“Bear with it,” Yan Yu’an said as he kept squeezing the wound with his hands. He didn’t know how long it took, but only when he saw the black, tainted blood slowly being replaced by fresh red blood did Yan Yu’an let out a slight breath of relief. “I need something to stop the bleeding,” he turned and said to the others.
Though they didn’t trust what Yan Yu’an said, they had no choice but to listen to what Xie Ji had said.
So one person hurried out and brought back something to stop the bleeding.
But when the thing was brought over, Yan Yu’an froze.
Wasn’t this the cotton he’d been thinking about for days?
He didn’t have time to think much. First he crushed the hemostatic herbs and applied them to Xie Ji’s wound, then used thread to bind the cotton over the wound.
Yan Yu’an didn’t know whether Xie Ji would wake up. This was all he could do for him.
“Who hurt your chief this badly?” After treating the other minor wounds, Yan Yu’an turned and asked the others.
“It’s all my fault…” a child said, sobbing. Today was supposed to be his first hunt, but he never expected to run into that giant python. “The chief could have beaten him, but to save me, he took a bite from that snake.”
“He’s a mutant?”
Though Yan Yu’an asked this, he was already eighty percent certain in his heart. He knew that in this forest, apart from mutants, there was no one else who could hurt Xie Ji this badly.
The other tribespeople nodded grimly. If it were an ordinary snake, their pride wouldn’t fear it at all—any one of them could crush it to pieces.
But the one who’d hurt them today was one of the only three mutants in the forest. Among the lion tribe, only the chief could put up any kind of fight against him.
Yan Yu’an bit his lip. He looked at the unconscious Xie Ji and said quietly: “You should all go out first. It needs to be quiet in here.”
After a moment of silence, the tribespeople left one after another.
Yan Yu’an tore his original clothes into pieces, wet them with water, and wiped the sweat from Xie Ji’s forehead.
What he feared most now was Xie Ji developing a fever. If he got a fever, things would be hard to say.
He wiped the sweat from Xie Ji’s forehead again and again, then laid the cloth on Xie Ji’s forehead. “Wake up soon.” Yan Yu’an lowered his eyes.
One day, two days… If not for the fact that Xie Ji was still breathing, Yan Yu’an really would have thought Xie Ji was already…
On the night of the third day, Yan Yu’an frowned and rubbed his temples. He looked at Xie Ji, still unconscious, and felt only misery in his heart.
This was his first friend here. Yan Yu’an thought. He didn’t want anything to happen to Xie Ji.
He stood up, ready to go change the basin of water, but in that instant he felt the world spin around him.
“Careful.” Xie Ji was awake.
The first thing he saw when he woke up was Yan Yu’an, who had nearly fainted.
“You’re awake?” Yan Yu’an was both startled and overjoyed. He quickly sat down, reached out to feel Xie Ji’s forehead, and let out a complete sigh of relief.
For some reason, Yan Yu’an only felt a sting in his nose, and bean-sized tears burst from his eyes.
“Hey, don’t cry.” Xie Ji raised his hand in a fluster, but it pulled at his wound. “Sss…” He sucked in a sharp breath.
“Are you an idiot?” Yan Yu’an sniffled and raised his hand to wipe away his tears.
Xie Ji smiled. He reached out with his uninjured hand and rubbed Yan Yu’an’s head. “Just as I thought—a little cub. Crying over a little thing like this. Not mature at all.”
Yan Yu’an turned his head away, not wanting to look at him, but Xie Ji leaned in front of him and sniffed carefully, then smiled in satisfaction.
Yan Yu’an was covered in his scent. He was very satisfied.
…
On the other side of the forest, a giant python was coiled up, flicking its tongue extremely slowly. There was a ghastly wound on its serpent body, flesh mangled and blurred. It drooped its head and slowly shifted into human form.
The man had a huge wound on his leg, so deep the white bone inside could be seen. He panted, dragged his leg to the cave, and the red mole between his brows was as bewitching as if it had drunk blood.
“Where exactly are you?” the man murmured in a low voice. Some small gnats kept flying around his wound. The man didn’t want to bother with them. He raised his hand to cover his eyes and waited for the sun to rise.
Early the next morning, the news that Xie Ji had woken up spread through the entire lion tribe. Yan Yu’an had been shooed off to rest by Xie Ji the night before.
“Chief, you’re finally awake.” This time it was the little boy who had nearly been eaten by the python that day.
