Hou Mingzhu blushed slightly when Ye Tiancheng said that, shaking her head a little, appearing a bit shy.
"It's alright, I quite liked the beef noodles you made. Your other dishes should be good too. As long as there's food, that's enough. I wouldn't dare be so picky, I'm afraid you'll get angry."
Hou Mingzhu's words made Ye Tiancheng laugh again. The two of them had such great chemistry that they never felt the atmosphere would turn awkward. As long as they were together, it was truly perfect.
"Do you feel anything now?" Ye Tiancheng asked meticulously, afraid of missing any detail that might cause Hou Mingzhu further harm, which he would regret immensely. "If anything feels uncomfortable, you must tell me. Don't try to tough it out. I'll always be by your side watching you."
"Don't disturb me anymore. I need another 10 minutes of sleep. I feel like I haven't woken up properly yet."
Although Hou Mingzhu's voice was nasal, clearly indicating she was not fully awake, there were no other physical abnormalities. This actually validated that Hou Mingzhu was Ye Tiancheng's destined soulmate, and being by Ye Tiancheng's side, he could break the curse.
"That's great. Sleep then. It seems there are people my curse can't harm. Finally, someone can accompany me. I don't have to bear this pain alone."
Perhaps he had endured too many hardships recently, feeling a bit like Xianglin's wife, prone to rambling when something happened.
"You promised me another 10 minutes of sleep. Don't disturb me here. If I can't sleep well later, my mood will be bad, and I might take it out on you."
Hearing Hou Mingzhu's warning, Ye Tiancheng wasn't angry at all. Instead, he left with a chuckle. For him now, as long as Hou Mingzhu was safe, nothing else mattered. He didn't care much about anything else.
"Alright, I'll leave then. I'll come to wake you up in 10 minutes. Remember to eat. It's not good for your health to skip breakfast."
Ye Tiancheng said this and left. He hadn't walked for long when the ground suddenly began to shake. The feeling was terrifying, as if the earth was moving and the world was about to be destroyed.
Ye Tiancheng looked up at the sky. A large mass of black clouds gathered, looking extremely frightening. Ye Tiancheng's first reaction was to rush to find Hou Mingzhu, unsure if it was a result of his curse or some other reason.
When Ye Tiancheng saw Hou Mingzhu, she was still sleeping soundly. Despite the massive earthquake, she seemed completely unfazed, which was astonishing.
"Hou Mingzhu, wake up quickly! Something terrible has happened. I think there's an earthquake."
Under Ye Tiancheng's urgent calls, Hou Mingzhu finally woke up belatedly, feeling groggy. The ground was still shaking, and she quickly got out of bed.
"What's going on? Did Black Wind Mountain have a landslide? Why is it shaking like this?"
"Don't worry about it. Just follow me quickly."
Ye Tiancheng pulled her up and then ran with Hou Mingzhu, as if they were fleeing for their lives.
They had barely been out of the small wooden cabin for 10 seconds when the cabin suddenly collapsed. Everything that had been intact moments before turned into ruins. No one could withstand such a devastating blow.
"Did you see that? The place where I was just sleeping collapsed."
Hou Mingzhu looked at everything that had been, and the last trace of sleepiness vanished. She was now completely awake and had a strong feeling that the end of the world was approaching, which was truly terrifying.
"Ye Tiancheng, hurry and take me away from here."
Ye Tiancheng also realized the seriousness of the situation and dared not delay any longer. He grabbed Hou Mingzhu and ran. They ran all the way and finally arrived outside a very large cave. Perhaps this was their most suitable refuge.
"Follow me, don't be afraid. Leave everything to me to handle."
Ye Tiancheng directly led Hou Mingzhu into the cave. He was confident inside the cave. The rock structure there was very special, and it wouldn't collapse anytime soon. There was no need to worry about that.
"It's too dark and damp in here. Natural caves, honestly, I'm not really used to them."
She had expected to sleep a little longer and then have Ye Tiancheng's warm breakfast. Instead, she was forced to hide in this cave to survive due to this severe natural disaster.
"I estimate the shaking won't last long. Nature just gets angry occasionally. It will be fine in a short while. Don't worry about this. Once it's over, I'll take you away from here immediately."
"It's okay, I'm not that delicate. Let's just treat it as an adventure trip. Living in a cave, what's the big deal? When we get back, I can tell my girlfriends about this incredible experience. They'll probably be very envious and might even treat this place as a popular tourist spot for check-ins."
Ye Tiancheng could only understand part of what Hou Mingzhu said, but it didn't matter. As long as Hou Mingzhu was happy and didn't dwell on her emotions, and could think positively, everything would be fine.
"Are you still sleepy now? If you are, you can rest."
