Chapter 1647: Chapter 1647
To gaze upon the mountain may tire the horse; moving towards the light, trying to leave, felt equally long. Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan almost jogged, running for several minutes before they stopped. Xu Shanshan clutched her chest and said, "Yifei, I can’t go on anymore. Let’s rest for a bit. You go ahead and check first. Be careful."
Li Yifei shook his head and sat down as well, saying, "No rush. If the exit is ahead, then there’s no need to rush. It won’t matter to wait a little while. You rest first, I’ll take a breather too."
The two sat down next to each other, their eyes aimed at the distant light. Their breathing was heavy; that short burst of running had truly exhausted their strength so much that now, even sitting still, they didn’t want to get up.
The sound of flowing water gushed continuously, remaining unending, while a vibrant sense of life permeated the air.
As Li Yifei watched, a sudden alertness rose in his heart. He realized that the place was filled with mysterious formations. They had already encountered two of them. Could this also be a formation ahead? Their bodies couldn’t withstand much more turmoil. If they didn’t quickly find food to replenish their strength and recover a bit, even if they escaped that cage, they might very well die here.
Thinking of this, Li Yifei glanced at Xu Shanshan beside him. His lips moved, but he didn’t voice his concern. Xu Shanshan was very tired now, her face flushed with an unhealthy red. If it weren’t for the light ahead sustaining her, she might have collapsed already. So, Li Yifei couldn’t say anything.
Xu Shanshan caught her breath for a while, regaining some energy but still leaning weakly on Li Yifei’s shoulder. She asked, "Yifei, what do you think lies ahead? Could there be sweet fruits like the ones we had before, red, full of juice with a bite, and very sweet and delicious..."
Li Yifei smiled and raised his sore arm, gently brushing Xu Shanshan’s forehead, smoothing her bangs.
Li Yifei softly said, "Yes, there definitely will be. There will be so many that we can’t finish them."
Xu Shanshan smirked, licking her lips, and said dreamily, "Then I must eat a lot. Umm, no, too much isn’t good either. If we eat too much, our stomachs might feel uncomfortable. So, just a little will do, to satisfy our craving, and we can carry some to eat slowly along the way."
"Okay, I’ll hold them for you," Li Yifei nodded.
Poor things, with lack of clothes, Li Yifei was fully bare, while Xu Shanshan wore only a small piece of underwear. Even if there were fruits ahead, they couldn’t take much with them, as their hands could only carry a few fruits.
The phrase "imagining plums to quench thirst" aptly described their situation. As Li Yifei thought about it, saliva filled his mouth, momentarily easing his thirst. Thıs content belongs to 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽
After resting a while, Xu Shanshan propped herself up with a stone and stood up, trying to pull Li Yifei along.
Li Yifei said not to worry, standing up on his own, and they continued hand in hand towards the light.
In his heart, Li Yifei kept on praying that it wouldn’t be a formation. In exchange for things going smoothly, he was willing to give up all his luck in romance, even if they couldn’t completely escape danger, at least none of the torturous illusions would torment them again. At the very least, a little food would suffice, having endured the despair-inducing formations in the temple.
They didn’t know how long they walked, just shuffling continuously, moving step by step, until they could go no further, pausing to rest and talk. By then, Li Yifei allowed his imagination to run wild, guessing with Xu Shanshan what the world outside the cave held.
Food they imagined ranged from wild berries to various fruits and to all kinds of cherished foods from before that they had liked so much they even ate them to excess.
Relying on such imaginative hope, Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan finally reached the cave entrance. Outside, a clear stream flowed past, its origin unknown, but it passed right in front of them. The current was slow, and the water was clear, only slightly more than a meter deep. Inside the stream were fish neither Li Yifei nor Xu Shanshan had seen before; their bodies were transparent, revealing their insides.
Such fish existed outside as well, but to see them grow to over a foot, or even two feet in length, was unprecedented for Li Yifei.
Although the stream was clear, whether it was toxic was uncertain. Yet, the swimming fish implied the water was likely safe; otherwise, the fish would have long perished. So, after a quick glance, Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan couldn’t resist bending over by the stream, scooping water with their hands, and gulping down big mouthfuls.
Li Yifei pulled Xu Shanshan back, preventing her from drinking more. When people are extremely hungry and come across water, they might feel the urge to drink excessively, trying to fill their stomachs that way. Understanding Xu Shanshan’s puzzled look, Li Yifei explained, "Drink less. There are many delicious things waiting for us ahead. We shouldn’t get too full; we might not be able to eat later!"
This explanation resonated with Xu Shanshan, who nodded vigorously, saying, "You’re right, I should definitely drink less!"
