While it couldn’t be said that Xuanwu City was close to Shijue City, it couldn’t be said to be far away either.
For normal travel, it would take ten days to half a month to arrive. However, if one was riding a spirit grade wild beast that used its full strength to hasten the journey, then a person could get there in less than a day.
Gu Zuo was sleeping deeply. Although this was done while the spirit beast galloped, it didn’t shake or jolt him. This went to show how emotionally and physically exhausted he was.
With Gu Zuo none the wiser, they reached Shijue City.
In the evening.
Gu Zuo’s temples felt a slight, throbbing ache. Enveloped within a comforting and familiar scent, he struggled to stay asleep for a long time. He slowly opened his eyes.
He discovered that there was darkness before his eyes. After that, he realized that a pair of warm hands was covering his own eyes — He immediately understood that his family’s big brother had been worried that the intense light might’ve irritated him. As such, his big brother protected him from the light.
Gu Zuo blinked.
Following this, the palms shifted away. As the warmth faded, it actually made Gu Zuo a little reluctant to part from it.
A low and gentle voice resounded: “Has Ah Zuo woken up?”
Gu Zuo stretched his body, wanting to stand up.
At this moment, he suddenly discovered that something wasn’t quite right.
His butt was sitting on warm thighs, his head was resting on a warm chest, and his waist was encircled by a warm arm. His entire body was cocooned in a warm and loving embrace… Gu Zuo was slightly startled.
He was using his big brother like a muscled cushion!
Gu Zuo’s heart fluttered. He wanted to jump off.
However, he only managed to move halfway before he was pressed back down by another hand.
One could hear a voice that carried a hint of a smile: “Ah Zuo, don’t rush. Take your time.” There was a pause, “During the Road of Heaven’s Chosen, Ah Zuo and this elder brother spent days like this. We didn’t treat each other like strangers. Why are you acting so flustered now?”
Gu Zuo’s inner monologue: Ah, I also don’t know why I’m so flustered! But back then, it was to keep our lives safe! I only fell asleep now… Really, this is so embarrassing.
Afterwards, Gu Zuo diligently withdrew his arms and legs, and crawled up to sit on the side.
Gongyi Tianheng didn’t tease him anymore. He only took his hand back, and let Gu Zuo move about freely.
Gu Zuo lifted his head, and looked at Tianheng.
En. Today, his big brother was handsome as always.
The two remained seated.
Suddenly, Gu Zuo asked: “Big brother, where are we going?”
Tianheng smiled: “We’re already right outside Shijue City. The city itself is fifty kilometers ahead.”
Gu Zuo stared blankly. After that, he reacted: “&#k2026;Was big brother waiting a long time for me?”
Tianheng replied: “We haven’t been waiting that long. Just two to four hours.”
Gu Zuo: “…”
Ah, that was very long.
Tianheng saw him with such a furrowed face, and gave a tender laugh: “Does Ah Zuo want to make it up to elder brother?”
Gu Zuo spiritedly nodded his head: “Big brother, just say the word and I’ll do it!”
The corner of Tianheng’s mouth curled up. He reached out a hand, and lightly pinched Gu Zuo’s cheek: “There we go. Ah Zuo has compensated me.”
Gu Zuo dazedly covered the left side of his face. He didn’t know why his face was heating up.
Tianheng’s smiling expression became softer and gentler.
After looking at each other for three seconds, Gu Zuo turned his head: “Big brother, shall we go down?”
Tianheng stood up. He scooped Gu Zuo up by his collar, and lifted him into a bridal carry: “That’s right. Let’s go down.”
Following this, after the sound of the billowing wind, Gu Zuo had his feet firmly planted on the ground. In the span of a breath, he had already dropped down from the back of this enormous wild beast!
At this moment, the other wild beasts started to stir restlessly.
When Gu Zuo raised his head, he found that this place was considered a remote countryside beyond the city. Battle slaves, servile races, and members of the Wu and Hu Clans, who had been resting in organized formations, had all been waiting for him.
In a split second, Gu Zuo made an embarrassed expression.
This type of feeling where he had been holding everyone else up…
Gu Zuo hurriedly composed himself. After he slightly nodded and sent his greetings to Hu Chang’an and the two siblings, he continued to follow along Tianheng’s side.
Tianheng placed his hand on Gu Zuo’s shoulder: “We’ve been separated for many days, and this elder brother hasn’t tasted Ah Zuo’s craft for a long time.”
Gu Zuo spoke at once: “I’ll go cook something for big brother!”
Tianheng was very satisfied: “Then, I’ll have to trouble Ah Zuo.”
Gu Zuo: “…What does big brother want to eat?”
Tianheng: “There isn’t a single thing that Ah Zuo makes that I won’t be happy to eat.”
Whether it was all of the servants who followed Tianheng or the members of the Wu and Hu Clans, everyone was astounded by the subsequent affair.
It was because Gu Zuo grabbed Tianheng’s wrist.
This move was so abrupt. The battle slaves were fine since they possessed a steely willpower. As for the servile races, they were extremely surprised.
Ever since they started following this prodigy, the very first thing that the servile races came to understand was Tianheng’s resolute behavior and assurance in handling matters.
