Volume One, Chapter 80: When the Dust Settles

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The great battle was over; the dust had settled. Supporting each other, the villagers made their way back to Dongsha Village.

The eldest among them, Shang Qingwen, was utterly exhausted in both body and spirit. After instructing Yang Yichan, “Fetch the cigarette case from Cuihua,” the old man could hold on no longer and fainted on the spot.

The middle-aged woman took her husband from the butcher Zhang and, together with Jian Xin, helped him back toward the blacksmith’s shop.

Mo De handed Chen Luoluo, who he’d been carrying at his waist, back to Zhou Meiqiong, who came running over. After exchanging a few words with Mu Qing and Cuihua, he returned to his small house at the eastern edge of the village to rest.

Outside Dongsha Village, an enormous, strange moon hung above the land. The aftermath of battle lay scattered in every direction, and the gigantic, mangled serpent’s body still stood in silent testament to the ferocity of the fight that had just taken place.

Within the village, nearly every defender bore wounds from the beast onslaught, yet joy was palpable throughout the community.

This time, in the face of crisis, not a single life had been lost in Dongsha Village.

Tugen went to relieve Granny Yingyu and guard the giant serpent’s discarded skin. The old woman hurried back to her own house. Seeing Shang Qingwen’s chest still rising and falling under the villagers’ care, Wen Yingyu’s anxious heart finally settled.

Back in his small house at the village’s edge, Mo De removed his bloodstained, travel-worn robe, took off his boots, climbed onto the earthen bed, and drew the curtain at the window.

Behind him, Mu Qing also took off her outer garment, sat cross-legged on the bed, and removed her tea-colored sunglasses.

Earlier, when Mo De had struck the blood serpent’s remnant soul, he had invoked the power of black fire. With his technique operating at full force, he had no energy left to shield Mu Qing from its effects, and the black fire within her had nearly broken free from its seal.

“Put it on the tab,” she said, frowning but not forgetting their agreement regarding the fire-transferring fee.

“This one’s on me—it was my fault, after all.” Mo De scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed, then sat cross-legged behind Mu Qing, gently lifting her long hair with his left hand and pressing his right hand lightly to her slender, fair neck.

Mu Qing relinquished the deep suppression and sealing of the black fire in her eyes, letting the fiery stream spill from her gaze and gather, flowing toward her back.

Heat blazed before her eyes; coolness pressed against her nape. As her strength ebbed, the flush on Mu Qing’s cheeks deepened, and fine beads of sweat gathered at her brow and temples.

In silence, the stream of black flame bound the two within the small house as one.

When the fire transfer was complete, Mu Qing collapsed backward, but Mo De caught her shoulders with both hands.

“I’ll go prepare the bath.” There was still plenty of clean water left from the oasis, stored in the boundary-space scabbard. Mo De took out the large bath barrel he’d borrowed from the villagers, scrubbed it clean, and filled it with fresh water.

“The water’s ready; spare clothes are here. When you’re done, just leave your—”

“I know, I know…” Seeing how he kept nagging, Mu Qing simply sat sideways on the bed and began undoing her inner garments.

“You…” Abiding by the rule of propriety, Mo De stopped his reminders, turned, and left the room. He locked the door with a brand-new metal lock, then walked farther east.

He needed to find a place to wash up himself, lest Mu Qing mock him again that night.

Slipping quietly through the village’s protective barrier, Mo De vaulted into the vast, dried riverbed east of the village. He stripped off his robe, stuck the scabbard into the riverbank, opened a sliver of its storage space, and drew out a gentle stream of water to serve as his shower.

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Though the bath barrel was reserved for someone else, a shower was still a welcome luxury.

Once he was clean and dressed in fresh clothes, Mo De pulled the scabbard from the earthen wall and departed quickly.

The empty, parched riverbed retained the damp traces of his bath for a long while, the water refusing to seep into the soil.

Judging by the time, Mu Qing would be soaking a while yet, so Mo De decided to check on the Changlong expedition. After all, he’d tossed Miss Chen aside earlier and didn’t want her to have come to any harm.

“Luoluo is still resting. Other than some scrapes and a bit of exhaustion, she’s fine,” reported Zhong Rou, the bespectacled girl from the expedition, who had come to greet him.

“Ahaha… When Miss Chen wakes, please give her my regards.” Relieved to hear Chen Luoluo was unharmed, Mo De awkwardly excused himself.

“Oh, and Team Leader Zhou asked me to thank you on everyone’s behalf. She said if you hadn’t looked after Luoluo, there’s no telling what trouble she might have gotten into.” The bespectacled girl shook Mo De’s hand earnestly.

