"Hoo..."
Wan Yunting, cross-legged on a rock, slowly exhaled. His eyes opened, and two sharp beams of light shot out. His face was ruddy and his spirit refreshed. After a night of cultivating and healing, his internal injuries had greatly improved, and his dantian's qi had recovered to eighty percent. This was all thanks to dual cultivation with Zheng Rong last night.
"Brother Yunting, you're done practicing. Hurry up and wash up, breakfast is ready."
Gu Luotang, who had returned with Lu Xiaodie, immediately handed Wan Yunting a toothbrush and a cup as she saw him jump off the rock. Wan Yunting smiled and said, "Thank you..."
While he brushed his teeth, Gu Luotang held a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow, asking, "You're covered in sweat. Do you want to take a shower?"
"No need, I still need to sort through things inside later..."
After brushing his teeth, Wan Yunting handed the toothbrush and cup back to Gu Luotang and washed his face with a towel. Lu Xiaodie called out from the side, "Yunting, come quickly, breakfast is ready..."
"Coming..."
Wan Yunting walked over with Gu Luotang. Qi Miaomiao, Duan Yingying, and Chen Qiuyun were each sitting on stones, holding their bowls and chopsticks, eating wild vegetable porridge with preserved meat added, which looked appetizing.
Lu Xiaodie poured him a bowl. Wan Yunting took a bite and praised, "As expected of Sister Chen's cooking, it's delicious..."
Chen Qiuyun, sitting by the stove, silently ate her porridge...
Zheng Rong, sitting next to Lu Xiaodie, had a blush on her cheeks and was quietly eating her porridge with her head down, not daring to look at him.
Wan Yunting also glanced at her briefly. Knowing that Senior Sister Zheng was shy and embarrassed, he didn't mention anything about last night. He said, "After we finish eating, we'll start clearing out the useless things in the cave dwelling. We need to clean everything up before we can live here."
"Okay..."
The women nodded and smiled. After breakfast, everyone entered the cave dwelling to work.
Wan Yunting first cleared out the useless and broken furniture from the living room of the cave dwelling. Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and the others rolled up their sleeves and started cleaning the living room with simple brooms made of branches...
Wan Yunting saw the rabbit holes and mouse holes and immediately blocked them all with dirt, then sealed them completely with suitable stones to prevent the wild rabbits from digging again...
Just tidying up the living room of the cave dwelling took an entire morning. Everyone was tired and sweating. Chen Qiuyun prepared lunch outside, and after they finished eating, they started tidying the bedroom inside the cave dwelling, clearing out the collapsed bed and discarding it outside in the grass.
Wan Yunting took Lu Xiaodie and Zheng Rong to seal the rabbit and mouse holes again. Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, Duan Yingying, and Chen Qiuyun were responsible for cleaning and sprinkling water to clear the dust...
"Hoo, finally finished organizing..."
They worked until four in the afternoon, and with everyone's concerted effort, they finally cleaned and tidied up the bedroom and living room of the cave dwelling. As for the secret room, because it was a sealed space with stone walls, the rabbits and mice couldn't dig through it. The secret room only needed dusting.
"I really want to jump in and take a bath..."
Qi Miaomiao and Duan Yingying, soaked in sweat, looked at the hot spring pool and wanted to jump in to wash themselves.
"No, this is drinking water. I'll get water for you to bathe."
Wan Yunting looked at the six women, all dirty and sweaty. Gu Luotang's wet hair was sticking to her flushed forehead. Wan Yunting gently and meticulously brushed her hair aside.
"Where do we bathe? Inside?"
Lu Xiaodie asked doubtfully. Duan Yingying and Zheng Rong looked around. There was indeed no suitable place for them to bathe.
"You all rest. I'll get you a bathroom right away..."
Saying that, Wan Yunting opened a backpack and took out a dark green canvas. He chose a spot next to the hot spring pool, used wood for support, and set up a simple open-air bathroom that was one meter sixty high.
"Brother Yunting is amazing..."
This made Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and the others clap happily, looking at Wan Yunting with admiration.
Lu Xiaodie and Zheng Rong couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. But Duan Yingying asked, "What about when we need to use the toilet? Do we have to do it in there? How would that be handled?"
"You can't go number two in there. If you need to, go to the grass far away," Wan Yunting said with a mischievous smile.
This made Lu Xiaodie roll her eyes and laugh, "Little brother, you're so mischievous. Are you thinking of peeking when we go to the toilet?"
Wan Yunting rolled his eyes speechlessly and said, "Am I that kind of vulgar person?"
"Pfft..."
This made Gu Luotang and Lu Xiaodie laugh out loud, giving him affectionate glances and nodding, "Yes, you're not the sneaky type, you're the open type!"
This remark made Gu Luotang, Duan Yingying, and Zheng Rong's expressions a little awkward and unnatural. Only Chen Qiuyun, who was silently cooking dinner by the earthen stove, didn't join their conversation...
However, Wan Yunting couldn't let the girls go behind the grass to relieve themselves. Being thoughtful, he cleared out a spot nearby, dug a pit, and set up an outhouse, which made things much more convenient.
Watching the women take turns bathing in the open-air canvas bathroom, the tall Lu Xiaodie could even show her neck, while Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, and the others only showed half of their heads. But listening to the splashing sounds of their bathwater made Wan Yunting's heart itch.
