An Xiao was too shocked to speak.
He couldn't help but carefully examine the other man.
He was exactly the same as him—no extra arms or missing legs. Aside from being incredibly strong and eating a lot, there didn't seem to be any real difference.
In his original world, there were people who ate a lot too, just never to this extent.
The Handsome Guy was so big and burned so much energy… wasn't it normal that he ate a lot?
An Xiao glanced at the pile of bones on the ground—the meat from earlier had a texture he'd never tasted before, something between beef and chicken, with no gamey smell and a faint hint of medicinal herbs.
He'd never seen a half-corpse form either…
He couldn't even be sure this place was still Earth. Maybe the Handsome Guy was perfectly normal?
Or maybe… the abnormal one was only himself?
…Could that be why the Handsome Guy took such careful care of him? Because he was too useless?
An Xiao touched his face.
Come to think of it, this body… couldn't it have come through with him?
—That should be impossible.
He'd been so badly injured back then, yet this body didn't have a single scar.
He was lost in these wild thoughts when the Handsome Guy finished eating, wiped his mouth, and walked off.
An Xiao snapped back to attention and watched him disappear into the darkness.
The surroundings were utterly silent. All he could hear was the chirping of insects from the distant mountains and the faint crackling of the campfire beside him.
Under the dim starlight, the distant forests and the cliff face behind him loomed as dark, terrifying shadows.
An Xiao had grown up running wild through the fields of his village, so he wasn't afraid of the dark.
But that was in a safe zone.
This was a desolate wilderness!!
An Xiao looked around, then slowly grabbed a thick, burning branch from the fire.
He took a few steps forward holding the torch, and the Handsome Guy's figure reappeared. An Xiao let out a breath of relief: "You go—"
A shadow flashed, and the torch in his hand changed owners.
An Xiao: "…"
Too tired to argue, he just watched the branches and vines the man was carrying.
The Handsome Guy glanced at him, walked to the door of the hut, and jabbed the torch—as thick as a child's arm—into the stone wall with ease, illuminating the entire area.
An Xiao: "…"
Is this really normal?!!
Refusing to believe it, he dragged over a stool, stepped up on it, and tried to pull the torch out—
He was caught around the waist and lifted down.
The Handsome Guy set him on the ground, pulled the torch out and held it high, frowning at him like he was looking at a disobedient child flailing around.
An Xiao: "…"
Frustrated, he waved his hand, signaling for the Handsome Guy to put the torch back, then bent down to move the stool.
—A foot reached out from beside him, hooked the stool, and it landed in the Handsome Guy's hand.
Then the Handsome Guy, holding the torch in one hand and the stool in the other, continued to look at him disapprovingly.
An Xiao: "…"
Is this really necessary?!
He gestured angrily until the Handsome Guy finally put the torch back and set the stool down.
Only then did the man go back to fiddling with the branches and vines he'd brought back.
Among them was a bundle of rolled-up leaves.
He pulled the green leaves apart, revealing round objects attached to them.
The Handsome Guy gently broke one off and handed it to An Xiao.
An Xiao: "?"
The Handsome Guy brought it to his lips, his pinky lightly brushing the corner of An Xiao's mouth.
An Xiao froze for a moment, looked up at him—and met a pair of dark eyes reflecting the firelight.
He instinctively looked away, feeling that the corner of his lips where he'd been touched… seemed a little hot.
His mouth was touched again—something cool and smooth, not the Handsome Guy's finger.
An Xiao snapped back to reality, stared blankly for two seconds before reacting, and awkwardly took the round thing—huh? A fruit?
In the firelight, the fruit was dark purple with a reddish tint, its skin bumpy and uneven. It looked a little frightening.
He looked at Handsome Guy uncertainly. "For… me… to eat?"
He had just learned the word "eat" while eating barbecue earlier.
Handsome Guy nodded. "Eat."
An Xiao hesitated, but trusting Handsome Guy, he took a gentle bite—the thin skin broke easily, and sweet juice instantly filled his mouth, washing away all the greasy heaviness from the dry barbecue meat.
His eyes lit up, and he looked at Handsome Guy in surprise. "Delicious!"
Handsome Guy's dark eyes, reflecting the firelight, seemed to brighten with delight as well.
"Mm." He responded softly, staring straight at An Xiao.
An Xiao took two crunchy bites, then noticed that Handsome Guy's gaze hadn't shifted at all. Feeling uneasy, he stopped and asked, "Where's… yours?"
Handsome Guy just kept looking at him, even nudging his hand upward to signal him to continue.
An Xiao blinked, then crouched down to rummage through the things Handsome Guy had brought back, but couldn't find another one of those leaf-wrapped fruits.
