Once the words were spoken the aphrodisiacs that hit them so hard started to fade away. Gu Zhi started to regain his clarity as his sanity returned.
"Ugh".
He got up and looked at the mess he was in. His pants had some suspicious stains to it, he felt awful due to his lack of sleep, and his clothes stuck to his body due to his sweat. He hasn't been in a state like this since his last secluded cultivation.
He looked over to find Ji Er with a completely red face avoiding all eye contact from him and distancing herself from him.
He moved to the open door to get out of this accursed room and spend some time with his wife again. The sight he saw after he got out stunned him.
He was the first out right after Gu Xiao and Ji Long, Ji Long had an absolutely embarrassed face to him with bruises all over his body. After them was Gu Zhi and Ji Er, Gu Zhi had an obvious stain on his pants, while Ji Er looked away in shame with her legs still being wet.
The next group to come out looked even worse. The man had bite marks all over his skin and was bleeding while the women had clawed off and scratched large parts of her skin. The last group to come out was the most shameful. Their clothes were obviously just put on, as the women had a face that was beet red and the man looked completely fine. The group with wounds on their skin looked over in malice to the ones who had obviously mated. Before they could defend themselves or say their apologizes the guide waved her hand and they disappeared like smoke.
"Congratulations for the two remaining couples, due note that the rewards you will receive will be in accordance with your performance. You will be given a full week until the next trial starts and if you wish to explore the palace we recommend a guide as you won't be able to use the elevator otherwise. You can leave now with your rewards or continue the trials" she said.
"Can you take us back to our guest rooms, and maybe give us some new clothes." Gu Zhi asked.
He was obviously going to continue the trials as they seemed to be able to handle them.
"Of course, we will, please let us know if you need anything else".
'Why is she oddly nicer to me'
It was a little strange to Gu Zhi that the guides seem to treat him better than the other contestants but he didn't think much of it due him thinking that it was a difference in personality from guide to guide. Now noticing how much better the guides treat him compared to others perhaps it wasn't due to the personality of one guide.
The guide then sent them back to their rooms were Gu Zhi tore off his clothes and took a quick bath before going straight to bed. He had been awake for 24 hours, even though he was a foundation based cultivator with a 100 years of extra lifespan, when your drugged that bad it takes a toll on your mind more than anything else. Sleep and time are the only cures to trauma in Gu Zhi's opinion.
He dreamed of winning unimaginable rewards from the palace until he woke up the next day. With bed head and drool coming out his mouth he looked over to find his wife dead asleep in the bed. So he went back to sleep, he had nothing better to do anyway. After awhile Gu Zhi and Gu Xiao got out of bed.
"What happened to you in the prison" Gu Xiao asked with sharp eyes.
"She forced herself onto me so I ran away, you?" he questioned.
"The same thing, but I didn't run away, I beat him up" she said.
"Huh, I had absolutely no strength due to the aphrodisiac, maybe it affects people differently or maybe they gave me a different aphrodisiac than you had. I remember the girl I was with seemed absolutely terrified when she saw the aphrodisiac, but I think she's mute so I didn't get an answer. I have little knowledge in relation to aphrodisiacs".
"You have little knowledge in everything, I have to tell you many things... though I suppose it's not your fault, 8 years in secluded meditation and then straight into bone refining, dual cultivation right after that as well, you lack a lot of important knowledge. If we ever make it out of here I suggest we get a tutor for you, you lack critical knowledge in things you should know. It's becoming embarrassing for me seeing how much common sense you lack".
"Well I would be 100% willing to have a tutor, its just getting complicated due to all the recent events. If we ever make it out alive I don't mind, but with a baby coming along its only going to get harder and harder".
Gu Xiao actually looked more relieved that he said those words than before.
"Let's go explore the palace I've heard there are some secrets to this place, given enough time you might even find one that could be beneficial to you".
"Like what, a hidden stockpile of treasures, a secret meditation room that has an amazing formation covering it, or perhaps a secret laboratory with pills in it that could increase your lifespan" he said dramatically.
"Not necessarily, but I've heard of secret rooms that could give you more detailed information about the palace, the trials, the guides, some accounts say there are some hidden stone golems that hide from the guides due to one reason or another. There have even been accounts were people find hidden store rooms with supplies still inside of them. That is what most people are looking for. The person never said what the "supplies" were, but he made rapid progress in his cultivation before disappearing of the face of the planet. He was never seen again, but it's easy to speculate that someone was after these "supplies". Maybe we could find them, and as long as we keep our mouths shut we could make rapid progress just like him." Gu Xiao said as she hatched her new plan.