This immortal was clearly ordinary, yet he was unusually confident.

Jiankang City is located to the west of Quliang City and is adjacent to Yongning City.

Between the two cities lies a mountain called Qiuming Mountain. It is not very high, but its terrain is steep, and only a rugged mountain path leads through it.

Aside from the occasional traveling merchant passing by, it is almost completely ignored on weekdays.

After bidding farewell to Wu Dang at the mountain god temple, Zhou Quan and the others descended the mountain along the mountain path.

Based on past experience, they didn't even need to rush to Yongning City; middlemen would buy their goods in advance along the way.

Although this would mean less profit, the war at the front is intense, and there's no guarantee that something unexpected might happen.

Compared to life, money is ultimately a small matter!

As the saying goes, "misfortunes never come singly," and they had just lost two men at the mountain god temple when they encountered trouble again as soon as they descended the mountain.

They encountered soldiers and bandits!

The so-called "bandits among soldiers" were mostly deserters from the front lines. They were cowardly and afraid of death when fighting the enemy, but once they fled to the rear, they were extremely cruel to ordinary people.

Zhou Quan and his traveling merchants happened to encounter a group of bandits who had wandered into the area. The bandits were chased by the government troops and had nowhere to run but to hide in the mountains.

After their encounter, the traveling merchants knew the bandits' modus operandi and that sitting idly by would only lead to their deaths. Having even killed monsters at the mountain temple, the merchants were bolder than usual and thus rose up in resistance.

The bandits, having been chased and scrambled by the soldiers, were burning with anger and naturally wanted to vent their frustrations on someone.

At first, the two sides fought fiercely, but these bandits, having at least seen battle, gradually gained the upper hand.

In the end, the traveling merchants fought to the death, and both sides were badly injured. Only Old Wang and Zhou Quan managed to break through the encirclement and head up the mountain. If they could return to the mountain god temple and find Wu Dang, they could easily deal with these bandits and avenge their companions.

But when they arrived at the mountain god temple, Wu Dang had already disappeared.

Old Wang was filled with remorse. If he had agreed to travel with Master Wu in the first place, none of this would have happened.

They had no choice but to return to the village with their injuries and decided to settle for a more stable livelihood from then on.

That day, Zhou Quan got up early in the morning and moved his body carefully, afraid of accidentally aggravating his wound.

He tiptoed toward the stove, then, enduring the pain, bent down to scoop rice from the rice jar.

A sharp pain made him grimace, but he forced himself to remain silent. As a man, he believed in doing things himself rather than troubling others.

Zhou Quan felt a little guilty, as Ah Xiu had been taking care of him these past few days, and many people in the village were already gossiping about it.

Although he and Ah Xiu were engaged, they were not officially married yet. Ah Xiu was coming to his place all day long; what would outsiders think of her?

Ah Xiu is such a good girl!

Besides taking care of herself, she also has to do so much farm work every day; her body is much stronger than mine!

After we get married, I must treat her well and not let her suffer so much!

Unfortunately, so many things happened on my first time carrying goods, but thankfully I survived.

"What are you doing? I told you, just lie in bed and do these things!"

The door suddenly opened, and the village girl, Ah Xiu, shouted at Zhou Quan in her distinctive loud voice.

Although the voice was rough, Zhou Quan sensed boundless tenderness within it.

"I just think……"

"What are you thinking? Get back to bed right now, you clumsy thing!"

"Okay, I'm going right now!"

Ah Xiu chased Zhou Quan away, quickly put the rice into the pot, then lit a fire. After the fire grew big, she added two pieces of wood to the stove.

Zhou Quan watched with a smile as Ah Xiu sat down on the edge of the bed. It was so nice to just watch her quietly like this!

Ah Xiu shifted her body, causing the entire bed to shake and make a creaking sound.

Ah Xiu quickly stood up: "What a lousy bed!"

Zhou Quan just kept grinning foolishly.

"What are you laughing at? Do you think I'm too heavy?" Ah Xiu said reproachfully.

"Ah Xiu, do you know? You are the most important person in my life. No matter how heavy you are, I will always want you!" Zhou Quan suddenly said softly.

"Ugh! I'll go get a bucket of water."

Ah Xiu covered her face and ran away, picking up the bucket next to the water vat and walking outside.

Zhou Quan didn't know what happiness was before, but now he knows that meeting Ah Xiu is happiness.

Ah Xiu returned shortly afterward with a large bucket of water and some pickled vegetables.

After having breakfast with Zhou Quan, A Xiu went out to work.

A moment later, there was a knock on the door; it was Old Wang's voice:

"Quan'er, are you up?"

Zhou Quan quickly said, "Brother Wang, please come in quickly, Ah Xiu just left."

Old Wang winked:

"Hey, you little rascal, Ah Xiu is always sneaking into your room, have you two...?"

The whole village knew about Zhou Quan and A Xiu's relationship, and everyone thought highly of them, but they also often teased them about it.

Especially Zhou Quan, who is thin-skinned and blushes easily when teased.