Although it was true that he had just entered Ten Ultimates Sect, after he was able to select resources, he promptly chose suitable servile races. Moreover, all of his properties were appropriately assigned to those servile races at the onset — In reality, this point wasn’t strange. Back then, the number of properties that flowed under his palms in the Gongyi Clan wasn’t low. While it could be said that he didn’t have as many as he did now, when it came to abundance, the properties in the past were only of different varieties and insufficient value. However, the matter of such industries was something he had long mastered. Dealing with this was naturally arranged in an instant.
Apart from this, Tianheng was clear in his rewards and punishments. It seemed that, so long as one did a good job, it wouldn’t be hard to get along. And actually, Tianheng never gave any signals to any one servant that they could get close to him. Commands made up the majority of his words, which made him appear even more indifferent — Through observation, he projected an image of fairness and insurmountability to his subordinates.
Simply said, his skill and majesty caused people to futilely make attempts at currying favor with him. Awed into submission, people would overlook his age even more easily.
But what were they seeing right now?
A youth who was treated so dearly and gently? Furthermore, that same person was being teased so intimately like nothing could come between them?
To say nothing of the fact that Tianheng allowed this teenager to grab his wrist. This level of trust was unheard of. What’s more, their master’s eyes were filled with a doting look. Even his qi emissions swept away the previous estrangement, becoming much warmer.
Soon after, everyone watched that teenager frown and think for a short while. Then, he chattered: “Big brother, you certainly haven’t been taking your medicine properly as of late. The energies in your body are imbalanced. In addition, although your meridians are very stable, big brother’s strength is even greater. You’ll suffer an impact in a moment of carelessness. Ah, also, because the obstructions haven’t been removed, the widening of your meridians can’t keep up with your energy reserves. This has caused a bit of liquefaction right now… Okay, it’s still my fault. There wasn’t enough medicine for big brother to take, right? I should make some more…”
The information contained within such words held a lot of weight. It seemed to have a big relationship with the health of the young master they followed, but the specifics weren’t too clear.
Of course, from this conversation, they also seemed to somewhat understand why the young master trusted this teenager, and why he hadn’t conducted any inspections on the pharmacists sent by the sect to determine his own personal pharmacist.
After this, everyone watched as that teenager took the young master’s pulse. Then, he scampered to the side to take out…an ordinary-looking, large wok. Soon after, numerous medicinal ingredients inexplicably appeared, and piled up in heaps on the ground. There was also some fresh meat essence from wild beasts that had been stored up. The meat essence emitted a faintly bittersweet stench of blood.
— So to say, there was also a fairly large inter-spatial tool in this teenaged pharmacist’s possession?
Gu Zuo lit the fire to warm the wok, tossed in the medicinal ingredients and meat essence, scattered lots of fine powder, and meticulously refined everything.
This was obviously the preparation of medicinal cuisine.
They heard that this teenager could refine golden-level pills, and even occasionally succeeded in refining the simplest of profound-level pills. It went to show that he was a medicine refining genius. It was just that medicine refinement was divided into the three categories of decoctions, pills, and cuisines. Ordinary pharmacists usually became proficient in only one category. As for the other two categories, they would merely get by.
But looking at this teenager’s exquisite hand seals, could it be that he also held mastery over medicinal cuisines? In that case, this person had excellent aptitudes on the path of medicine refinement. It seemed the trust the young master placed in this teenager was well-founded.
Not to mention what Tianheng’s subordinates were thinking, the three Hu Clan siblings were similarly amazed. However, what astonished them was mainly the intimacy and sense of closeness between Tianheng and Gu Zuo.
One just had to bring up Tianheng. Under those circumstances, he had literally dropped out of the sky, leading a large contingent of troops. This gave the three Hu Clan siblings quite the shock. It was to the point that they felt reverence for Tianheng in their hearts. Tianheng’s closeness to Gu Zuo notwithstanding, they found it incredible that he trusted Gu Zuo to take his pulse.
As for Gu Zuo, the three siblings had gotten to know Gu Zuo for a period of time. They could somewhat tell what kind of a person Gu Zuo was. Even though he treated them as friends, he was courteous, and knew when to give the other side space. He also explained any matters to allow them to make their own decisions. He never did anything without informing them first…
Gu Zuo didn’t know how his friends and his big brother’s subordinated servants were looking at him. Right now, what he was thinking about were the deficiencies in his big brother’s body! He needed to make up for it without any delays…
And deep in his heart, Gu Zuo also couldn’t help forming a notion — He couldn’t be separated too far from his big brother anymore. Otherwise, his big brother’s body wouldn’t be able to endure it.
However, right after this notion appeared, Gu Zuo’s body suddenly stiffened.
He couldn’t be too far away…
How was it possible for them not to part ways?
Currently, they had been only separated by a distance of a few cities. Gu Zuo already felt that this was “too far”. Yet, how vast was the disparity between two cities and two worlds? When he and his big brother were separated by two worlds, they…
A surge of uncontrolled sorrow bubbled up in Gu Zuo’s heart.
Two worlds…
At that time, who would nurse his big brother’s health?
With this kind of thinking, Gu Zuo nearly forgot to perform his hand seals. The scents of the medicinal cuisine in the wok almost changed.
He hurriedly composed himself, and rapidly saved the dish.
But the trace of sorrow that arose from the bottom of his heart still didn’t disperse.
T/N: Username Tangelcinnamon has made fan art of Huang Ji and Gongyi Mingxia! You can check it out here. This link will also be put in the translator’s note of the original chapter that the artist posted them in, which is Chapter 233.
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