Back in the dim, murky cavern, after wandering in circles only to end up right back where they started, Sang Nian finally lost her last shred of patience and told Liu-liu, “I’m turning on the navigation and walking out.”
Liu-liu had no choice but to compromise. “Fine, whatever.”
The system let out a pleasant chime, prompting that navigation had begun.
Sang Nian tugged on Xie Chenzhou’s sleeve. “I’ve found the way. Follow me.”
A strange flash crossed Xie Chenzhou’s eyes. Without a word, he silently followed behind her.
Not long after, a faint glimmer of light appeared ahead of them.
Sang Nian picked up her pace. As the distance shortened, the light grew larger, gradually revealing a narrow opening overhead.
She tried to climb up, but the rock wall was completely bare, offering nowhere to get a foothold.
Left with no choice, she turned to look at Xie Chenzhou and negotiated, “How about you step on my shoulders to get up first, and then find a rope to pull me up?”
Xie Chenzhou glanced at her slender back, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly as he crouched down in front of her. “Get up.”
Without wasting any breath, Sang Nian steadied herself against the rock wall and carefully stepped onto his shoulders.
He rose to a steady stand.
Her height was just enough to reach the opening, and she threw all her strength into bracing her arms against the rim, pulling herself upward with all her might.
Once she successfully made it up, she emphasized once more, “I’ll be right back. You have to wait for me.”
With that, she hurried away.
Xie Chenzhou tilted his head back to gaze at the narrow patch of sky above for a moment, then walked over to a corner, sat down against the wall, and pinched the bridge of his nose with bent fingers.
I should have killed her, he thought.
Or rather, he should have killed her long ago.
This was a golden opportunity.
Looking down at his own pale right hand with a gloomy expression, Xie Chenzhou slowly curled his fingers inward, his knuckles tightening until his fingertips dug deep into his palms.
Pity, she isn’t coming back.
A dangerous place like this was never meant for a pampered young noble lady to begin with.
From start to finish, she had only been dragged into this peril because of him. And to her, he was nothing more than a plaything, to be discarded whenever she pleased.
“Xie Chenzhou!”
Abruptly, a familiar voice rang out from above.
His head snapped up. Before the mocking curve of his lips could even fade, his eyes filled with sheer astonishment.
A fuzzy head poked out from that tiny patch of sky overhead.
The girl, having gone and returned, grinned widely down at him. “I’m back!”
She came back.
For a fleeting second, Xie Chenzhou felt lost in a daze.
He suddenly remembered that, it seemed, many, many years ago, he too had waited for someone like this.
Only, back then, he had never waited for them to return.
A crookedly woven vine dropped down, dangling right in front of him.
Unaware of his momentary trance, Sang Nian said cheerfully, “I couldn’t find a rope, so I went into the woods and cut a few tree vines to braid together. I tested it out—it’s super sturdy.”
“Grab on, and I’ll pull you up,” she urged.
Coming back to his senses, Xie Chenzhou slowly grasped the vine, used his toes for leverage against the rock wall, and climbed out of the narrow opening inch by inch.
The moment he pulled himself up, his vision suddenly flooded with brilliant light.
Night had passed. A golden sun was slowly rising in the east, casting the morning glow across half of the azure sky like ribbons of silk.
The deep black pupils of the girl beside him mirrored a radiant glow, reflecting the gorgeous colors of the dawn.
For the very first time, Xie Chenzhou realized that the annoying Sang Yunling had rather nice eyes.
“I told you I’d come back to save you if I said I would, and I never break my promises,” Sang Nian told him, using the back of her hand to wipe the mud off her face.
She seemed to have taken a spill not long ago; her cheeks and hair were smudged with fresh patches of dirt, and her skirt was far from spared.
Yet, her expression was extraordinarily proud, as if she didn’t realize how disheveled she looked at that very moment.
From his angle, Xie Chenzhou could clearly see the palms of her hands.
These were hands meant to be pampered—delicate and fragile skin that had never suffered even the slightest injury.
Yet now, coarse gravel had scraped away that tender skin, the wounds were an inflamed mess, and fresh blood mingled with the dirt.
[Ding ~ Xie Chenzhou’s favorability +100]
Hearing the prompt, Sang Nian’s eyes lit up.
Abruptly, Xie Chenzhou spoke up:
“Sang Yunling.”