Sure enough, Zhou Quan waved his hands anxiously:

"No, no, of course not. We're not married yet, how could we do such a thing! Brother Wang, you mustn't talk nonsense. I'm fine, but Ah Xiu is a girl, we can't ruin her reputation. I'm thinking of waiting until I'm feeling better before I ask Ah Xiu to come less often, so people won't gossip."

Old Wang curled his lip. "That blockhead! The whole village thinks you two slept together. What reputation or honor do you have left?"

Old Wang glanced at Zhou's entire body and grinned mischievously:

"That's true. You can't handle Ah Xiu's body like this. It's good that you're not injured. We'll talk about it after you've recovered."

Seeing that Zhou Quan had turned his head away and was ignoring him, Lao Wang found a seat closer to him and sat down.

"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. I came to see you because I have something important to tell you."

Zhou Quan turned around: "What is it?"

Old Wang moved his stool closer to Zhou Quan and whispered:

Have you noticed anything unusual these past few days?

Zhou Quan looked puzzled: "Something's not right?"

Old Wang looked around mysteriously and said:

"Hey, let me tell you something. Widow Zhang and Widow Liu at the village entrance, those two used to be at odds, but these past few days I've seen them getting along really well, even going to do laundry together."

Zhou Quan's expression turned strange. He knew that both Widow Zhang and Widow Liu were interested in Old Wang and that they didn't get along.

"Is not it good?"

"No, no! It's good, but something's not right. How could we have made up so inexplicably?"

Zhou Quan felt that Lao Wang probably enjoyed the feeling of being fought over by the two of them. Now that the two of them have probably come to their senses and are no longer paying attention to him, he felt something was wrong. Shameless!

"Not to mention them, you know the Wu brothers in the village, right? They had a falling out when they were young and were like enemies, but guess what? I saw them drinking and laughing together!" Old Wang continued.

"What's wrong with this? Two brothers broke their bones but their tendons are still connected. Can't they suddenly make up?" Zhou Quan rolled his eyes.

"Hey! You don't know what happened back then. How could something like this just be resolved like that? And..."

"Alright, Brother Wang! I think I see now. Something's definitely not right. You're acting strangely, so you see everyone else as odd. You think I'm acting strange too, right? I think you should go back and lie down. Don't run around unnecessarily. Take good care of yourself!"

Old Wang wanted to say more, but Zhou Quan couldn't listen anymore.

However, Zhou Quan could understand. He had been just as easily startled when he first came back. Perhaps it was because of Ah Xiu that he was able to get over the trauma so quickly.

Old Wang sighed, "Alright, there's nothing I can do if you don't believe me. Anyway, just be careful!"

After watching Lao Wang leave, Zhou Quan stood up and slowly walked towards the door. He had been lying down for too long and it was time to go out and move around.

"Hey? Quan'er, you're out. Are you feeling better?"

"Is it alright?"

"When will it be ready? We're all waiting to attend your and Ah Xiu's wedding!"

"Take it easy! Don't bump or fall!"

"..."

Feeling everyone's concern, Zhou Quan felt an indescribable warmth in his heart and quickly thanked them. When asked about his marriage, he still couldn't help but blush.

He wasn't originally from this village, but everyone treated him very well.

He was injured and could not walk fast. He had to stop and rest every now and then. At each place he went, people greeted him and chatted happily for a few minutes.

Zhou Quan also noticed that things were different from before; everyone was more friendly and got along better with each other, which was obviously a good thing!

"broken!"

He suddenly remembered that Ah Xiu was going to come back later to cook lunch for him, and she would definitely be unhappy if she found out he wasn't there.

Zhou Quan rushed home and found Ah Xiu busy at work, muttering to herself about where she had been.

Watching Ah Xiu's figure, he felt incredibly lucky to have met such a wonderful girl.

Zhou Quan suddenly had a bold idea: he wanted to hug her, right now!

He slowed his pace, trying to make no sound, and stealthily approached Ah Xiu like a thief, feeling a strange sense of excitement.

It's near, it's near!

Zhou Quan could no longer suppress his emotions and hugged Ah Xiu from behind.

He then realized that his hands were not enough to fully wrap around Ah Xiu's waist!

Perhaps this is what a sense of security is!

"Ah Xiu!" Zhou Quan called out affectionately into Ah Xiu's ear.

Ah Xiu felt her waist being embraced and was about to resist, but upon hearing this call, her body trembled as if she had been frozen.

"Ah Quan!" Ah Xiu murmured softly.

"Axiu."

"A Quan!"

"Axiu."

"Ah! I'm going to die! In broad daylight, let go!"

Zhou Quan reluctantly withdrew his hand, stood aside with a silly grin, and quietly watched Ah Xiu prepare the meal.

After the two finished lunch, Ah Xiu instructed Zhou Quan to keep an eye on the fire in the medicine stove, and then hurriedly went out again.

As darkness fell, Ah Xiu rushed back, but this time it was different. She had not only changed into a new outfit, but also applied blush to her cheeks.

After the two finished dinner, the small room was filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, and their breathing became a little rapid.

"You should go back!"

"it is good!"