Moya once again had his understanding of Gao Yue's uselessness refreshed.
You had to know that even a five- or six-year-old female cub could lift this stone pot, yet Gao Yue, who looked to be about thirteen years old and was still that plump, couldn't manage it.
His gaze fell on Gao Yue's flushed, plump white face. Clearly, she had already tried her best.
Tch, too weak. If no one took care of her, she wouldn't survive even a single day.
In the end, it was Moya who helped her move the stone pot, pouring water into a stone cup for her to drink.
After Gao Yue finished the water, drowsiness surged over her like a tide.
Although it was still daytime here, back on Earth before she'd been transported over, it had been deep night, exactly the time she should be sleeping. Add to that the ordeal she'd just been through, the fright and fear, her spirit had already been drained, and now that she'd relaxed, the drowsiness became impossible to resist.
By the time Moya had crushed the Yuyu Flower, mixed her a salve, and had her apply the medicine to her wounds, Gao Yue was already yawning repeatedly, her eyelids so heavy she could barely keep them open.
She looked toward the massive stone bed deep in the cave, wanting nothing more than to collapse onto it and sleep immediately.
Moya: "If you're tired, go sleep."
Gao Yue did want to sleep, but thinking about how this was a gathering place for giant pythons, she couldn't help feeling a bit afraid, and hesitantly asked him, "Then I'm going to sleep. Will you... leave?"
Of course he would leave.
He would have several Giant-type pythons stand guard nearby—did she really expect him to stay here the whole time?
Yet when Moya lowered his head and met the female cub's eyes, filled with dependence and unease, the words on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.
In the end he relented, his cold, beautiful face fixed on her: "I'll stay at the cave entrance. I won't leave."
With that promise, Gao Yue felt a little more at ease and walked into the cave.
Before falling asleep, she remembered something and dug the Tablet out of her suitcase.
Her phone had been lost in the flood long ago—back then, in order to hold onto the suitcase, she'd had no choice but to let go of the phone she'd been gripping, so now she could only check the time on the Tablet.
The time displayed on the Tablet's screen was still stuck at deep night in her own world.
Gao Yue sighed softly and reset the world clock.
She had asked Moya and knew it was currently afternoon, so she temporarily set the time to two in the afternoon. Then she switched the Tablet to low-power mode, carefully set it aside, and finally curled up and lay down on the stone bed.
This sleep was extremely restless.
On the stone bed there was only a single thick Animal Skin, which could only be used as a cover.
The Animal Skin was warm—almost too warm when draped over her—but beneath her, the stone was cold and hard, simply too hard.
She was used to sleeping on soft mattresses; the bed at home had been fitted with the softest grade of latex mattress available, and now this stone bed was harder than even a palm-fiber mattress, pressing uncomfortably into her body.
She tossed and turned on the stone bed. Though her drowsiness was thick, it stayed hovering at the surface—her consciousness floated as if on water, unable to sink into deep sleep, yet unable to fully wake either.
In the middle of the night, she finally woke up completely.
When she opened her eyes, the whole room was pitch black.
She felt around for the Tablet and looked—the screen showed midnight.
She had slept on and off for nearly ten hours. Panic rose in her, and she turned her head to see that outside the cave the sky had long turned ink-black, with only a thin, cold sliver of moonlight quietly flowing in through the Cave Entrance.
The stone beneath her had left her back and limbs aching all over, sore and swollen, and her head hurt even more than the day before. She touched her forehead—it wasn't very hot, so she probably didn't have a fever.
Quiet. Too quiet.
The surroundings were so silent it felt as though she were the only person left.
There wasn't even the faintest white noise, not even the sound of insects, making her almost wonder if her ears had gone deaf.
She propped herself up with her left arm and sat up, and by the light of the Tablet, saw the Snowball Pig lying far away from her, snoring softly as it slept.
Having a living creature there beside her made her feel a little less afraid.
But only a little.
The cave was too big and too dark, and she was frightened.
Aching all over, Gao Yue climbed to her feet, put on her slippers, straightened her Beast Skin Skirt, and walked toward the cave entrance with her heart pounding.
The sound of her slippers against the ground seemed magnified endlessly in her ears.
Outside the cave, night had fallen too, and shadows of trees swayed all around.
Under the faint moonlight, Moya was lying flat on the grass at the Cave Entrance in his human form, his eyes gently closed, his hands resting naturally at his sides. His figure was bathed in the pale light, his skin like white jade glowing faintly with a hazy white sheen—so still and beautiful it seemed unreal, like a lifeless figure.