"I'm not sleepy at all right now. I'm incredibly energetic. After going through something like this, anyone who could still sleep must have nerves of steel."
"Then let's just stay here quietly. It's started raining outside again, and it's getting colder. I'm afraid you'll catch a cold, so it's best not to go out."
"En, okay. I wouldn't dare go out. That was a period of crazy, violent shaking. Now it's at least stopped shaking, but it's pouring rain outside. I estimate my small frame won't last long and will get soaked quickly. I don't want to turn into a little chick."
"I understand. The current predicament shouldn't last much longer. No need to rush, take your time."
Ye Tiancheng looked at the heavy rain outside. He didn't have any immediate ideas, but he couldn't panic. If he panicked now, what would Hou Mingzhu do? She would likely be even more at a loss.
"When will this stop?" Hou Mingzhu had been waiting for half an hour. After waking up, she needed to eat, but there was nothing to eat. Hou Mingzhu felt her stomach was incredibly empty. Of course, having nothing to do for a long time would also make one feel very agitated.
"Wait a bit longer." Ye Tiancheng felt a sense of regret. "When you arrived, we should have left immediately. Staying in Black Wind Mountain again... I didn't expect my aura and this place to be so incompatible, leading to such an event. It's all my fault."
Ye Tiancheng began to blame himself again. Not only was there heavy rain outside, but the rain was also dark green, giving a poisoned appearance. Even if Hou Mingzhu were to go out at this moment, she definitely wouldn't dare.
"It's so cold. I feel like sneezing. I remember the last time I experienced such heavy rain was when I was a child, around eight or nine years old. It feels like a long time ago..."
In reality, Hou Mingzhu was freezing and had no time to reminisce. The reason she had such a感慨 today was entirely to divert Ye Tiancheng's attention, to pull him out of his self-blame and prevent him from being completely consumed by it.
"This rain is very unusual. It also reminds me that if I have the chance, I should run quickly. I definitely can't stay here anymore. It's too dangerous and terrifying."
"Okay, then we'll leave after the rain stops. Besides the rain, rocks have been rolling down the mountain. It's best not to go out for now. I'm afraid that even if this dark green rain isn't poisonous, I'll worry about rocks falling and crushing us."
"You're right. I'll use my true qi to investigate and see what this rain is all about."
After speaking, Ye Tiancheng released a stream of true qi, which then drilled into the rain and swirled rapidly within the raindrops. When it stopped, it returned to Ye Tiancheng's body.
Ye Tiancheng was also very surprised. The rain contained a dense black energy, which was very abnormal. Since Black Wind Mountain had been purified last time, the monsters had disappeared, and the small animals had been reborn. Now, black energy suddenly appeared, leaving him utterly perplexed. What had happened to cause such a bizarre situation?
"It seems we really need to leave here quickly. This place is becoming increasingly bizarre. One wrong move, and you could lose your life here."
Ye Tiancheng didn't know where the powerful threat was coming from, but he was certain that he couldn't stay in Black Wind Mountain any longer, or the consequences would be unimaginable.
They waited like this, and time seemed to pass slower than usual. Even Ye Tiancheng felt a sense of impatience. The torrential rain outside continued, and all the strange phenomena gave him a suffocating feeling. Perhaps only when these abnormal situations disappeared would everything return to normal.
They waited in the cave for a long time. Seeing that the sun was about to set outside, Ye Tiancheng had just been thinking about the breakfast he had painstakingly made, which was probably too cold to eat now. He didn't think about it anymore. As long as the rain stopped, they could leave this place temporarily.
"I haven't eaten all day. To be honest, I'm starving."
Ye Tiancheng could also feel that Hou Mingzhu was genuinely hungry. However, he was somewhat at a loss. Because he had run so urgently, he hadn't brought anything with him, so there was nothing for her to eat.
"I don't have any food on me right now. I'm sorry to make you go hungry with me."
"Actually, the beef noodles you made last night were a little too salty. I was a bit displeased about it then, but I didn't say anything. Now I'm actually craving that bowl of beef noodles. Even if it's a bit saltier, I could eat a whole big bowl."
"Wait a moment, I'll look around. I occasionally carry some food with me, but I don't think I brought any today."
Ye Tiancheng searched thoroughly, even turning out the lining of his pockets. To his surprise, he found half a Snickers chocolate bar.
"This is great, at least there's something to eat. Eat it quickly. Don't underestimate this half bar, it's quite filling. You won't need to eat anything else tonight."
"Okay, that's wonderful. It's good to have something to eat now."
Hou Mingzhu quickly took the chocolate, took a big bite, and nodded repeatedly.
"How come I never realized how delicious chocolate is? It's so rich and fragrant."