The route was familiar, but there were inevitably potholes and rocks in the forest. Nan Yu felt it was dangerous and subconsciously slowed down. He missed a step while going downhill and his whole body fell down. Song Xianqing grabbed his arm and pulled him steady.

The next second, Deng Xin felt a spin and was suddenly on the boy's back. Nan Yu: "..."

Think about it.

Song Xianqing had already moved forward, his arm strength stopping the lamp wick from struggling. His deep voice was particularly clear in the forest: "Don't move, it's not worth twisting your ankle."

Nan Yu: "..."

Lying on the boy's broad, sturdy back, Dengxin felt a sense of déjà vu, like something from the last world, the world before that, and so on...

Is it him?

Her face is always different, it's so annoying.

Song Xianqing carried the person all the way home.

Nan Yu silently went to the refrigerator to look for ice, but couldn't find any. He didn't keep those things on hand. The refrigerator was old, and the freezer was full of ice. He pried off a large chunk with a tool, wrapped it in a towel, and went to Song Xianqing, asking:

"Should you apply it yourself or should I help you?"

Even if Song Xianqing didn't have a chance, he would find one.

Not to mention giving them a chance.

With half his face swollen, he seemed oblivious to the pain, a smile playing on his lips, his eyes shining—both handsome and pitiful.

Nan Yu carefully placed the towel wrapped with ice on the boy's cheek. It did hurt. Song Xianqing gasped. Deng Xin removed the towel. "Does it hurt a lot?"

Song Xianqing recovered and smiled, "It doesn't hurt."

Nan Yu gently applied the compress for fifteen minutes. Song Xianqing's stomach started growling. He wasn't embarrassed at all. He took the hand holding the lamp wick and shook it like a little girl.

"Could you make me dinner? I haven't eaten tonight and I'm a little hungry."

Nan Yu nodded and went to the kitchen to cook. It was an old building without natural gas, so they used a coal stove. They replaced the wick with a honeycomb briquette using fire tongs, opened the vent, and the fire started up in no time.

Rinse the rice and put it in the pot.

Plug in the rice cooker.

I looked at the ingredients in the refrigerator and made a scrambled egg, a tomato and egg stir-fry, a tomato and egg soup, and a dessert, sugared tomatoes.

Song Xianqing didn't go to the kitchen, but swept around the house.

Most of the houses in the village are stilted houses, including the clan chief's house and Nan Yu's house. Some insects cannot be exposed to light, so the walls here are coated with a layer of black paint to prevent insects and mold. The only drawback is that it is eerie at night.

There was no television in Nan Yu's living room. The entire main wall was made up of small cabinets, on which were placed dark and transparent round boxes and square boxes, each containing an insect.

The left side is poisonous, the right side is not.

Song Xianqing saw a small white snake, coiled up and listless, looking as if it were sick.

I also looked at several other ink cartridges.

Many of the Gu worms are not in a good state.

This little thing doesn't seem like it knows how to raise.

Nan Yu finished cooking the dishes and brought them to the table. She saw Song Xianqing playing with his snake, which he named Bai Niangniang. The little snake was very docile and liked to snuggle up to her. It often licked his hand with its tongue.

But lately, for some reason, I've been in a very bad state.

He prepared the medicine based on his memory, but the little snake was always listless. It would eat, but it couldn't be cured. He even took it to see a Miao doctor, who prescribed almost the same medicine.

Nan Yu was also anxious, but he had no choice but to go to the High Priest.

The White Lady is not in a weakened state during her molting period.

The white snake wasn't a particularly rare species, and besides, it was non-venomous. Apart from being a pet snake, it had no value whatsoever, so the high priest told him to leave it alone.

We can choose other types of plants to cultivate.

I was busy with the competition a few days ago and Bai Niangniang was neglected. Today the situation is getting worse. It would have been better if I hadn't watched. Now that I have, Nan Yu has lost her appetite and is very anxious.

