Huang Rong from The Return of the Condor Heroes: Brother Jing, let's get a divorce.

Yang Guo opened his eyes.

He had actually been awake for a while, but he had been watching the show with his eyes closed.

"What's all the noise about so early in the morning?"

Yang Guo yawned and casually gave Cheng Ying a hard pinch on the waist.

Cheng Ying trembled and instinctively tried to pull away, but Yang Guo held her even tighter.

She had just experienced the torment of reversed meridian flow, and now her whole body was limp, like a pool of spring water.

"My lord, you're awake."

Lu Wushuang leaned over and kissed Yang Guo on the cheek, then glanced sideways at Cheng Ying.

"My cousin tried to run away, but she fell down after only three steps, and now she's obediently crawled back."

Yang Guo looked down at Cheng Ying in his arms.

Her Taoist robe was disheveled, and because of her struggle and crawling, the collar had come undone, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

Cheng Ying bit her lip tightly, turned her head away from him, and had glistening tears still clinging to her long eyelashes.

"run?"

Yang Guo smiled.

He placed his palm on Cheng Ying's Mingmen acupoint on her back, and a stream of pure Qiankun Jue true energy flowed through her.

Cheng Ying let out a muffled groan.

This surge of true energy, carrying an extremely domineering temperature, surged and crashed along her meridians.

That domineering and unreasonable momentum made her feel weak all over, and she couldn't help but let out a sweet, nasal sound.

"I went through so much trouble last night to pull you back from the brink of death, and even gave you the good fortune of reaching the Innate Realm."

Yang Guo leaned close to Cheng Ying's ear, his hot breath brushing against her earlobe.

"You didn't even say thank you, and you just want to pull up your pants and leave?"

"I don't……"

Cheng Ying's voice trembled, and she gripped the hem of her clothes tightly with both hands.

"Nothing?"

Yang Guo slid his fingers up her spine, pressing on the sensitive acupoints.

"Were you just trying to see if you could maintain your Innate Realm cultivation without me?"

Cheng Ying closed her eyes, and a tear silently slid down her cheek.

She did indeed have that thought in mind.

She was unwilling to be controlled by others for the rest of her life.

"Are the results yet?"

Yang Guo withdrew his hand, directly severing the flow of true energy.

Cheng Ying's blood and qi, which had just calmed down, surged up again.

She was breathing heavily, her hands instinctively grabbing Yang Guo's arms, her long nails digging into his flesh.

"Give me……"

Cheng Ying's voice was barely audible, tinged with sobs.

"What will you receive?"

Yang Guo asked the question knowing the answer already.

"True Qi..."

Cheng Ying buried her face in Yang Guo's chest, completely letting go of all her pride.

Yang Guo, however, was not satisfied with this.

He grabbed Cheng Ying's chin and forced her to raise her head.

"Butler Cheng, your brother taught you manners."

Yang Guo stared into her eyes, his tone leaving no room for argument, "Tell me loudly, can you live without me?"

Cheng Ying gritted her teeth and refused to speak no matter what.

Yang Guo wasn't in a hurry; he just watched her coldly.

The reverse flow of true qi in her meridians became increasingly severe, Cheng Ying's face turned red, and her body trembled violently.

She knew that Yang Guo meant what he said, and if she didn't back down, he would really watch her go mad with demonic possession.

"I……"

Cheng Ying burst into tears, "I can't leave..."

"Whom can't I live without?"

"I can't live without... my master."

After uttering that name, Cheng Ying seemed to have all her strength drained away, collapsing limply into Yang Guo's arms.

Lu Wushuang watched from the side, feeling a pang of jealousy.

Although she knew Yang Guo was manipulating Cheng Ying, she still found her cousin's charming and weak appearance irritating.

"My lord!"

Lu Wushuang angrily grabbed Yang Guo's other arm and deliberately rubbed her chest against his arm.

"You're only concerned about your cousin and you're ignoring me."

Yang Guo turned his head and flicked Lu Wushuang's nose.

"You little hussy, you're even jealous of your cousin."

Yang Guo laughed and scolded, "Your cousin has just entered the Innate Realm, and her cultivation is unstable. In the next ten days or half a month, if she leaves me by more than three steps, her blood and qi will reverse, and she will suffer a qi deviation."

Lu Wushuang was stunned for a moment before she understood.

Her eyes darted around, and she looked at Cheng Ying with schadenfreude.

Yang Guo helped Cheng Ying sit up straight, placed his palm on her Mingmen acupoint again, and continuously channeled his true energy into her.

"So, let me set a rule."

