A year later, he appeared again outside the bamboo forest Earth God Temple, once more facing threats of life and death, with the world against him.
Shaking his head, Zhao Douan stopped overthinking, kicked open the door, and entered the Earth God Temple.
The temple was small and could be taken in at a glance. Perhaps because mountain hunters occasionally stayed there, it wasn't that dirty or messy inside.
Inside the temple was a dilapidated Earth God statue covered with cobwebs, with half of its body and head collapsed.
However, the stone altar where offerings were placed was relatively intact. Zhao Douan blew off the dust and placed the Empress horizontally on the stone altar.
He then took out a large assortment of bottles and jars from the Void Illusion Realm, all the various pills he had brought with him on this trip.
The main purpose was for healing, restoring the Qi mechanism, mana, and detoxification.
Not caring about the details, he poured out the pills he thought were useful, pried open the Empress's red lips, and shoved them in all at once.
"Your Majesty? It's time to take the medicine."
Seeing she couldn't swallow, Zhao Douan took out a water skin, gently propped her up, and lightly patted her back, using his Qi mechanism to help her swallow the pills.
After doing all this, Zhao Douan noticed that blood was dripping down the edge of the stone altar.
His expression changed, realizing that Zhenbao's injury was mainly on her back.
Zhao Douan climbed onto the stone altar, carefully turned over the unconscious Empress to lay her face down on the altar, then his eyelids twitched wildly as he saw the entire back of her dragon robe soaked in fresh blood.
"Your Majesty, I apologize for my offense!"
With urgency, Zhao Douan whispered, then gently inserted his fingers into the collar of the Empress's dragon robe, softly peeling off the blood-stained garment.
Under the dragon robe was a slightly deformed golden soft armor woven with gold threads.
"Armor?"
Zhao Douan was not surprised; it was expected for Zhenbao to wear protective Magic Artifacts during the Sealing, and this golden armor was undoubtedly extraordinary.
However, right now, the golden armor bore the clear imprint of a hand, almost sunken, with the gold threads stained by the permeating blood.
Carefully, Zhao Douan removed the golden armor and set it aside, leaving only the white inner garment.
When he gently peeled away the last layer of inner clothing from Xu Zhenguan's body like peeling an onion, for the first time, the Empress of Yu Country's white jade-like body was unguardedly exposed to the man's eyes.
Beneath her slender swan neck, her tender white skin glowed like a lamb's, radiating an ethereal light.
Her figure was delicate yet robust, her skin snowy and pristine, not a bit excessive nor deficient, with her jet-black hair falling messily, highlighting her dazzlingly beautiful jade-like back.
Yet at this moment, Zhao Douan was in no mood to admire. As the inner garment came off, a bloody palm print was faintly visible on the Empress's back.
What kind of vicious palm strike was that?
It had nearly ripped open her skin and flesh, her perfect snow-white skin seemingly shredded to pieces, a bloody mess, almost sticking to the clothes.
"Magic God! Mystic Seal!"
Zhao Douan stared intently at the palm print, vaguely sensing the lingering Buddhist Law aura from the wound through the 'Green Lotus' in his Sea of Consciousness.
Anger flared in his chest, burning away his reason.
Taking a deep breath, Zhao Douan reopened his eyes, now calm, though the chilling sternness between his brows seemed tangible.
Without hesitation, he flipped his wrist and summoned the Mystic Turtle Seal, tossing it into the air.
The Mystic Turtle Seal slowly rotated, and a clear stream of water shot down, washing away the bloody grime on the Empress's jade-like back. Zhao Douan then retrieved the Golden Crow Flying Dagger from his hand.
After a brief pause, he took out a candle, lit it, and used wax to fix it on the stone altar, meticulously burning the Golden Crow Flying Dagger with the flame, before carefully using the scorching blade to cleanse the bruised, bloodied wound.
"Half-step Heavenly Human Realm, it should withstand the breaking wind pressure... but there's no need to take risks."
The Earth God Temple was very quiet, only the sound of the wind and the cawing of crows in the bamboo forest could be heard.
After a long while, Zhao Douan finally finished treating the wound and turned to rub the pill into his palm, gently applying it to the Empress's wound.
"Hmm..."
Even in a coma, Xu Zhenguan seemed to feel the pain, instinctively making a muffled sound, her elegant brows knitting slightly.
The fine, almost invisible body hair on her back stood up, as if resisting the unfamiliar man's touch on her master.
"Your Majesty, I apologize for my offense."
Zhao Douan whispered, his large hand covering the wound, gently massaging the medicinal efficacy into it.
Ignoring the Empress's painful hums, just as if he hadn't heard it.
Once the medicine was applied.
He hesitated a moment, removing his outer robe, slicing a piece of today's fresh pajamas he had changed into for the Sealing with the flying dagger, cutting it into strips to make a simple bandage, carefully avoiding inappropriate areas during the process.
After everything was done, he finally let out a long sigh of relief, taking out another set of spare long robes from the limited space of the Void Illusion Realm. Love this story? Show support at MV2LEMPYR.
He dressed the unconscious Empress — the blood-stained dragon robe wasn't the main issue, the problem was it was too conspicuous.
With the Empress now wearing his clothes, she had transformed from a majestic emperor to a gentle woman.
"Hmm, the clothes are a bit big, but they'll have to do."
Zhao Douan, looking down at the Zhenbao, who appeared more petite due to wearing his clothes, explained with a wry smile:
"My Space Mirror is limited, and I have no women's garments."
"Hmm..." The comatose Empress's brows slightly relaxed, it was unclear if she heard or not.
Zhao Douan didn't expect her to hear, laying the unconscious Empress flat on the stone altar, he stored the blood-stained dragon robe in the space.
As for the Taia Sword, he held it directly in his hand for defense.
This Divine Weapon, which others could not wield, stayed unusually obedient in Zhao Douan's hand, slightly trembling with a sense of affection.
"Heh, now you are not the national Divine Weapon. Here, it's just the three of us left." Zhao Douan stroked the sword hilt, finding solace in despair.
He took a deep breath, gathered his spirits, and walked out of the Earth God Temple, looking up at the sky.
The Sealing was at noon, it was still the afternoon now, yet far off in the sky, a piece of dark clouds was slowly drifting in, blocking out the sun.
"It's going to rain..."
——
ps: Friendly recommendation for a new book. "The First Charmer of Dagan."
This book is still in its new release period, so please help boost its follow-up reads. Interested readers can check it out.