Heavenly Star

“She left because she wanted to protect you and I.”

Ning Xue turned her head, a confused look on her face.

Ye Wuchen couldn’t explain things to her clearly, but also didn’t want her to worry. “Let’s eat, Xue,” she said with a smile.

The scent of meat spread everywhere. Ning Xue hurriedly extinguished the fire. Staring at the rabbit meat in the pot, she kept swallowing her saliva while waiting for it to cool down.

Ye Wuchen had slept for ten years without even drinking a drop of water. He not only didn’t die, but grew up as he slept because he could absorb the vital energies of the heaven and earth. Now his empty body couldn’t do that any longer. He was also physically weak; if it weren’t for Ning Xue taking care of him and the unintentional life energy that she had given him, he would have long died. As he smelled the meat, he also felt his stomach rumble. It was a delightful surprise. The fact that he was able to feel hunger meant that other than weakness, his body was already mostly healed. Perhaps before long he could recover fully.

When the meat had finally cooled down, Ning Xue took up a knife and cut off a small piece of rabbit meat with some effort. She squatted and pushed it toward Ye Chen’s mouth hastily, “Big bro, this rabbit smells super good. This is the first one I caught. Try it!”

Ye Wuchen didn’t open his mouth. With a smile he said, “Xue, I don’t have enough energy to chew anything. Someone who’s just suffered through illness can’t really handle things that are hard to digest. All I can drink now is soup. So you have to be the one to eat this rabbit.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Xue was a bit disappointed. Standing up hurriedly, she grabbed a small bowl and filled it with soup before grabbing a spoon and stirring it carefully. She tasted it a few times until it reached a satisfactory temperature, then blew on it again before finally bringing it to Ye Wuchen’s lips, “Big bro, you should drink this. It’s not hot anymore.”

The fresh, delicious rabbit soup entered his mouth, each mouthful enough to savor for a long time. He would never forget the taste of the moment. How excited this girl was when she returned with the rabbit, pushing back against her fear and pity to skin the rabbit, waited patiently as it cooked, swallowing saliva as she took care of him...and the deep concern and satisfaction that showed with the smile lifting the corners of her mouth. Each movement, each expression, held the sort of deep sentiment that it would take him a lifetime to pay back.

Even if he tasted all the wondrous dishes of the world, there was nothing that could compare to what he was eating now. In this ordinary meat soup, there was a young girl’s untainted heart.

Ning Xue fed him two bowls before Ye Wuchen finally said, “I’m full now, Xue. Don’t just feed me, you need to eat too. It’s been so long, you must be so hungry.”

Hearing this, Ye Wuchen smiled a bit inwardly. “Then how about you finish this rabbit off today? If not, it might go bad tomorrow.”

“Yep!” Ning Xue answered. Gulping again, she picked up half of the rabbit with her small hands and began to bite into it. At first she ate slowly, but she started eating faster and getting messier, as if she wanted to swallow the whole thing in one bite. She was really so hungry; as she was feeding Ye Wuchen, her own stomach had been growling nonstop.

“Slow down a bit, careful that you don’t bite your tongue.” Ye Wuchen said lovingly as he watched her eat.

Only then did Ning Xue flash him a sweet smile, burying her head in his arms, and slowly closed her eyes.

She had been tired, tense, worried for too long...now that she was relaxed, the exhaustion she felt was even greater than Ye Wuchen’s. Almost the moment she closed her eyes, she fell asleep. This time there was a satisfied smile at the corner of her mouth, so that she didn’t have to worry about being woken up by nightmares ever again.

Hearing her breathing become rhythmic and comfortable, Ye Wuchen felt like something had pierced his heart. He wanted to open his arms and embrace her fully, letting her fall asleep comfortably and without worry like she did in the past.

“Master, tears! Her tears!” Nan-er reminded him impatiently. Although she didn’t understand why Ning Xue’s tears would contain life elements, but for Ye Wuchen in his current weak state, Ning Xue’s tears could help him recover within the shortest timespan.

“I’ll get better slowly.” Ye Wuchen closed his eyes, speaking to Nan-er as well as himself. “I don’t want to see her cry anymore.”

Nan-er was silent. Ye Wuchen wasn’t the only one who cared about Ning Xue.

...

After Ye Wuchen woke up, Ning Xue was as happy as a bird that had escaped its cage every day. Even when they were picking fruits in the forest she would skip around. Unfortunately they didn’t see any more rabbits die by happenstance. Because Ye Wuchen woke up, their food also became much more varied. The food sealed in the sword deity’s ring was enough for many days. Ning Xue no longer had to keep running to the forest. Instead she massaged his body every day, or lay beside him on the grass, folding one leg over the other as she told him about all the interesting things that she bumped into here.

Two days later, Ye Wuchen finally raised his arm, caressing Ning Xue’s face. Pressing his hand to her face, Ning Xue began to weep again. She could already see that before long she would be able to enjoy his embrace like she used to. Ye Wuchen kissed her tears away and waited quietly. He had many more thoughts in his head than she did.

The days passed. Ye Wuchen’s body recovered one day after the other. Even he himself felt like it was a miracle. After falling off the cliff like that, it probably took countless blessings from the god of luck for him to survive and recover. Although he didn’t have power, each part of his body had regained its senses. This also meant that he hadn’t lost the use of any of his body parts.

Other than calling it a miracle, he really didn’t know how to describe it.

And Ning Xue was the one who brought him that miracle.

After half a month, Ye Wuchen finally stood up with Ning Xue’s help. That moment, Ning Xue hugged him tight, jumping up and down. Her tears flew everywhere as she laughed out loud. The laughter lasted long, moving along on the wind and echoing everywhere. In the end, she collapsed onto the ground alongside Ye Wuchen.

But Ye Wuchen’s recovery stopped there. The most he could do was stand up and take a few steps. It was like he was a balloon that had blown up from too much air; no matter how much you blew into it, it could only ever inflate slightly. Everything else would go right out of the gaping wounds.

When he realized this, the only thing Ye Wuchen could do was sigh heavily. He didn’t dare tell Ning Xue, comforting her instead that every day he felt much better.

In this state, he could only linger here forever, having Ning Xue take care of him and protect him for the rest of his life. He couldn’t accept that kind of reality as his life.

Five more days passed. With Ning Xue’s support, he started to observe this mysterious world.