Chapter 79: A dark tree hollow, a wooden bed, two people...
Chen Mi touched his wet clothes, which could be easily wrung out. Although the weather was getting warmer, he was still quite cold after coming down from the icy waterfall.
A gust of wind blew by, carrying the damp scent of the forest and the sound of splashing water, as if urging them to quicken their pace. Chen Mi couldn't help but sneeze. She unconsciously hugged herself, her nose itching. She was familiar with this premonition; it meant she wasn't far from catching a cold.
Right now, she needed to find a place to dry her wet clothes quickly. Suppressing her dizziness from sneezing, Shen Mi looked around. The fog in the forest was thickening, and the surrounding light was hazy. Ren squinted slightly, seemingly sensing something, and suddenly took her hand, resting half his body on Shen Mi's back. He whispered, "There's a place to hide up ahead. I'll tell you the direction, then you can go."
His palms were cold and hard, his skin like it was covered in thick calluses, uneven to the touch, just like a thorn in her heart.
Shen Mi felt a sudden, inexplicable palpitation, but she was too lazy to think about it. She simply attributed this unusual feeling to the symptoms of a cold – dizziness, chills, mental confusion, and a little mood swing.
Blade leaned against her, avoiding bushes and soft, muddy ground, traversing the dark forest path, and finally stopping in front of what he called the "clearing."
Shen Mi stood there, his expression momentarily frozen, his eyes full of questions.
The so-called "open space" was actually a hidden space formed by two towering trees growing side by side. Their roots intertwined and, over the years, naturally formed a hollowed-out tree cavity at their junction. The surface was covered by a thick layer of fallen leaves, and unless she skillfully stepped on it and pushed it aside, she would never have discovered such a hidden entrance underneath.
He released her, and Shen Mi squatted down to take a closer look. From between the thick tree roots, there was a narrow passage that could barely accommodate one person crawling through, and it was pitch black in the middle.
She frowned subconsciously and roughly estimated the size of the space inside—at most, it could accommodate four people her size to hide inside, any more and they would be too crowded to breathe.
"Is this the 'open space' you're talking about?" she asked, her tone complicated, with a hint of doubt in her voice.
Blade nodded, his expression unchanged, and even paused slightly: "It's well hidden and safe enough. You go in first."
Chen Mi: "..."
She shook her head: "I'm afraid, I'm afraid there might be bugs inside..."
Blade hadn't expected her to say something like that, and his gaze fell on her face as if trying to determine if she was joking.
Shen Mi bit her lip and explained seriously, "Really. I'm afraid of those little things that suddenly jump out... whether it's a mouse, a snake, or... that... flying thing..."
She spoke in a lower and lower voice, her voice almost disappearing into the ground.
After a moment of silence, Ren suddenly said softly, "I'll go first."
He was more than a head taller than Shen Mi, and standing at the door, he could see her expression clearly with just a slight lowering of his eyes.
Her long eyelashes fell on her fair skin, visible even in the dead of night, as vibrant as the petals of a larkspur.
Shen Mi watched as Ren crouched down and crawled inside, carefully avoiding his injured leg and places where he might bump his head. His crawling speed seemed to indicate that he was extremely familiar with the place.
She stared at the dark tunnel entrance, her throat bobbing. She had a feeling that this wasn't a place an ordinary person could easily find, nor was it a hiding place one could easily find while fleeing for their life.
But she didn't ask it aloud; only the faint thought resurfaced in her mind once more—
Is he really unfamiliar with this place?
Shen Mi thought for a moment and crawled inside, the black paint gradually engulfing her.
A damp and cool scent wafted towards her, a fragrance of trees mixed with the smell of water, so strong it almost clung to her nose. Before she could stand up straight, her eyes were suddenly drawn to something bright—Ren had produced a crude lighting device from somewhere. It was embedded in a broken branch, like a hastily assembled set of parts, its appearance so rough it was almost childish, yet surprisingly bright, emitting a warm yellow glow.
She paused for a moment, then looked around.
What I initially thought was just a cramped tree hollow turned out to be surprisingly spacious after passing through the narrow passage. The interior resembled the hollowed-out cavity of a large tree, with the walls etched with the winding rings of time, as if silently watching over us. The cave was dry and warm, the air carrying the slightly intoxicating smell unique to decaying plants, but without a trace of mold.
In the corner stood a simple wooden bed made of several planks, with neatly folded strips of cloth piled up beside it. It was clearly moved there by someone and looked very clean, not like it had been placed there haphazardly.
The warm yellow light cast dappled patterns on the rough texture of the tree trunks on the walls, and also illuminated the two wet figures staring at each other.
The two looked into each other's eyes, and an indescribable silence seemed to hang in the air.
“This light will only last for thirty minutes. If you want to wring out your coat, do it now,” Blade said, looking at her dripping coat.
Shen Mi paused, then looked down at her soaked coat. It was indeed stiff with cold, clinging to her body. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but the damp fabric felt like it could drip water at any moment, sticky and icy, and even the clothes underneath weren't dry.
She hesitated for a moment, then unbuttoned her coat and slowly took off her clothes. Underneath, she wore a deep red cotton-linen short-sleeved top, which made her skin look snow-white. Since her body was wet, there were still occasional water droplets on her skin, making her skin look crystal clear.
Chen Mi walked to the cave entrance, twisted his coat into a rope, and wrung it outwards. Water splashed onto the ground with a soft sound.
The room was quiet. She could clearly hear the sound of fabric being twisted and the barely perceptible breathing of the blade.
The sound of water was exceptionally clear in the silent tree hollow, as if dripping onto one's eardrums.