He furrowed his brows, looked at the fruit in his hand, then looked at Handsome Guy, who had crouched down beside him—and, as if possessed, brought the fruit to the other's lips.
Handsome Guy froze.
An Xiao froze too.
Their eyes met, and the atmosphere suddenly became very strange.
An Xiao snapped back to reality, heat rushing to his face. He hurriedly moved his hand away—
His hand was caught.
Handsome Guy stared at him, took a bite… of the fruit.
Then he pushed the fruit back to An Xiao's lips, staring at… his mouth.
…Was this him tasting it first, then giving it to him to eat? An Xiao was flustered and embarrassed, trying to pull away. "I'll eat it later—"
Handsome Guy applied slight pressure, pressing the fruit directly against his lips.
His dark eyes reflected the firelight, flickering with golden-red shadows.
An Xiao was mortified, his gaze darting away… After hesitating for a moment, he took a small bite.
His wandering gaze accidentally caught sight of the bobbing Adam's apple across from him.
…
…He was just eating a fruit, what kind of reaction was this?!
He stole a glance upward, meeting Handsome Guy's intense dark eyes—it was the same look he'd had that afternoon when he pressed An Xiao down onto the bed.
An Xiao had thin skin. His face flushed crimson on the spot.
He swallowed the fruit quickly, stopped, cleared his throat, and said, "These—"
The fruit pressed against his lips again.
An Xiao: "…I don't—"
Blocked again.
Thankfully Handsome Guy wasn't using force, or he'd have choked to death.
He tried to push it away.
…And then Handsome Guy snatched the fruit away.
Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Handsome Guy pinched the fruit and brought it to his lips again.
The moment An Xiao opened his mouth, he fed him.
This guy had also learned without being taught—he gently pressed the back of An Xiao's head, not hurting him, but not letting him close his mouth either.
An Xiao: "…"
He couldn't push him away either.
Left with no choice, he endured his flaming red face, pressed his hand against the man's wrist, and ate bite after bite under the man's unblinking stare.
Pressing his wrist was a last resort—otherwise, at the speed Handsome Guy was shoving fruit into his mouth, he'd choke to death.
The fruit was fist-sized, with a pit inside. An Xiao stopped when he reached the pit, pointed at it, and shook his head at him.
Handsome Guy glanced at the pit, tossed it into his mouth, crunched twice, and swallowed.
An Xiao: "…"
The pit wasn't that big, but…
Before he could finish thinking about what "but"—a slight tickle at the corner of his lips.
Handsome Guy's fingers were stroking his lips.
Lightly caressing, slowly rubbing.
An Xiao blinked, not yet processing what was happening, when the pressure on his lips began to increase—from caressing to kneading. The golden-red glow in Handsome Guy's dark eyes seemed to stretch and lengthen—
A soft "smack."
An Xiao snapped back to his senses, hastily pushing the other's hand away, and pointed randomly at the ground. "What are these for?"
The Handsome Guy’s finger hung in the air for a long moment before slowly lowering. He said something.
An Xiao: “What?”
“[These],” the Handsome Guy crouched down, wrapping the leftover barbecue bones in a large leaf, “.”
An Xiao couldn’t understand. He watched as the Handsome Guy picked up the bundle of bones, strode several meters away, and hurled it with force—disappearing into the darkness.
An Xiao stared for several seconds before hearing a series of cracking sounds from below.
So the cliff on the other side of the rocky ground was really high.
Wait—cliff?!
Right at their doorstep?!
An Xiao’s eyes widened. He looked in the direction the Handsome Guy had thrown the bones, then at their rooms, then toward the small grove—
No, would a normal person choose to live in a place like this?!
By a cliff??
The Handsome Guy naturally couldn’t grasp his concern. After tossing the bones, he turned back, kicked the vines aside, picked up the dagger, and resumed whittling wood.
Even when the campfire had burned down to just glowing embers, with only the nearly spent torch on the wall providing light.
An Xiao: “…”
It was late at night. Wasn’t he going to rest?
He hesitated, then went over to tug at the Handsome Guy.
The Handsome Guy looked up at him.
An Xiao carefully pointed at the room and made a palms-together sleeping gesture—careful because he was afraid the Handsome Guy might misunderstand.
He didn’t want to be shoved down and groped again, ahem.
Fortunately, the sleeping gesture was clear enough.
The Handsome Guy understood. He set down the dagger, stood up, glanced at the room, then went over to the campfire to light a piece of wood. Holding it up, he came back and pulled An Xiao along.
An Xiao: “…”
Fine, he’d just take it as the Handsome Guy’s dad instincts kicking in.
