Chapter 300: Extra: Joy Record Fifteen (Supplementary Update)

Extra: Joy Record Fifteen (Supplementary Update)

The sky was still drizzling fine rain, and Pei Yaoguang slowly opened his eyes.

Pitch black.

Cold raindrops fell on his face and body; Pei Yaoguang felt a chill all over, but only after a while did he regain his senses, slightly moving his neck, and pain instantly spread through his limbs.

Pei Yaoguang's body tensed reflexively, but his innate stubbornness still made him turn his head to look, and only then did he realize he was lying in a small stream.

His whole body was already soaked. For a moment, Pei Yaoguang's mind was muddled. He closed his eyes, trying to recall, but then suddenly snapped them open!

Shui Yun!

Right, Shui Yun!

Thinking of that, Pei Yaoguang reached out to sit up, but the pain all over made him unable to support himself and he collapsed, splashing water that dirtied his face; yet at this moment he had no time to worry about that, gritted his teeth, steadied himself, and tremblingly stood up……

He remembered standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down.

Then someone shoved him off the cliff.

At that moment he was dazed, but then he heard someone shouting his name in alarm.

At that moment, he saw Shui Yun jump down from the cliff.

And she embraced him!

Pei Yaoguang recalled it, but his heart clenched at once. After struggling to sit up, he hurriedly looked around, seeking that familiar figure.

All around remained pitch black; deep in the night forest, beasts' howls rose and fell. Yet at this moment he couldn't think of anything else—he only wanted to find Shui Yun as quickly as possible.

He wanted to call out her name, but he dared not, fearing an ambush; shouting would reveal his position. So he could only silently follow the direction to search!

Pei Yaoguang was ultimately clever. Though anxious, worried, and tense, his mind was not muddled. He tremblingly leaned against a nearby tree trunk, then carefully surveyed his surroundings; with the faint light, he noticed that ahead, along the small stream where he had just lain, there was a glimmer.

The night's light: dark earth, bright water. Instantly, Pei Yaoguang seemed to understand something; he staggered along the stream forward, and indeed saw a clear pool!

The pool was not large, perhaps having long existed in this deep forest; the stones around it were wet and smooth, giving off an increasingly tranquil and refined air of the woods.

But at this moment Pei Yaoguang had no mind to admire these; he hurriedly looked around, and shortly thereafter caught sight of a black shadow bobbing near the pool's edge not far away.

In an instant, Pei Yaoguang widened his eyes, gritted his teeth against the pain all over, trembling yet urgent as he approached; reaching the shadow's side, he stared and indeed recognized that familiar back from memory.

At once, Pei Yaoguang's heart tightened again; without hesitation he stepped into the pool and turned Shui Yun's body over.

"Shui Yun! Shui Yun!"

The cold pool water, though not bone‑piercing, still sent a chill through the body; yet Pei Yaoguang had forgotten everything, holding Shui Yun and calling out repeatedly, his brows knotted, his voice trembling with anxiety.

But no matter how Pei Yaoguang called, Shui Yun showed no response; in the night, her originally fair and pretty face turned deathly pale, frightening. After calling for a long while with no reaction, Pei Yaoguang felt his heart clench involuntarily.

An indescribable pain spread, making Pei Yaoguang's breath halt. Then he finally stared wide‑eyed and gently placed his hand near Shui Yun's nostrils.

Yes, there is still breath!

Shui Yun is still alive!

The sensation at his fingertips felt like a shot of adrenaline; Pei Yaoguang's heart eased, and he hurriedly hugged Shui Yun and climbed ashore.

Pei Yaoguang himself was covered in wounds; holding Shui Yun, he staggered and stumbled ashore, but he endured, and as soon as he reached the bank he looked around and discovered a very secret cave not far from the pool's edge.

Pei Yaoguang felt delighted and immediately carried Shui Yun over. Yet he remained cautious: upon reaching the cave mouth, he first laid Shui Yun on a clean patch of ground, then went in himself to check, and only after confirming it was safe did he bring Shui Yun inside.

Going back and forth took considerable time. Pei Yaoguang forgot his bodily pain, even breaking a sweat on his forehead, but Shui Yun remained unconscious with no sign of waking.

After placing Shui Yun in the cave, Pei Yaoguang went out to gather some dry firewood, brought it back, and then began searching her body for something.

