After Qiao Mei finished washing her clothes, she did a simple exchange of energy with the surrounding plants. As the plants were very happy today, the energy she extracted was much purer than usual, but it still could not be compared to that of wild ginseng.
Qiao Mei walked back happily to the camp. She slipped back the way she came out and thought that no one had discovered what she did.
After Qiao Mei returned to the tent, she simply tied a rope and hung out the clothes to dry before lying on the bed and falling asleep.
While Qiao Mei was not around, Zheng Yuan went to the water storage tank and filled a basin with water. Then, she poured basin after basin of water into the ruins so that the water gradually flowed to the ground through the gaps.
“Hmph, let’s see how you explain yourself when it’s found out that half the amount of water is gone,” Zheng Yuan said as she looked at the ruins.
At night, after Xia Zhe finished his work, he returned to the camp with Zhang Yong, Zhao Wu and Zhuang Hua. As they walked, they chatted and laughed happily.
“The reinforcement forces arrived just in time. I thought we would have to search for another week!” Zhao Wu said.
“You’re right! I didn’t expect it to end so quickly either,” Zhang Yong said.
“It’s a good thing there were very few casualties. Otherwise, we would have been very busy.” Zhuang Hua then looked at Xia Zhe and asked, “Eh? Big brother, why are you so quiet along the way?”
“You! You’re really stupid! Big brother is missing sister-in-law! He wants to go back and accompany her as soon as possible!” Zhao Wu pointed at Zhuang Hua and said laughingly.
That was exactly what Xia Zhe was thinking. His ears turned red as he laughed embarrassedly and scolded, “Zhao Wu, are you itching for a beating!”
“Yo, yo, yo! Commander Xia is so embarrassed!” Zhao Wu laughed loudly and said.
Xia Zhe angrily pulled off Zhuang Hua’s cap and threw it at Zhao Wu.
“Sigh! Big brother, my cap!” Zhuang Hua watched helplessly as he got caught in between their petty fight.
Zhao Wu grabbed the cap that Xia Zhe threw over and ran away quickly.
“Let’s go! If we don’t leave now, Xia Zhe will kill me!” He then disappeared in a flash.
Only then did Zhuang Hua react. He hurriedly chased after Zhao Wu and shouted, “Zhao Wu! Damn you! My cap!”
“Hahahaha,” Xia Zhe and Zhang Yong laughed as they watched the two of them leave.
“Big brother, I’m going back to rest too. You still have to organize everyone’s work tomorrow. Rest early alright!” Zhang Yong looked at Xia Zhe with a wicked smile.
Xia Zhe smacked Zhang Yong angrily and said, “Nonsense! Hurry up and go back!”
“Aye, alright! Big brother, you have to take care of your body! Take care of your body!” Zhang Yong shouted at Xia Zhe as he ran off.
“Get lost!” Xia Zhe shouted at Zhang Yong’s back.
Actually, it was not as if he did not have those kinds of thoughts. Originally, since he could not see Qiao Mei or hear her speak, he did not think about those things and just needed to put more time into training.
However, it was different now. The person was right in front of him, and that delicate voice kept reminding him of that night when he could not stop himself and she kept calling out to him repeatedly…
Don’t think about it anymore. Xia Zhe’s ears turned red as he stood outside the tent for a long time and did not make his way in. He looked as if he was reflecting on his mistakes behind closed doors.
Zheng Yuan happened to see Xia Zhe on her way back from the water storage tank. She hurriedly ran to him and said anxiously, “Xia Zhe, I have bad news!”
“What’s wrong?” Xia Zhe took a small step back and asked.
Zheng Yuan saw what Xia Zhe did, but she decided to ignore it given that the matter with Qiao Mei was more important at the moment.
“After you left this afternoon, Qiao Mei went out by herself. I wonder where she went!” Zheng Yuan pretended to be anxious as she said that.
Xia Zhe’s mind buzzed when he heard that, but his years of training had taught him to be calm at moments like this.
“Noted. You can go back now.” Xia Zhe looked at Zheng Yuan with a straight face.
Zheng Yuan felt extremely happy. She had thought that Xia Zhe loved Qiao Mei very much. It turned out that Qiao Mei was not that important to Xia Zhe after all.
“Alright, come look for me if you need anything.” Zheng Yuan smiled and turned to leave.
Xia Zhe watched Zheng Yuan leave before rushing into the tent. When he saw the person he had been thinking about sleeping soundly on the tent cot, the weight on his heart immediately lifted.