Wu Huang approached Mu Qinlian. "Lend me your sword for a moment."
Mu Qinlian nodded without hesitation. "You can take it directly."
With a slight nod, Wu Huang took the weapon resting beside Mu Qinlian and headed toward the corpse of the Great Monster. He sighed softly. "I didn't expect to have to get my hands dirty again," he said, and without hesitating for a single second, he plunged the blade into the creature's chest.
With a precise movement, he sliced open the large beast's torso; blood and viscera immediately spilled out around him. He reached out and thrust his hand into the cavity, feeling around for a moment before pulling out a glowing orb that began to throb in his hand as if it had a life of its own.
Then, with extreme care, he extracted the heart of the great beast and drained a few drops of thick blood from within.
He frowned. "It's mixed and somewhat impure; I'll have to refine it for it to be of any value," he murmured, keeping it suspended over his hand using his spiritual energy.
Finally, he ripped out the sharpest fangs and extracted its main tendon.
With the materials in hand, he returned to Mu Qinlian. "Here are the materials from the beast," he said, extending them to her.
Mu Qinlian looked at them and shook her head. "I don't need them; you can keep them."
Understanding Mu Qinlian's attitude and instead of forcing the matter, Wu Huang took a direct shortcut. "I can't carry them right now, I don't have a spatial ring, so you keep them for now."
Mu Qinlian thought about it for a moment before nodding and taking them. She stored the glowing orb directly into her ring along with the rest of the things, but she first bottled the thick heart blood in a jade vial.
Once Mu Qinlian had stored everything away, Wu Huang asked, "Have you recovered yet? We should leave before something else arrives."
Mu Qinlian shook her head. "It will take a while, but if Senior Brother supports me, I can do it immediately."
Wu Huang frowned and, with a defeated sigh, walked behind her and placed his hands on her back. "Take a deep breath," he said, and began to circulate his spiritual energy.
The moment Wu Huang released his energy, Mu Qinlian let out a soft gasp. Wu Huang's spiritual energy penetrated her meridians in a surprisingly gentle manner.
For his part, Wu Huang immediately felt the vastness of Mu Qinlian's spiritual energy. It was only to be expected from someone who had already reached the Foundation Establishment realm, in stark contrast to his own cultivation, which was stuck at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.
Mu Qinlian closed her eyes, focusing on controlling her breathing. Little by little, the trace of paleness on her face disappeared, replaced by a healthy pink glow as her internal injuries began to heal at an accelerated rate.
A few minutes passed before Wu Huang withdrew his hands, exhaling a mouthful of turbid air.
"That's enough for now," he said, taking a step back. "The rest of your energy will stabilize on its own while we move. Let's go, this forest isn't safe."
Mu Qinlian nodded, her expression slightly dejected that the contact had ended; but understanding that asking for more would be counterproductive, she stood up and walked by his side.
"Senior Brother, could you explain to me now what happened and who kidnapped you?" she asked.
Wu Huang, a bit surprised, looked at her. "How did you know I had been kidnapped?"
Mu Qinlian was about to answer, but she immediately remembered that it was too hasty to reveal her master's identity. Furthermore, explaining that her master had found out the very instant it happened—because she had left a trace of her divine sense in Wu Huang's body without him knowing—would be extremely complicated. So, she simply improvised: she said she was going to visit him and, not finding him anywhere, investigated a bit until she discovered he had disappeared.
Wu Huang, not fully believing her, simply nodded and explained everything. He recounted the story from the moment he went out to the people who had kidnapped him, giving details of how they looked and behaved.
Mu Qinlian nodded and, as if an idea crossed her mind, stated with a cold face, "I'll take care of that as soon as we return."
Wu Huang nodded again. The methods of a "child of destiny" were always mysterious and he didn't want to get involved at all, so he preferred not to ask any more questions.
For him, as long as he recovered the Spatial Ring that the elder woman had given him, it would be more than enough. Besides, the materials kept inside were especially rare; losing them would hurt for a long time and, if he had to explain such a blunder to the elder, he would be in serious trouble.
They arrived at the sect entrance, and the disciple in charge of the guard duty looked at them and greeted them immediately.
"I'm glad to see you back, Senior Sister Mu," the disciple said politely to Mu Qinlian, completely ignoring Wu Huang.
Wu Huang, showing no surprise, took a step back in silence to let Mu Qinlian speak. He was more than used to this kind of treatment.
"The incident was resolved," she declared coldly, without stopping her pace.
The disciple, visibly surprised, hurried to ask, "Really? I heard the beast in the back mountain was of a very high rank and that even some guardians hesitated to go alone. As expected, Senior Sister Mu's talent knows no bounds!"
Mu Qinlian frowned slightly at the flattery and glanced sideways at Wu Huang before replying to the guard:
"I didn't do it alone. Senior Brother Wu Huang was a great help."
The disciple at the gate blinked, incredulous. He looked Wu Huang up and down, noting his dirty servant disciple clothes and his low cultivation at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and let out a forced chuckle.
"Ah... I see. It's good that Brother Wu... didn't get in your way during your mission, Senior Sister."
Mu Qinlian, her face turning even colder, tried to say something to put him in his place. However, noticing Wu Huang's gaze behind her asking her to let it go, she held back and simply walked forward.
Both entered the sect, completely ignoring the guardian disciple.
Once they were a safe distance away, Wu Huang stretched a bit and broke the silence:
"I'm going to get some rest. I'll see you later, Sister Mu."
Mu Qinlian stopped and stared at him. The coldness on her face completely disappeared, replaced by a soft expression.
"Alright, Senior Brother. Please rest and heal your wounds. I... will take care of the matter regarding your belongings as soon as possible. See you soon."
She gave a small, elegant bow of her head before watching him walk away.