Pei Yaoguang was looking for a fire striker. He himself never carried one, but from their time together he knew that Shui Yun habitually kept essential small items on her. Indeed, he found a fire striker at her waist, hastily opened it—luckily it was waterproof—and quickly lit a fire near the cave entrance.

The flames burned, casting a dim yellow light that dispelled the darkness and brought warmth. Once everything was settled, Pei Yaoguang turned to look at Shui Yun and finally saw how terrible her condition was!

Her deathly pale face was like a corpse's; her black long hair clung messily to her face and body. Her light‑blue plain dress was likewise torn and ragged, wrapping her already slender frame, making her look even more frail.

Shui Yun was usually neat and graceful, and because she practiced martial arts, Pei Yaoguang never thought of her as delicate. But only now did he realize she was merely a woman; beneath her seemingly fierce exterior lay the same frailty and weakness as any other girl.

For a moment, an indescribable heartache welled up in Pei Yaoguang. But he knew this was no time for idle sorrow, for beneath Shui Yun's completely torn, soaked dress lay several wounds; though the pool water had washed away most blood, his keen eyes still detected them.

Suddenly, Pei Yaoguang's heart sank. Only then did he realize that, when they jumped off the cliff together, Shui Yun had clung tightly to him, which is why he, though aching all over, bore few wounds. How could one fall from such height without injury? After all, he still remembered seeing the protruding rocks and sideways branches on the cliff face during the fall, and the dense canopy almost covering the clear pool above…

Thus there is only one answer: Shui Yun bore those injuries for him, allowing him to escape unharmed. Otherwise, how could he, who knows no martial arts, be unscathed while the highly skilled Shui Yun is covered in wounds?!

Thinking of this, Pei Yaoguang felt anguish beyond bearing. But after a moment he steadied his thoughts, then stripped off his own clothes and Shui Yun's, and using the branches he had just gathered, he built a simple rack on the opposite side of the fire, near the cave mouth, and hung both their garments on it.

This way, as much as possible, the firelight would be blocked to avoid detection outside. Yet now, having taken off his clothes, Pei Yaoguang couldn't help but shiver.

After all, although it is already March and the day is fine, the night remains chilly with early‑spring cold. Pei Yaoguang had been wearing wet clothes; now stripped down to only his underpants, he naturally felt cold enough to make his teeth chatter.

He was in that state, and Shui Yun was no better. Thinking this, Pei Yaoguang dared not indulge himself; he quickly returned to her side and began examining her wounds.

Now Shui Yun, stripped down to only her breastband and underpants, revealed her even, graceful figure—but the deathly pallor of her skin and the gaping wounds made the sight all the more shocking.

Looking at her filled him with heartache, but he quickly composed himself, leaned in for a closer look, and realized that Shui Yun's front bore only a couple of wounds. Yet as he turned her over to examine her back, he gasped at what he saw.

He saw that Shui Yun's back, which should have been smooth and fair, was now crisscrossed with over ten cuts—some less than an inch long, others as long as four or five inches. The blood had stopped flowing, but the exposed, mottled flesh made one's scalp tingle.

Moreover, the pool water, though clear, had likely picked up mud when they fell, so some wounds were filthy and horrifying, too gruesome to look at directly.

For a moment, Pei Yaoguang's heart churned. These injuries should have been his—but now they were on Shui Yun. Yet Pei Yaoguang was not one to merely lament; seeing this, he knew that if left untreated they would surely cost her life. So he gently laid Shui Yun down and went to one side to inspect the items he had just removed from her while undressing her: aside from Gold Sore Medicine, a soft sword, a fire striker, and a dagger, there was nothing else.

The filthy wounds needed cleaning. Pei Yaoguang thought of the clear pool outside, but then he stopped himself. After all, though the pool looked clear, if he remembered correctly, Nie Jinxuan had once told him that water for daily use in the mountains should be boiled first, otherwise it might contain bacteria…

He didn't know what bacteria were, but he knew they were nothing good, and he also knew Nie Jinxuan wouldn't deceive him, so to be safe the pool water couldn't be used. What else could he do? Without boiled water or alcohol, how could he cleanse the wounds?!

Pei Yaoguang was at a loss, but after a brief moment his eyes lit up; he bent down, lifted Shui Yun, and without hesitation pressed his mouth to her wounds!

