At this moment, Yuchi Mengxing and Youqin Jingheng were hiding inside the nest of a Scarlet Flame Dove.
After being tossed from one magical beast’s territory to another five times in a row, the two of them had finally found themselves somewhere that was, for the moment at least, relatively quiet.
Unfortunately— it was still a magical beast’s nest.
The enormous nest was hidden inside a rocky hollow and built from thick branches, dried vines, and strange crimson leaves.
Faint traces of fire-element spiritual energy lingered in the air, making the temperature inside noticeably warmer than outside.
And right in the middle of the nest sat several enormous eggs.
Each one was bigger than either of them.
The eggshells were completely crimson, almost as though they had been carved from red jade.
Faint patterns covered their surfaces, and every now and then, a weak pulse of warm spiritual energy radiated from within.
Yuchi Mengxing stared at the eggs.
Youqin Jingheng stared at the eggs.
Then the two slowly looked at each other.
“…” “…” Neither of them spoke.
After everything they had been through today, there really wasn’t much left to say.
At least— the mother Scarlet Flame Dove wasn’t here.
That alone was enough to make Yuchi Mengxing feel like kneeling down and thanking the heavens.
For once, they had teleported into a magical beast’s nest without immediately finding its owner waiting for them.
What a miracle.
A genuine miracle!
Still, Yuchi Mengxing didn’t dare relax.
Who knew when the mother Scarlet Flame Dove would return?
If it came back and discovered two strange humans sitting beside its eggs…
Yuchi Mengxing didn’t even want to imagine what would happen.
She had already used up all her Thunder Explosion Talismans.
She had only one Teleportation Talisman left.
At this point, she couldn’t afford another fight.
After hesitating for a moment, Yuchi Mengxing gritted her teeth and pulled out another talisman.
A Concealment Talisman.
She stared at it for a moment, clearly reluctant to use it.
Every talisman she had left was precious now.
Using one meant having one less chance to save her life later.
But after glancing at the enormous crimson eggs surrounding them, she finally hardened her heart.
There was no choice.
Better to use one now than have the mother bird return, smell them immediately, and tear them apart.
Yuchi Mengxing activated the talisman.
A faint ripple of spiritual energy spread outward and quickly enveloped both of them.
Their presence gradually faded, and even the traces of their aura were suppressed as much as possible.
Only then did Yuchi Mengxing finally let out a small breath.
Another talisman gone.
Her heart hurt.
It really, really hurt.
She had spent so much time drawing these things!
And today, they were disappearing faster than water poured onto sand.
Yuchi Mengxing was beginning to suspect that if this continued, she would leave the inner region with nothing but an empty bag.
No.
At this rate, whether she could even leave was still a question.
Just as she was silently mourning her rapidly disappearing possessions, she heard a rough breath beside her.
“Hah…” “Hah…” Yuchi Mengxing turned her head.
Only then did she notice that Youqin Jingheng’s condition had become much worse.
His face was deathly pale.
Cold sweat covered his forehead, and even his lips had lost most of their color.
One hand was pressed tightly against his abdomen.
Blood had already soaked through his torn clothes beneath his palm.
Fresh red continued to seep between his fingers.
Drop by drop.
Youqin Jingheng’s breathing was heavy and uneven, and his body swayed slightly even though he was sitting down.
The wound had come from his earlier fight with the Demon-Winged Toad.
At the time, he had been too busy fighting for his life to properly treat it.
Then, before he could even catch his breath, Yuchi Mengxing had dragged him through one teleportation after another.
Wolf territory.
Another beast’s lair.
Another escape.
Another teleportation.
Five times in a row.
Even someone in perfect condition would have been exhausted after all that, much less someone who had already been badly injured.
Now that they had finally stopped moving, all the injuries he had been forcing himself to ignore seemed to flare up at once.
Yuchi Mengxing stared at him.
“…” She really didn’t want to care.
Seriously.
She didn’t.
She had already done enough!
She had given him pills.
Used talismans.
Dragged him along while escaping.
Blown up magical beasts for him.
And wasted half her possessions just keeping the two of them alive.
Wasn’t that enough?!
Besides, this whole mess had started because he had grabbed onto her during the first teleportation!
If he hadn’t grabbed her— would she have ended up in the poisonous swamp?
Would she have met that disgusting flying toad?
Would she have burned through so many Thunder Explosion Talismans?
Would she now be hiding beside several gigantic bird eggs, praying their mother didn’t suddenly come home?!
The more Yuchi Mengxing thought about it, the more annoyed she became.
