Chu Li secretly admired her for this, though naturally he wouldn’t say it aloud. He sighed inwardly, wondering how many unfortunate souls’ foul blood these knives had been stained with, then tilted back his neck and gulped down the hot water.

“Alright, let’s rest. We need to conserve our energy—we still have a long way to go tomorrow to escape.”

Chu Li was slightly startled and asked, “Do you know the way out?”

Qing Xia shook her head slightly and said, “I don’t know, but it definitely does.”

Chu Li was taken aback and turned to look at the small beast that was plaintively licking a bone. The little creature seemed to know they were talking about it. Its bright green eyes glanced at the two of them once, then it continued gnawing on the bone that was countless times larger than its own body.

“This used to be land, with no ravines, yet there are living creatures here, which means there must be a path connecting to the outside world. If we search carefully, we’ll surely find a way out. The reason I’m not feeding it is to keep it hungry. When it gets hungry enough, it will naturally go out to find food on its own.”

Qing Xia smiled proudly with satisfaction, her face full of smiles. Despite her pale complexion, her expression was radiant. Chu Li was slightly stunned, but his heart clenched tightly at her words.

Tomorrow—would they really be getting out?

After they got out, how would they face each other?

The fatigue from consecutive days finally got a brief respite. The bright morning sunlight slowly streamed in from the cave entrance, casting brilliant light across the ground.

In the shadows deep within the cave, a petite woman lay on her side, eyes closed in deep sleep. She wore a tight-fitting black outfit, the fabric wrapping around her graceful body with its gentle curves and exquisite contours, appearing so soft and beautiful. Her jet-black long hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, covering half her face. Through the hazy light, one could only see her ivory-smooth complexion and red lips. Her chest rose and fell gently—she was sleeping soundly.

Beside her was a small white beast, pure white all over, round and plump, lying brazenly on its back with its clean white belly exposed, resembling a small dog. This fellow had quite an unrestrained sleeping posture and was even snoring softly, its snow-white belly rising and falling rhythmically, looking rather comical.

Chu Li stood at the cave entrance, holding several pieces of freshly cut raw meat in his hands. As soon as he entered, this was the scene that met his eyes.

A warm current suddenly rose from the depths of his heart, instantly dispelling the cold he had brought back from outside. His complexion was slightly pale—the previously injured man’s figure had grown somewhat thinner, yet his expression was more relaxed than ever before. He walked forward quietly, gently setting down what he held in his hands, afraid of waking the person in her dreams.

However, at that moment, the white little beast suddenly whimpered and smacked its lips, lazily rolling toward Qing Xia’s direction. With a thud, its fat, round body pressed down on Qing Xia’s arm.

The sleeping woman frowned slightly but didn’t wake up. Chu Li looked over and saw a long, red wound hidden beneath Qing Xia’s sleeve, now slightly exposed after being tugged by the little beast. This must have been a cut from ice shards when they fell.

Chu Li frowned, strode forward, suddenly grabbed the little white beast by the scruff of its neck, and without caring that it was still sleeping, flung it out of the cave with a whoosh!

A loud thud was followed by a sharp cry. Chu Li inwardly groaned, knowing this was bad. Sure enough, in that instant when his thoughts stirred, the woman who had been sleeping quietly like a cat suddenly sprang up as if electrified, instantly bouncing to her feet. With a swift motion, she drew a dagger from her boot. Like an incredibly swift cheetah, she tossed her long hair, her expression cold, and immediately grabbed Chu Li’s collar with her other hand, pressing the deadly cold dagger to Chu Li’s throat.

The entire sequence flowed like water with no pause whatsoever, taking less than a second total, thoroughly demonstrating superior combat ability and alertness.

Chu Li sighed in defeat—he had known this would be the result.

Only when the dagger pressed against Chu Li’s throat did Qing Xia’s eyes fully open. She looked around somewhat confusedly before regaining clarity and noticing her overly tense reaction. A trace of embarrassment immediately flashed across her face, a blush gradually climbing her cheeks as she smiled and said, “Sorry about that.”

Just then, the white little beast that had been thrown out like a ball came stumbling back into the cave, waving its incredibly short little legs and looking furious. However, seeing Qing Xia and Chu Li’s bizarre posture, it immediately gaped in stunned amazement, its two eyes wide and round. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, it flopped backward with a thud, its four short, chubby legs flailing in the air as it rolled left and right, huffing and puffing with an expression as if it were dying of laughter.

The two people locked in their standoff were immediately stunned. What kind of creature was this exactly?

Chu Li’s expression darkened. He pushed away Qing Xia’s hand, stood up, strode forward, hooked the little beast lying on the ground with his boot, then kicked it high into the air with a powerful swing.