I came over in a hurry.

"Lady White Snake is sick recently, so don't play with it."

Song Xianqing: "Is it called the White Lady?"

Nan Yu reached out her hand with a pained expression: "Give it to me."

Song Xianqing handed it to him and said, "It looks like it's been sick for a while. Why haven't you given it any medicine?"

The little white snake crawled up his wrist and coiled into several loops, its head hiding inside the boy's sleeve. Nan Yu put his arm down and said, "Hey, it's still like this. I've seen a Miao doctor, but I don't know what's wrong."

As she spoke, she couldn't help but raise her arm, which she had just lowered, and carefully stroked the snake's tail. Song Xianqing also looked at Lady White, observed her for a while, and said:

"Trust me? I'll give you a healthy, lively baby in a week."

Nan Yu instantly became alert.

I put my arms behind my back.

Song Xianqing lacked credibility in his presence, partly because they were not familiar with each other, and partly because he had never heard of Song Xianqing practicing Gu poison; the high priest had said that he raised birds.

If he takes it back, what if he feeds his White Lady to those birds as food...?

"I don't believe it. Even the Miao doctors can't help you. The high priest said that you're raising birds, which is no good. You can't take Lady White away."

Sensing the other party's distrust.

Song Xianqing didn't mind, and changed the subject with a smile, rubbing her stomach: "Is the food ready? I'm hungry."

Nan Yu nodded and led Song Xianqing to eat.

There were four dishes on the table, with tomatoes and eggs stir-fried in rotation. Song Xianqing narrowed her eyes, then smiled and asked:

"You really like tomato and egg?"

Nan Yu: "There's not much food left in the fridge. I'll go buy some tomorrow. You'll have to make do with this meal."

Song Xianqing pulled up a chair and sat down, tasting the young man's cooking. Nan Yu went to the storage room, found a flashlight, put it on the table, and said, "You can use this when you get back."

Song Xianqing paused in her chopsticks, looked up and chuckled, "Brother, I've only just started eating, are you rushing me to leave?"

Nan Yu: "No, you eat."

Song Xianqing: "Why are you so listless too? Aren't you going to eat?"

Nan Yu sat on the stool and sighed, "Lady Bai is dying, I can't eat anymore."

Song Xianqing guessed that he was injured because of the snake, so he put down his chopsticks, took a sip of ice water, and said, "If you're worried about me taking it with me, then I'll stay here for a few days and help you treat it?"

Nan Yu: "You can cure diseases?"

Song Xianqing said, half-jokingly, "My Lanyu has also had this condition before, and it should be treatable."

Nan Yu listened to the name he had given his pet snake and found it all rather awkward, but since the little white snake could be saved, he was more concerned about the latter: "How many days will it take?"

Song Xianqing: "One week."

Dengxin hurriedly said, "Then you can stay here. What medicine do you need? I'll go buy it. By the way, the herb Idle Bone Grass didn't work for me."

Song Xianqing hadn't expected it to be so easy, nor had he anticipated this unexpected gain. However, he was in an exceptionally good mood, as he could spend more time with his future wife. "I'll pick it up tomorrow. Do you want to see Lan Yu? I'll bring it with me."

Nan Yu: "..."

Song Xianqing looked at him expectantly, as if she had to show off her treasure. Nan Yu thought that Bai Niangniang still needed him to treat her, so she endured the awkwardness and nodded.

Song Xianqing asked tentatively again, "Can I rest here tonight?"

Since there are empty rooms, I might as well sleep there.

Wait a minute... I suddenly remembered: "There's no blanket, so you'll have to sleep on an empty bed. It's not far from the clan chief's house, so how about I take you back?"

Song Xianqing: "An empty bed is fine, as long as I can sleep in it."

Deng Xin scratched his head, a hint of embarrassment in his eyes: "It's not a flat bed, there are gaps, I can't sleep without a blanket."

Song Xianqing: "Then I'll sleep with you."