Zhang Xinyue, who sat across Tang Xiu, was watching the food that kept popping out of thin air but was constantly devoured by this Hungry Ghost with her jaw wide open, unable to utter a word. She roughly estimated that Tang Xiu had at least wolfed down several hundred kilograms of food in the two hours.
âWhat a whale of an appetite!â
Zhang Xinyue finally found that Tang Xiu no longer took out the food, but turned to take out a bottle of fine wine and tossed it down fast. She was previously afraid that Tang Xiu would be bursting out due to being too full, but it turned out that her fear was unfounded. Just as she was about to speak, she suddenly heard Tang Xiu shout, "Hey, Awu, go catch some game and roast them for me. I can still wolf down several hundred pounds of barbecued meat!"
Bam...
She fell to the edge of the bed. When Tang Xiu stood up and came to her with a confused face, she just sat back with a hand covering her forehead and said with an expression of being at a loss between laughter and tears, "Did you just get reincarnated as the Hungry Ghost with that appetite? Youâve been eating for a full two hours you know, and yet you still want to devour a few hundred kilograms more?"
Only then did Tang Xiu suddenly realize that his frantic dining truly scared Zhang Xinyue. Yet, he did still feel starving. If he hadnât yet cleaned up all the food stored inside his interspatial ring, he would have probably been unable to stop eating now.
However, the nutrition from the food was indeed the best way for him to supplement his blood and Qi. After all, his systemâs blood vessels lost three-quarters of their blood. He was afraid that he would feel weak if he didnât eat more to supplement it.
"Cultivators like us canât be regarded with common sense, to begin with. People in ancient times did say that one can devour a cow when heâs starving, no? That statement holds true, you know. Itâs not an exaggeration that people like that exist. I have exerted too much energy these days, and the food is the best to supplement the life energy I have spent," explained Tang Xiu with a light smile.
"But eating that much is rather excessive, even if your energy consumption is indeed a bit large, no?" rebuked Zhang Xinyue. "You just ate hundreds of kilograms of food, you know! Iâm really suspicious of how your stomach works while being fully loaded like that. Even if your digestion system is great and is able to directly digest the food right as it enters your belly, why didnât I see you go to the toilet at all?"
Cough, cough...
Tang Xiu couldnât argue back at Zhang Xinyueâs words. He couldnât say that he could absorb 99.9% of the nutrients contained in the food. As for the 0.1% of the remaining waste, could it make him go to the toilet now? He might have done that if he had devoured a few hundred more kilograms of food.
However, the problem was not that he couldnât explain it, but that it was too embarrassing!
Tang Xiu shook his head and replied with a dry smile, "Letâs not talk about this topic, shall we? Shortly put, you canât see those who walk on the cultivation path with normal peopleâs eyes. Also, come to eat when Awu has roasted the game."
Zhang Xinyue nodded at his words. But then she suddenly said, "Tang Xiu, can you gimme a taste of that medicine you just concocted? Just smelling that scent of the medicinal pill made me feel spirited these days. Also, I couldnât move the bed previously, but when my mobile fell a day ago, I moved the bed without thinking. I didnât expect that I would be able to do that, so it means that my strength has increased.
"The smell of such a medicinal pill does have a very good effect on normal people," said Tang Xiu with a smile. "It indeed can change your physique if youâre subtly influenced by it. However, the pill I just concocted was the kind that you cannot consume, else it would harm you instead."
"Why do you say that?" asked Zhang Xinyue
"Youâre not a cultivator," explained Tang Xiu. "If you were to take that medicinal pill rashly, the enormous energy from its efficacy will make your body burst and explode."
A chill filled Zhang Xinyueâs heart and she no longer mentioned about taking the medicinal pill anymore. She changed the position of her lower body and changed the topic, "Anyways, when are we going to leave this place? I havenât taken a shower for a few days. You see, I just broke the record of how long I havenât taken a bath since my childhood."
"Well, weâll go back to Qinglin County to rest after we have satiated our hunger," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
"Alright!" replied Zhang Xinyue with a surprised, but happy look.
"By the way, didnât you say you wanna enjoy the beauty of the scenery around Qingcheng Mountain? How come I have never seen you go out this week?"
"Ah, that..." Zhang Xinyueâs face blushed and she let out a dry smile and replied, "I was afraid that youâd run into troubles here alone, so I didnât go out to do that."
These days, she had been thinking through her feelings and finally realized that she ended up like her older sister and had unknowingly fallen in love with this guy. Of course, she didnât deny the fact that it was related to her âfirst time doing itâ with him. But love is love. Even if she denies it, she still couldnât free herself from this feeling...
Nevertheless, she kept thinking about it over and over againâthat she finally experienced such a dreamlike love this time she went out. She decided to immediately sever any contact with him and give up all these feelings once she left Qingcheng Mountain.
Late at night, Tang Xiu took Zhang Xinyue, Awu, and the rest back to Qinglin County. The whole county town looked very quiet at present. Back when he previously came here, some pedestrians or vehicles could be seen passing by at night, but now, they hadnât even encountered a single pedestrian or car on the road to the Qinglin Countyâs five-star hotel, Senbao.