……

To Pei Yaoguang, he didn't know whether what he was doing was right, but he couldn't watch Shui Yun die before his eyes. So he did it: he opened his mouth to suck out the filth from the wounds, then spat it out, repeating the process until every wound on Shui Yun's body was clean.

After everything was cleaned, Pei Yaoguang finally breathed a sigh of relief; looking again at the wounds, he saw they were still horrifying but much improved, and the cleaning had reduced some of the swelling.

Now Pei Yaoguang felt he had done something right; his heart lifted, he reached for the Gold Sore Medicine nearby and applied it to each wound. At that moment the clothes hanging opposite had dried somewhat; he took a tattered piece, tore it into strips, and bound each wound.

Shui Yun's wounds were finally treated. At this point, Pei Yaoguang's constantly tense mood eased, but he still dared not relax completely; he checked his own injuries and gave them a simple treatment.

After all that exertion, Pei Yaoguang was utterly exhausted. He glanced at Shui Yun and saw she remained unconscious, her face still deathly pale, her frail body exposed to the air. Furrowing his brow, he rose, gathered the few dried garments, spread them on the dry ground, and gathered Shui Yun into his arms.

Then he pulled over the remaining garment to cover both of them, and finally, exhausted, closed his eyes……

In a daze, Shui Yun felt she had had a very long dream.

She dreamed of her childhood. She was an orphan; from the day she could remember, she had no parents. At that time she was only four or five years old, surviving by begging, and because she was young, going hungry was common. Sometimes even when a kind person gave her food, as soon as that kind person left, older beggars would snatch it away!

Such days looked miserable, but at that time Shui Yun felt nothing. She only knew she had to eat and survive each day, her life a blur… until one day she bumped into a middle-aged man, who said that if she followed him and did well, she would have food, and so she went with him.

After a few days passed, she then learned that the person who had taken her away had come for her on the orders of the Young Master. Soon after, she saw the Young Master that person spoke of—a boy whose appearance was extraordinarily stern and cold, yet so handsome it was beyond words.

The Young Master spoke little, and besides her, many other children of the same age or older had also been found. Before she could even figure out what was going on, she was grouped with about ten other kids; they ate together, lived together, and then trained martial arts together.

The Young Master said that if she mastered martial arts, she would not only have food but also earn rewards. So she trained desperately; of course, she wasn't doing it for the rewards, but because she felt that since the Young Master fed her, she couldn't be lazy.

Day after day, year after year, she grew up, and gradually she finally learned that the Young Master was actually a prince, and she was his dead warrior.

And when she learned she was a dead warrior, she recalled that a few of her companions had objected at the time. But she took it in stride, feeling that parents raise children and children ought to honor them—that's only natural. Although the Young Master wasn't her birth parents, he had raised her, fed her, clothed her warmly—what difference did that make? So she felt that even if she weren't a dead warrior, serving the Young Master was perfectly justified!!

And so it went, days passing one by one; then, because her martial arts were still outstanding among her peers, the Young Master personally gave her a name.

Then…

In a haze, this dream, Shui Yun recalled many things—her childhood, her later years, carrying out missions, and then…

Right, and that bastard Pei Yaoguang!

It seemed as if she had instantly dreamed herself here; the unconscious Shui Yun couldn't help but furrow her brows. Then Shui Yun slowly woke up…

……

By then the sun had already risen outside. In the mountains and forests there was an indescribable dampness. And the moment she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a high stone wall.

This is… a cave?!

Perhaps because she had just woken, Shui Yun's mind felt a little foggy for a moment. But after a while she felt better, and she slightly turned her gaze, seeing a pile of fire that had completely burned out; looking further out, there was a narrow cave entrance!

Indeed it was a cave!

Thinking of this, Shui Yun involuntarily let out a breath of relief—but before she could exhale, she thought of Pei Yaoguang, and in a panic she looked all around, yet found no trace of a familiar figure!

Instantly, Shui Yun's previously relaxed mood tightened in a flash, and she couldn't help but want to sit up… but just then she belatedly realized that a warm surface pressed tightly against her back, a pair of bare male arms, actually holding her fast in an embrace!

In an instant, a flash of hostility rose in Shui Yun's eyes; she wanted to jerk her head, but her body hurt so much she couldn't move, so she could only slowly turn her gaze backward… and immediately she saw a handsome, familiar face!

It was Pei Yaoguang!