Blade's gaze swept over her movements imperceptibly, finally settling on the small wet patch at the cave entrance. He leaned against the cave wall, his expression unchanged, except that his blood-gold eyes dimmed slightly, as if deliberately concealing his emotions.
After wringing out her clothes, Shen Mi turned around and met his gaze. She was startled as he handed her a thick roll of cloth.
“I checked, it’s clean. You can just wipe it down.” He tapped Chen Mi’s hair.
"Oh." Shen Mi reached out and took it, and when she touched the strip of cloth, her fingertips accidentally brushed against his palm.
It's a bit chilly.
She shrank back slightly and whispered, "Thank you."
The cloth was highly absorbent; after just a few gentle wipes, her damp hair stopped dripping. Chen Mi wiped her neck with the cloth, then glanced down at her soaked clothes. The cold, wet fabric clung to her skin, feeling sticky and uncomfortable.
She had originally intended to ask him if there was a place to hang clothes to dry, but when she turned her gaze, she saw water dripping from the hem of Ren's clothes, forming a small puddle on the ground.
"Would you like to take off your coat and wring it out?" she asked, her tone calm but carrying a hint of barely perceptible concern.
Ren glanced down at his soaked coat, water droplets trickling down his sleeves. He paused, as if only then realizing his disheveled state.
"It's okay, it'll be dry in a bit," he said casually, his tone as indifferent as if he were talking about something trivial.
After saying that, Shen Mi remembered his injured right hand.
"Do you need your hand treated?"
He looked down, then covered his right hand with his other hand: "No need, it will be fine soon."
Seeing that he kept refusing, Shen Mi took a few steps forward, pulled away his hand that was covering his mouth, ignored his unhappy groan, and turned his palm over to take a look.
The next second, her pupils contracted, she gasped, and exclaimed in shock, "How come it's all iron slag?!"
Shen Mi's fingers trembled slightly, but he didn't let go. The skin and flesh of his palm were torn open, and due to his body's immortal healing ability, tiny and sharp iron filings were embedded in his palm, along with the newly grown crimson flesh, a shocking sight.
"Oh my god, can this be pulled out?"
Shen Mi brought him the only lighting tool and handed it to his intact left hand. Seeing the blade, he didn't take it, and she glared at him angrily.
Only then did Ren reluctantly pick it up.
"Why bother with all that? It'll be fine tomorrow."
"How can it be any better if the iron filings aren't picked out?"
She carefully avoided the flesh with iron filings stuck in it, and gently touched it. The iron filings loosened, and Shen Mi quickly used her fingernails to pick them out one by one.
Due to limited resources and the lack of tweezers, this was the only method I could use; otherwise, I could have handled it better.
The first piece of iron filings was hooked out, drawing a thin line of blood. The fingertip gripping the blade tightened abruptly, veins bulging. Shen Mi subconsciously looked up at him, only to see his expression completely still, his lips pressed tightly together, as if he were using all his strength to suppress some kind of pain.
"Does it hurt a lot?" she couldn't help but ask, her voice as soft as a feather.
"It's nothing." He uttered two words lightly, but his low, hoarse voice sounded slightly strained.
Shen Mi looked up at him and saw that he had his eyes closed and his head turned away, as if he was afraid to see her. She sighed silently in her heart, thinking he was acting like he didn't care about his life.
Shen Mi held her breath and continued cleaning, picking out the metal shavings little by little from deep within the flesh. Her fingers ached slightly from the force, but she dared not move too fast, afraid of hurting him further.
As they moved, the distance between them quietly closed. Chen Mi's breath brushed lightly against the palm of the blade, and the damp, cold sleeves caressed each other's skin, carrying a faint scent of plants and the smell of blood.
Ren Jiang looked down at Shen Mi
When the last piece of iron was pulled out, her fingertips were stained crimson, and her heartbeat quickened slightly due to the sudden relief.
"alright!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the tree hole was plunged into darkness; the makeshift light had run out of time.
Chen Mi squatted in front of Ren's knees, bloodstains still remaining on his fingertips, but suddenly froze in the darkness, his movements abruptly stopping. The task at hand was left unfinished, and thus it was abruptly ended.
He heard the faint sound of fabric rubbing together, as if he were tending to a wound. Chen Mi breathed a sigh of relief and slowly stood up, but as soon as he straightened up, everything went black.
For a moment she couldn’t tell if it was because it was too dark around her or because her vision was completely black. The next second, she stumbled and almost fell backward.
But it was firmly held by a hand.
"Th...thank you." She was slightly out of breath and repeated it three times before she could barely stand up.
After regaining his balance, Shen Mi shook his head, feeling a little sleepy.
"Excuse me, where shall I sleep?"
In the darkness, Blade remained silent for a moment, not answering, but instead reaching out to grasp her wrist, guiding her to move slowly until her knees gently touched a wooden board.
"this."
Shen Mi sat down and ran her fingertips along the surface of the wooden board. It was rough yet hard, but surprisingly dry, which was better than she had imagined.
Her mind felt like it was filled with cotton wool, her thoughts were sluggish, and even her eyelids felt as heavy as lead. She was probably just too tired, she thought.
"Goodnight," she whispered hastily, her voice as soft as a breeze, then lay down, exhaled a long breath, and fell into a deep sleep.
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Author's Note: Here we go!!! Thank you everyone for the nutrient solution!!! There are currently 343 favorites. I hope to reach 350 soon so I can start paying for content, but it won't be that soon! It might be paid for at the end of the month.
Thank you everyone for your support, I'm truly grateful. Thank you Gantang, and thank you to everyone who watered me with nutrient solution and threw "grenade" (a form of online marketing). I'm so incredibly grateful! Five months of painstaking effort to reach the V-shaped recovery point! [eyes sparkling][eyes sparkling][eyes sparkling][eyes sparkling]
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