However, he suppressed his desires and sat by Chen Qiuyun at the earthen stove, asking, "Sister Qiuyun, is there anything I can do to help?"
Chen Qiuyun, who hadn't bathed yet, was preparing dinner for everyone. Her expressionless face spoke in a flat tone, "No need."
Seeing her silently cooking for everyone, Wan Yunting nodded and smiled, "Thank you for your hard work."
But Chen Qiuyun remained unmoved, continuing to stir-fry the preserved meat with wild vegetables in the wok. Another earthen stove was steaming rice, and there was also a vegetable soup. It seemed like dinner tonight would be very rich...
Seeing Chen Qiuyun's silence, Wan Yunting changed the subject and asked, "By the way, did you find any inspiration from that book on charm techniques?"
Chen Qiuyun shook her head slightly and said, "There are many things in it that I don't understand."
"Give it to me, let me see."
Wan Yunting reached out, and Chen Qiuyun handed him the secret manual on charm techniques. Wan Yunting flipped through it and asked her about the parts she didn't understand, and he explained them to her in detail.
Meanwhile, Gu Luotang, Qi Miaomiao, Duan Yingying, and Lu Xiaodie, after bathing, were picking flowers near the valley floor to decorate the cave dwelling. They were also spraying deodorant and air freshener inside to remove the unpleasant smell of animal droppings...
After doing this, the smell inside the cave dwelling was much better, and the women were no longer so resistant. Then they started discussing sleeping arrangements.
Although there was only one bed inside, it had been cleared out. Therefore, Gu Luotang, Lu Xiaodie, and the others could only sleep on mats on the floor or perhaps in sleeping bags.
Outside, Wan Yunting sat next to Chen Qiuyun, constantly explaining the parts of the charm techniques she didn't understand. Chen Qiuyun's hands were busy cooking. It wasn't until Zheng Rong finished bathing and came out wearing a long, thin white gauze nightgown, her wet long hair falling loosely. She was constantly wiping herself with a towel, but when she saw Wan Yunting, Zheng Rong's cheeks turned red.
She hadn't dared to speak to Wan Yunting all day, not even daring to meet his gaze, because the memory of last night made Zheng Rong so shy and embarrassed that she wanted to run away.
However, at this moment, she gathered her courage and called out to Wan Yunting from a distance, "Yunting, do you... do you want to take a bath?"
Wan Yunting, who was explaining the charm techniques to Chen Qiuyun, was interrupted by her voice. He turned to look at Zheng Rong and nodded with a smile, "I will."
Zheng Rong didn't dare to meet his gaze and quickly looked away. "Then I'll fetch water for you..."
Wan Yunting stood up, put down the charm techniques, and quickly walked over, taking the bucket from Zheng Rong's hand. "I'll do it myself."
When his hand touched hers, Zheng Rong trembled as if electrified and quickly stepped back. However, due to her haste and the water on the ground, she slipped...
"Be careful..."
Wan Yunting's eyes were quick, and his hand reached out to embrace Zheng Rong's slender and supple waist, holding her steady so she wouldn't fall...
Their eyes met. Zheng Rong's eyes were dazed. Held by him, her body was tense and stiff, and her mind went blank for a moment.
Wan Yunting was a little better, but remembering the dual cultivation with Zheng Rong last night, and seeing her cheeks gradually blush and her beautiful eyes dazed, he suddenly realized that Zheng Rong had another kind of beauty.
Chen Qiuyun, who was cooking dinner over there, saw this scene. She didn't show any expression and continued to cook dinner...
"Senior Sister Zheng, are you alright?" Wan Yunting asked.
Zheng Rong instantly came back to her senses, her face flushed, her eyes panicked. She struggled to get up, and Wan Yunting exerted force with his arm to help her stand steady. Zheng Rong was shy like a young girl, her voice as quiet as a mosquito, "I... I'm fine..."
Seeing Zheng Rong like this, Wan Yunting was amused. He suddenly said with ill intent, "Senior Sister Zheng, your waist is very soft!"
This remark made Zheng Rong's flushed pretty face freeze. She looked up at him, and her expression immediately became stiff again.
"Hahaha..."
Seeing Zheng Rong's dazed and cute expression, Wan Yunting finally couldn't help but laugh.
Zheng Rong, having recovered, was overwhelmingly shy and turned to run away.
Wan Yunting shook his head with a smile, picked up the canvas bucket, and went to the hot spring pool to fetch a bucket of water. He carried it to the open-air bathroom and poured it into another larger canvas bucket. After carrying three buckets of water, enough for a bath, he started to undress and bathe. However, he forgot to get his clothes. He looked back and saw that Gu Luotang and the others were inside the cave dwelling, and only Chen Qiuyun was outside cooking.
Wan Yunting had no choice but to call out, "Sister Qiuyun, can you help me get my clothes?"
Chen Qiuyun turned her head and looked at him calmly, saying, "I'm stir-frying, I can't leave."
Wan Yunting was speechless and asked, "How much longer until it's ready?"
Chen Qiuyun, who was stir-frying, replied, "Three minutes. If you can't wait, you can come out yourself..."
...Wan Yunting was speechless and rolled his eyes, saying, "You don't mind?"
Chen Qiuyun didn't speak, but Wan Yunting was incredibly frustrated. She didn't mind, but he did...
In the end, Wan Yunting went out wearing his dirty pants, took out a pair of shorts from his backpack, and went back to change...