Seeing him, Gao Yue felt her heart settle at once, and every ghost story in her head was swept away. With the Giant Python monster stationed right here, there was nothing to worry about.
He seemed to be startled awake by the sound of her approach; his long lashes trembled, and he slowly opened a pair of Vertical Pupils.
His eyes still held a trace of hazy grogginess from just waking, his voice low and hoarse.
"What's wrong?"
Caught in the act of peeking, Gao Yue felt a bit embarrassed. "Nothing, I just woke up."
She paused, and looking at him lying there sleeping out in the open outside the cave, she felt rather guilty. "Why don't you come sleep inside? The bed in there... it's huge. We could sleep far apart from each other."
Though the stone bed was crude, it was also spacious—so large it hardly needed to be thought of as a bed at all. The two of them could sleep at opposite ends, with room enough in between for dozens of people.
Having taken over his home like this and forced its owner to sleep at the entrance made her feel guilty.
Moya merely looked at her flatly and said, "You're Female." His tone and expression made it clear there was no room for discussion on the matter.
Knowing she couldn't argue him out of it, Gao Yue could only murmur, "Got it."
She found the water she'd stored before going to sleep, took a couple of sips, then returned to the cave entrance and carefully sat down not far from him—checking the grass carefully for bugs before she sat.
This sleep hadn't been restful, and she still felt drowsy. After sitting down, she rested her head on her arm and closed her eyes halfway, wanting to keep sleeping.
Moya sat up as well, his long black hair spilling like a waterfall over the pale jade skin of his long neck, his posture carrying a hint of languor. "What are you doing sitting here?"
Hugging her knees, Gao Yue turned her head to look at the deep darkness inside the cave. "It's too empty and too dark in there. I'm a little scared being alone."
After she finished speaking, she saw Moya's brows knit slightly, as if he were looking at her with some trouble weighing on him.
Gao Yue lowered her head sheepishly, not wanting to trouble him any further, and stood up. "Then I'll head back."
Just as she turned to go, Moya's pupils suddenly contracted. By the bright moonlight, he saw clearly, through her thin clothing, patches of purple-blue faintly showing on her back—all bruises, and even the backs of her legs hadn't been spared.
His expression darkened instantly. "What happened to your back?"
"Huh?"
Gao Yue turned back in confusion, and following his gaze, twisted around to find the right angle, looking again and again before she noticed the bruising on the back of her own calf.
Only then did she realize, explaining a little helplessly, "Oh, this. The stone was too hard—I'm used to sleeping on a soft bed, so I ended up like this without meaning to."
Her skin had always been naturally thin and delicate, and she seemed to be perpetually lacking in some trace mineral, so her body bruised extremely easily. It looked alarming, but really it was fine—it didn't hurt much.
Seeing how bad his expression looked, she tensed up and tried to smooth things over. "It's fine, really. Once I get used to it over the next few days, this won't happen anymore. Don't think I'm being a bother, okay..."
Moya sucked in a breath, holding back his emotions. "It's not that I think you're a bother. It's that you should have told me beforehand, so I could have prepared."
His voice was heavy, carrying obvious displeasure.
Gao Yue: "I was worried about troubling you..."
At her words, Moya shot her a cold glance, his gaze displeased and tinged with suppressed irritation—and yet, beneath it all, there was also a trace of helplessness.
"Wait here."
Moya stood and coldly tossed out those words, his figure already about to vanish into the night outside the cave.
"Huh? Don't go!" Panic flared in Gao Yue, and without thinking she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him from behind in a full embrace. He moved too fast—if she hadn't lunged, he'd have been gone the very next second.
Moya's body stiffened as he flinched to the side.
This cub had developed far too quickly—the soft fullness pressing against his back sent a flicker of discomfort across his face, though he didn't let it show, keeping his expression stern as he turned to look at her.
Gao Yue: "No, take me with you! I don't dare stay here alone."
This place turned pitch black at night, dead silent, without even the sound of insects to be heard.
And there wasn't a single light anywhere—it was even more frightening than the countryside at night.
Inside the cave, it was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face—like being blind.
Besides, someone had come looking for trouble during the day, and she was afraid someone might come again—she couldn't handle that alone. And there was also the chance a Giant Python might wander in.
This cave didn't even have a door.
It really left her with no sense of security at all.
So Gao Yue insisted he take her along. She cherished her own little life dearly, afraid of dying, afraid of accidents, and absolutely refused to be left alone.
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