A Peaceful Night

Jiang Cheng used his heightened senses to detect any potential threats, including poisonous insects or other creatures. Once he confirmed the area was safe, he used the Tang Dynasty Sword to carefully remove the layer of decayed leaves covering the ground.

"I'll do it, sir. I'll do these small things." Liang Xin said hurriedly, running over and using her skinny, claw-like hands to quickly dig through the tree leaves.

"It's okay. We can do it…" Tong Xiaorou spoke up quickly as she was worried that Jiang Cheng would be deceived out of kindness.

"It's fine, if she likes doing it, let her do it," Jiang Cheng said, grabbing Tong Xiaorou's hand and addressing the emaciated woman. "I can guess what you're planning, but I also need food and water, so I won't be sharing with you."

"Don't worry, sir. We can find ourselves food and water. We just want to follow you. That's enough," said Liang Xin hurriedly. "This way, the other Wildlings won't dare touch us, and we can take care of any small tasks or errands you have."

"Let's talk about it later."

Jiang Cheng didn't refuse, but he didn't agree either. However, as long as Liang Xin and her family didn't cause trouble for him, everything was negotiable.

"You, move back a bit," he pointed to a spot in the distance. "I need to climb up the tree to dig a hole. Until I come down, don't get within ten meters of them."

Liang Xin hesitated for a moment, glanced at the tree, and quickly understood. She hurriedly moved away and said, "Rest assured, I won't get close to them, and I will help you keep watch. If anyone approaches, I will notify you in advance."

As she spoke, she had already moved twenty meters away and dutifully kept watch in the distance.

Jiang Cheng nodded in satisfaction, reminded Tong Xiaorou and Yaya to be careful, and then couldn't wait to climb the tree.

The tree was inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees and had a thick bark due to extensive cracking on the surface. It was also very large, making it easy to climb.

With little effort, he supported himself with the cracked bark and climbed to a height of ten meters above the ground. But when he thought of the freshly washed Xiaorou, he felt a surge of excitement and climbed another five meters higher, using his knife to create some footholds. At a height of fifteen meters, there was a thick branch with a diameter of two meters.

"We'll make it here."

Jiang Cheng chose to use Directional Collect to create a tree hole directly above the thick branch.

The resulting shelter had a diameter of only one meter at the entrance, but he put in extra effort to make it much larger inside and even added a dividing wall.

In the end, the layout of the tree hole shelter was an oval-shaped area at the deepest part, measuring two meters in length and three meters in width, with a dividing wall in the middle. One side of the wall was one meter wide, while the other was two meters wide. The two-meter side faced the entrance of the tree hole.

Moreover, since there were plenty of bison hide sheets, he took out some and laid them on both sides of the shelter. He even rolled them up to make pillows on both sides.

The bison hide sheets he collected were already processed and cleaned, just like they had been washed and air-dried, without any odor.

After finishing all of this, Jiang Cheng went back to the ground, carving out a series of steps using his Tang Dynasty Sword on his way down.

Although the current Tang Dynasty Sword could easily chop down old trees, almost effortlessly. The resistance was minimal, and he couldn't quite claim that it was like cutting through tofu, but it was close.

Soon, back on the ground, Jiang Cheng took a glance at the skinny woman and saw that she stayed obediently 20 meters away. He then picked up Yaya and turned to Tong Xiaorou, excitedly saying, "Let's go up. You lead the way, remember to grab onto something and don't fall."

Although the giant tree was huge, it was now easier to climb with the newly-created steps. Plus, all of them were not weaklings. However, Jiang Cheng still reminded them.

They responded with a "Mhmm".

The lack of leaves allowed the stars to twinkle in the sky, casting a dim light below the tree. Tong Xiaorou could clearly see the fire in Jiang Cheng's eyes and had a premonition of what was to come. Her delicate body went limp, and she felt a surge of heat coursing through her veins.

After the three of them climbed up, the skinny woman, Liang Xin, slowly approached and looked at the three figures disappearing on the surface of the giant tree. Then she squatted down under the tree and scanned her surroundings with a pair of cold, wolf-like eyes.

