Time passed slowly, and suddenly the sound of chattering teeth came from the darkness.

Qiao Zhao was startled and reached out to touch Shao Mingyuan, discovering his entire body was trembling.

This was the most critical moment. If he could endure through it, he could make it until tomorrow. But if he couldn’t endure—

Qiao Zhao didn’t dare think further.

She rubbed her hands together to warm her palms, then placed them on Shao Mingyuan’s chest to warm him.

Suddenly, a great force came, and Qiao Zhao was pulled over entirely. The straw covering that person was scattered in the darkness, with some pieces falling on her bare body, prickling uncomfortably.

“Shao Mingyuan!” Qiao Zhao called out softly.

As soon as her words fell, Shao Mingyuan rolled over and pressed her beneath him.

Qiao Zhao’s entire body stiffened.

This bastard, this bastard, how could he—

Qiao Zhao completely didn’t know what to say anymore.

“Cold—” That person moaned softly in her ear. Like finding a heat source, he held her tighter and tighter.

In the darkness, Qiao Zhao suddenly recalled that person’s clear, cold, and stern brows and eyes, his broad and solid chest, and his distinctly shaped abdominal muscles.

Qiao Zhao’s mind exploded with a bang as she pushed and shoved: “Shao Mingyuan, you’re going to suffocate me!”

Her pushing seemed to have an effect. The person on top of her rolled to one side, but before Qiao Zhao could breathe a sigh of relief, that person pulled her over like looking for a blanket and covered himself with her.

Qiao Zhao: “…”

She lay on top of him for quite a while, clearly feeling his spasmic trembling, and finally sighed softly.

Forget it. She didn’t want to die, and she didn’t want him to die either. In this lifetime, she hadn’t planned to marry anyway, so she couldn’t say she was being unfair to any other man. So be it.

Qiao Zhao reached out to embrace his waist.

The man’s trembling gradually subsided. Like a wolf cub receiving comfort, he rubbed the girl’s shoulder with his stubbled chin.

The light in the cave gradually brightened. Qiao Zhao opened her eyes and could already clearly see his brows and eyes.

Without the protection of darkness, Qiao Zhao felt extremely embarrassed. Fearing she would disturb the person who was still sleeping, she carefully freed herself from his embrace.

Only then did she discover her right ankle had swollen up high—this was the consequence of spraining her foot yesterday without timely treatment.

But she couldn’t care about that now. She limped to where the clothes were drying.

After a night, both of their clothes had dried. Qiao Zhao quickly put on her clothes, then returned carrying Shao Mingyuan’s clothes.

Perhaps lacking the source of warmth, that person frowned tightly, his body slightly curled up.

Qiao Zhao didn’t dare look carelessly. She covered Shao Mingyuan with his clothes, then sat down and gently massaged her ankle that had swollen like a steamed bun.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when Shao Mingyuan opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the girl close at hand.

Her hair was somewhat disheveled and even had quite a bit of straw in it. Her delicate brows were furrowed, faintly showing some pain.

“Miss Li, is your foot injured?” His voice was low and hoarse when he spoke, surprising even Shao Mingyuan himself.

Qiao Zhao’s hand paused in massaging her ankle. Not having the nerve to turn and look at him, she gently reminded: “You should quickly put on your clothes.”

Shao Mingyuan was stunned. His gaze moved downward, touching the clothes draped over his body with confusion.

His mind was in chaos, unable to make any sense of the current situation.

When had his outer robe been removed?

With his mind somewhat clearer, the bewildered general quietly added in his heart: And the pants.

Then added: And the undergarments—

Shao Mingyuan nearly jumped up.

Why even the undergarments!

He looked at Qiao Zhao with almost disbelief.

The girl had already completely turned her back, her slender neck flushed with pink.

Shao Mingyuan’s heart completely sank.

He silently put on his clothes and called out: “Miss Li.”

“Are you dressed?”

“Mm.”

Only then did Qiao Zhao turn around, her face showing no unusual expression.

“Last night I—”

“Last night, General Shao’s cold poison attacked. I was worried that wearing wet clothes would worsen your condition, so I helped you remove your clothes.”

“I—”

Qiao Zhao smiled: “Yesterday, General Shao told me that in situations where there’s no choice, no etiquette is more important than human life. I think General Shao’s words were very reasonable.”

As she spoke, she glanced at Shao Mingyuan and asked with a half-smile: “General Shao wouldn’t want me to take responsibility, would he?”

Shao Mingyuan’s face suddenly reddened: “Miss Li jests.”

Though he said this, his heart was in chaos, vaguely feeling that last night wasn’t so simple.

Had he slept too deeply, not even aware when Miss Li helped him remove his clothes…

“General Shao, I sprained my foot. Getting out today depends on you. How do you feel now?”

They had to get out. Otherwise, when Shao Mingyuan’s cold poison attacked again, both of them would only be able to wait for death.

“Not bad.” Shao Mingyuan gently moved his body and asked in a deep voice: “Did Miss Li go out yesterday?”

“Without herbs, you wouldn’t have woken up today.” Qiao Zhao said expressionlessly.

“Thank you…” Shao Mingyuan still felt something was wrong, but didn’t know where this inexplicable feeling came from.

He knew this was intuition, and he trusted his almost instinctive intuition.

He thought, given time, he would slowly figure it out.

“Come, I’ll carry you.” Shao Mingyuan crouched down halfway.

Qiao Zhao didn’t act coy and reached up to rest on his back.

The girl’s soft hand fell on his shoulder. Shao Mingyuan’s gaze inadvertently swept over and caught sight of dried bloodstains on the back of her hand. In a flash of inspiration, he suddenly straightened up.

Qiao Zhao slid down from Shao Mingyuan’s back. The moment she landed, Shao Mingyuan quickly turned around, one hand embracing her waist, saving her from a second injury to her ankle.

“General Shao?” Qiao Zhao frowned.

Shao Mingyuan’s gaze fell on her disheveled hair, saying nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Qiao Zhao felt someone’s gaze was somewhat frightening.

Shao Mingyuan’s voice was hoarse: “Miss Li has a lot of straw in her hair.”

“Is that so?” Qiao Zhao unconsciously touched her hair and smiled nonchalantly: “Last night I brought over this straw for warmth.”

Shao Mingyuan looked deeply at her, as if trying to see into her heart.

He said softly, “But Miss Li’s clothes have none.”

In that instant, Qiao Zhao felt the embarrassment of being exposed.

Last night, she and he had both been without a stitch of clothing, so naturally there would be no straw on her clothes.

Why was he so perceptive? And she, because of last night’s events, had indeed become flustered and overlooked such an obvious flaw.

“If—” Shao Mingyuan opened his mouth, but couldn’t speak.

He still wasn’t certain what had happened last night. How should he ask?

“Of course, there wasn’t any. I cleaned it off when I woke up.” Qiao Zhao explained with a bright smile and urged, “General Shao, we should quickly leave this place. If we can’t reach Dafu Temple today and your cold poison attacks again, I’ll be helpless.”

“Mm.” Shao Mingyuan temporarily suppressed his doubts and carried Qiao Zhao on his back.

An hour later, the two who had finally climbed up the steep slope sat on the ground, breathing heavily, and smiled at each other.