Chapter 36: The Calmness of Zhongshan

Tianling'er watched in horror. How could this happen? How could this happen?

Zhongshan didn't want to die. He really didn't want to die. After all the hardships of cultivation, was he going to die here? But the rocks above were shifting, as if in a moment, they would both fall together.

"Ling'er, use the Red Silk to fly, then hit me towards the surrounding cliffs. I'll use my big knife to anchor us to the mountain," Zhongshan reacted swiftly.

"It's no use, the Red Silk is damaged, they broke it. I can't fly you," Tianling'er said anxiously.

Hearing her words, Zhongshan panicked. What to do?

"Zhongshan, I won't leave you behind, but I can't hold on much longer. I'll never see Big Brother again," Tianling'er said sadly.

Touched by her words, Zhongshan looked at Tianling'er and said, "If we survive this, I'll take you to find Big Brother."

As he spoke, the rocks above suddenly loosened. The rocks, Tianling'er, and Zhongshan all fell towards the bottom of the mountain.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Tianling'er screamed in terror. Along with Zhongshan, they plummeted into the deep valley below.

Was there no way to stop this fall? Zhongshan believed that falling from such a height meant certain death. But the closer he came to death, the calmer he became. In that moment, as his body fell rapidly, the world seemed to freeze in his eyes, his mind racing.

In just two breaths, Zhongshan came up with a difficult plan.

Grabbing the Red Silk around his waist with his right hand, he pulled, bringing Tianling'er down with him, and quickly embraced her as she fell into his arms.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Tianling'er's eyes tightly shut as she fell into Zhongshan's embrace, screaming until she was sure it was him. Then she clung to him tightly, as if he were her last lifeline.

With no time to care for Tianling'er in his arms, Zhongshan, in a desperate moment, grabbed the Red Silk and continued to pull. The large boulder falling alongside them drew nearer to Zhongshan.

Holding onto Tianling'er, Zhongshan used the Red Silk's power to flip onto the boulder, crouching.

Their positions kept changing, and Tianling'er became more awake. Held in Zhongshan's arms in this critical moment, her form changed, her thoughts unknown.

"Let go of the Red Silk," Zhongshan said.

Reflexively, Tianling swiftly controlled the force of the Red Silk, loosening the binding of the massive stone. Below, they were nearing the ground, the bottom already visible. The speed of their descent had reached a terrifying level.

"Roar~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

Embracing Tianling tightly, Zhongshan let out a loud shout, suddenly squatting halfway and then, with a fierce jump, leaped upward.

"Whoosh~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

The large stone's speed suddenly increased fivefold, like a cannonball, swiftly shooting into the ground, while Zhongshan, holding Tianling, slowed down significantly.

Slowing down once was not enough; now, they were still hurtling downward at an incredibly fast pace. The successful maneuver transformed Tianling's previous terror into a glimmer of hope, a complete trust in Zhongshan. With Zhongshan, everything would be alright, absolutely alright!

Yet, they continued to plummet rapidly downward. Zhongshan reached for his large knife.

"Hold on tight," Zhongshan shouted to Tianling.

Tianling quickly clung to Zhongshan, holding on desperately.

Once again, Zhongshan exerted all his strength, hurling the large knife fiercely downward.

"Roar~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

The knife rapidly descended, and their descent slowed once more.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

The sounds of the stone and the knife hitting the ground echoed.

At this moment, looking at the remaining distance, Zhongshan was certain that after they landed, they would at most suffer severe injuries, but they wouldn't die. Not dying was enough.

However, at the moment of throwing the knife, Zhongshan involuntarily leaned forward, so now Tianling was below, and he was above.

Looking at Tianling, Zhongshan decisively hugged her tightly and struggled to flip over, reversing their positions, with him now below and Tianling above.

As their bodies shifted, and Tianling felt the weight on Zhongshan's chest, she understood the meaning of this final action. Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes. She hugged Zhongshan tightly in return.

"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

With a loud noise, Zhongshan landed on his back, raising a cloud of dust.

The tremendous impact, even though Zhongshan had trained in the Demon Body Strengthening Technique, caused him and Tianling to lose consciousness together.