Yang Guo looked at the two of them, his tone becoming serious.

"From now on, when we travel, Wushuang will walk on my right, and Butler Cheng on my left. We'll sleep in the same spot at night. No one is allowed to wander off."

As Cheng Ying felt the true energy within her body stabilize again, a bitter feeling welled up inside her.

Once this rule was established, she truly became Yang Guo's sidekick.

Even going to the outhouse would probably have to be within his sight.

She, a disciple of Peach Blossom Island, has now fallen to this state.

"Husband, what am I going to do if my cousin keeps clinging to you like this every day?"

Lu Wushuang was somewhat displeased.

"Just go do what you're supposed to do."

Yang Guo slapped Lu Wushuang's thigh, making a crisp sound.

"The meridians in your left leg are all open. Practice the snake walk and fox flip for the next few days to stabilize your lower body. When we get to Xiangyang, I'll need your help."

Lu Wushuang felt a little better after being assigned a task.

Yang Guo stood up and carried the heavy black iron sword on his back.

"Alright, everyone hurry up and pack up, then get back to your training."

……

Yang Guo stood at the entrance of the cave, looking at the remains of the snake king not far away.

Most of the snake's body lay on a pile of rubble, and the strong smell of blood attracted a swarm of greenbottle flies.

As the sun came out and the temperature rose, the smell became even more pungent.

"If we don't deal with it soon, this meat will rot."

Yang Guo clapped his hands and turned to look at the two women in the cave.

Cheng Ying was sitting less than two feet away from him, her head down, tidying her disheveled clothes.

She dared not sit far away; the lesson she had just learned—that her blood and qi would flow backward when she was only three steps away—had made her completely obedient.

Lu Wushuang squatted by the fire, gnawing on a roasted snake tail.

This is just an ordinary Bosqu snake brought out of the snake den yesterday. It's not in the same league as the snake king, but it has the advantage of being meaty and filling.

"Husband, is the snake king's flesh edible?"

With meat in her mouth, Lu Wushuang asked indistinctly.

"Of course you can eat it."

Yang Guo said, "This beast has lived for three hundred years, and its whole body is full of good stuff. The snake meat alone is ten times more chewy than beef."

He counted on his fingers, "We'll be staying in this valley for ten days to half a month, so we can marinate and dry the snake meat and take it with us as provisions for the journey. It's a hundred times better than eating hard steamed buns."

When Lu Wushuang heard the words "ten days to half a month", her eyes lit up and she quickly glanced at Cheng Ying.

The meaning is obvious.

For the next ten days or so, she could be with her husband every day.

Cheng Ying kept her head down and didn't say anything.

All she could think about right now was her dantian energy cluster, which was being held hostage by the Qiankun Technique, and she had no time to argue with Lu Wushuang about these things.

Yang Guo tucked the dagger into his belt and strode out.

"Butler Cheng, follow along."

Cheng Ying could only stand up and follow closely behind Yang Guo.

The distance between the two was always kept within two steps.

If she were even an inch further away, her dantian would start to feel stuffy.

The three walked to the snake king's remains.

The snake king's scales were incredibly tough, and ordinary swords and knives couldn't cut through them at all.

Yang Guo drew his Xuan Tie Heavy Sword and slashed down fiercely!

After a dull thud, the snake's body was split lengthwise in two.

The bright red snake meat was immediately exposed to the air.

Its meat is firm and dense, with a layer of translucent fascia, making it look somewhat similar to beef shank.

"Butler Cheng is in charge of cutting the meat and seasoning it."

Yang Guo used his heavy sword to chop off large chunks of snake meat and piled them on the stone slab next to him.

"Wushuang is in charge of setting up the fire."

"Why should I be the one setting the fire while she's cutting the meat?"

Lu Wushuang was immediately displeased.

"Because you were a fire-starting girl in your past life."

Yang Guo said without turning his head.

Lu Wushuang stomped her foot in anger, but still obediently went to collect firewood.

Cheng Ying took the dagger from Yang Guo and squatted down in front of the stone slab to begin processing the snake meat.

She was, after all, from Peach Blossom Island, and always did things in an orderly and methodical manner.

She first removed the tendons and membranes from the snake meat, then cut it into palm-sized thin slices along the grain.

Each piece was of uniform thickness and had neat edges. When laid out on the stone slab, they resembled rows of neatly stacked silk.

Yang Guo squatted down and watched for a while, clicking his tongue in disapproval.

"Butler Cheng, if your knife skills were in later generations, you could open a barbecue stall and earn over ten thousand a day."

Cheng Ying continued working with her hands, but retorted sharply with her words.