Sang Nian let out an “ah” before realizing he was calling her, and asked cheerfully, “What is it?”
Xie Chenzhou said, “I’m planning to kill you.”
The smile on Sang Nian’s face froze.
Before she had a chance to speak, the bushes nearby rustled violently, and a wolf-like demonic beast with blood-red eyes charged out, tracking the scent of blood.
It moved with blinding speed, appearing right in front of the two in the blink of an eye, roaring as it opened its jaws to reveal sharp, gleaming fangs.
Sang Nian: “!!!”
“Wa—”
She barely managed to force out a single syllable before Xie Chenzhou raised his hand and effortlessly grabbed the beast.
With a calm expression, his five fingers tightened.
Boom—
Flesh and gore flew everywhere.
The wolf demon’s head shattered like a dropped watermelon, chunks of it raining down onto the ground as red and white splattered everywhere like dandelion seeds.
Silence descended upon the world.
After a long moment, Sang Nian touched her face. Feeling the slick, viscous texture on her fingertips, her entire body stiffened violently.
Standing beside her, Xie Chenzhou looked down at his blood-soaked hands and suddenly chuckled softly.
“Are you scared?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Afraid that I’ll kill you the same way?”
His tone was airy, the tail end drifting slightly upward, sounding inexplicably eerie.
Under his gaze, Sang Nian stared blankly ahead and slowly uttered, “I’m tainted.”
Xie Chenzhou: “…”
Sang Nian: “Blech.”
Xie Chenzhou: “?”
She hurriedly waved a hand at him, covered her mouth, turned around, and threw up violently.
Finally catching her breath after a massive struggle, she caught a glimpse of Xie Chenzhou’s still-dripping, blood-stained hand out of the corner of her eye. Her stomach churned all over again, making her feel as though she might vomit out her own gallbladder.
“Can you…” Sang Nian asked with immense difficulty, “go wash your hands first?”
She phrased it as tactfully as possible: “You look entirely too disgusting right now.”
Xie Chenzhou: “.”
He stared at her with a face as dark as iron, while she pressed her palms together in a plea, looking up with eyes full of hopeful desperation.
After a brief standoff, he turned on his heel and walked away, his boot heels snapping a dry branch on the ground with a crisp crunch.
A shallow stream lay just a short distance away.
Xie Chenzhou came to a halt by the water’s edge, crouching down to submerge his hands into the clear current.
A bright, vibrant red bloomed instantly in the water, only to be swiftly washed away by the flowing stream, repeating over and over again.
Xie Chenzhou stared blankly at his own reflection on the water’s surface.
Abruptly, another figure appeared beside his reflection.
He turned his head to look.
Sang Nian was squatting on an uneven green boulder, leaning over to scoop up palms full of water and scrubbing her face frantically.
Judging by her intensity, she looked desperate to peel off the very layer of skin that had touched the blood and brains.
After a good while, she finally stopped, turned her face side-to-side in front of him, and asked repeatedly, “How is it? How is it? Is it clean?”
The girl’s fair cheeks were scrubbed bright red, a few strands of damp hair stuck to the sides of her face, and most of her collar and sleeves were soaked through.
Clean it certainly was.
Xie Chenzhou withdrew his gaze, let out an “Mn,” and pulled his hands out of the water.
Sang Nian retrieved a brocade handkerchief from her sleeve, wiped her face haphazardly, and then grabbed Xie Chenzhou’s hand with a trembling grip.
He instinctively tried to pull away, but she furrowed her brows. “Don’t move.”
He stopped struggling and watched as she meticulously wiped away the remaining droplets of water for him.
With the girl’s head lowered, from this angle he could clearly see her dark crown of hair, the two curved arches of her slender eyelashes, and the tip of her delicate nose.
Right now, those eyelashes were trembling, and the tip of her nose was bright red.
Clear droplets of water dripped one by one into his palm, warm to the touch.
Xie Chenzhou felt as though he had been scalded, his fingertips curling inward involuntarily.
A wave of unprovoked irritation washed over him. “What are you crying for?”
Was she really that terrified that he would kill her?
At that, Sang Nian lifted her reddened eyes, looking utterly dejected as she choked out through sniffles:
“I didn’t want to cry either, but the smell of blood on you is just too overwhelming. It’s stinging my eyes.”
Xie Chenzhou: “…”