Gu Youyou gestured an OK sign to her, and she gently nodded her head.
After Zhuo Qing and the others had their fill, these medicinal labors finally had the chance to satisfy their hunger.
Zhuo Qing glanced at everyone and decided to go to the side chamber for an afternoon nap.
Guarding these people was truly boring; they were all ordinary folks, yet his master had assigned him to watch over them; it was a wasteful use of his abilities.
There were a total of four side chambers in the tomb, which conveniently became the bedrooms for these four men in black.
They had always operated with two people on guard and two resting and sleeping.
Taking advantage of this moment, Gui Yunxi quickly finished the rice in his bowl and followed after Zhuo Qing.
"Daoist priest, please wait."
Zhuo Qing stopped and turned to look at Gui Yunxi.
Of the people here, it was this seemingly honest man who was most trustworthy; his cooking was delicious, and he didn’t stir up trouble.
Gui Yunxi said, "Well, today the mountain wind is very strong, making it difficult for us to light the fire outside for cooking. I wonder, Daoist priest, could you allow us to move the stove inside to cook?"
"You want to cook here?" Zhuo Qing raised an eyebrow, thinking about the smoke from the fire and how choking it could be.
Gui Yunxi hastily said, "Rest assured, Daoist priest, we’ve made a clay stove recently. We don’t need to light a fire; we use charcoal to cook, and it won’t produce any strong odors."
"There won’t be any smoke?" Zhuo Qing asked.
Gui Yunxi promptly assured, "You have my word, there absolutely won’t be any smoke."
Zhuo Qing yawned and said, "In that case, bring your clay stove inside."
"Ah, thank you for your understanding, Daoist priest!"
By the afternoon, Searcy and Gui Yunxi carried a half-human-tall clay stove inside. Searcy, a girl, sat down on the ground exhausted, gasping for breath after setting it down.
"I’m dead tired, Gui Yunxi. You’re moving it yourself when we leave."
Gu Youyou gave her a drink, telling her to rest on the side for a while.
They took out the prepared charcoal and lit it, placing it inside the clay stove. Soon the charcoal was ablaze, glowing red.
Then he put the iron pot on top and started cooking and stir-frying.
Zhuo Qing came out of the side chamber and found that the clay stove Gui Yunxi was using indeed did not produce smoke like a fire would. It did have a scent, which was the aroma of food and not unpleasant.
And with the charcoal fire, the entire frigid tomb seemed to warm up a bit.
He thought that from now on, it might not be a bad idea to let them cook inside the ancient tomb and personally supervise them.
The food was ready, and its aroma was enticing. The charcoal fire in the clay stove had not gone out.
After setting up the meal, Gui Yunxi proposed, "Daoist priest, there’s still plenty of fire left in the stove; it would be a pity to put it out. How about letting me move this stove into your room to warm it up?"
"You’ve put thought into this; go ahead!"
It was summer now, but inside the ancient tomb, especially at night, lying on the cold stone slabs was indeed a bit cold.
Gui Yunxi gave Searcy a meaningful look, and despite her cursing, she still went to help move it.
The medicinal workers were all cold-natured, especially in such a damp and chilly place.
Gu Youyou and a few other workers, along with Searcy, huddled together, sleeping in a daze.
One of the men in black was responsible for the night watch, sleeping at the stone gateway.
This was Gui Yunxi’s first time undertaking such a task; he was timid and didn’t dare to fall asleep all night with his eyes closed.
It was impossible to tell day from night in the ancient tomb, but the men in black had a sandglass similar to an alarm clock; when dawn arrived, the guard would wake them up.