334: Chapter 334 Adapting to Modern Life

Hong Yao lowered her head, tears falling into her bowl, but she didn't stop, eating one piece after another.

Qing He drank two bowls of soup and served a third.

Qing Yue ate very slowly, chewing each mouthful for a long time.

Qin Lin sat at the other end of the long table, watching them eat.

Su Yuran sat next to him, with Qin An asleep in her arms.

Han Yurou walked over with a plate of fruit and placed it on the table.

"Eat some fruit, it helps with digestion after a meal."

She turned to leave after saying this, but took two steps and looked back: "By the way, I'm Han Yurou, what are your names?"

Qing Yue put down her chopsticks: "Qing Yue."

Hong Yao raised her head from her bowl: "Hong Yao."

Qing He wiped her mouth: "Qing He."

Han Yurou recited the three names, nodding:

"Pretty, prettier than our names. Our names are too modern; they don't suit this cultivation world."

Qin Lin shouted from the other end of the long table: "Han Yurou, stop chatting, come over and help."

Han Yurou responded and ran off.

Qing Yue watched her back, then looked at Qin Lin.

The relationship between this man and the women on The Ark was not master and disciple, not master and servant, nor Cultivator and attendant.

There was something between them she couldn't quite describe.

Hong Yao leaned over and whispered: "Qing Yue, they're wearing so little."

Qing Yue glanced at the other women in the living room.

Some were wearing short sleeves and shorts, some were wearing dresses, and some were wearing loose pajamas.

Their arms and legs were exposed, white and slender, unlike the bodies of Cultivators.

But there were fluctuations of spiritual energy on them; not strong, but definitely present.

"Perhaps it's very hot here."

Hong Yao shook her head: "It's not hot, it's just right. They wear so little because they want to."

Qing Yue didn't respond.

She lowered her head and continued eating.

After the meal, Han Qing took them to the Medical Room for a checkup.

The Medical Room was on the north side of the first floor of The Ark. The door was automatic; it opened as soon as someone walked up to it.

Hong Yao was startled by the door and pressed her hand to her sword hilt.

Qing He was calmer than her, only slowing her pace slightly.

The equipment in the Medical Room confused them even more than the lights in the room.

The glowing screens, the beeping instruments, the mechanical arms that moved on their own—none of it was anything they had ever seen.

Han Qing asked Qing Yue to sit on a chair and extend her arm.

Qing Yue complied.

Han Qing wrapped a white band around her arm; the band automatically inflated, tightened, and then loosened.

A line of numbers popped up on the screen beside them.

"Blood pressure is normal."

Han Qing wrote a few things in a notebook, then picked up a glowing probe and applied it to Qing Yue's wrist.

The probe was cold, and Qing Yue instinctively flinched.

"Don't move, checking spiritual energy," Han Qing said, holding her wrist down.

The medical System of The Ark had added this function after upgrading to LV9, and Han Qing had become familiar with it early on.

Qing Yue felt a warm breath seep from the probe into her Meridians, flowing through them in a circle before retreating.

It wasn't an attack, nor an investigation; it was just a gentle, water-like energy.

The data on the screen jumped even faster.

[Target: Qing Yue.]

[Spiritual Root: Water-Wood Dual Spiritual Root.]

[Quality: High Grade.]

[Status: Spiritual energy depletion, mild malnutrition, slight damage to multiple Meridians.]

[Recommendation: Nutritional supplementation + spiritual energy infusion + Meridian repair.]

Han Qing read the report and said to Qing Yue: "The problems aren't major. The malnutrition is from hunger, the spiritual energy depletion is from not Cultivating for too long, and the Meridian damage is left over from long-term combat. The Ark's medical System can repair it; it will take about a week. Stay on The Ark during the repair period and don't go out."

Qing Yue nodded without asking why.

Next, they checked Hong Yao and Qing He.

Hong Yao's condition was worse than Qing Yue's; her spiritual energy depletion was more severe, and she also had stomach issues from long-term hunger.

Qing He's condition was the best; she didn't have spiritual energy depletion, just frequent fluctuations in spiritual energy, and her Meridians were unstable.

Han Qing said this was the result of overusing spiritual energy without timely replenishment and that she would be fine after resting for a while.

"You all stay on The Ark for now, eat well, sleep well, and get your bodies healthy. We'll talk about other things later." Han Qing closed the notebook.

Qing Yue looked at her, remained silent for a while, and asked:

"If we live here, do we really not need to pay any price?"

Han Qing looked at her, remembering what she was like when she first got on the RV.

At that time, she had asked similar questions: "Can I really stay here? Do I not need to do anything?"

"The price." Han Qing thought for a moment, "The price is that you have to adapt to life here. The people here speak directly, there are many children, and it's noisy. You'll know after living here for a while."

She didn't say what counted as adapting to life here. After all, adapting to life on The Ark required doing tasks, and she couldn't talk about the System's tasks right now.

Qing Yue looked at her and nodded.

On the first night, Qing Yue had insomnia.

It wasn't that she wasn't sleepy, but she couldn't fall asleep.

The bed was too soft, the quilt was too light, and the room was too quiet.

Nights in the town had the sound of wind, the chirping of insects, and the howling of Yao Beasts; it had never been this quiet before.

She lay on the bed, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

The ceiling was white, with no beams, no cracks, nothing at all.

Hong Yao was sleeping on her left, already asleep, her breathing even.

Qing He was sleeping on her right, turned over to face her, her hand resting outside the quilt, fingers curled.

Qing Yue sat up gently and looked out the window.

The lights in the corridor had been dimmed, leaving only a row of dim wall lamps, the light soft.

She got out of bed and walked out of the room barefoot.

There was no one in the corridor.

She walked slowly along the corridor, passing door after door.

She couldn't understand the numbers on the doors—001, 002, 003... all the way to 014.

There was another door at the end of the corridor, numbered 015. It was different from the others; it wasn't closed, but seemed to be shrouded in a thin mist.

Qing Yue stood in front of that door, feeling a faint energy seeping out from the crack in the door.

It wasn't spiritual energy; it was something else, completely different from all the energy she had felt on The Ark over the past few days.

She reached out, and just as her fingertips were about to touch the door panel, a voice came from behind her.

"Don't touch that door."

Qing Yue retracted her hand and turned around.

Qin Lin was standing at the other end of the corridor, holding a glass of water, wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts.

He walked over, stood in front of Qing Yue, looked at her, and then looked at the door.

"There is someone inside."

Qing Yue didn't speak, suppressing her questions in her heart.

Qin Lin didn't explain, turned to walk back, then stopped after a few steps without looking back.

"If you can't sleep, go sit in the living room. There is hot milk in the kitchen, pour some for yourself."

Qing Yue stood in place, glanced at that door, and turned to walk toward the living room.