Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 545: Survival on a Deserted Island

Zhao Changhe had taken off his shirt earlier when Dragon Bird retrieved the items. The soaked fabric could not be left clinging to his body in this weather, so he was now bare-chested.

At present, Lady Three rested limply against Zhao Changhe’s left arm, her whole body leaning helplessly into his bare chest. The fabric around her lower body and arms had been torn away, leaving her largely exposed, with the upper part of her clothing barely holding together—a mere semblance of modesty that was hardly more than an illusion. Their skin pressed directly against one another, unimpeded by the thin remnants of her garments.

Zhao Changhe’s right hand moved along her ribcage, applying the ointment, his touch occasionally “accidentally” brushing against her chest. Lady Three’s cheeks flushed red and she turned her head away in silence.

Even with Cui Yuanyang, whom Zhao Changhe had already established a relationship with, they had never been in such an intimate position—the circumstances had never really allowed it. And despite the apparent closeness he had with Tang Wanzhuang, he had never gone beyond fondling her over her clothes. Whenever he tried to go further, she resisted, shying away in embarrassment, refusing to let him go any further.

Yet here was Lady Three, suddenly surpassing Cui Yuanyang and Tang Wanzhuang, even nearly equaling Xia Chichi, the saintess of her own cult, in the level of intimacy reached with Zhao Changhe.

The more pressing matter was that Lady Three was entirely defenseless at this moment. She was unable to resist him in the slightest and was completely at his mercy. If Zhao Changhe were to take advantage of her now, she would not be able to stop him. She could only endure the shame and submit. Given her position as his superior, this could easily turn into the classic scene of a helpless superior falling victim to her subordinate. Looking further down the line, she might not even turn against him afterward. Whether it was for her immediate survival, for the pirate crew later on, or for the Four Idols Cult back home, without Zhao Changhe, everything could easily descend into chaos.

In other words, he could most likely go through with it without consequence.

How far things would go now was entirely dependent on Zhao Changhe’s character.

And while Zhao Changhe felt it was a test of his character, Lady Three perhaps simply assumed he truly was not capable. There was a fleeting moment when Zhao Changhe genuinely wanted to prove to her just how capable he was...

But that was not the kind of person he was. The thought only lasted a second before it faded. Still, he did not resist the temptation of copping a feel while he was at it.

So, despite having already applied the ointment thoroughly, Zhao Changhe continued “working,” his hand even wandering a bit higher than necessary...

Lady Three, who had kept her head turned away, finally could not endure it any longer. She turned to him, her face expressionless, and asked, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Zhao Changhe gave one last lingering touch, saying, “It’s alright. Not quite like my beloved Qing’er.”

At the mention of “Qing’er,” Lady Three almost burst out laughing but managed to hold herself back. With a glint in her eye, she teased, “Why not go on, then? Complete the experience?”

Yet to Zhao Changhe, her ostensibly seductive tone seemed more like it was spoken through gritted teeth. He dared not truly push his luck further, remaining silent instead, and started wrapping the torn strips of her clothing back over the ointment with a focused, almost brooding demeanor.

Once everything was settled, Zhao Changhe slowly helped Lady Three to her feet, speaking softly, “Your internal injuries are severe, and staying soaked like this, especially with the cold wind blowing, will only make things worse. Let me help you sit somewhere sheltered while I try to find some rocks and tinder to start a fire...”

Lady Three paused, staring at him silently.

Zhao Changhe, suffering from a splitting headache, had little energy for much else. He looked around, but his view was blocked by the massive corpse of the octopus. He led Lady Three to sit against the creature’s body before turning away to search for anything useful.

The moment he turned, a wave of dizziness struck him, causing him to stumble and fall face-first into the sand.

“Damn it.” Zhao Changhe spat out a mouthful of sand, muttering curses as he struggled shakily to his feet. He limped over to pick up Dragon Bird, using it as a crutch, hobbling his way around the octopus.

Lady Three watched him as he fell, picked himself up, and hobbled away, remaining silent the entire time.

Zhao Changhe made a quick round around the island. The island was quite small, much smaller than the one he had once been stranded on with Yue Hongling. Hm, Black Tortoise again... Is it just fate that anything related to those two words would lead to a scenario of a man and a woman stranded on a desolate island together?

There were no trees on the island, only some scrubby, nondescript bushes that seemed to bear no fruit. Plenty of rocks scattered around, but most of them were damp, and it seemed impossible to find any dry stones or tinder for fire-starting.

He soon spotted the Dragon Emperor, knocked aside by the octopus’s tentacle earlier, lying by the edge of the island. Zhao Changhe picked it up and brought it back to Lady Three. “Be careful; something else might come crawling out of the sea. Hold onto this for protection. I’m going to keep looking around.”

Picking up Dragon Emperor reminded him of the Night Emperor’s sword blank that had been lodged in the octopus. Zhao Changhe climbed up and wormed his way through the wound for some time before he managed to retrieve the embedded sword blank.

With the sword blank secured, Zhao Changhe ventured further into the creature’s body and found a dark, dull crystal lying there. He picked it up and examined it with a frown.

It was different from the one Xia Longyuan had given him. That one had been drained of everything valuable by Xia Longyuan; its energy and even its memories had been devoured, leaving only a weak but pure water crystal with barely any energy left, serving as nothing more than a decorative gemstone with minor effects.

But this one had not faced a Xia Longyuan to drain it. Faint traces of yin qi and vicious qi swirled around it, and the water element was gathering around it even now. He could feel the moisture in his own clothes slowly being drawn toward it, albeit very gradually.

