Gu Jianlin was no stranger to being fed by beautiful women. Back during those months he was hospitalized after the car accident, lying in bed hooked to an IV and unable to move, it was the icy beauty from his family who fed him mouthfuls of food.
"You're actually in the mood to eat at a time ?"
He took the chunk of roasted beef leg handed to him, popped it into his mouth, and said indifferently.
"Life is short. You have to enjoy it while you can."
Tang Ling's long hair, frosty white as snow, cascaded over her shoulders. After finishing the roasted beef leg, she pulled out a wet wipe to clean her glossy, ruby-red lips. Then, taking out a compact mirror, she meticulously reapplied her lipstick. "After all, both Nightmare and Dawn have confirmed it's not poisoned, so eating this is definitely better than consuming the Poison Master's secret medicine."
When a rescue team sets out, they don't carry these kinds of frivolous supplies.
That's because they have an Alchemist on their team.
The secret medicine could provide the body with everything it needs, though it lacked any flavor.
After a brief discussion, the team still decided to make camp here for a short rest.
Their greatest confidence originally came from Instructor Wan.
Now, it was clear Instructor Wan was merely pretending, obviously testing them.
The living corpses' combat power wasn't particularly strong, but what they lacked in strength, they made up for in numbers. No one could handle them all. If too much energy was expended, they might not be able to handle any later surprises.
If someone launched a sneak attack when they were exhausted, the whole team could be wiped out.
At the moment, a few tents had been pitched around the camp. Team members were resting.
But in reality, no one let their guard down, ready to act at any moment.
Across the river, about twenty meters away, were Jing Shangxiu and his team.
Although everyone agreed on camping here for the night,
there was a ten-minute debate on how to deal with the group on the other side.
Mountain Ghost and Blue Whale felt that this mysterious group should just be killed.
But others thought there was no need to kill them—driving them away would suffice.
The two sides couldn't reach an agreement.
In the end, it was Tang Ling who made the final decision: to coexist with them peacefully.
That was Gu Jianlin's suggestion.
It wasn't out of the kindness of being a Holy Mother, but because keeping them alive still had utility.
According to the Yingzhou elder, they were here treasure-hunting because news had spread from the You Ying Group that an Ancient Ruins site near the Returning Burial Forest might contain some rare treasures.
Now the You Ying Group's Master had led his own team inside and driven out all the adventurers within.
Jing Shangxiu was one of those expelled.
So far, they hadn't retrieved much of value, just a few ancient tokens from the ruins.
"Relax, I won't shortchange you! Let's trade item for item! I think these things of yours are worth it!"
Ji Xiaoyu took off the diamond necklace hanging around her neck and threw it over. "This was a birthday gift from my second sister. It came out of the… Assyrian Empire or something. Anyway, it's definitely more than enough to cover the cost of your goodies!"
Jing Shangxiu seemed very eager to curry favor with the association people.
Plus, the Yingzhou people's habit of bowing and scraping made them appear exceedingly humble.
Terrified that one misstep might provoke the other side into killing them outright.
They had also observed that this little girl was no ordinary member of the team and didn't mind offering up goodwill.
Even the roasted beef leg earlier had been their gift.
Ten minutes later, Ji Xiaoyu was holding an archaic and ornate Golden Tripod, as well as a silk scarf made of some special unknown material that had withstood thousands of years without decaying.
"Such generosity, Little Princess!"
"An ancient token from the Assyrian Empire, just given away like that!"
"I recall that thing has a special effect—it helps accumulate spirituality."
The teammates immediately started lavishing her with praise.
Ji Xiaoyu enjoyed being the center of attention. Binding the silk scarf around her neck, she sat down on the ground.
Then she cleaned the Golden Tripod with river water and used it to hold beef bone soup.
Her extravagance was on full display.
Tang Ling snorted softly, seeming a bit disdainful of such ostentatious behavior.
But Gu Jianlin furrowed his brow, his expression turning rather strange.
He vaguely remembered that something similar had been mentioned in Old Gu's files.
At that moment, the imagined figure of Old Gu in his mind also wore a peculiar expression, leaning in to mutter something to him.
Gu Jianlin felt a wave of nausea surge up, almost making him puke out what he had just eaten.
Tang Ling glanced at him.
Gu Jianlin, unable to restrain himself any longer, said coldly, "That Golden Tripod… in the context of ancient tribes, its name was 'En Gu,' which means 'receptacle for all worldly filth.' It was a religious ritual tool. During the primitive era when the Ancient Gods first descended, their believers used this thing to collect the filth of the Ancient Gods."
He paused. "Care to guess what counts as the filth of the Ancient Gods?"
Tang Ling's expression suddenly changed, as if something clicked in her mind.
After a moment's hesitation, someone asked, "Wait, don't tell me…"
At that point, everyone couldn't help clutching their stomachs.
Ji Xiaoyu, in particular, suddenly seemed dazed.
"That's right, it's a toilet."
Gu Jianlin said in an icy tone, "The Ancient Gods' toilet."
Ji Xiaoyu vomited on the spot, tossing the Golden Tripod aside as the broth spilled all over the ground.
"But the silk scarf is indeed a good item, a symbol of status."
Gu Jianlin suddenly changed the topic.