Chapter 22: Essence-Honey

Yang Zhai slowly opened his eyes. A pain started to appear in his eyes. He hurriedly closed his eyes. He tried to slowly open them up again. After adjusting to the mild light of the cave, the pain in his eyes decreased a little. His eyes squinted because of the light.

He tried to figure out the situation he was in. Thus, he slightly moved his head to the right and saw nothing except for the four wooden chairs, a wooden table for chairs, and a short-legged table. After that, he moved his head slightly to the left and saw that Cho Byeol was sitting on the floor next to his bed, whilst her head rested on her folded arms that were on the bed to his side, seemingly sleeping.

He tried to move his left arm, but couldn't do that. He thought his arm was numb and looked toward his left shoulder. He suddenly remembered everything that had occurred.

He wasn't sad, instead, he was happy that he was still alive. The only reason he was sad, was because he could now feel the way his dad felt. His words may have hurt his dad more than he had expected. Even though he wasn't that sad about losing his arm, his situation was different from his dad's. He was happy that he was alive. But his dad's situation was different.

"Yang Zhai, you're finally awake,…" 

A voice came from the left side. He turned his head to the left again and saw that Cho Byeol was rubbing her eyes with her hands. It seemed that she was only half-awake.

"You scared us, …you know how much blood you had lost during the previous fight?!" Her voice was a little sluggish. She was still talking in a drowsy state.

"Can you please give me a spoon of the Essence-Honey?!" Yang Zhai said with difficulty. 

"Yeah, wait a minute. Let me fetch it."

Cho Byeol stood up lazily: went to the table, picked up the Essence honey, came back, then opened the lid of the flask, dipped the teaspoon into the flask, then she pulled the spoon full of honey out of the flask, after that, she ate it. 

Yang Zhai:"..." 

"She ate it. She really ate it, ..." Yang Zhai was completely speechless. Just how sleepy was Cho Byeol?!

After eating the spoon full of honey: she went back to the table, placed the flask of Essence-Honey back on the table, came back to the left side of the bed, sat down, placed her arms on the bed, rested her head on her arms and slept again.

Yang Zhai:"..."

Yang Zhai was rendered speechless once again. He really could not believe what had happened just now. He wanted to punch Cho Byeol with his left arm, but was unable to do it. 

Yang Zhai:"..."

Why, just why did it have to be me?!!: Yang Zhai thought to himself:And just how sleepy are you!!!!

"Hey, hey you, wake up, .." Yang Zhai wanted to shout but couldn't, so he said slowly.

"Hey, you idiot, wake up already, …"

There was no response, Cho Byeol was sleeping soundly.

Yang Zhai:"..."

"What should I do? I am out of strength right now; I need to eat the Essence-Honey to restore my strength. I wish Bae Ah was here. This girl is completely hopeless." Yang Zhai shook his head, not knowing what to do.

Essence-Honey could help him restore his stamina and strength. Additionally, it could also help him increase his cultivation. But he was just shown how to eat the honey by Cho Byeol. 

"Anyway, where is Bae Ah? She should have been with Cho Byeol," Yang Zhai thought to himself.

…..

"Achu,….I wonder who is thinking about me? Could it be Cho Byeol or don't tell me, it is Su Zhao." Bae Sneezed and shuddered at the thought she had just now.

"No, it's not possible. He doesn't even know about me. That's right, he doesn't know me. Anyway, I should hurry back with the water. I am sure that Miss is thirsty." 

…..

Yang Zhai was lying on the bed when he heard footsteps coming from the entrance of the cave. He opened his eyes and looked toward the entrance.

After a while, Bae Ah appeared from the entrance.

"Oh, you're already awake?!" Bae Ah entered the cave and saw that Yang Zhai was already awake. She was unable to believe this.

"Why are you so shocked to see me awake?" Yang Zhai couldn't understand why was Bae Ah so shocked.

"Well, it's like that, you have lost too much blood and were injured all over. So, I thought that it would take you some days to wake up. But I'm surprised to see that you're already awake." Bae Ah explained the reason for her

"Well, isn't normal?" Yang Zhai asked with confusion.

"Yeah, it is. I guess I'm overthinking it. After all, we are cultivators. We don't need that much time. But even then, the fact that you lost too much blood doesn't change. So, I'm slightly surprised." Bae Ah said, with her right index finger touching her head.