An hour later, in the quiet valley, Zhongshan woke up first. It wasn't a gradual recovery; rather, it was the expiration of the time limit of the Demon Body Strengthening Technique that woke him up, his entire body sore and painful, waking him from the ache.

The moment he woke up, Zhongshan burst into laughter.

"Hahaha"

They're alive! Haha!

Despite the pain coursing through his body, Zhongshan felt an unparalleled sense of relief. He hadn't died. It was a relief that surged through him after the laughter subsided, Zhongshan felt the extreme soreness that seemed to shatter every bone in his body.

After resting for a while, Zhongshan felt the pain easing. He glanced at Tianling, noticing two tear streaks on her face.

Frightened her into tears? Zhongshan's face softened into a warm smile. Little did he know, Tianling's tears were moved by Zhongshan's final action before landing.

"Tianling, Tianling!" Zhongshan called out.

Gently, Tianling seemed to awaken as if being shaken. Her eyelashes fluttered a few times before slowly opening her eyes.

As she opened her eyes, she caught sight of herself nestled in Zhongshan's arms, her face suddenly flushing red. She quickly scrambled to get up. Gtt the ltest vls at .o/(v)/e/l/bi(.)co

"Ouch."

Just as she stood, Tianling's body went limp, and she fell back into Zhongshan's arms.

Holding Tianling tightly, Zhongshan noticed the gash on her shin from Liu Ming's sword. Blood stained the area.

With pain in his heart, Zhongshan gently helped Tianling onto a large rock, then tore open her pant leg, revealing a pristine white leg.

Seeing her pant leg torn, Tianling blushed again but remained silent, knowing Zhongshan was inspecting her injury.

Sitting in front of Tianling, Zhongshan carefully placed her injured leg on his thigh and examined her wound.

"A water pouch," Zhongshan said.

"A water pouch?" Tianling's face flushed red, feeling a bit dazed, not understanding what Zhongshan meant.

"In the storage bracelet, I placed it there last time," Zhongshan furrowed his brow.

"Oh, oh." Tianling immediately took out a water pouch.

Gently, using the torn pant leg, Zhongshan cleaned Tianling's injured leg, his movements extremely careful. However, Tianling's heart was racing uncontrollably at this moment. She didn't know why. Her whole body was tense, her face flushed, even her neck was pink. Tianling felt Zhongshan's hands, as if they were scalding irons, pressing against her leg. The heat seemed to spread from her leg to her heart. Although she knew Zhongshan was cleaning the wound, Tianling couldn't help but feel extremely nervous.

"Wine," Zhongshan said to Tianling.

"Oh." Tianling, like a puppet, immediately took out a flask of wine.

Zhongshan poured the wine onto Tianling's flawless white leg for sterilization.

"Ahhhhhh!"

With a sharp pain, Tianling immediately snapped out of her daze.

"White cloth," Zhongshan said again.

Tianling quickly retrieved it, and Zhongshan gently wrapped Tianling's injured leg.

Tianling watched these actions, feeling like a deer was crashing wildly in her heart. She didn't know what she was thinking.

Gently releasing Tianling's leg, Zhongshan said, "Rest for a while, regain some strength as soon as possible."

"Okay." Tianling nodded.

Then, Tianling quickly sat cross-legged and meditated for an hour before slowly waking up.

"Better?" Zhongshan asked, looking at Tianling.

"Yeah, much better." Tianling nodded.

"It's your turn to guard me now. I'll meditate for a while," Zhongshan said.

Hearing Zhongshan's words, Tianling suddenly felt a surge of emotion. But she still nodded, holding back her tears.

With Tianling's promise, Zhongshan quickly closed his eyes to meditate; his injuries were too severe.

Watching Zhongshan meditate, Tianling couldn't hold back her tears.

It was all her fault. If she had listened to Zhongshan, it wouldn't have been like this. Zhongshan had shielded her with his own body, sustaining heavier injuries than her. He woke up not only without recuperating but also took care of her, and then, after guarding her, he finally meditated to heal himself.

For the first time, Tianling realized it was all because of her recklessness that they ended up like this.

Chapter end