The team all knew well enough the fiery, combative spirit beneath Chen Luoluo’s cool exterior. After hearing from the butcher Zhang about her dangerous exploits, they’d all been deeply shaken. If anything had happened, they couldn’t have faced the Chen family patriarch upon their return.

Bidding farewell to the Changlong expedition, Mo De returned to his little house, knocked on the window, but got no reply.

He removed the chain from the door with a flick of his hand and stepped inside, to find Mu Qing already changed, sprawled across the bedding, fast asleep in a tangled heap.

Mo De sighed, straightened her disheveled sleeping posture, and tucked his bright-red wedding quilt into her arms as a bolster.

He’d discovered that she only slept soundly when hugging something—knowledge hard-won over the past few nights.

He carried the bath barrel and the discarded clothes outside to wash them by hand. Dongsha Village had no washing machines, so all these daily chores fell to Mo De.

Dusk deepened as the sun set in the west. Thanks to the enormous, lingering strange moon, the village square was as bright as day, needing no lanterns.

Rested, the butcher Zhang and several other strong villagers had gone out again to drag the massive corpse of the sub-dragon viper back to the village. The square became a temporary dissection ground, where people worked in groups under Zhang’s direction to take apart the remains.

Though Jian Xin and Shang Qingwen had already destroyed most of the vital organs, even what was left of the serpent’s scales and hide were precious materials.

The intact flesh was carved into chunks; scales were stripped and stacked, and even the pockmarked serpent skin was carefully trimmed around the holes for further processing.

Aside from what the villagers kept for their own use, any surplus could be traded with the “Guild” later. Materials from a fully-mature exotic beast were rare in the markets.

Bathed in the strange moon’s light, the square was still bright as evening fell. Led by Aunt Liu’s family, several households joined together to cook for the whole village, delivering steaming dishes to the square.

After finishing with the serpent’s remains, the Dongsha villagers set out a great feast to celebrate right there on the square.

Others were tasked with delivering food to the guests to the east, since both visiting groups had played a vital role in defending the village.

On the Qin siblings’ side, it was Cuihua who brought a bountiful meal as a courtesy call.

She knocked, waited, but got no answer, so she tiptoed inside the house.

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Turning into the inner room, the girl was startled by the scene before her. Instinctively, she covered her mouth to stifle a cry.

In the soft moonlight filtering through the curtain, she saw the two of them on the earthen bed, seemingly wrapped in each other’s arms, sleeping sweetly beneath the bright red quilt.

“Aren’t Sister Qing and Brother Mo…” Her thoughts spun wildly, her cheeks flushed scarlet, imagining all sorts of things, completely oblivious to the door opening quietly behind her.

“What’s wrong, Cuihua?” When she got no response after calling her name a few times, Mo De put down the clean laundry and came up behind her, patting her on the shoulder.

“Ah!” The girl shrieked in fright. Then, seeing who it was, she paused, glanced back at what Sister Qing was hugging, and her pretty face turned an even deeper shade of red, a rosy blush reaching even her ears.

Clearly, she had misunderstood Sister Qing and Brother Mo.

“What is it…” Roused by the girl’s cry, Mu Qing finally woke and sat up. The quilt slipped down, revealing the large pillow she’d been hugging to her chest.

“Oh, it’s Cuihua. Mm! Something smells amazing!” Crawling out of the bedding and tossing the pillow aside, Mu Qing perked up instantly at the delicious aroma.

Though curious about the girl’s embarrassment, Mo De thought it best not to ask, as Cuihua’s face was as red as a peony.

Recalling her earlier imaginings, Cuihua was now mortified. Of course Sister Qing and Brother Mo were a proper pair of siblings—how could they have done anything untoward…

Leaving the food basket and rice tub behind and murmuring a greeting, Cuihua quickly escaped.

Mo De and Mu Qing exchanged bewildered glances, not understanding why the girl had been so flustered—her cheeks were now redder than the embroidered quilt on the bed.

Mo De spread the clean laundry on the high line inside the room, while Mu Qing straightened her clothes and eagerly opened the food box, setting all the dishes out on the table.

Tonight’s feast included rarely-seen braised pork knuckle, crisp-fried jackal strips, and the highlight: a bowl of delicate, pale red snake soup. The table was laden with eight dishes, four meat and four vegetable, no wonder Cuihua’s food box had four layers.

Seated at the bench, the aroma made Mu Qing’s mouth water uncontrollably.

“Hurry up, hurry up…” she urged, glancing at Mo De as he finished hanging the laundry. If they delayed any longer, this sumptuous spread would go cold.

“Coming, coming,” Mo De replied, eager himself as he joined her at the table.

Together, they laughed and shared the bountiful meal.

Outside the window, the moonlight was especially bright and clear.

One moon in the sky, one on the earth—together, they bathed the night in silver radiance.