It felt like, if left alone, it might continue absorbing water energy and potentially revive.

The Sea Emperor probably could still observe the surroundings through this crystal. Fortunately, the crystal was deep inside the octopus’s body—nothing but pitch darkness around it. If it had been exposed, it would have witnessed everything just moments ago... including the intimate scene.

Zhao Changhe stabbed the sword blank into the crystal, producing a sharp metallic clang. A small spark flew off the surface, but the crystal remained undamaged.

Instead of being dismayed, Zhao Changhe was delighted. He quickly backed away, climbing out of the octopus and jumping back down. He called out to Lady Three, “Could you move aside a bit...? Um, are you able to move?”

“Yeah...” Shelly, still dazed and slow in her thinking, had no idea what Zhao Changhe was up to. Ultimately, however, she still moved aside hesitantly.

In the next moment, Zhao Changhe placed his hands on the massive octopus corpse. His arms visibly swelled, his muscles bulging with explosive power.

Even though he was currently without true qi, his physical strength remained—this was the advantage of the body itself being tempered.

Not only did he have strength, he had an immense amount of it.

Lady Three watched in shock as Zhao Changhe effortlessly lifted and flipped over the giant octopus, revealing the battered, trampled shrubs beneath it.

The shrubs had been crushed during the fight last night, but now the sun hung high in the sky. After being shielded under the octopus and subjected to the crystal’s slow absorption overnight, they were much drier—at least much drier compared to everything else.

Zhao Changhe selected some of the driest twigs, using the back of Dragon Bird to strike against the Night Emperor’s sword blank. Sparks flew bit by bit, and after some time, a fire began to flicker to life.

With a triumphant “Yes!” Zhao Changhe jumped up, only to immediately sway with a wave of dizziness, letting out a muffled groan as he collapsed.

Just as he was about to fall directly into the precious fire he had worked so hard to start, he twisted in mid-air at the last moment, barely avoiding it and landing heavily on the side.

When he raised his head, coughing, he was greeted by the sight of a pair of bare, jade-like feet right in front of him.

Zhao Changhe: “...”

Lady Three could not hold back a laugh. “Hey, did you do that on purpose?”

“Pah!” Zhao Changhe spat out some sand, smiling broadly. “We’ve got fire!”

The way he proudly announced it, he looked just like a general who had just won a great victory.

Lady Three’s gaze softened in a way it never had before, and she murmured an almost inaudible “Mm.”

In that brief moment, Zhao Changhe had seemed as steadfast as the world itself, reminding Lady Three of her father when she was a child. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

With fire, there was suddenly a sense of security. Zhao Changhe carefully fed twigs to the flame, then hesitated and turned to glance at Lady Three.

By all rights, she should have shed her damp clothes long ago, but truth be told, her clothing had already been torn to shreds, leaving only a loosely held upper garment that barely covered anything. There seemed little point in removing it. Sitting by the fire like this should suffice. It was not as if he could ask her to remove her britches[1]... though they were not covering much either.

After all, despite her injuries, Lady Three was far from a fragile Lin Daiyu[2]. Her constitution was far stronger than that of most people. As long as she had a source of warmth, she should be able to recover without any further issues.

Still, somehow... the more peaceful things became, the more it seemed the intimate closeness they had shared, holding her in his arms and touching her skin, would no longer be possible. Now, even the sight of her became an odd form of torment.

Shaking his head to clear it of such thoughts, Zhao Changhe laughed and said, “We need to replenish some energy... How about roast octopus?”

Lady Three replied, “That octopus was partially sentient. Eating it would feel wrong, wouldn’t it?”

“Nope. It was just an ordinary octopus. Its intelligence came from that crystal core, it had nothing to do with the flesh itself.” Though he said that, Zhao Changhe could not help but feel a bit of revulsion. In the end, he shook his head and stood up, “Forget it. I’ll just go catch some fish instead.”

Lady Three asked, “Are you sure the fish around here haven’t mutated into fishmen?”

Zhao Changhe, walking towards the shore, waved dismissively, “Relax. The Sea Emperor only mutates select creatures. It’s not like some radioactive contamination that spreads everywhere. Besides, I doubt the Sea Emperor would just have creatures mutate at random... Honestly, I feel like villains in this world aren’t as evil as they could be...”

“Radio...mutate... what?”

Without offering any further explanation, Zhao Changhe dove into the sea. Before long, he emerged with a fish nearly as tall as he was, grinning, “Rest assured, this one’s definitely just a fish.”

Lady Three smiled faintly as she watched him return triumphantly. She could not quite explain how she felt at that moment.

However, as Zhao Changhe walked back, his vision suddenly went black. He collapsed to the ground, still holding the fish, passing out once again.

He had been forcing himself through the searing pain assaulting his mind, doing all he could to be the pillar that held everything together. But once everything settled—the injuries tended to, fire lit, food caught—the strain finally broke him. With a heart grown light, exhaustion rushed in, and he could no longer hold himself up.

As his body crumpled to the ground, toppling like a pillar crumbling, Lady Three felt her heart tighten inexplicably, a sudden fear of the world collapsing upon her as if the sky had suddenly fallen.

It had been twenty years since she had last felt this way...

1. The word used here, 裤子, also translates to pants and trousers, though I believe britches would fit the attire of a pirate better. ☜

2. Lin Daiyu is one of the principal characters of Cao Xueqin’s classic 18th-century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber. ☜