The two entered the room one after another. The Handsome Guy looked around and stuck the torch into the wall, far from the bed and table.
With the firelight, the stone room instantly felt much cozier.
An Xiao looked at the single large bed and pondered the possibility of sleeping on the floor.
Throughout the day, he’d noticed the Handsome Guy’s tension and attentiveness.
Under these circumstances, would the Handsome Guy take the bed and make him sleep on the floor?
But if he took the bed and made the Handsome Guy sleep on the floor, his conscience would bother him—the Handsome Guy had worked all day and couldn’t even get a blanket. That would be too pitiful.
While he was hesitating, the Handsome Guy came over and tugged at his clothes.
An Xiao: “!”
He quickly pressed down on his clothes, flustered and annoyed, “[No]!”
The Handsome Guy froze, hesitated, then let go. He pointed at the bed and made the same palms-together, head-tilted sleeping gesture, saying, “[You**].”
An Xiao blinked, repeated the sleeping gesture, and asked, “Is that [sleep]?”
“[Mm, sleep.]”
An Xiao breathed a sigh of relief.
He was wearing a moon-white long-sleeved shirt and pants. Between washing dishes, boiling water, and grilling… no matter how careful he was, by the end of the day, his cuffs and pant legs had turned black.
No wonder the Handsome Guy wanted him to take off his clothes before getting into bed.
He frowned, thinking, then ran outside.
The Handsome Guy immediately grabbed him.
An Xiao pointed outside, gesturing wildly—forget it.
He pulled the man toward the third storage room and fumbled in the dark for the two baskets against the wall.
The Handsome Guy instead pulled him two steps further in, grabbed something, and shoved it into his hands.
An Xiao: “…Don’t just shove things at me. Let me check if it’s a shirt and pants.”
He’d rummaged through them earlier today and messed up the clothes and pants.
He picked up an item, intending to feel it out, when the Handsome Guy pulled him back outside.
“Hey—wait, let me confirm first!”
He tried to plant his feet.
The next second, he was scooped up into someone’s arms.
An Xiao: "…Can we make a deal? At least respect my adult body and let me walk on my own!!"
Unfortunately, Handsome Guy couldn't understand.
And so An Xiao was carried back into the brightly lit room.
After being set down, he shot a glare at the man who was addicted to carrying people, then unfolded the clothes in his hands—
Pale sprout-green top and matching-colored pants.
What a coincidence, he'd grabbed the same color scheme.
An Xiao relaxed, ready to change, but when his gaze shifted, he saw Handsome Guy staring right at him.
Feeling awkward, he pursed his lips and gestured outward: "Out."
Handsome Guy looked confused.
An Xiao glared at him: "Out!"
Handsome Guy tilted his head.
…Does he really not understand, or is he faking it?? An Xiao pointed outward with his finger and said fiercely, "[You], [go]!"
Handsome Guy: "…"
Pressing his lips together, he glanced at An Xiao twice, then reluctantly shuffled one step outward, glanced back again, and shuffled another step.
An Xiao kept glaring at him fiercely.
And so Handsome Guy, looking back every few steps, finally made it out.
Through the curtain, An Xiao could see his boat-like straw sandals and threatened, "[Go], [no] peeking!!"
The big boat sandals finally left.
An Xiao stared for a long moment, confirming those big boats weren't coming back, then quickly untied his sash and changed clothes while keeping an eye on the entrance.
Once he was changed and had draped his dirty white clothes over the table, he called out, "Alright, go grab a set of clothes and change too, then get some sleep."
Aside from the dust on his clothes, he hadn't even walked more than a few steps. He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed.
After lying there for a while, he found it quite comfortable. Curious, he rolled over and tugged at the bedsheet to examine the soft woven rattan mat beneath.
By the time he'd been poking and prodding at it for a good while, and the torch stuck in the wall had burned down to its latter half, Handsome Guy still hadn't come in.
In fact, he could even hear the familiar "swish, swish" sound.
Sensing something was off, An Xiao frowned, sat up, slipped on his shoes, and went out to find him.
The campfire outside had completely died, leaving pitch-black darkness.
An Xiao stood at the curtain for a few seconds, slowly letting his eyes adjust to the darkness before him.
The starlight tonight was faint, but he could make out a figure sitting cross-legged in his usual spot, whittling wood with a dagger.
Just sitting there in the pitch-black night, carving wood.
Darkness, long hair, ancient robes, repeating the same motion over and over…
This scene—he vaguely remembered seeing it in many movies—
An Xiao shuddered and rubbed his arms.
Wait.
Working in the dark??
…Does this guy not only have insane strength and an enormous appetite, but eyesight this ridiculous too?