"Anyway, forget about that and let me wake Cho Byeol up. She was thirsty, so I went out to get some water from the lake. I should probably wake her up." After saying this, Bae Ah went forward and started to wake Cho Byeol up.

"Hey, Miss, wake up. I brought some water, so you can drink it now." 

Bae Ah began to shake Cho Byeol slowly and kept on telling her to wake up.

"What is it?" Cho Byeol woke up and asked. She rubbed her eyes to make them see clearly. 

"I already brought the water. So, you can drink it now."

"Ah, ok." Cho Byeol answered and stood up.

Both of them went and sat opposite the table to each other. This floor table was a one-meter wide wooden square table and was only half a foot in height from the ground. Cho Byeol picked up a wooden bowl and drank the water.

"Ah, I was so thirsty. Thank you, Bae Ah." Cho Byeol gave an "ah" sound after drinking the water.

"No worries, Miss"

"It's fresh"

"Yeah, it really is fresh"

Yang Zhai kept on watching the two of them enjoying the water and talking to each other.

After a while, Cho Byeol looked at Yang Zhai and saw that he was already awake. She became happy and said, 

"Yang Zhai, you have woken up. Thank goodness. You scared us, you know that." Cho Byeol went to Yang Zhai's side and said,

"Thanks for noticing me," Yang Zhai said indifferently.

"Oh," Cho Byeol was confused as to why Yang Zhai thanked her. She sat by the bed's right side on the floor and started to check Yang Zhai's injuries.

"Bae Ah, can you please give me a spoon filled with Essence-Honey? My body is hurting all over." Yang Zhai asked Bae Ah to give him the Essence-Honey.

Bae Ah went to the other table and picked up the flask of Essence Honey and asked, 

"If your body is hurting, and you woke up before I got here, you should have woken Cho Byeol up and asked her to give you the Essence honey. Why did you wait that long?"

When Cho Byeol heard what Bae Ah said, she suddenly remembered something, then she looked at Yang Zhai, who was looking at her, and got embarrassed. Her cheeks turned red and she lowered her head.

"She was sleeping. That's why I couldn't get the honey." Yang Zhai gave an obscure answer.

But Cho Byeol understood what Yang Zhai was trying to say. She became even more embarrassed.

Bae Ah came to Cho Byeol's side and gave her the flask and spoon.

"Here,"

"Huh," Cho Byeol took the flask and the spoon without looking up.

She opened the flask, dipped the spoon in it, took out a spoonful of honey, and fed it to Yang Zhai.

"Thank you,"

After Yang Zhai ate the honey, following that he felt a surge of the essence and power run through his veins and into his aperture. Not long after, he recovered his strength and was able to stand up now.

He tried to move his right arm and felt that the pain was going away slowly, but surely.

Yang Zhai stood up from the bed and stretched his body.

"You can move now! Impressive. I didn't know the Essence-Honey was that powerful!" Bae Ah exclaimed. She was truly surprised by the power of Essence Honey. 

"I know, right!" Cho Byeol intervened and followed after.

"You know? How is that possible? As I recall, we never had this Essence Honey before. Forget about having it, we didn't even know its name. So, how could you know?" Bae Ah gave Cho Byeol a suspicious look.

"Huh, .." Cho Byeol hurriedly put her right hand on her mouth. She was embarrassed once again and lowered her head.

"Anyway, let's sit down first." Yang Zhai sat near the one side of the floor table and said.

Bae Ah and Cho Byeol followed after and sat around the other sides of the floor table as well.

"It's like this, the Essence Honey we have can last for a week, that is if we all eat one spoon a day. And, with this much Essence Honey, I'm sure we will all be able to advance. So, go ahead Bae Ah, and eat one spoon of honey." Yang Zhai explained and handed the honey to Bae Ah.

"Oh, is that so? Then Cho Byeol, you should eat first." Bae Ah gave the flask into Cho Byeol's hands.

"She has already eaten her share today. Only you remain Bae Ah." Yang Zhai said whilst looking toward Cho Byeol.

"She did? And why don't I remember her eating it? Are you sure about that, Yang Zhai?"

Bae Ah glanced at Cho Byeol, who was embarrassed for some reason.

"Yeah, I am pretty sure about it." He smiled and answered.

"Ah, well,...I don't need to eat it. You should go ahead and eat a spoon." Cho Byeol said, handing the flask back to Bae Ah.

"Well, if you say so. I will help myself"

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