57: Yun Yun wakes up

The next morning.

The cave was filled with a faint mixture of blood and medicinal herbs. Under the cool light of the moonstone, Yun Yun's long eyelashes trembled a few times, like startled butterfly wings.

Her consciousness surfaced from the dark abyss like a shipwreck, and intense pain immediately swept over her, especially above her left chest. The tearing pain made her instantly furrow her delicate brows and let out a suppressed groan.

Yun Yun laboriously opened her heavy eyelids, her vision gradually clearing from blurriness.

An unfamiliar cave ceiling, inlaid with glowing stones… Fragments of memory from before she fainted surged back—the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King, that destructive Purple Crystal Seal, falling…

She subconsciously tried to prop herself up, but a sharp pain in her chest made her gasp, and her body fell back weakly onto the soft beast hide.

This movement made her feel the abnormality of her body even more clearly.

Although her plain white dress covered her body, underneath… it was empty. The Sea Heart Armor, which clung to her skin and gave her an immense sense of security, was gone.

In its place were white strips of cloth tightly Binding her chest. Although the bandaging was a bit clumsy, it was done with exceptional care.

A chilling cold instantly shot from the soles of her feet to the top of her head.

A fear more bone-chilling than the Purple Crystal Seal seized her heart. Her delicate body trembled violently and uncontrollably, her face as pale as paper.

Could it be that while she was heavily injured and unconscious, utterly defenseless, she had been…

Boundless shame, indignation, and killing intent instantly intertwined like poisonous vines, almost devouring her rationality.

As the Sect Master of the Yunlan Sect, one of the most esteemed women in the Gama Empire, she had fallen to such a state.

She bit her lower lip tightly, her beautiful eyes instantly filled with humiliated bloodshot veins and icy killing intent. The sealed and dormant Dou Qi within her seemed to show faint signs of agitation due to this extreme emotion.

Just then, the light at the cave entrance was blocked by a small figure.

It was Mo Yuhan returning.

He carried a sharpened wooden stick on his small shoulder, on which two plump fish, still faintly struggling and with shimmering silver scales, were strung.

In his other hand, he held a small rabbit, similar in shape to a wild rabbit but with light blue fur. It was a low-tier wind-attribute magical beast, a Swift Shadow Rabbit, but it had already been cleaned, with water droplets still clinging to it.

His forehead was still adorned with morning dew and a few blades of grass. His small face was flushed from exertion, and his bright eyes held a hint of satisfaction from his harvest.

As soon as he stepped into the cave, he keenly sensed the icy killing intent and aura that had almost solidified.

Looking up, he met Yun Yun's complex gaze, filled with shame, humiliation, coldness, and a trace of bewildered helplessness.

The air seemed to freeze.

Upon seeing Mo Yuhan, Yun Yun was stunned.

She had imagined countless possibilities: perhaps a powerful expert with ill intentions, or a mercenary from the Monster Mountain Range, but she had never expected that the one appearing before her would be a boy who looked only eight or nine years old, dressed simply, and whose face still held a trace of childishness.

A child?

The shame and killing intent that had almost torn her apart dissipated by more than half, like a deflated balloon.

In its place was a tremendous sense of relief. If it was truly this child who had found her, if this little guy, who wasn't even as tall as her chest, had saved her, then the situation wasn't too bad.

After all, Mo Yuhan's appearance was too deceptive. Even if he had indeed removed her inner armor and bandaged her wounds, he probably couldn't have done anything else.

Moreover, Mo Yuhan looked at least clean and tidy, which made it less difficult for Yun Yun to accept.

Mo Yuhan also instantly understood the meaning in Yun Yun's eyes. His small face flushed, and he somewhat awkwardly put down the fish and rabbit in his hands, then scratched his head.

His voice, with the clear brightness characteristic of a young boy, tried to calmly explain: “Um… you’re awake? How do you feel? Does your wound still hurt a lot? Don’t misunderstand, when I found you by the waterfall yesterday, you were severely injured, and your chest was bleeding constantly.”

“I… I had to take off your blue inner armor, clean the wound, apply the healing medicine I refined myself, and then bandage it, all to help you stop the bleeding and heal. I just wanted to save you!”

Mo Yuhan spoke quickly, his eyes clear and honest.

Yun Yun looked at his bright, clear eyes, unblemished by any impurity, and listened to his urgent and sincere explanation. The tightly strung chord in her heart finally slowly relaxed.

It was truly him who saved her, a nine-year-old child… what kind of dirty thoughts could he have?

Moreover, although the bandaging on her body was a bit rough, she could indeed feel the cool effect of the medicine slowly neutralizing the burning pain in her wound.

“Was… was it you who saved me?”

Yun Yun's voice was a little hoarse, carrying the weakness of a severe injury, but the majesty and coolness belonging to a Dou Huang unconsciously emanated from her.

She tried to calm her emotions, looking with complex eyes at this overly young savior before her.

“Yes.” Mo Yuhan nodded, “My name is Mo Yuhan. What about you? How did you get such a severe injury? Were you hurt by a magical beast?”

He asked, feigning ignorance, his eyes full of curiosity.

“I…”

Yun Yun hesitated for a moment, looking at Mo Yuhan's clear eyes, and finally chose the same alias as in the original work, “My name is Cloud Zhi, thank you for saving me.”

She paused, a faint, almost imperceptible blush still on her pale face, and hesitated before asking, “Then… what did you do when you were treating my injuries?”

She ultimately couldn't bring herself to directly ask, “Did you see anything you shouldn't have?”

Mo Yuhan immediately understood her unspoken words. He scratched his head and quickly waved his hands: “No, no, I… I just treated the wound, cleaned it, applied the medicine, and bandaged it. My eyes… I tried my best to only look at the wound.”

“It’s just that when I was feeding you medicine, you really wouldn’t open your mouth…”

His voice dropped, a little embarrassed, “You were unconscious and couldn’t swallow the pill, so I… I could only dissolve the pill in water, and then… then feed it to you mouth-to-mouth… This, I’m really sorry about…”

He lowered his head, looking anxious, like someone who had done something wrong and was waiting for criticism.

Mouth-to-mouth… feeding medicine…

Yun Yun’s cheeks instantly flushed crimson, even more intensely than the blush caused by shame and indignation earlier.

Although the other party was just a nine-year-old child, the words “mouth-to-mouth” themselves carried an indescribable sense of intimacy.

She subconsciously pursed her lips, as if she could still feel a faint, cool touch that wasn't her own.

However, looking at Mo Yuhan's embarrassed yet earnest little demeanor, that hint of delicate thought was quickly replaced by a sense of helplessness and a faint warmth.

Yes, he was just a child, a child who had to resort to extraordinary measures to save her.

Compared to potential desecration, this life-saving grace and pure kindness were what mattered most.

“Never mind…”

Yun Yun sighed softly, her voice much gentler, “Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. You were also trying to save me, so I don’t blame you. And I must thank you for your medicine; I feel much better.”

She tried to move her body. Although it still hurt, the burning pain in her internal organs had indeed lessened significantly, and the light green ointment worked surprisingly well.

Mo Yuhan breathed a sigh of relief, a bright smile appearing on his face: “That’s good. You must be hungry, right? I caught some fish, and there’s also a Swift Shadow Rabbit, it’s very tender. I’ll go prepare something for you to eat right away.”

As if to make up for the previous awkwardness, he immediately became diligent, picking up the fish and rabbit and running to a simple stone-built stove he had set up in a corner of the cave.

Yun Yun leaned against the beast hide, quietly watching Mo Yuhan's busy little figure.