“Aoww!” A sharp cry suddenly rang out, startling both people in their silence. They turned to look and saw the little white beast jump out of Qing Xia’s embrace, standing proudly on the ground. It wagged its tail at Qing Xia, then turned to look at Chu Li, nodding its chubby little chin. Suddenly it jumped toward Chu Li’s direction, puffing out its chest and glaring, baring its tiny sharp milk teeth and barking fiercely a few times. Then it suddenly jumped to another direction, looking aggrieved and pitiful as it rubbed its eyes with its two front paws, shaking its head and whimpering like it had been bullied. Then it jumped back toward Chu Li’s direction, repeating the same performance. After doing this several times, the little white beast wagged its tail and ran to Qing Xia’s front, biting her pant leg and tugging coquettishly a couple times, whining pitifully.
This little thing’s performance left these two great figures—who could make the world tremble with a stomp of their feet—completely bewildered.
Qing Xia blinked, staring dumbfounded and somewhat unable to accept this. Finally, she tentatively said to the little white beast: “Are you saying he bullied you and yelled at you, and you want me to help you teach him a lesson?”
“Woo woo woo woo…” The little white beast suddenly jumped up excitedly, but unfortunately its short little legs had no strength. When it landed, it stumbled and fell flat on the ground with a thud.
“What is this thing?” Qing Xia looked at Chu Li somewhat bewildered, pointing at the little creature.
“I don’t know.” Chu Li shook his head, saying in a deep voice: “The world is vast with countless wonders. I suppose it’s some kind of spirit beast.”
“Spirit beast?” Qing Xia was startled and picked up the little beast that was sprawled on the ground tugging at her pant leg, looking directly into its green eyes. She saw it was only the size of her palm, covered in white fur like a snow ferret, but its head and face didn’t look like a fox—rather more like a small dog. Only its ears were quite magical, drooping long like a rabbit’s with slightly reddish inner sides that would immediately perk up straight at the slightest disturbance.
Qing Xia extended her pale little finger and poked its small black nose, asking with puffed cheeks: “Are you a spirit beast?”
Whether it understood or not, the little white beast immediately nodded repeatedly, wagging its extremely short tail and sticking out its tongue desperately.
Qing Xia was immediately stunned, raising her head to look at Chu Li in amazement: “It can understand human speech?”
Chu Li was obviously not as shocked as Qing Xia. He just nodded and cooperatively said: “It is rather strange,” then turned his head to continue with the barbecue.
Qing Xia continued to fiddle with the little beast in amazement, examining it from all angles but couldn’t see anything particularly special. If this thing were in modern times, it would be a major research subject, wouldn’t it? Being able to understand human speech without training—wasn’t that too intelligent? Even when people of different nationalities met, they had to gesture and mime for ages, yet this little fellow was naturally gifted—truly a legendary divine creature.
Whether or not this was a divine creature, at least its antics had made things less awkward between the two of them. Qing Xia hugged her legs, head down, watching the little beast lying leisurely at her feet with its snow-white belly up, sleeping very contentedly. She couldn’t help but smile slightly—being able to find joy in such desperate circumstances could be considered a kind of spiritual victory.
Outside, heavy snow fell and the ground was frozen solid. Without this cave, even if the two had been lucky enough not to die, they would probably have lost half their lives.
Just as she was thinking this, a sudden burning smell hit her nose. Qing Xia turned to look and saw Chu Li frantically fussing with the roasted meat on the rack. He had apparently just discovered it was burnt but didn’t want Qing Xia to notice, so he was blocking most of it with his body sideways. When he tried to reach out and take it down, he got burned and quickly withdrew his hand.
This man could command thousands of troops in battle, could kill people invisibly while chatting and laughing, could seize court power without bloodshed, but at this moment, faced with a small piece of roasted meat, he was stumped.
Qing Xia smiled slightly, reached out her hand, and pushed Chu Li’s shoulder, saying: “Let me do it.”
Roasting meat was also a skill. Qing Xia had considerable experience with outdoor living in her past, so picking it up again came naturally. She saw that half of the meat Chu Li had roasted was already burnt while the other half was still raw. Without thinking, she tore off the burnt half and threw it aside. Chu Li made a sound of protest, his lips moved, but he said nothing more.
Chu Li was indeed impatient by nature, wanting to throw the meat directly into the fire to roast. But he didn’t know that roasting meat required slow fire—low heat and slow roasting wouldn’t burn it, and the inside would be cooked too, without any raw parts. Soon, the air filled with the aroma of barbecue, golden oil emerging from within, sizzling. Qing Xia pinched a piece with her thumb and forefinger, blowing on it while puffing her cheeks, then turned to Chu Li saying: “It’s very hot, very hot, try some quickly.”
