The soft tap-tap of Yoriichi's boots against the damp cavern stone echoed above the muffled roar of the waterfall.
Xiao Yu spun around, her silver hair whipping through the air. Her eyes, still wide with the residual panic of waking up alone in the dark, instantly locked onto the tall, bandaged figure walking toward her.
A profound, shuddering sigh of relief escaped her lips, carrying a visible puff of frosty air. Her shoulders slumped, and the terrifying tension that had gripped her spine instantly vanished.
"Oh... you are awake. You are okay," Xiao Yu breathed out, her voice trembling slightly. She hurried forward to meet him, her hands hovering hesitantly over his heavily bandaged torso, afraid to touch him and cause him pain. "I was ready for the absolute worst scenarios, Ning'er. Your internal temperature was so high... I thought your meridians were going to incinerate themselves."
Yoriichi offered a faint, reassuring smile. The expression was rare, softening the stoic lines of his face.
"I am good," Yoriichi told her, his deep voice slightly raspy but steady. "And it is entirely thanks to you. Your quick thinking and the application of those herbs stabilized my condition."
He walked past her, moving toward the dying bonfire. He reached out and picked up two thick wooden logs from a neatly stacked bundle nearby, placing them carefully into the glowing red embers to keep the fire going. The dry wood quickly caught, sending a shower of orange sparks into the air and casting a warm, dancing glow over the jagged cave walls.
Xiao Yu followed him and sat down right next to him. Reverting to her usual, comforting routine, she pulled her knees up, crossed her arms over them, and rested her head on her forearms, gazing silently into the roaring flames.
Yoriichi sat perfectly still beside her. As they sat in the quiet, serene atmosphere of the hidden cavern, he noticed something incredibly peculiar.
Emanating from Xiao Yu's body was a faint, almost non-existent pressure. It wasn't the heavy, suffocating kinetic weight of Dou Qi, like the aura the Da Dou Shi had projected. This was something fundamentally different. It felt ancient.
It felt like a dormant, absolute authority—a hierarchy of existence that passively demanded reverence. Because Yoriichi's soul was that of a peerless grandmaster, yet his current mortal vessel belonged to a declining bloodline, he could feel this subtle, intrinsic weight pressing against his senses.
He filed the observation away for a moment.
"How much time has passed?" Yoriichi asked calmly, keeping his eyes on the crackling fire. "Since I was knocked out?"
Xiao Yu hummed softly, her silver hair shimmering in the firelight. "Eight days."
Yoriichi's eyes perked up, a genuine flicker of surprise crossing his features. "Oh... such a long time."
He reached out, adjusting one of the burning logs with a stick to allow more oxygen into the core.
"I know it was incredibly difficult," Yoriichi continued, his tone laced with deep, unmasked respect. "To manage this all alone for so many days. Hauling me out of the trench, securing this hidden location, gathering the correct medicinal herbs, and maintaining constant vigilance against the magical beasts outside. You have done exceptionally well, Yu."
Xiao Yu shifted slightly, her cheeks warming under his rare, direct praise.
"Hmm... it wasn't all hard," she replied softly. "At the start, it was a bit of a problem trying to bandage you properly without aggravating those deep burns on your chest. But then it was okay. The hardest part was just... waiting in the dark for you to wake up."
She lifted her head, looking at the bundle of supplies resting near the cave wall.
"I have to admit," she continued, a faint, genuine smile touching her lips, "when we first arrived at the academy, I thought you were entirely paranoid. You packed so many miscellaneous things into your spatial ring—bundles of dry wood, heavy blankets, extra iron pots, and weeks of mundane rations. I thought it was completely wasteful to occupy so much precious storage space with basic camping gear instead of pills or weapons."
She looked back at the fire. "But... it was really useful carrying all these things. If we didn't have this dry wood, I wouldn't have been able to keep you warm through the shivering phases of your fever."
Right on cue, as if summoned by the mention of rations, a loud, synchronized rumble echoed from both of their stomachs.
Xiao Yu let out a soft laugh. She stood up, moving over to their supplies. She pulled out a small iron pot, filled it with fresh, filtered water from the edge of the cavern, and set it securely over the campfire. She chopped up some dried, preserved meat and tossed in a handful of spiritual rice from their rations, expertly preparing a thick, hearty stew.
Once it was heated and bubbling, the rich, savory aroma completely banished the stale, damp smell of the cave. She poured the stew into two wooden bowls and handed one to Yoriichi.
They began to eat. For a few minutes, the only sound was the clinking of wooden spoons against bowls. To Yoriichi, who had been starved of nutrients for over a week, the simple stew tasted like a feast prepared by the gods.
As they were eating and chatting quietly about the layout of the cave, a logical inconsistency suddenly struck Yoriichi's analytical mind.
"I feel no extreme, debilitating hunger right now, despite being unconscious for over a week," Yoriichi noted casually, taking a sip of the warm broth. "What did I eat before? And being completely asleep... how exactly did you manage to administer the nutrients and the water to me?"
Xiao Yu's spoon froze halfway to her mouth.
Instantly, a deep, furious blush exploded across her pale cheeks, turning her entire face a brilliant shade of crimson. Her eyes darted around the cave, suddenly finding the rocky ceiling incredibly fascinating as she desperately tried to mask her embarrassment.
She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath to calm her racing heart.
"Hmm..." Xiao Yu coughed gently into her hand, trying to sound as casual as possible. "It was... difficult to have you eat solid food or swallow liquid while you were completely unresponsive. You kept choking when I tried to pour it in. So... I just... I also helped with these. Directly."
Yoriichi paused, processing the logistics of liquid transfer. He understood the implication immediately.
"Oh. I see," Yoriichi replied, his voice completely flat and deadpan, showing absolutely zero awkwardness at the life-saving, mouth-to-mouth feeding method. "A highly efficient and necessary survival tactic. Thank you."
Xiao Yu buried her face in her bowl, silently thanking the heavens that her brother possessed the emotional density of a steel broadsword when it came to such matters.
Once they finished their food, Yoriichi set his empty bowl down. The brief, comfortable atmosphere shifted as he straightened his posture, his crimson eyes turning deeply serious.
"Now," Yoriichi began, his tone signaling a shift back to martial matters. "Let us talk about your physical change. Or, more accurately, your awakening."
Xiao Yu also grew serious. She set her bowl aside and hummed in acknowledgment, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"The first thing is your fundamental physical structure," Yoriichi analyzed, gesturing toward her. "Your hair has turned entirely silver with pink extremities. Your eye coloration has shifted to a vibrant pink-red. But beyond the cosmetic changes, your facial structure has naturally become vastly more refined, and your bone density appears to have skyrocketed. Furthermore... you broke through to the Eight-Star Dou Zhe realm."