"Hmm, alright, let’s see what’s around us," said Li Yifei.
After drinking a few sips of sweet spring water, the two of them regained a bit of strength. Although not much, having come this far already filled them with hope, especially with the temptation of the delicious fruit juice, which gave them more fighting spirit.
The stream wasn’t deep, and they weren’t planning to wade across right now. Instead, they followed the upstream path; it was a valley. Although it didn’t look big, given their physical condition, it would take a long time to explore fully. So, after a while, they decided to cross the stream. Li Yifei was the first to get into the water; the temperature was just right, neither hot nor cold. If not for the thought of picking fruit from the forest ahead, Li Yifei would have considered taking a bath, humming a few off-key tunes, and enjoying the sight of the transparent fish. It would be quite an experience.
However, resolving their hunger was the priority, so once he confirmed the water was safe, he reached out to help Xu Shanshan into the stream. They both waded through slowly, and after getting to the other side, Xu Shanshan looked back longingly at the spot where they drank the sweet water.
Years later, Xu Shanshan might still remember this feeling. No matter how much bottled water she drank afterward, it would be hard to replicate that sweetness.
What truly made Li Yifei and Xu Shanshan leap with joy, almost to tears, was the find in the woods across the stream. Cautiously stepping inside, Li Yifei, low on energy to detect any danger, walked slowly further in. Suddenly, his heart raced, and he couldn’t help but call out to Shanshan outside the woods, "Shanshan, come quickly, there are fruits here, lots of them! So many!"
Hearing this, Xu Shanshan responded quickly, running in with eyes widening at the sight of the fruits. In joy, Xu Shanshan exclaimed, "There really are... so many fruits! Wuwuwu, Yifei, we... we won’t go hungry anymore!"
Not going hungry was something that tugged at Li Yifei’s heart, too. He swiftly picked up a bunch of bananas, peeled two for her, and said, "Eat slowly, we have plenty of time to eat."
Xu Shanshan took the banana and immediately shoved it into her mouth. A single bite was enough for the overwhelming sweetness to hit, the distinctive fragrance of the banana enticing her taste buds. Without even chewing, Xu Shanshan swallowed it whole.
"Slow down, slow down, don’t choke. Here, eat this with it!" Li Yifei handed Xu Shanshan a mango, larger than his palm, giving off a tempting aroma that tantalized the palate.
Xu Shanshan nodded vigorously and said, "You eat too, you eat too, don’t worry about me."
Li Yifei chuckled and, after peeling a banana, devoured it in two bites. He cautioned Xu Shanshan to eat slowly to avoid choking, but he couldn’t help himself and ate quickly, almost swallowing everything whole.
If only he had the wide mouth of a crocodile now, he thought, to gulp down a bunch of fruits all at once, that would be quite satisfying.
Over ten minutes later, both of them finally stopped. Having an empty stomach for so long, they shouldn’t have eaten that much as it could upset their stomach, but they ignored this concern. Filling themselves was the priority, and any issues could be dealt with later.
"Here, have a sip of this to help the food go down, then we’ll rest and digest," said Li Yifei as he handed over a small fruit, the juice within deliciously sweet. He had earlier eaten dozens, and the juice, traveling down the throat, brought a refreshing sensation, and his energy seemed to revive rapidly.
Having eaten, the two of them sat down right there in meditation, using True Qi to digest the food in their stomachs.
After five minutes, Xu Shanshan couldn’t hold it and opened her eyes, clutching her stomach, she told Li Yifei, still meditating, "My stomach hurts, I need to go relieve myself," and hurriedly ran away, stopping behind a large tree dozens of meters away to squat down.
A minute later, Li Yifei also suddenly opened his eyes, clutching his stomach, and ran off in the opposite direction, mirroring Xu Shanshan’s actions.
The fruits they ate had high sugar content, which quickly replenished energy, but when True Qi was used to digest, it acted very fast, forcing them both to rush and expel.
Luckily, they were far enough apart that the odor didn’t reach them; otherwise, the fragrance of the fresh fruits would have been spoiled.
A few minutes later, Xu Shanshan, holding her stomach, returned sheepishly, followed closely by Li Yifei.
They exchanged smiles, unembarrassed. Looking at the pile of fruits, Li Yifei smacked his lips, picking up a large melon, and gave half of it to Xu Shanshan, saying, "Alright, let’s continue, this stuff boosts energy quickly. We’ll eat again, digest, and then we’ll recover our strength."
"Mmhmm!" Xu Shanshan nodded eagerly, eyes gleaming at the heap of fruits before her.