"Brother Yang, I am a disciple of Peach Blossom Island, and you actually want me to open a barbecue stall?"

"What happened to the disciples of Peach Blossom Island?"

Yang Guo took out a small cloth bag from his pocket, which contained salt and Sichuan peppercorns he had bought from Chang Le Town.

"Peach Blossom Island disciples need to eat too, right? Come on, rub these into the meat. Use less salt and more Sichuan peppercorns, so that it will be fragrant and keep for a long time after marinating."

Cheng Ying opened the cloth bag, pinched a pinch of peppercorns with her fingertips, smelled it, and then hesitated for a moment.

"Too much Sichuan peppercorn will make it too spicy. It's better to soak it in a little salt and then air dry it. That way, it can be preserved for longer."

"Listen to me, add plenty of Sichuan peppercorns."

Yang Guo patted her on the shoulder.

Cheng Ying pursed her lips, but ultimately did as she was told.

She mixed the peppercorns and salt and rubbed them evenly into each piece of snake meat.

Her fingertips tingled slightly from the prickling of the Sichuan peppercorns, and she frowned, but continued to rub them.

His fair fingers were covered in red snake juice, making him look somewhat disheveled.

Lu Wushuang set up a fire not far away and found a few flat stone slabs to place across the fire as a grill.

When she ran back and saw the slices of meat that Cheng Ying had cut, the corners of her mouth immediately turned down.

"Why slice it so thin? It'll shrink and disappear when it's baked."

"Thin slices absorb flavor easily and dry more quickly."

Cheng Ying replied without looking up.

"A thicker cut makes it chewier!"

Lu Wushuang, unwilling to accept defeat, grabbed a piece of uncut snake meat from the stone slab, took another dagger, and with a few quick "snap" cuts, sliced ​​out several long strips about the thickness of chopsticks.

"Look, this is how you make real meat jerky!"

Cheng Ying glanced at the meat strips she had cut and saw that they were of varying thicknesses and lengths, with some still attached to a clump of fascia that hadn't been properly removed.

"Wushuang, if you cut it like this, the thick parts won't cook through, and the thin parts will burn."

"But there's still a bit of cooking time involved. I can just keep an eye on it and flip it over."

The two argued back and forth, neither willing to concede to the other.

Yang Guo sat on a large rock nearby, crossing his legs and watching the commotion.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing."

He waved his hand and said, "You all cut your own pieces and grill your own. In the end, I'll taste them. Whoever makes the best dish, I'll eat more of theirs."

Upon hearing this, both women shut up and focused all their energy on their work.

Half an hour later, two stacks of dried snake meat were taken out of the oven.

Cheng Ying's thin slices of dried meat were roasted on the stone slab until they curled slightly and turned golden brown. The aroma of Sichuan peppercorns mixed with the oily fragrance of snake meat wafted around.

Lu Wushuang's meat strips were much more robust, with a crispy outer skin and steaming hot inside, piled up on a large leaf.

Yang Guo first picked up a piece of dried meat made by Cheng Ying, put it in his mouth and chewed it.

"Mmm, it smells delicious."

"The amount of Sichuan peppercorns was just right, the saltiness was just right, and the texture was slightly chewy."

Yang Guo nodded. "Butler Cheng's cooking is quite good."

Cheng Ying's lips curved almost imperceptibly, but she quickly suppressed it.

Lu Wushuang stared longingly at Yang Guo, then picked up the strips of meat she had grilled.

Yang Guo took a bite and chewed twice.

"How is it?"

Lu Wushuang quickly leaned over and asked.

Yang Guo chewed a couple more times, his expression somewhat subtle.

"Hmm, about you..."

Yang Guo looked at the strip of meat in his hand, then at the Divine Condor who was dozing off in the distance.

"Suitable for feeding eagles."

Lu Wushuang's face turned green on the spot.

"Yang Guo! What did you say?!"

"What my brother said is the truth."

Yang Guo spread his hands, "The outside of this meat strip is burnt, and the inside is still half-cooked. Look at this end, it's charred, and the other end is still dripping blood."

"That's because the fire was too big!"

Lu Wushuang jumped up.

"You started the fire yourself."

As Yang Guo spoke, he casually tossed aside the unfinished strips of meat.

The meat strip traced an arc in the air and landed precisely in front of the eagle's beak.

The eagle was dozing off with its eyes closed when something suddenly fell into its mouth. It instinctively opened its mouth, picked it up, chewed it twice, and swallowed it.

After finishing its meal, it lazily opened one eye, glanced at the food, and then closed it again.