"Why do I feel like something is amiss here, Tang Xiu? This is not a normal situation!" commented Zhang Xinyue, who just got out of the car and subconsciously looked around at the quiet and empty night scenery.
Tang Xiu forced a smile and said, "Maybe the recent murder cases that have appeared suddenly in a row scares the people here! Besides, itâs already midnight, so itâs kinda normal to see nobody outside."
Zhang Xinyue, however, could only reluctantly accept his reply.
"Welcome, Sir, Maâam. May I know how many rooms you need?"
Four on-duty staffers looked at the group at the same time behind the hotelâs lobby counter. Two of them subconsciously glanced to the left at the rest area where the hotel had assigned four security guards to stand guard.
"Two presidential suites, please," said Tang Xiu.
The four female receptionists looked surprised. But after they observed Tang Xiu for a while, one of them suddenly asked, "Are you the Young Divine Doctor Tang Xiu? I think youâre somewhat looking familiar."
Tang Xiu couldnât help but laugh and replied, "Uh, when did I become so famous? If anything, I stayed in this hotel previously, so how did nobody recognize me before?"
"Itâs really you?!" The female receptionist looked pleasantly surprised. "Great, I am finally able to see the face of a great personage like you! You see, my uncle was almost poisoned in the opening sale of the Golden Goblet Emperor Gauze villa complex not long ago. I heard from him that it was very fortunate that you were there as he was saved from the clutch of death. Divine Doctor Tang, youâre my uncleâs savior, and thus the savior of my family as well. We are really thankful to you. Thank you very much."
"Uh!" Tang Xiu smiled and said, "Youâre welcome. But saving people is the responsibility of being a doctor."
A few minutes later, with warm greetings from the four female receptionists, they finally checked in and entered their respective presidential suites. What made Tang Xiu unable to utter any word was that Zhang Xinyue insisted that she must stay with him in the same suite. She even picked the side room for herself.
"Boss, whatâs your plan next?" Mo Awu was the only one remaining in the presidential suiteâs hall and he immediately asked right after Tang Xiu finished bathing.
Tang Xiu thought for a while and slowly said, "Weâll return to Shanghai first, and then head to Longquan Bay in Kanas. We havenât yet opened the Immortal Trove there, so itâs time to find out about it."
Mo Awu nodded and said, "Thereâs also another matter, Boss. It seems that it wonât be long before you need to take the exam at your college. When you were busy concocting pulls a couple of days ago, your class teacher called you and I picked it up."
The exam?
Tang Xiu blanked out and let out a forced, wry smile on his handsome face. If he had to count it, the time he spent on campus was perhaps only less than two months ever since he studied at Shanghai University for nearly a year. He had almost finished all the curriculum for the freshmen, yet his attendance rate was, so to say, truly appalling.
âI gotta use some personal connections to make the teachers of those subjects give me the green light. Else, my credits, GPA, and the graduation certificate Iâll get in the future will be affected, even if I do pass the exams.â
Tang Xiu lit up a cigarette and thought inwardly. In fact, obtaining a diploma was not a matter of significance to him, but his mother was very much looking forward to seeing him obtain a graduation certificate from a famous university; thus, he had no choice but to force a smile without any other options left.
Of course, his mother wouldnât blame him either if he really didnât want to continue studying. After all, those who had diploma certificates from the worldâs top universities might not be able to achieve his current achievements at present. However, he was certain that his mother would be disappointed if he had no certificate from a higher institution.
"Go and have a rest, Awu! Weâll rush back to Shanghai tomorrow morning." Tang Xiu waved and then gazed up to see a few twinkling stars in the dark sky outside the window.
Ten minutes later, Zhang Xinyue came out of her room with wet hair. When she saw Tang Xiu sitting alone on the sofa drinking beer, his gaze fixated outside the window, her eyes couldnât help but filled with gentleness.
"Have something on your mind?"
Tang Xiu turned his head and looked at Zhang Xinyueâs slender and curvy figure, along with a face that was almost identical to Zhang Xinyaâs. He smiled at her inquiry and said, "Yeah, been thinking about something."
Zhang Xinyue let out a faint smile and picked up the unopened can of beer on the tea table. After taking two sips of it, she then smiled and said, "Care to tell me about it?"
"You wonât understand it even if I tell you about it." Tang Xiu shook his head. "But I do have another issue I need to discuss with you, though."
Zhang Xinyueâs expression slightly changed and there was a look of hesitation on her face for several seconds before she slowly asked. "Can we not talk about it?"
"I canât. Some issues need to be resolved." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "No matter what you think, what I want to tell you is that I canât give you romantic feelings, because I already owe a lot of emotional debts. I admit that thereâs something happening between us even though it was caused by a mistake arising out of circumstances. But still, I canât let you feel upset about having been wronged either. I wonât promise you money because I donât want to see this issue as a transactional matter. However, I can promise to make you live your life with no worries in order to make up for my debt to you."
"A life without worries, eh?"
Zhang Xinyue smiled and muttered to herself in a self-mocking tone. She then stood up and came before the window before speaking to Tang Xiu behind her back, "In what way, and how can I live my life without worries?"