy," I explained, rubbing my forehead in frustration.
"Is that so?" Xia Liyi looked at me playfully. "I heard you beat up Wu Zhishang. Aren't you the same?"
"I'm not simple-minded."
"True."
With Lin Zhao stirring things up, Xia Liyi and I quickly finished our porridge and returned to our respective tents.
"Wow, that was quick? You don't last long, do you?" As soon as I entered, Lin Zhao teased. "The girl seems nice; good eye, huh? You hooked up so fast."
"Get lost." I kicked at him. The other team members looked like they wanted to laugh but held it in. I shot them a fierce glare. "If you want to laugh, just laugh! Holding it in will make you explode!"
"Hahaha," the laughter was deafening, as if it could lift the tent. I thought to myself, let them laugh; just wait until I take away ten years of their lifespan!
After joking around with my teammates for a while, I quickly went to sleep. Tonight, Lin Zhao and I were taking turns keeping watch. I was on duty for the second half of the night, so I went to bed early. Before I fell asleep, Lin Zhao even snatched a few buns from me for a Late Night Snack. It didn't matter; I had brought five whole trays of steamed buns, enough to last through a Saturday.
I put on my Azure Robe, tied a Spell Seal, and began to cultivate and rest. Although I could now cultivate while sleeping, I still preferred to use cultivation in place of sleep. This way, if anything happened, I would wake up quickly and be ready to respond immediately. Besides, I had been frightened by a few dreams.
I don't know how long it had been when Lin Zhao woke me up. I expelled a mouthful of Impurity, stretched my somewhat stiff body, and walked outside the tent.
I didn't take off my Daoist Robe because it was still quite cold and damp in the mountains at night. The campfire outside had long since gone out, leaving no warmth behind. Next to the fire pit were two already cooked buns that had gone cold and started to harden. I broke the buns into pieces with my hands, then took out the Rice Porridge that I hadn't finished drinking the night before. Using a half-finished Fire Talisman, I heated it up and tossed the buns in to soften them.
I waved over my brother from the Scout team, and the three of us gathered around to finish off the Rice Porridge, finding some comfort in this long night.
Since we had to set up the tent, the trees in this area had been cut down, allowing us to see the stars without any leaves blocking our view.
Even in a Taoist temple, the stars weren't as bright as they were here. Many times, I loved watching the stars. However, later on, due to my cultivation practice, I started early every morning and had fewer opportunities to see them.
One Mid-Autumn festival, my master taught me about astrology. At that time, I didn't understand much; I was too busy eating mooncakes and didn't remember much of what he said. Looking back now, it's quite regrettable. But where is my master now? I wonder when I'll be able to see him again.
I glanced at the clock; it was almost dawn.
"Rip!" Zhang Fan lifted the tent flap and walked up to me.
"What do you want?" I looked at him curiously.
"You think you're so special just because you have no human form? I've been holding this in for a long time! You won't need to call for help today; I'm going to say this last sentence: If you burn my rabbit again, I'll curse your ancestors for eight generations!" With that, Zhang Fan exhaled sharply and returned to the tent, leaving me standing there in disarray in the wind.
No wonder he has been deliberately avoiding me today. He still remembers what I said. I was just joking with him, but I didn't expect him to take it seriously. He must have kept that line to scold me.
A flash of fire shot into the sky, accompanied by a howling sound that exploded in mid-air.
I immediately stood up. That was the signal from the Ritual Platform's Scout. This is bad! Something happened at the Ritual Platform?
I woke Lin Zhao and quickly activated Wind Walk, rushing toward the direction of the Ritual Platform.
I hurried as fast as I could, but by the time I reached the Ritual Platform, it was already too late. As I activated Wind Walk, I also opened my Spiritual Sight, so I saw that our Scout left at the Ritual Platform was already unconscious.
I landed beside the two Scouts and checked their breathing; they were still alive but breathing irregularly and felt hot all over, as if they had been poisoned.
I had them sit cross-legged and sat opposite them myself, placing my hands on their foreheads and slowly channeling my mana into them. I wasn't sure if they were poisoned or suffering from something else, so I dared not act recklessly and could only test with my mana first.
Once my mana entered their Lungs, it encountered an obstruction. Using Spiritual Sight, I saw that their Lungs had turned completely black; it seemed they had been eroded by toxic gas.
Now that I knew the problem, I could administer treatment.
The Azure Flame in my Dantian surged suddenly, igniting the mana injected into their bodies and enveloping their Lungs.
The Azure Flame was not a physical fire but a flame-like manifestation formed when mana condensed to a certain density and became difficult to control. I discovered by chance that my Azure Mana could be used to neutralize toxins when condensed to a certain extent.
With a sudden push of mana, I had never healed anyone like this before. Unable to control such a powerful flow of mana, it soon dissipated from their bodies, illuminating them in a green glow as if they were ignited by Ghost Fire.
The toxic gas had indeed entered their Lungs; if it had reached their Heart and brain, it would have been impossible to save them. So it was somewhat fortunate amidst misfortune. Before Lin Zhao and the others arrived, I managed to expel the toxic gas from their bodies, but they did not wake up immediately; instead, their heads drooped as they fell into complete shock.
It seemed that my input of mana was too strong for their bodies to handle; however, they should be out of immediate life-threatening danger.
I slowly withdrew my magic. Although I had expended quite a bit of it earlier, it wasn't a big problem for the Azure Flame in my Dantian; I just needed a little time to recover.
At that moment, Lin Zhao and the others arrived. Upon seeing the two people lying on the ground, Lin Zhao reached out and checked their necks. Feeling that they were still alive, he instructed the others to take them back.
"What happened?" Lin Zhao asked me.
I was the first to arrive, but I didn't know what had happened either.
"I don't know. They were already down when I got here. It seems they collapsed from poisoning."
"Poisoned?" Lin Zhao immediately panicked.
"Don't worry, they're fine." I pressed my hand on Lin Zhao's shoulder. "I've already detoxified them."
Lin Zhao finally relaxed.
"I'm not afraid of poison; I'll go check ahead." With the Azure Flame within me, any toxins that entered my body would be burned away, so it was more suitable for me to go in.
"Okay, just be careful. If anything happens to you, I'll take good care of your sister-in-law, so don't worry."
"Get lost!"
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