Chapter 258 Lizard·Extra 3
Yu Mo woke up with her hair covered in flowers, a garland woven from them. The rich fragrance filled the cabin. Next to her was an iron pot on the fire, where flower petals were boiling. The nectar dyed the water a light yellow. Seafood stewed with nectar? She hadn't tried it yet. The taste was strange, not unpalatable, but definitely not her cup of tea.
Min Xi dug up the flowers, root and root, and carried them into the cave. All spring, the cave was filled with the sweet, fragrant aroma of these flowers. In summer, the flowers withered, and the forest was filled with the delicate fragrance of other plants: the scent of grass, the scent of earth. Amidst this diverse natural atmosphere, the stone house was finally completed.
…
The days passed slowly. A few days ago, Yu Mo went to Sun Island to meet Liu Mei. Their contact gradually decreased, but the connection between Yu Mo and Liu Mei was deepening. Yu Mo taught Liu Mei how to bend the bow and shoot arrows, and Liu Mei enthusiastically gave her the prey she hunted. She not only brought Yu Mo a cage of wild rabbits, but also brought her news of death.
Some, unable to tolerate the primitive life, attempted to cross the Devil's Sea by boat during a lull in the sea, only to be caught in a whirlpool and drowned. Everyone lamented, but no one could influence anyone else's thoughts. All they could do was spread the word about the Devil's Sea. During stormy times, it was a bloodthirsty graveyard. Even after the storm subsided, the dangers remained rife, not to mention the recent frequent storms.
Yu Mo gave Liu Mei the wooden box she made by herself, as well as the treasures from the shipwreck she recently discovered on the new island. Liu Mei was very happy. She hadn't changed her clothes for a long time. She was no longer afraid of Min Xi. She often met with Yu Mo, and Min Xi would stay not far away, lying on the tree to bask in the sun. But every time Liu Mei could see Min Xi with half-open eyes, his eyes fixed on Yu Mo. If she walked a little further away, he would wake up vigilantly, and would not lie down again until he was sure that there was no danger around.
Liu Mei hesitated to speak. Yu Mo asked her what was wrong. Liu Mei leaned close to her ear and whispered, "A few days ago, when I was out hunting, I found a wounded lizardman. It looked very small, not even an adult yet. I wanted to leave, but when I saw it was in pain, I used the medicine in my backpack to save it. Sister Yu Mo, it actually caught these rabbits and gave them to me. There are so many that I can't eat them all. I told it not to come again, but it didn't listen. Maybe it didn't understand me? How do you communicate with them?"
Yu Mo said with a serious expression: "Liu Mei, it's spring and summer now, which is their mating season. I hope you can protect yourself."
Liu Mei blushed: "Why are you saying that? Of course I..." She picked up the wooden box, looked at Yu Mo and said seriously: "Sister Yu Mo, don't tell anyone about this. I'm afraid they will hurt it."
Life on a deserted island is leisurely, a pleasure for those living in the fast-paced city. However, this enjoyment is short-lived. Over time, spiritual loneliness slowly rears its head. At first, Liu Mei was very afraid of Min Xi, but later, she always looked at them with envy. The people on Sun Island are colleagues. Although they have a close relationship, they are actually individuals. Even if they have experienced difficulties together, they still yearn for the company of their own. They can whisper and reveal their true selves. When danger comes, they can know without hesitation that someone is worried and praying for their safety.
Yu Mo began to worry about Liu Mei. She'd learned about the Lizardmen through Min Xi. Min Xi was an outlier, but other Lizardmen weren't necessarily. She feared Liu Mei would be hurt, but after meeting Liu Mei so many times, she realized she couldn't stop anyone. Everyone's fate, who they would meet, and what they would encounter, was predetermined. She could only remind them, not stop them.
Fortunately, lizardmen were very kind to their partners. With them by her side, she didn't have to worry about Liu Mei being attacked by wild beasts while hunting and unable to fight back. She didn't know how far Liu Mei and the lizardman had progressed, whether they were just friends, a short-term pastime, or long-term companionship. She could only silently wait for the day when Liu Mei would be willing to confide in her.
Over the short summer, the rabbits Liu Mei sent her had grown from one cage to several. Yu Mo marveled at their reproductive capacity. She named the first cage of rabbits, but because of the names, even their descendants couldn't bear to skin and eat them. She felt guilty every time she thought of eating the nameless rabbits born from their mother's womb.
Yu Mo's cave, stone house, and vegetable garden were quickly overrun by rabbits. Unable to bear the thought of eating them, Yu Mo had no choice but to let them go. She simply couldn't keep such a resilient animal. Seeing that she had finally shifted her attention from Liu Mei to other animals, Min Xi felt like she had finally gotten through this.
In his eyes, animals were animals, and Yu Mo's kind were his kind. Even if the cutest creatures caught Yu Mo's attention, he didn't mind; after all, they were food, and he had absolute dominance over them. But Yu Mo's kind were different; they could kidnap her at any moment and take her to the far east. His heart finally settled. He diligently followed Yu Mo every day, making sure she wasn't constantly running off to Sun Island, secretly wagging his tail in delight.
