Yan Yu’an held Shen Yuanzhou’s hand, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly.
What kind of scrape looked exactly like an ape-man’s claw marks?
He wasn’t an idiot.
“Did you go get revenge?” Yan Yu’an applied the herbs to his wound.
A trace of panic flashed through Shen Yuanzhou’s eyes. He hurriedly pulled his hand back. “No.”
“No?” Yan Yu’an gave a cold laugh, crossing his arms. “Little liar.”
Shen Yuanzhou didn’t speak. Being exposed in his lie didn’t anger him either—he just silently skinned the brown bear and tossed it into the fire.
“Let’s rest tonight and set off tomorrow,” Yan Yu’an finally said slowly after quite a while.
There was no trace of expression left on his face. He was somewhat annoyed—even if Shen Yuanzhou was a mutant, there were simply too many ape-men, and he didn’t want Shen Yuanzhou to get hurt.
“Oh…”
Shen Yuanzhou lowered his head and swallowed the brown bear meat in one bite, then handed the best-tasting roasted belly portion to Yan Yu’an. “You eat.”
Yan Yu’an didn’t stand on ceremony with him and took the meat, biting into it. He looked at Shen Yuanzhou and thought: he’s clearly got an ice-block face, so why is he as childish as Xie Ji?
He sighed and took the initiative to sit down beside Shen Yuanzhou. Only after seeing a flicker in Shen Yuanzhou’s eyes did he say: “I’m just afraid you’ll get hurt.”
Shen Yuanzhou huffed twice. There were still some bloodstains on his bare upper body. He said: “You got hurt. I wanted revenge.”
Hurt? Yan Yu’an froze, glanced at the already-scabbed scratch, and sighed helplessly.
But it seemed something in his heart had been struck again. He pressed his lips together. “Thank you.”
It wasn’t summer yet, and the nights were still a little cold. Yan Yu’an and Shen Yuanzhou took the skinned brown bear hide to the river to wash it, then held it over the fire to roast.
“Once it’s completely dry tomorrow, we shouldn’t be cold sleeping at night.”
The bear hide was heavy after soaking in water, but Shen Yuanzhou lifted it easily with one hand. Yan Yu’an looked at his muscles with some envy, then couldn’t help glancing at his own, and sighed.
Sitting by the fire, the night passed quickly. Yan Yu’an got up and touched the bear hide—still a little damp, but not a big problem.
“Time to get on the road.” Shen Yuanzhou took the bear hide on his own initiative. He was a little curious how Yan Yu’an had come up with the idea of using a bear hide for warmth.
They walked toward the east, and before they’d gone far, they saw a large bird fly down.
“Ning Bingque?” Shen Yuanzhou immediately determined who it was. His voice turned cold at once, and he raised his hand to block Yan Yu’an behind him, cutting off Ning Bingque’s line of sight.
Ning Bingque wasn’t angry. His wing seemed to be injured, continuously seeping blood.
“Xie Ji is about to die.” Ning Bingque gave a mocking laugh.
Shen Yuanzhou froze. For some reason, an odd feeling rose in his heart. He was dazed for a long moment, then his voice rose slightly. “Dead? Apart from us, who could kill him?”
And behind him, Yan Yu’an, having clearly heard what Ning Bingque said, froze completely, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped tightly by countless pairs of large hands. “You—what do you mean?!” At this moment, he still clung to a bit of hope.
“About to die,” Ning Bingque repeated. A cold light flashed through his eyes. “There’s a monster on the eastern cliff.”
“How do you know?” Yan Yu’an’s brows furrowed. Though Xie Ji only had one ability, his strength was such that ordinary people would never provoke him—so how could a monster have killed Xie Ji?
A trace of unnaturalness flashed swiftly across Ning Bingque’s face. Though he wanted Xie Ji dead, if not for him, the one lying there might well have been himself.
“Not telling the truth?” Yan Yu’an seemed to have become a different person. His voice was extremely cold, and the eyes he turned on Ning Bingque held no emotion at all.
Ning Bingque gritted his teeth and could only say: “I want God-Slaying Grass too.”
Though he hadn’t finished his sentence, Yan Yu’an understood. Ning Bingque wanted to find God-Slaying Grass too, so he had secretly followed Xie Ji.
“What’s this about that monster?” Shen Yuanzhou pressed on.
“Why should I tell you!” Ning Bingque’s wing kept dripping blood, attracting some carnivores—but after seeing there were two mutants, they quietly slunk away again.
“Tell me!” Yan Yu’an’s hands were trembling a little.
“You!” Ning Bingque flared with anger, but as if thinking of something, he deflated again. “You two, come with me first. If we don’t save Xie Ji soon, he’s really going to die.”
As he spoke, he walked ahead.
“Don’t go.” Shen Yuanzhou grabbed Yan Yu’an, who was about to follow, a pleading look in his eyes. If Xie Ji died, he died—as long as he was alive, he’d only draw Yan Yu’an’s attention. He didn’t want that.
Yan Yu’an gave him a deep look and shook his head.
No matter what, he had to go see Xie Ji. Though he didn’t know whether Ning Bingque was telling the truth or not, if he didn’t believe it and Xie Ji really died, then what?
Shen Yuanzhou lowered his head and slowly let go of his hand. Only after seeing Yan Yu’an follow did he reluctantly fall in step with them.
“What exactly happened!” Yan Yu’an followed Ning Bingque into a cave, where Xie Ji lay covered in blood.
Yan Yu’an’s eyes went red at once. There were two huge bloody holes in Xie Ji’s wheat-colored chest, continuously gushing blood. His lips had gone deathly pale, and the color of the mole at the corner of his eye had faded to an extreme degree.
“I didn’t lie to you.” Ning Bingque pressed his lips together, looking at Xie Ji lying on the ground, a trace of sorrow flashing through his eyes. Though it was extremely fast, Shen Yuanzhou, who had been secretly watching him, still noticed it.
They heard Ning Bingque say: “That monster is dead too. We joined forces and killed it.” As if thinking of something, a trace of lingering fear flashed through Ning Bingque’s eyes, and he showed them his enormous wings.
“My wings are even injured.”
Sure enough, the originally enormous, smooth wings were now covered in stray feathers, looking a mess, and the tips of the wings were even broken, seeping blood.
He looked terrible himself too—the blood all over his body had faintly darkened, and there was an extremely long wound on his shoulder.
Yan Yu’an sucked in a breath of cold air. What kind of monster could have hurt both of them?
Yan Yu’an quickly crouched down beside Xie Ji and checked his wounds.
The wounds were very deep, and some parts had already begun to rot—but luckily there didn’t seem to be poison. He bit his lip and looked at the two of them, and only after a long while said: “I’ll go fetch some water.”
He wasn’t a doctor, and there was no medicine here.
“I’ll go.” Shen Yuanzhou gave Yan Yu’an a deep look, then left without hesitation.
Only after he left did Ning Bingque give a scoffing laugh. “He definitely wants to kill Xie Ji right now.”
“How do you know?” Yan Yu’an frowned.
But Ning Bingque said nothing more.
Yan Yu’an raised his hand to wipe the sweat from Xie Ji’s forehead, then wanted to lift Xie Ji up.
“Let me help you.” Looking at how laborious it was for him, Ning Bingque gave another cold huff, then stepped forward to help Yan Yu’an prop Xie Ji against a large rock.
There was nothing here at all, so Yan Yu’an could only perform some basic first aid measures.
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