Xie Ji smiled and swished his tail. “What, calling me Chief this time, not Xie Ji?”
The little boy nodded, his small face full of guilt. “I’m sorry, Chief. It’s all my fault…” As he spoke, he burst into loud sobs.
Xie Ji shuddered all over. “What are you crying for? Stop crying.” He frowned. “You are the future of the lion tribe. It’s fine if I’m gone—but if you little cubs were gone, what would become of the lion tribe? I saved you to save the whole lion tribe.” He said this sternly.
The little boy nodded and wiped away his tears. His eyes were red, but he said with exceptional seriousness: “I understand, Chief. I’ll definitely learn to hunt well.”
Xie Ji nodded and patted the boy’s shoulder. After chatting with him for a while, he let him go.
Time passed quickly, and Xie Ji’s wound gradually healed.
During this time, apart from coming to keep Xie Ji company every evening, Yan Yu’an mostly stayed in the side room, continuing to make clothes.
What was worth being happy about was that there turned out to be a cotton field on the other side of the tribe. Though the cotton hadn’t started to fluff yet, the cotton they usually stored for stopping bleeding was enough to use, which greatly reduced the difficulty of Yan Yu’an’s clothes-making. Besides using cotton to make clothes, he wanted even more to grow cotton on a large scale.
One morning, Yan Yu’an came out holding a very thick piece of clothing.
“Xie Ji, try this on.” He jogged toward Xie Ji. “It’s a little rough, but it shouldn’t affect its use.”
Actually, this was his first time making clothes too—there were probably still many parts done poorly.
Xie Ji looked at the somewhat heavy clothing in surprise, unable to believe Yan Yu’an had really made it.
He draped the clothing over himself, and in just a moment, he felt his whole body grow warm.
“You… succeeded?” Xie Ji’s eyes were filled with astonishment. “That fast?”
Yan Yu’an nodded somewhat proudly. “Guess what’s stuffed inside.”
Xie Ji pinched the clothing. The feel was very familiar. His brows knitted slightly, and after thinking for a moment, his eyes suddenly went wide. “Cotton?!”
“Smart!” Yan Yu’an snapped his fingers.
Xie Ji froze for a second, then said blankly: “Cotton can actually be used to keep warm? How did I never think of that back then…” He patted his head, a little vexed.
Yan Yu’an burst out laughing. If he hadn’t come from the year 3050, figuring these things out might have taken quite a lot of time.
He stroked this roughly made piece of clothing, his eyelashes lowering. He said quietly: “I want everyone to plant cotton in batches.” His voice paused, then continued, “Now is exactly the season for planting cotton. If we plant now, we can harvest in autumn.”
Xie Ji pondered for a while, then nodded.
Though the lion tribe normally lived by hunting, cotton was also a fairly important resource to them. Besides being used to stop bleeding when injured, now it could also make warm clothes.
Xie Ji felt it was very necessary to plant cotton on a large scale. His voice was a little hoarse: “I’ll have them carry it out. Thank you.”
He suddenly felt very glad he hadn’t eaten Yan Yu’an back then. Though at first he’d wanted to use Yan Yu’an to deal with those other two guys, through these days of getting along, he had long since come to treat Yan Yu’an as his friend and companion.
Unlike the other members of the lion tribe, Yan Yu’an didn’t need to submit to Xie Ji, and Xie Ji could treat him as an equal—except in certain respects, where he needed to maintain the chief’s dignity.
Yan Yu’an shook his head, the corners of his mouth curving up slightly. His pretty fox eyes looked at him with a smile, and Xie Ji was almost drawn into those black eyes like a pool of deep water. He heard Yan Yu’an say: “No need to thank me.”
Early the next morning, Xie Ji ordered them to go plant cotton, while Yan Yu’an picked several deft-handed women to learn how to weave clothes.
More than half a month passed in a flash. The cotton had already grown tender sprouts. Every day Yan Yu’an went to the field to observe these cotton sprouts. The cotton stored in the tribe was only enough to make a few pieces of clothing, and he was a little worried that the cotton might only just start to fluff by the time winter came—not enough time to make clothes.
Yan Yu’an sighed. In 3050, there was a miraculous reagent that could make plants grow within three days, but the conditions here didn’t allow it…
He looked at the forest and felt a deep sense of helplessness.
No matter how smart he was, he couldn’t change nature. All he could do was follow nature. He lowered his head and looked at the water droplets on the tender cotton sprouts, and couldn’t help sighing.
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