護花近衛 - 第2453章 進水了 - 清風書屋

"Hey, there are some branches here. Can we build a fire?" Wang Xinyan was a little cold too. Though Wei Zhao had been shielding her with his true qi, once they reached this deserted valley she felt the chill creeping in.

"Finders keepers, split down the middle!" Kang Jinglong shouted, running over short of breath, his heart bleeding. These were branches *he* had discovered, and now he had to give Wei Zhao half? Yet he did not dare refuse—after all, at this moment it was Wang Xinyan who had "found them first."

"Oh, then I'll take half." Wei Zhao spoke mildly. One glance was enough for him to guess that these branches had been placed here deliberately—and who else could have done it but Kang Jinglong?

"Heh heh..." Kang Jinglong did not stand on ceremony. Then a thought struck him and he said, "By the way, do either of you have a lighter? Or how about we just use this one pile—I'll start the fire, we all warm ourselves together, and no one has to split anything. How's that?"

"Oh, fine." Wei Zhao had no wish to let Kang Jinglong freeze to death under these circumstances. After all, Leader Bai set great store by harmony among his disciples, and Wei Zhao rather respected Leader Bai—whose background was no simple matter. Studying under him, Wei Zhao did not quite dare to defy his word.

"Then I won't be polite!" Kang Jinglong was overjoyed. He pulled a lighter from his pocket and crouched before the branches on the ground, ready to light them.

"You're certainly well-equipped, aren't you? You don't smoke, yet you carry a lighter around? Had it ready all along, didn't you?" Wei Zhao gave Kang Jinglong a mocking look. "Planning a romantic night in the cave with Wang Xinyan, and never expected me to join, did you?"

Kang Jinglong was instantly embarrassed, yet he could not deny it. Seeing Wang Xinyan's little face grow even more displeased, he thought to himself that he had gone for wool and come home shorn—today was truly his unlucky day. Had he known, he would never have set this plan in motion. What rotten luck.

But worse luck was still to come. Kang Jinglong pressed the lighter twice, and his face went stiff—the lighter was waterlogged and would not strike!

"Weren't you going to light the fire? What's wrong?" Wei Zhao watched Kang Jinglong with a half-smile.

"It's waterlogged..." Kang Jinglong said, his face ashen.

"Since you can't contribute, there's nothing to be done. No fire for you." Wei Zhao spoke mildly.

"You... you have a way?" Kang Jinglong blinked and looked at Wei Zhao. "You have a lighter?"

"No." Wei Zhao shook his head.

"You don't have one and you're still giving me grief?" Kang Jinglong glared at Wei Zhao. "Hurry up and help me fix the lighter!"

"Fix it yourself." Wei Zhao casually tossed out a wisp of fire-attribute elixir flame, and the pile of branches burst into flame with a *whoosh*, burning briskly.

Only then did Kang Jinglong remember that Wei Zhao was an alchemist who could condense elixir fire and had no need of a lighter at all. So he came sidling back, thick-skinned as ever: "The heat from this fire would just go to waste anyway—let me warm myself a bit, would you?"

"Fine. But when the branches run out, you go gather more." Wei Zhao did not press his advantage to the kill.

"Deal. Just let me dry my clothes first." Kang Jinglong agreed readily enough. These branches were the ones he and You Panhu had gathered earlier—he knew where to find more.

Kang Jinglong huddled shivering by the fire, while Wang Xinyan had already recovered. She had not been soaked, only touched by the cold, and there was nothing wrong with her now.

"Hungry?" Wei Zhao asked Wang Xinyan.

"I... I'm all right..." Wang Xinyan was still a little guarded. Though she thoroughly disliked Kang Jinglong, she also feared that if he were driven into a corner, he might turn the Mysterious Elixir Sect against Wei Zhao.

"I'll go catch some fish." Wei Zhao rose to his feet.