So— she wasn’t going to care.
Absolutely not.
She turned her head away.
A few seconds passed.
“Hah…” Another weak breath came from beside her.
Yuchi Mengxing’s eyelid twitched.
Don’t listen.
Not her problem.
She stared firmly at the wall of the nest.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Youqin Jingheng’s body sway.
He nearly collapsed sideways.
“…” Yuchi Mengxing closed her eyes.
Her jaw tightened.
A vein throbbed at her temple.
Finally— she snapped.
“Seriously, I must owe you from my past life!” She reached into her robes with an irritated expression and pulled out a small porcelain bottle.
Her movements were rough enough to make it clear exactly how unhappy she was about this.
She uncorked the bottle.
Tilted it.
Two round medicinal pills rolled into her palm.
Yuchi Mengxing stared at them.
Her heart immediately began bleeding again.
Two more!
These were pills!
Not beans!
Every single one cost ingredients!
Every single one took effort to refine!
Yet today, she was handing them out as though she ran a charity!
Yuchi Mengxing’s face grew darker by the second.
Youqin Jingheng, meanwhile, was still pressing a hand against his wound and seemed too exhausted to notice the danger approaching.
So Yuchi Mengxing simply reached over.
Grabbed his chin.
And squeezed.
Youqin Jingheng’s eyes widened.
“Hm—?!” Before he could react, Yuchi Mengxing shoved both pills straight into his mouth.
“Swallow!” Her voice was cold and fierce, as though she were threatening him rather than saving his life.
Youqin Jingheng stared at her.
Yuchi Mengxing glared back.
“What are you looking at?” “Swallow them!” “…” Youqin Jingheng obediently swallowed.
The pills slid down his throat, and a warm medicinal current quickly spread through his body.
Only then did he realize what she had given him.
His expression changed slightly.
He looked at Yuchi Mengxing again.
She was sitting there with her face dark, lips pressed together, looking as though someone had just stolen a mountain of gold from her.
Youqin Jingheng suddenly felt inexplicably guilty.
Especially when he remembered how many pills and talismans she had already used because of him.
“…” Perhaps— it would be wiser not to provoke her right now.
Without another word, he obediently sat cross-legged.
Straightened his posture.
Closed his eyes.
And began circulating his spiritual energy to heal his wounds.
Even his breathing became quieter.
Very quiet.
As though breathing too loudly might cause Yuchi Mengxing to explode before the Thunder Explosion Talismans ever could.
Yuchi Mengxing glanced at him.
At least he knew how to behave.
She rolled her eyes and finally stopped paying attention to him.
But she didn’t rest.
She couldn’t.
There was something far more important she needed to do.
Count her remaining supplies.
Yuchi Mengxing immediately pulled out all the talismans she had left and spread them across her lap one by one.
One.
Two.
Three…
The more she counted, the worse her expression became.
Once upon a time, her bag had been packed with talismans.
A thick stack.
A reassuring stack.
A stack that had made her feel that no matter what kind of trouble she encountered, she could always throw a few talismans at it and run.
Now?
Yuchi Mengxing stared at the pitiful collection spread across her legs.
“…” Pitiful.
Absolutely pitiful.
She began sorting through them carefully.
How many could still be used?
How many could save her life?
How many times could she still escape?
How many times could she still create an opening if they ran into another magical beast?
The more she counted, the more anxious she became.
There were barely any useful talismans left.
Her Thunder Explosion Talismans were completely gone.
Her Teleportation Talismans— only one remained.
And now she had just used another Concealment Talisman.
Yuchi Mengxing’s fingers paused over the remaining talismans.
Her heart sank lower and lower.
Originally, she had planned to stay in the inner region for several more days.
After all, it wasn’t easy to come this deep into the mountains.
Since she was already here, she had naturally wanted to search around, gather some useful things, and maybe make a nice little profit before leaving.
But now?
Profit?
What profit?!
She was practically going bankrupt just trying to stay alive!
Her life-saving supplies were nearly gone.
Her Thunder Explosion Talismans had been completely exhausted.
She had only one Teleportation Talisman left.
And on top of all that— Yuchi Mengxing slowly turned her head.
Her gaze landed on Youqin Jingheng, who was sitting cross-legged nearby with his eyes closed, quietly healing.
“…” She still had to drag around this whole living person.
Yuchi Mengxing’s eyelid twitched.
She looked back down at the pitiful number of talismans on her lap.
Then at Youqin Jingheng.
Then back at the talismans.
Her expression gradually became hopeless.
How was she supposed to keep playing this game?!