Jiang Cheng brought Tong Xiaorou and Yaya back to the tree hole and shared food and water with the two girls. Although Yaya and Tong Xiaorou had been carried or piggybacked on the way, the journey was bumpy, and they were not feeling well, which consumed a lot of their energy. Now they were also a little hungry.

After they had eaten their fill, in the darkness, Jiang Cheng gently wrapped his arm around Tong Xiaorou's slender waist and said to Yaya, "Yaya, you go to sleep over there tonight. Your sister and I have something to talk about."

"What's the matter?" Yaya asked curiously.

"It's adult stuff. Anyway, be a good girl and go to sleep. We'll be here and won't go anywhere," Jiang Cheng said tenderly.

Although Yaya was a bit unwilling, she obediently climbed over the barrier and said, "Brother-in-law, you won't bully my sister, will you?"

Tong Xiaorou's delicate body was so hot that she lowered her head and dared not make a sound.

"How could I? I love your sister too much," Jiang Cheng laughed.

"Then... do you love me too?" Yaya asked eagerly.

"Of course, you're also my little treasure."

Jiang Cheng's heart was slightly moved. He rubbed the little girl's head, and his originally restless fire calmed down a little. He smiled and said, "How about this? You sleep with your sis, and I sleep over there?"

Yaya happily agreed, "That's fine. I know you and my sister have something to do, and I will be a very good girl. But if you go out, remember to call me."

"Don't worry." Jiang Cheng lovingly rubbed the head of this little girl who had suffered so much since birth.

Jiang Cheng held Tong Xiaorou in silence. At first, her body was a bit stiff and she didn't dare to look up. When Jiang Cheng remained still, she couldn't help but ask in a small voice, "What's wrong?"

In the darkness, Jiang Cheng held Tong Xiaorou and smelled the sweat on her body mixed with the lingering scent of shower gel and shampoo. He gently touched her body with one hand and whispered in her ear, "Let's wait till Yaya falls asleep."

"Oh..." Tong Xiaorou breathed a sigh of relief. She was afraid that at the critical moment, Jiang Cheng would change his mind or have some opinions about her.

Although she was engaged to Jiang Cheng, they had never taken their relationship to the next level. Especially now that Jiang Cheng had become an Evolver, he had not made any moves on her. This made her feel very uneasy.

Finally, after an uncertain amount of time, they heard Yaya's soft snoring coming from the next room.

Jiang Cheng couldn't hold back anymore, and Tong Xiaorou's breathing also became heavy, as if in unison.

The simple yet beautiful shelter in the pitch-black tree hole provided a peaceful night for them.

It was the soundest sleep Jiang Cheng had ever had since coming to this world, with Tong Xiaorou in his arms making him forget about his plan to level up. It wasn't until the outside world had become less damp that he slowly woke up.

"Sigh!"

Feeling the soft and petite body of the girl curled up in his arms like a little kitten, and seeing that the sky outside was already slightly bright, Jiang Cheng rubbed his forehead in regret. "This shouldn't have happened. I completely let my guard down and slept so deeply."

But he couldn't really blame himself. He had been single for 29 years in his past life and had never even touched a woman's hand. In this life, he had experienced a woman's taste for the first time and managed to restrain himself by not keeping her up all night.

Sighing in satisfaction, Jiang Cheng got up quietly, covered the girl with the bison hide blanket, and began to dress.

Due to the exhaustion from last night's "adventure", the girl, who used to wake up at the slightest disturbance, was still sleeping soundly.

On the contrary, Yaya, who was next door, was woken up. She quickly got up, rubbed her eyes, and peered through the wall to look at Jiang Cheng. "Brother-in-law..." she called out.

Jiang Cheng smiled and said, "Yaya, it's still early. Go back to sleep. Your sister is still sleeping. We'll wake you up when it's time to eat."

"Yeah."

"Okay," Yaya said seriously, staring into Jiang Cheng's eyes. Seeing that he wasn't lying, she lay back down.

After putting on his clothes, Jiang Cheng walked to the entrance of the tree shelter and looked down at the ground, which was now slightly lit by the dawn.

Under the giant tree, there were three figures dozing against the trunk - the tall and skinny man and his family.