Han Li began to bitterly laugh. Although he had gotten rid of the fellow from the Giant Sword Sect, he still had to deal with the largest problem at hand!
The green-clothed young woman's slim and frail body, her deathly pale and thin face, and the panic in her eyes were all completely and distinctly reflected in his eyes the moment that Han Li slightly shifted his eyes and swept the scene. It seemed as if the shock she had received was truly not small.
He did not respond to the young woman's inquiry, instead bending over and picking up the storage pouch on the big man's corpse. Then, he flicked the tip of his finger, and a small fireball hit the corpse, turning it into ash in a brief moment. Afterwards, he used the Azure Stasis Mirror to withdraw the azure light binding the silver sword and the gold blades together, then released the huge sword and the golden blades, storing them in his storage pouch.
It was only at this time that Han Li turned around and walked towards the young woman expressionlessly.
When the young woman saw that Han Li truly was getting closer to her, her already deathly pale face became even more pale without a trace of blood. She could not help but fearfully shrink back a few steps.
"What do you want to do? If you come over, I won't be polite anymore!" The green-clothed young woman finally mustered up her courage and reached her hand into her storage pouch, pulling out a small black sword and pointing it at the Han Li in front of her. However, Han Li had determined in a glance that this sword was only a trash mid-grade magic tool. It seemed like that yellow silk handkerchief was that woman's only top-grade magic tool!
"Is this how this young lady treats the great kindness of being saved?" Han Li suddenly rubbed his nose and asked as he smiled.
"The great kindness of being saved?" The young woman stared blankly for a moment, somewhat confused by Han Li's drastic change in appearance from before to now. It seemed as if she had not yet recovered from it.
"This young lady is really an eminent person with a short memory! If I hadn't made a move back then and saved this young woman from that person's sword, why would I want to make any kind of shady business like silencing you!" Han Li said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Oh...... I'm really sorry, I...... I was scared and I forgot!" The young woman was suddenly enlightened and remembered this matter, so she hurriedly explained as her face flushed, stuttering in a bewildered manner. If one saw it, one would feel pity.
"It's not much! However, it is somewhat inconceivable that we would actually meet here after having the pleasure of having met once at the Great South Valley!" Han Li waved his hand and said cordially. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw this woman's bashful appearance, Han Li felt incredibly intimate, as if he were with his own younger sister from his family.
"My name is Han Li. What is this young lady called?" Han Li opened his mouth and asked very carelessly.
"I...... I'm called Han Yunzhi," the young woman said after a brief moment of hesitation, her face scarlet. She felt incredibly bashful after voluntarily speaking her name in front of this young man. (TL: Her surname (?), meaning lotus blossom, and Han Li's (?) are different.)
"Han Yunzhi? A very good name, it fits this young lady!" Han Li lightly laughed, repeating the young woman's name.
"Really!" The red color on Han Yunzhi's face rose again.
"However, why did young lady Han enter the Spirit Beast Mountain and come to attend the Trial by Blood and Fire?" Han Li asked, somewhat curious.
"This......" Han Yunzhi's face displayed a moment of difficulty. She hesitated and chose not to say it.
"Hehe! Since it's somewhat difficult to answer, you don't need to tell me. I was only asking thoughtlessly!" Han Li added in empathy, causing Han Yunzhi to feel very grateful.
"Right, we had better enter the stone room and gather the spiritual medicines, lest a long night is fraught with dreams and other people arrive here!" Han Li suddenly said after carelessly conversing with the young woman for a while. (TL: "A long night fraught with dreams" means a long delay might lead to more hitches.)
Han Yunzhi nodded repeatedly when she heard this, but afterwards she said again, somewhat abashedly:
"Big brother Han, could you let me have those few Fierce Sun Blossoms? I only want those flowers; I won't ask for anything else more!"
"Of course it's not a problem; even if young lady Han had not said it, I was already planning on doing it this way!" Han Li replied after hearing this, lightly laughing.
"Many thanks, Big Brother Han!" When the young woman heard this, she immediately expressed her thanks repeatedly, her face revealing a joyful expression. She felt even more grateful towards Han Li.
"Since it's like this, why doesn't young lady Han go gather the Fierce Sun Blossoms first! Don't let me accidentally take them away!" Han Li recommended calmly, laughing once.
"Okay then!" Hearing this, the young woman felt that it was somewhat reasonable and lowered her head, paying her respects to Han Li. Then, she turned around to walk towards the stone room.
But when the young woman had just turned around, she suddenly heard Han Li sigh. Then, she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and her vision went black, falling unconscious onto the ground. However, when she was a few feet from the ground, she was stopped by being hugged from behind.
It turned out that Han Li had taken advantage of the moment the young woman had turned around to suddenly move himself behind Han Yunzhi and gently knock her out with one blow. He then used his two hands to hold her soft, jade-like body.
Han Li, holding up the young woman's curves and smelling the beautiful and serene smell of the young woman's body, was shaken in his state of mind! He couldn't help but to lower his head and kiss the young woman's fragrant cheek. However, he immediately regained his senses and bit the tip of his tongue, immediately becoming much more sober. Looking at the young woman's beautiful appearance, he began to bitterly laugh incessantly.