The cave immediately fell quiet. Qing Xia smiled awkwardly, her facial muscles almost stiff. Why was it always like this? She thought with frustration, wanting to grab her own hair. Why did all sorts of ridiculous situations always emerge whenever she was with him? She felt so embarrassed she wanted to bury her head in the snow.

Soon, the little white beast that had just taken a brief flight came running back angrily. It glared resentfully at Chu Li, then suddenly bared its sharp little milk teeth at him viciously, waving its head with bared fangs and claws as if it thought it were a lion.

Chu Li raised an eyebrow and glanced at it slightly, just a casual look, but the eyes of the Great Emperor of Southern Chu immediately blazed with sharp light. The cowardly creature immediately fled in terror, rolling and crawling behind Qing Xia, whimpering and crying for quite a while before daring to poke out its head to observe.

Chu Li started a fire and began roasting meat again. It must be said that this man had extraordinary learning ability—just watching Qing Xia do it once last night, he had already learned it to near perfection. Qing Xia sat alone to one side, gathering her hair and tying it with a cloth strip into a neat ponytail that looked very refreshing.

The atmosphere in the cave was somewhat awkward. Neither of them spoke to the other, as if they didn’t know what would be appropriate to say. It seemed they had always been like this—aside from quarreling, bickering, and fighting, they rarely sat together for a proper conversation. Qing Xia still remembered one time in the Northern Border Camp of Southern Chu when they had originally sat down nicely to discuss the deployment of hidden sentries, but after just a few words they started fighting. She couldn’t remember the specific reason now, only that they fought in the tent all afternoon that day. Chu Li was beaten down by her dozens of times but refused to admit defeat. Everything in the camp was smashed to pieces, and even Chu Li’s military seal lost a corner. The guards outside acted as if they were deaf—not one dared enter to check. The next day, Chu Li went to the martial arts field to observe combat practice with a bruised and swollen face, drawing stares from everyone in the entire camp.

It was only something from two years ago, but thinking about it now, it seemed like it had happened so long, long ago—so long that without effort, she could barely remember it.

Qing Xia felt somewhat low in spirits. She uncomfortably picked up the little beast beside her, poked its nose, and asked, “What’s your name?”

Seeing Qing Xia talking to it, the little white beast immediately became ecstatic, barking loudly with its tail wagging frantically, looking exactly like a lapdog.

Qing Xia couldn’t understand what it was saying. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then said, “Then I’ll give you a name. Hmm… how about Blackie?”

“Pfft!” Chu Li, who was drinking water, suddenly sprayed it all out and began coughing loudly without any attempt to conceal it, completely abandoning any imperial dignity. Qing Xia’s face immediately turned bright red as she glared angrily at Chu Li. She saw the man in cold iron armor awkwardly wiping water from his mouth, pointing incredulously at the snow-white little beast and saying, “Do you think calling it Blackie is appropriate?”

Qing Xia turned to look and found it was indeed somewhat inappropriate, but stubbornly said, “So what? I once raised a yellow police dog that was called Blackie!”

“When did you ever raise a dog?” Chu Li snorted disdainfully, seemingly mocking Qing Xia for boasting. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he suddenly realized she had long since admitted she wasn’t Zhuang Qingxia.

Qing Xia naturally knew what he was thinking, but this topic was too sensitive, and she didn’t want to bring it up. She continued speaking to the little white beast: “How about calling you Whitey? That sounds terrible too.”

“Whimper, whimper, whimper…” The little white beast nodded frantically, as if afraid of being named Whitey.

“Hmm…” Qing Xia frowned and thought for a while. This problem was really quite difficult—more challenging than bombing an enemy stronghold. She repeatedly searched through the police dogs of the special forces unit for impressive names. Finally, her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands, exclaiming, “I’ve got it!”

The little white beast’s ears immediately perked up, its two eyes sparkling as it looked at Qing Xia, excitedly raising its two front paws and looking even more like a dog. Chu Li also turned around, quite interested to see what brilliant name Qing Xia could come up with.

“Hehe,” Qing Xia smiled happily, patted the little beast’s head, and announced loudly, “I’ll call you Da Huang!”

A bucket of cold water poured over its head. The little white beast newly named Da Huang stared blankly, its four legs sliding to the sides before flopping to the ground with a thud.

Chu Li’s face immediately darkened. Da Huang, Great Emperor—he wondered if she did it on purpose.

The meat was almost done. Qing Xia and Chu Li ate two pieces each. Chu Li tidied up and prepared to leave, but Qing Xia suddenly grabbed his arm and said softly, “Wait a moment.”