Without thinking, Chu Li opened his mouth and took it, his lips lightly touching Qing Xia’s fingertips. Both immediately felt awkward, staring at each other wide-eyed, then turning away without saying anything.
Yes, how could they keep forgetting? Previously they had been such hostile adversaries with such deep-seated hatred and loathing—how was it that here, all of that had vanished into thin air?
Or perhaps it was simply because they were far from the mundane world, far from the whirlpool of power, far from those struggles for fame and profit. In this desolate place, hatred, suspicion, and resentment had no value. And they too seemed to have forgotten those past events, interacting like ordinary people.
But ultimately, there was still something separating them harshly, still some thoughts that would suddenly jump out when the two became slightly carried away, bringing everything back to reality.
In the end, it still wouldn’t work.
Suddenly there was a crackling sound as the firewood popped and cracked. Qing Xia took the roasted meat from the rack, drew out a dagger, and handed it to Chu Li, saying: “Eat.”
Chu Li was slightly startled, thought for a moment, and still asked quite unromantically: “This is what you use to kill people, right?”
Qing Xia was holding a knife with roasted meat on it, just bringing it to her mouth when she heard Chu Li’s comment. She immediately lost her appetite in anger and said resentfully: “Eat it or don’t!”
Chu Li grabbed it without saying another word, cut off a piece, and began eating heartily. At this point, there was no need to be particular—he’d just endure and eat.
After eating just a few bites, small whimpering sounds suddenly rang out beside them. Qing Xia looked down and saw the little white beast staring at her with glowing eyes, mouth wide open, drool all over the ground, constantly wagging its tail at her. Qing Xia immediately flew into a rage, kicking it aside and shouting angrily: “Do you have no humanity? These were your parents!”
Chu Li nearly choked on a piece of meat, struggling to swallow it down. Talking about humanity with a wild beast—Qing Xia could probably be considered the first person in history to do so.
Seeing the little beast swaying its big head pitifully, after thinking it over, Chu Li cleared his throat and said: “Um, you’ve got it wrong. They shouldn’t be the same species. Look, their tails are long, its is short; their ears are short, its are long; even their smallest was much bigger than it. Besides, if they were all as smart as it is, you couldn’t have killed them all so easily.”
This explanation was quite convoluted with endless “theys” and “its,” but when Qing Xia looked carefully, it was indeed so. After thinking, she beckoned to the little beast and said: “Even though you’re not family, they did raise you after all. Don’t eat the meat—just gnaw on bones.”
With that, she threw a bone on the ground with a thud.
The little white beast whimpered twice, circled the bone twice, seemingly not knowing where to start. Finally, it looked up at Qing Xia with resentful eyes full of meaning. Chu Li ate while saying casually: “Maybe it wasn’t being raised—maybe it was captured.”
“Woo!” The little white beast suddenly cried out sharply, jumped up from the ground, and with its short legs running fast, threw itself into Chu Li’s embrace. Its pink tender tongue kept licking Chu Li’s palm, its tail wagging as if it might break off, looking exactly like it had found a kindred spirit.
This was the first time the little thing had shown friendliness toward him. Chu Li was startled, then broke into a bright, hearty laugh.
So he could laugh like this too.
Watching Chu Li’s smiling face, Qing Xia was slightly stunned.
In this world, who would willingly walk in darkness for a lifetime? Even the deity who governed the night probably yearned for light.
After filling their stomachs, Chu Li felt a bit thirsty. He looked around, got up and walked outside the cave, then returned shortly carrying two pieces of crystal-clear ice, saying to Qing Xia: “Are you thirsty? Want some?”
Qing Xia frowned and said: “That’s too cold. You’re injured—you shouldn’t eat it like that.”
Chu Li looked around, then frowned saying: “Too bad we don’t have a container.”
Qing Xia sighed. Trying to explain wilderness survival to this Southern Chu prince born with a golden spoon was truly like playing music to a cow. She removed the throwing knife pouch from her waist, drew out seven or eight willow-leaf throwing knives, and began weaving with flexible wrist movements. The knives were extremely thin. Qing Xia bent each one and wove them together one by one. In a moment, they formed a gleaming silver small bowl. She placed Chu Li’s ice in it and heated it over the fire. Soon steam was rising from it.
Carefully picking it up, she handed it to Chu Li, saying in a deep voice: “Be careful—the knives are sharp. Don’t cut your mouth.”