When Yi Qing next awoke, he found that he was still lying in that courtyard in the same exact position he was at before. Due to the severity of his injuries and his blurry vision, he could only vaguely see the shadowy outlines of two figures, one gray and one white, and both seemed to be talking. The white figure, which was huge, was exuding a faint demonic aura.

　　Are there demons here? He could not help being worried; not for himself, but for the girl he had met earlier. Was she alright? But he was really too exhausted and before long, he lost consciousness again.

　　The second time he awoke, he was still lying there, his position unchanged. He felt better this time and could vaguely hear the sound of voices.

　　“Exalted Immortal Shen, I am here again! Come and see, this here is the most delicious food in the Demon Realm!”

　　“Carrot?”

　　“That’s right, and as juicy as it is tasty too. Just look at the color, the water content. It’s the kind that our species loves to eat most.”

　　“Er… Just as I had thought, you are just a mere rabbit. Can’t you switch it for something else?”

　　“As per your wish, Exalted Immortal, no problem, Exalted Immortal! Exalted Immortal, do you desire anything else?”

　　“Yes, there is something. Can you…”

　　As to what that was he did not find out; he had blacked out again.

　　The third time he awoke, he was still… still… still… lying in the courtyard. Yes, still in the same position. -_-|||

　　This time he finally regained his mental faculties. At last, he could turn his head and identify the gray figure. It was the girl from last night, and she seemed to be… digging a hole in the ground!

　　…

　　“Oh, so you are still alive!” she said with a deep sigh.

　　At that moment, Yi Qing felt that she seemed disappointed. But what was she disappointed about? That he was still alive?

　　Before he could think further on it, he saw that she had climbed directly out of the pit which was waist deep. She had something in her hand which she brought to his mouth. In a casual tone she asked him, “Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?”

　　Taking a look at it, Yi Qing saw to his surprise that it was a rare ten thousand-year-old Ice Ginseng! It looked like he had overthought things because this kind of precious herb, which could heal and restore the meridians in a person’s body, was rare even in the Six Schools Three Sects. And yet she had given it to him to heal his injuries without a second thought! This girl was simply too kind-hearted.

　　He hesitated to accept it as he felt he could not repay this great act of kindness. However, in his current sorry state, he really needed it. After thinking it over, he finally nodded and said, “Thanks.”

　　Filled with gratitude, he lowered his head and chewed at the ten thousand-year-old Ice Ginseng in her hand until there was nothing left. Almost immediately, the Spirit Qi in his body began to recover, and his severed meridians started to rejuvenate.

　　Shen Ying looked on in silence. This man had lain unmoving in the courtyard for many days. At first, she had thought that he was dead as he was not even breathing. But as she had a lazy streak and she really could not be bothered to drag him out, she had just left him lying there. She had decided to dig a pit for him today, being in the mood, but he came back to life in the end.

　　“Are you full? Do you want some more?” Shen Ying took out another piece of carrot that the Rabbit Monarch had given her.

　　Yi Qing wanted very much to answer her, but his body was hurting too much; the pain from the rejuvenation of his body’s meridians was not something that a normal person could bear. Moreover, he was unable to block out his five senses which had been suppressed by demonic aura, and this greatly increased his suffering. After holding out for ten breaths, he finally fainted.

　　“Hey! Are you alright?” Noticing that the man had suddenly stopped moving again, Shen Ying prodded at the carrot in her hand. “Don’t tell me he’s allergic to carrots?”

　　(⊙ o ⊙)

　　I should check his breath… Oh no, he’s not breathing again!

　　Shen Ying: “…”

　　What a waste of effort!

　　○| ̄|_

　　Yi Qing later awoke for the fourth time. And yes, he was still lying on the ground. At this point, the meridians in his entire body had rejuvenated; only, he could not activate his Spirit Qi as his body had not rid itself completely of the demonic aura. As for that girl in gray, she was still… still at work digging the pit.

