Chapter 160: Chapter 159: The lting of a Fragrant Heart
Finally, as they neared the bottom of the abyss, Ye Fan made his move, trying to use the nearby trees to find a foothold. However, the surroundings were completely bare, offering nothing to grab onto. The pull of inertia was too strong, and with a thud, the two of them slamd into the ground.
When dawn broke, Shangguan Qiuyue lifted her head. The harsh sunlight made her feel dizzy. She was disheveled, a far cry from her usual imposing bearing.
"Am I dead?" she asked, full of doubt.
She felt as if she had arrived in Heaven. Aside from a dizzy spell, she felt no pain, even though she distinctly rembered plunging from the top of the canyon with Ye Fan. It seed impossible to have escaped completely unhard.
She felt sothing soft and warm beneath her. Looking down, she realized it was Ye Fan.
"King of Heaven, what’s wrong? Wake up!" Shangguan Qiuyue urged.
But Ye Fan remained completely motionless. Fear, tinged with desperation, washed over her, and she began to cry. She shook him forcefully, trying to jolt him back to consciousness.
At that mont, Ye Fan’s eyes fluttered open. "Stop shaking ," he mumbled. "I’m still alive."
Shangguan Qiuyue was overjoyed. Though her face was streaked with dirt and tears, she felt deeply touched. It was strange—before the great battle, she had been plotting ways to give Ye Fan a hard ti, but now, that thought had vanished completely.
"Are you all right?" she asked. "I’ll help you up, and we can leave together."
"No," Ye Fan said. "Several of my bones are broken. I can’t get up at all right now, but I have a self-healing ability. I just need about two days."
"All right," Shangguan Qiuyue said. "I’ll stay with you."
She now understood completely. At the most critical mont, Ye Fan had used his own body to shield her from the impact. Otherwise, she would have certainly died.
In truth, Ye Fan felt helpless as well. He could only bla himself for overestimating his Vajra Body, thinking he would be fine after the fall. Who would have thought that even he would suffer several broken bones? If not for his genetically enhanced self-healing ability, he would never have survived.
Shangguan Qiuyue struggled to drag Ye Fan under the shade of a large rock. The canyon was desolate and empty, strewn with loose rocks and overgrown with weeds.
Ye Fan managed to prop himself into a sitting position. He knew his condition was not good; it would take at least two more days before he could move normally again.
"I’ll find sothing to eat," Shangguan Qiuyue announced, getting up awkwardly to search for food. However, there was nothing edible in the vicinity, and she was at a loss. She had no wilderness survival training and had no idea where to even begin looking.
But Ye Fan noticed so vines at their feet. "Follow those vines and dig for the roots," he told her.
"Huh?"
Shangguan Qiuyue was puzzled, but she did as he said. She dug with great effort, and after about two hours, she finally unearthed two roots as thick as her arm. She brought them to Ye Fan, finding it hard to believe that sothing like this was edible.
"They’re wild roots," Ye Fan explained. "You can eat them, but they’re very bitter."
"This is edible?" Shangguan Qiuyue asked, still incredulous.
But when she saw Ye Fan eating with gusto, her doubts subsided. She took a bite herself, and an intensely bitter taste imdiately flooded her mouth. She spat it out instantly. She had to admit, she found it disgusting.
Ye Fan just laughed. "It’s bitter before it’s sweet."
And sure enough, a mont later, she tasted a faint sweetness in her mouth. It was a pleasant sensation. Shangguan Qiuyue realized the root wasn’t so bad after all, and she took a second bite.
"Is it good?" Ye Fan smiled warmly.
"Delicious!"
A sweet feeling spread through Shangguan Qiuyue. Ye Fan had always given her the impression of being cold and arrogant, soone unapproachable. But this single warm exchange made her feel as if a mountain of ice was lting.
At night, the temperature in the canyon plumted. Shangguan Qiuyue quickly gathered so dry weeds and wood, but then she was stumped. She hadn’t brought anything to start a fire.
"We can drill wood to make a fire," Ye Fan said.
"I don’t know how!" Shangguan Qiuyue admitted, lacking confidence.
"I’ll teach you."
Ye Fan shifted his body closer to her. He picked up a stick and, mimicking the ancient thod, began to drill it against another piece of wood.
About ten minutes later, he cried out and collapsed, utterly exhausted. This was truly no job for a human, especially not in his injured state. He simply couldn’t withstand such an effort.
Shangguan Qiuyue quickly took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the sweat from his face.
Ye Fan sighed. "This damn work isn’t for humans. I’m exhausted... this is killing ." The fire still wasn’t lit.
He sighed again, pulled out a cigarette, and then casually produced a lighter to light it. Seeing this, Shangguan Qiuyue was rendered completely speechless.
Just as her bewildered expression was about to turn into one of contempt, Ye Fan realized his blunder. He said awkwardly, "Ah, sorry about that. An accident, a complete accident!"
Soon, a campfire was crackling to life. Watching the dancing flas, Shangguan Qiuyue asked Ye Fan, "Weren’t you living on the African battlefield? What made you decide to co back to the Divine Land?"
"Life there might be free and easy, but nothing is as comforting as one’s holand," Ye Fan said with a quiet sigh.
Shangguan Qiuyue found that she couldn’t quite figure Ye Fan out. Even so, being this close to the man she admired filled her with a sense of blissful happiness.
"Will you go back to the African battlefield?" she asked.
"I might, or I might not. You know the rules of the underground world—we can’t take our lives for granted. We have to be prepared to fall at any ti," Ye Fan said.
"Is the underground world never peaceful?" Shangguan Qiuyue asked.
"No," Ye Fan replied. "The underground world will never know peace."
"I suppose so," Shangguan Qiuyue said. "Take the Sky Sword Sect, for example. My Shangguan family yielded ti and ti again, but they just kept pushing. That’s what led to this conflict."
"All of this was inevitable. So things are simply beyond our control," Ye Fan said, his eyes filled with a lost look. His hatred for the Divine Dragon had never diminished, but the Divine Dragon was simply too powerful. Even as a king in the underground world, he was nothing before the Divine Dragon. The gap between them was not sothing that could be bridged by the Heavenly King Hall or the King Hall.
At that mont, Shangguan Qiuyue snuggled into Ye Fan’s arms and asked, "Do you think I’m a very scheming woman?"
"You certainly are full of sches," Ye Fan said with a smile. "But it’s understandable. After all, you’re not just shouldering your own fate, but that of your entire Shangguan family."
Shangguan Qiuyue’s scheming was indeed formidable. Without it, she would be just another vulnerable young woman. And it is young won who are most easily hurt, so her sches were also a way to protect herself and her family.
Shangguan Qiuyue was happy. At least she hadn’t made a bad impression on Ye Fan. Then, she leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss.
I’m not that kind of man, Ye Fan wanted to say. But for so reason, a part of him hoped she wouldn’t stop.
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