Chapter 190: Slow Recovery Speed

Outside Xuanguang City, in a deserted forest not far away.

Ruo Xi had been hiding here with Gu Fan for a full half month.

During this half month, Ruo Xi had been responsible for going out to search for spiritual medicine to heal him, quietly waiting for Gu Fan to recover.

Meanwhile, Gu Fan kept trying to unlock his spiritual sense seal. However, for some unknown reason, he was unable to successfully unseal his spiritual sense this time.

As a result, even though his injuries could have been quickly healed by returning to the Apocalypse World once, due to the lack of spiritual sense, he was unable to touch the Bronze Gate to perform the transmigration.

And that wasn’t even the main issue. Because he couldn’t mobilize his spiritual sense at all, he couldn’t even use his own storage pouch.

All the healing sacred medicines and spiritual herbs inside were inaccessible, so he could only slowly recover on his own.

And judging by this recovery speed…

Gu Fan let out a sigh. It probably wouldn’t be possible to recover without at least a year or so.

The most critical part was that without his spiritual sense, he couldn’t even perform basic reconnaissance.

He had no idea whether there were enemies approaching around him.

This made him feel extremely insecure for a time. Fortunately, after a period of adjustment, his mind became much calmer.

“Gu Fan, open your mouth, I’ll feed you the medicine.”

Gu Fan’s face stiffened slightly, but in the end, he obediently cooperated.

His physical body was extremely strong, and his recovery ability was also formidable. Although his internal organs, meridians, and bones were still far from recovery, his skin had already returned to a fair complexion, and the charred blackness had faded.

At the same time, aside from the problem of spiritual sense that kept troubling him, the biggest issue was that he felt Ruo Xi was looking at him with an odd gaze…

That feeling made him somewhat uncomfortable, but since his body couldn’t move, he could only stay put obediently.

“Gu Fan, have you felt any discomfort lately? How’s your recovery going?”

Gu Fan quietly sensed for a while, then finally shook his head.

“It’s gradually recovering, just that the time is far too long and my spiritual sense still can’t be used.”

Ruo Xi nodded, her face flushed red as she sat to the side and said:

“Gu Fan, what do you think it feels like to like someone?”

Gu Fan froze, and then heard Ruo Xi continue:

“From childhood until now, I don’t think I’ve ever really liked anyone, I mean like how a father and mother would like each other.”

“Do you still remember when Father and the family wanted to marry me off to the Lan Die Family last time? Actually, I didn’t feel much. The only time I cried was because I couldn’t bear to part with my family and the environment I grew up in, and because of the unknowns about the Lan Die Family.”

“No matter what the reason, it was never because I was going to marry someone I didn’t like that I cried, so I don’t understand what liking someone means.”

Gu Fan thought for a moment after hearing this, and it was indeed true.

Ruo Xi’s sorrow wasn’t because she had to marry a stranger, but rather due to the fear of the unknown and the pain of parting.

At that time, she truly didn’t understand what it meant to like someone, so she wouldn’t feel sorrow for that.

“But Gu Fan, after we came to the Qiao Family, this time they wanted to marry me to the Lan Die Family again, and even guaranteed that my life wouldn’t be endangered.”

“Logically, now that my life was guaranteed, marrying over wouldn’t matter. After all, I had accepted it once back at the Ruo Family, but now I am unwilling. Gu Fan, why do you think that is?”

Gu Fan opened his mouth, but in the end, could only respond in a muffled voice:

“How would I know.”

Ruo Xi smiled and said:

“I think maybe it’s because I like someone now. Gu Fan, do you know what it feels like to like someone?”

Although Gu Fan wasn’t recovered, he still shook his head vigorously.

“No idea, no idea!”

But Ruo Xi’s eyes lit up.

“Not knowing is good. Could it be because you don’t have a Dao Companion?”

Gu Fan was left speechless, suffering greatly.

Hateful was his still-unrecovered injury—he couldn’t even avoid her.