　　-_-|||

　　It was the same pit except that only now, instead of being waist deep, it had reached neck height.

　　“Miss?” He sat up, unable to keep quiet any longer.

　　The girl earnestly digging at the pit stopped working and turned around. For a moment, there was stunned silence. “Huh? You are not dead after all?” She frowned and sighed before climbing out of the pit using her hands and feet. While climbing out she kept grumbling, “You should have told me earlier. I was digging for so long.”

　　Yi Qing helped to pull her out of the pit. Turning round to look at the deep pit, he subconsciously asked, “Miss, you mean…” He could not help but get the feeling that she was even more disappointed this time.

　　Shen Ying’s face seemed to twitch slightly. She gave a cough and with an earnest face replied, “It’s not what you think. Previously, the one in black caused many holes in the yard. I was thinking of levelling them.”

　　“But you were digging a pit just now!” Yi Qing was growing more bewildered.

　　“Yes!” She continued, “If I don’t dig, where will I get the earth to level the holes?”

　　“…”

　　For a while, Yi Qing felt perplexed. Why did he feel that there was something wrong with this logic? But he did not pursue it further, turning instead to face her. Bowing respectfully, he said, “I’m Yi Qing. Thank you for saving my life.”

　　What? Shen Ying was confused. When did she save him?

　　(⊙_⊙)

　　“May I know my benefactor’s name?”

　　“Shen Ying.”

　　“Miss Shen, I don’t know how to repay you for saving my life. From now on, if you have any orders, I will carry it out as long as it doesn’t violate human rights.”

　　“There’s no need. I didn’t do anything actually.”

　　“No, this debt must be repaid, otherwise it would go against my Dao values. Please tell me your biddings, my benefactor.”

　　“I haven’t anything that needs doing…” She thought for a while before passing the metal spade to him, saying, “Maybe you can help me fill up the pit. I spent ten days digging it—it was really tedious.”

　　“Yes!” Delighted, Yi Qing took over the metal spade from her, replying, “I will definitely not disappoint you.”

　　“Er… as long as you are happy. I’m going back to wash my hands.”

　　“Please take care, my benefactor!” He bowed once again.

　　Only then did Shen Ying return to the cottage.

　　Yi Qing’s overly strong body constitution was exactly what defined a Sword Cultivator. Although the demonic aura in his body was not completely removed yet and he could not wield his sorcery, filling up the pit was definitely within his capabilities. Within a short period of time, he filled up all the holes in the entire yard, including the almost two-meter deep pit that Shen Ying had dug.

　　Just when he was about to make a report to his benefactor, he suddenly felt a great rush of Yin Qi engulfing him; he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. His body geared itself immediately for battle. This was demonic aura! A very strong demonic aura!

　　“Who are you?” Summoning his weapon, he turned towards the source of the demonic aura.

　　A huge, white figure with long ears, red lips and rabbit’s mouth came hopping out from the forest. It was a rabbit demon, its whole body exuding an almost palpable demonic aura. It was at least at the eighth-stage, no… perhaps even higher! A demonic aura that had reached such an unbelievable level… this was a Demon Monarch!

　　Yi Qing immediately felt a sense of helplessness. He had not expected to encounter a Demon Monarch at this time. Notwithstanding the fact that he had not recovered his Spirit Qi, even if he were at his peak, with his Golden Core cultivation, there was no way he could have defeated this Demon Monarch who was as powerful as a Nascent Soul cultivator.

　　Although Immortal Cultivators had always accomplished feats which went against the will of heaven, he had prepared himself for death once he had embarked on this path. But at this moment, his concern was with the person in the house. His death did not matter, but what about his benefactor? He could never let anything endanger her before his debt was repaid.

　　At this point in his thoughts, he stepped forward directly, holding tightly to the sword in his hand. He had to protect his benefactor even at the cost of his life. As he tried to forcibly activate his Spirit Qi, his body immediately suffered a backlash from the demonic aura inside him and his mouth became filled with the taste of blood.