He caught wild goats from the foot of the mountain for Yu Mo and kept them in a fence near the cave. He even caught a wild boar, but the boar was so strong that it broke through the fence and ran into the cave, breaking dishes. In the end, Min Xi skinned and ate it. Min Xi caught birds from the sky, insects from the trees, and fish from the sea. Some of them earned Yu Mo's praise, while others frightened her. If Yu Mo liked something, Min Xi would make her smile. If he asked for it again, Yu Mo would kiss him. But if she encountered something that scared her, Yu Mo would not speak to him for days or nights.
Min Xi never understood why Yu Mo could accept rabbits, goats, even fish and shrimp, while a large green caterpillar hiding in a tree hole or a thick brown worm buried in the soil could scare her. Was it because their appearances were so different? He thought of the brown worm, whose color was similar to his. Would Yu Mo also find him scary?
Min Xi was unwilling to accept this because he had brown scales. Although he didn't want Yu Mo to like all brown things because of this, he would not be happy if that happened, but he absolutely did not want to see Yu Mo hate brown bugs, as if she would slowly hate him because of her hatred for brown bugs.
Min Xi caught some brown insects, put them in a jar, and moved closer to Yu Mo. He wrapped his tail around her affectionately, opened the lid and handed it to her in a flattering manner, imitating her tone of praise for the wild rabbit and wild goat, "Very cute, I'll give it to you!"
Yu Mo's scalp went numb, and even the tail tied around her waist suddenly became scary. She tried to bear it, but Min Xi still pushed it hard under her nose. She pushed his arm away violently, "Don't show me this kind of thing, Min Xi! I've told you many times, don't come in tonight!" The door closed, and Min Xi stood there in a daze. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Min Xi subconsciously smiled ingratiatingly.
Yu Mo had a cold face and didn't look at the ground. "Clean up these bugs. If I see them again, don't come in again!"
The door closed again. Min Xi cleaned the floor with a grievance. That night, no matter how he pleaded, even if he looked pitiful, Yu Mo didn't relent and kept him locked outside the door all night. The next morning, smelling the aroma of barbecue, looking at the floor he had cleaned, the lambs and pigs well fed, and seeing his face, haggard and pitiful from being locked outside all night, she finally calmed down and told him in a gentle voice that she found the appearance of insects disgusting and didn't care about him at all.
But deep down I couldn't help thinking, he's too sensitive!
…
One day, while tidying her room, Yu Mo discovered Min Xi had given her many gifts. Some of them were irretrievable: a garland of flowers, cherished even though the flowers had withered and the leaves were gone. There were also shells and pearls from the seabed. He had even learned to sew, cutting fabric salvaged from shipwrecks into individual pieces and sewing them together. He also fished out the beautiful fish from the seabed, their vibrant colors radiating a strange light, and placed them in the pool of water he had dug out just outside the cave.
Those beautiful fish soon died. Min Xi wanted to catch more, but Yu Mo refused. She felt that the beauty lay not in the fish she caught, but in the fish swimming freely and proudly on the seafloor, emitting strange, luminous spots. She would rather Min Xi took her to the bottom of the ocean to see for herself, but she preferred to search for shells on the shore. The beautiful shells were used as decorations, and the cave was decorated with shells like an underwater dragon palace. The pearls piled in the corners were even more magnificent when the sunlight filtered through the cracks, making it impossible to look away.
Yu Mo sat on the pearl pile, chin in hand, thinking. She seemed to have never prepared a gift for Min Xi, but what could she give? She pursed her lips and thought, and suddenly remembered that she had picked a flower for Min Xi. Min Xi was so happy that he hugged it to sleep. Later, the flower withered, but he still held the dead flower tightly, refusing to let go, his eyes wet, hoping that she would give him another one.
After much thought, the only thing she could make was a pearl necklace. Min Xi loved beauty, a love that knew no gender or race. He loved rolling around in flowers. He took Yu Mo to see many flowers she had never seen before, as well as the beautiful shells on the seabed. The boxes he took from the shipwreck were all carved with patterns, or inlaid with mother-of-pearl or gold and silver. He disdained ordinary boxes.
When Min Xi came back, Yu Mo held his hand and punched holes in the pearls, then strung them together with silk thread. Halfway through, she suddenly laughed. She felt that she seemed a bit scumbag. Min Xi had broken the pearls and punched the holes with his fingernails. She only needed to string them together with silk thread. Thinking of this, Yu Mo felt guilty, so she hugged his neck and kissed him. Min Xi smiled shyly.
Yu Mo sighed sincerely, she liked Min Xi so much!
The pearl necklace was strung together, and at the bottom was a shell she had spent the entire day searching for. The shell was small, with tight crevices, perfect for storing things. She stuffed her and Min Xi's hair inside, tying it with a red string. "This symbolizes our eternal bond, our love, and our longevity!"
Min Xi's eyes were full of surprise. He wore the pearl necklace around his neck for several days without taking it off. Yu Mo realized belatedly that he really, really liked her. Just because of the ordinary gift she gave him, she could hear the gurgling sound he made unconsciously every day. Sometimes the tone was clear and pleasant, just like a little tune hummed by a person when he is happy.
Later, when she was catching fish and shrimp in the ocean and almost lost it, Min Xi carefully hid it in his treasure chest. Yu Mo saw many things that belonged to her in the treasure chest, even the underwear that she had lost on the first day she came here!
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