He first gently laid the young woman against a wall of the stone room, and then in a flash he entered the room. After a brief moment, when he had cleaned out all of the spiritual medicines inside of the room, he walked out again. He then picked up the young woman again, and his figure swayed a bit before disappearing in an outcrop of mountainous rocks to the side.
Inside a naturally-formed stone cave near the peak of the ring-shaped mountain, Han Li laid the young woman flat on the ground. Then, he sat cross-legged to the side, closed his eyes, and began to recover.
Han Li finally opened his eyes. A mysterious light flickered in them, and he displayed his incredibly fast movement technique. He finally was able to recover some energy. It was only now that he retrieved a palm-sized, delicate silver box from his storage pouch.
Han Li gazed at this silver box and seemed to be somewhat entranced.
After a while, he silently opened the lid to the box, revealing a neatly arranged row of silver needles inside! They were exactly the acupuncture items that he had often used before at the Seven Mysteries Sect.
Han Li lifted his hand and gently caressed the silver needles of all sizes. The figures of Doctor Mo, Li Feiyu, etc. couldn't help but be vivid in his mind; it was as if his life in God Hand Valley was something that transpired only yesterday. He couldn't help but sigh with much sorrow!
After a brief mental journey, Han Li's train of thought finally flew back to him. He settled his mind, and then used two fingers to deftly draw out a long and thin silver needle in a very practiced motion. The needle appeared between his fingers.
Then, Han Li looked at the young woman and then at the needle in his hand; a helpless expression appeared between his eyebrows.
"Young Lady Han, if it wasn't for me being eased by this needle technique, which can eliminate a person's short-term memory, I really wouldn't know how I would deal with my secret being revealed! Although I believe that you would sincerely try to keep my secret for me, during this time too many accidents will occur. Perhaps you would unintentionally leak it out, or other people would use secret techniques to dig out this matter without you knowing. I have no choice but to protect against this!" Han Li murmured to himself.
Immediately, he brought out a red porcelain bottle and poured out a strong-smelling fiery red medicinal pill from it. He then unhesitatingly stuffed it into the young woman's mouth. TL: ( ?deg ?? ?deg)
"Luckily I also brought the Forgetful Dust Pill that I had carelessly concocted before with me; this way, I can fully display my Worry-free Needle Technique without having to worry about the future. Although it is still slightly dangerous, there shouldn't be any big problems anymore; you will only forget the things that have happened in this half day. I really didn't expect that the needle technique I had learned from Doctor Mo's relics could actually be used today in the cultivating world," Han Li said with affection as he touched the young woman's beautiful hair.
After a few hours, Han Li walked out of the cave, his face deathly pale. He hastily hid in a nearby large tree, and then attentively watched the circumstances at the tunnel entrance.
After a quarter of an hour, Han Yunzhi walked out with a vacant expression, holding a few Fierce Sun Blossoms in her hand. She peered around at the cave entrance a few times, a hand on her forehead; her eyes slowly revealed a strange expression.
Suddenly, it seemed as if she had thought of something important; she hurriedly placed the Fierce Sun Blossoms inside of her storage pouch, and she hurriedly left that area, shooting down the mountain.
Not long after she left, Han Li leaped down from the tree. After gazing at the direction the young woman had disappeared to, he let out a long sigh, then slowly headed towards a dense forest on the other side.
The third day in the forbidden area had finally ended; the fourth day's arrival, to Han Li, went much less smoothly than the day before.
If it wasn't encountering and being chased by other strong demonic beasts, it was that his information had mistakes; the locations where spiritual medicines grew didn't actually contain the ones that Han Li needed. As for the demonic beasts guarding the spiritual medicines, their numbers also abruptly increased; in just half a day, Han Li had killed three medium level and two high level demonic beasts in immediate succession. Regardless of whether it was his magic power or his physical energy, Han Li was unable to endure the exertion!
Now, Han Li stood below a huge cliff, assessing his harvests. Although the quantities of the three spiritual medicines had not completely reached his expected goal, they were just barely enough. Even if he were to leave the forbidden area now, it was not something that he could not accept.
In addition, the information from the Yellow Maple Valley clearly indicated that there were no more locations were spiritual medicines were yet to ripen. The remaining locations were all from the information that he had exchanged with Zhong Yue; there were actually a few more!
However, previously Han Li was always afraid that the other person's intelligence was inaccurate, leading him on a wild goose chase and wasting his time. But when Han Li skimmed through this externally-obtained information again, he immediately discovered that there was another location not too far from his current position that concealed and grew many spiritual medicines.
That place not only had spiritual medicines that had yet to ripen; there was even supposed to be many ripe spiritual medicines. This caused Han Li to be somewhat tempted. According to his speculations, if the ripe spiritual medicines there hadn't already been taken by Zhong Yue, they still should have been taken first by other people. However, the yet-to-ripen spiritual medicines should still be there!
Since it was still early and he did not have a predetermined destination, it wouldn't be a bad thing for him to run there and take a look. Even if the information was incorrect, he would not have any losses!
Having reached this intention, Han Li could no longer sit still; after resting for a brief moment, he leaped up to depart.