Seeing that Gu Fan didn’t respond, Ruo Xi didn’t mind at all. Instead, she happily poured the rest of the medicinal decoction into Gu Fan’s mouth.

She had no other choice. Whether in the Ruo Family or the Qiao Family, she had no resources to fall back on. All the healing medicine she had on hand had been used up within the first few days, and now she could only rely on searching the wilds for low-year-grade mysterious herbs to treat Gu Fan’s injuries.

Fortunately, Gu Fan was becoming more stable with each passing day. As for the slow recovery time—well, in Ruo Xi’s eyes, wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?

Several more days passed.

Gu Fan’s spiritual sense still showed no signs of movement, as though a massive spiritual shackle had locked it down completely.

Every time he tried to break through this shackle, he always came just a little short. And that tiny bit—he simply couldn’t push past it.

“Maybe my physical body hasn’t recovered enough… or perhaps the injury to my spiritual sense is too severe? Will it just naturally recover over time?”

Right now, Ruo Xi couldn’t show herself within Xuanguang City. There was no guarantee whether the remaining members of the Qiao Family were still in the city.

If they were discovered and followed here, he might end up losing his life.

Gu Fan pondered the situation. But without entering the city, he couldn’t obtain any healing items. Relying solely on his own body’s recovery—it just wasn’t fast enough.

Most importantly, both his arms had been shattered by the thunder tribulation.

The residual thunder energy inside constantly hindered his recovery. Only by returning to the Evil Lotus could he regenerate his arms.

“Sigh, I can only take things one step at a time… this so-called heart demon really screwed me over.”

Time passed just like that.

In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.

During this time, under Ruo Xi’s careful care—and although the low-grade healing mysterious herbs weren’t very effective—they were still better than nothing.

Gu Fan was already able to stand up on his own. Aside from his arms still not having recovered, on the surface he looked no different from an ordinary person.

So every time Ruo Xi saw Gu Fan stand up, she would beam with joy and say that once he was fully recovered, they should leave Xuanguang City together.

At that time, as long as he helped her find a small city to settle down in peacefully, there would be nothing left troubling Gu Fan’s heart.

Every time he heard this, Gu Fan would roll his eyes.

He sure felt at ease now. Just to help her, he had endured the Ninth-layer Thunder Tribulation and nearly lost half his life—wasn’t that enough to put his mind at ease?

If that wasn’t peace of mind, even the heart demon would have to slap itself twice!

Only he himself knew that the meridians in his body had barely recovered thirty percent. The rest remained as charred as ever.

Who knew how long it would take to fully recover…

Later, he thought of the bead that Nian Ji had given him.

At that time, during the Eighth-stage Thunder Tribulation, he had been on the verge of death. It was thanks to the appearance of that bead, which healed most of his injuries, that he was able to endure the Ninth-stage Thunder Tribulation afterward.

If he could once again activate the power of that bead now, perhaps he could completely heal his injuries—and even restore his spiritual sense!

He remembered that when Nian Ji gave him the bead, it had entered through his Sea of Consciousness. So he had long suspected—could his locked spiritual sense be somehow related to this bead?

With that thought in mind, Gu Fan kept trying to draw out the bead from within his body during this period.

And with each attempt, there did seem to be some reaction within his body.

But just like with the spiritual sense shackle, he always fell just a tiny bit short of reaching his goal.

No matter how frustrated he became, it was to no avail. That tiny sliver was always out of reach!

At that moment, Ruo Xi’s voice came from outside the cave.

Gu Fan immediately composed himself, pushing aside his disappointment, and returned to normal.

“Gu Fan, I got something good today! It will definitely help speed up your recovery!”

As she spoke, Ruo Xi took out a sprout wreathed in surging green light, with arcs of lightning flickering on it, right in front of Gu Fan.

Gu Fan froze for a moment, then his expression turned grim as he said:

“Ruo Xi, tell me—where did you get this thing?!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep