As Jiang Muyu finished her words, an arrow flew out from nowhere and pierced the person next to her.

She was stunned for a moment, watching the man who had just tried to grab her fall to the ground. Before she could react, she heard a loud shout: "Quick, give me your hand!"

She heard the sound of horse hooves and looked over, only to see a man wearing a black iron mask riding a tall horse galloping towards her. His long hair was tied up high, with two black ribbons behind it forming a beautiful arc.

This person felt very familiar to her.

She subconsciously stretched out her hand. The man grabbed her wrist, lifted it up, and grasped her waist with his big hand to pull her in front of him.

She sat on the horse smoothly, and the horse continued to gallop forward. Her back was pressed against his chest, and she could see the pattern on his mask clearly by slightly turning her head.

The mask covered his entire face. She could only see the pale skin on his neck that was exposed, with beautiful lines.

"Focus on the front." His voice was a little hoarse, very low and deep, as if it came from his chest.

It's nothing like Liang Qingchen's clear and clean voice.

Jiang Muyu withdrew his gaze and looked ahead.

She was led out of the dense forest. It was already completely dark and the surrounding scenery was unfamiliar.

They dismounted and walked upstream along the river for a while, finally choosing a large rock to rest temporarily.

He threw her a water bottle and said, "Go get some water."

Jiang Muyu nodded, and when he turned around and left, she immediately asked, "Where are you going?"

"Catch fish."

Concise and to the point, as if he didn't want to say a word more.

"Oh, then be careful."

"Um."

Jiang Muyu looked at his tall and thin figure approaching and frowned, but still felt that he gave her a familiar feeling.

She decided to secretly take off the mask at night when he was asleep to see his true face.

Thinking so, she followed his instructions, picked up her water bottle and went to the river to fetch water.

The water in this era has not been polluted and is very clean. The river water is cool and has a sweet aftertaste.

She scooped up some water and washed her face. Her hands turned red from the cold and her face felt a little stiff and sore, but it was very refreshing. Then she filled a pitcher with water and walked back.

She picked up some firewood along the way, but when she arrived at the temporary place, she became worried. There was no fire-making tool. Did she have to make fire by rubbing wood together?

Jiang Muyu thought so and really found two pieces of wood and tried to make fire.

But after working on it for a long time, her hands were sore, and she didn't even see a spark, let alone a fire.

"What are you doing?"

She didn't raise her head until she heard a voice above her head. She pouted and said sadly, "I'm trying to make fire by drilling wood, but I found it's too difficult!"

He smiled, his voice muffled.

He said, "I have a tinderbox."

He took out a cylindrical wooden stick and placed it in front of her.

Jiang Muyu wanted to bleed for a moment: "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"You didn't ask."

"Uh..." He sat aside and built a circle with stones. He put the firewood she picked up in it, lit it, and built a simple rack with thicker wood.

He had just caught only one fish, a very common grass carp, but it was big enough to eat.

He had already prepared the fish before coming back, removing the internal organs, piercing the fish's body through its mouth with a sharpened bamboo stick, and now roasted it directly over the fire.

Since she had nothing to do, Jiang Muyu was happy to be free. She leaned against a rock and looked at him quietly, not sparing any part of his body from his hair to his toes.

He lowered his head slightly, with a few strands of hair scattered on his forehead making him look somewhat unruly. Even with the mask on, one could tell that he had a high nose bridge, but he always kept his eyes down, making it impossible to see his expression.

He was wearing a black robe with a cross collar and narrow sleeves and dark embroidered patterns. The material was not of high quality and the workmanship was very ordinary.

His hands were tied with white cloth strips from his wrists to the first joints of his fingers, but one could still see that his fingers were very slender, and the exposed fingertips were clean and beautiful.

Perhaps her gaze was too blatant, he could not help but cough and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

She smiled, not feeling guilty about being noticed: "I just think you are pretty."

He was stunned for a moment and said, "How do you know I'm good-looking without seeing my face? Maybe I wear a mask just because I'm so ugly."

"I guess."

He lowered his head and said nothing, silently turning the fish over.

Jiang Muyu didn't feel embarrassed, raised his chin slightly, and asked, "Can you tell me your name?"

"Qingsi." He blurted out.

"Oh." She lowered her eyelids and said, "My name is Jiang Muyu."

"Um."

He still didn't say much.

Jiang Muyu suddenly lost interest in talking and looked up at the sky.

There is no moon or stars tonight, and the whole sky is dark. There are no birds flying and no insects chirping. Not far away, a few bare trees exude a sense of desolation and loneliness.

The Spring Festival is just a few days away, but she is still homeless.

I don’t know how He’er and Tangtang are doing in Beijing, but with Shinya and the Hou family helping to take care of them, nothing should go wrong.

She sighed softly: "As a stranger in a foreign land, I miss my family all the more during every festive occasion."

However, the next second, she smelled an alluring fragrance, and the melancholy that had just risen in her heart was instantly dispelled.

"This grilled fish is too addictive!" The gluttonous worms in her stomach started to clamor, and the saliva secreted from her mouth increased.

He chuckled twice and said, "It will be fine soon."

"Okay."

She moved closer to the fire and stared at the steaming and fragrant grilled fish, like a hungry kitten.

After a while, he finally took the grilled fish off the rack and handed it to her: "Try it."

She stared at the grilled fish with sparkling eyes, took it with joy, and just as she was about to take a bite, she suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Jiang Muyu looked up at him, handed the grilled fish back to him, and said, "You caught the fish and you grilled it, so you eat it first and leave some for me to fill my stomach."

He shook his head and said, "This is specially baked for you. I won't eat it."

"You baked it for me?" She blinked, then thought of something and said, "Are you afraid that I will see you? It's okay, I don't think you're ugly."

"No...I..." He pursed his lips and said, "I'm allergic to fish and shrimp."

"Ah?" Jiang Muyu found it a little unbelievable: "Is it true? You didn't make up a lie just to trick me, did you?"

"no."

He stuffed the fish directly into her hand, stood up, walked to the side and sat down against a rock, and said, "Eat it quickly, or it will get cold soon."

It's freezing cold, and the food really can't retain heat.

Seeing that he was so determined to give all the grilled fish to her, Jiang Muyu had no choice but to follow his wishes and eat the grilled fish alone with tears in her eyes.

While eating, he did not forget to praise: "Brother, your cooking skills are good. You can bake it so delicious without any seasoning."

He looked at her and smiled, with a hint of warmth in his eyes, but he quickly closed his eyes the moment she looked at him.