Even with his eyes closed, Yuan Zhao accurately grabbed Qiao Zhen's hand. "Where are you going?"
"I'll go find some fruit. I don't want to starve to death; after all, that's not a glorious way to die," Qiao Zhen said, looking around. Even during the day, there was a thick fog on Mount Wuqi, only slightly less dense than at night. Qiao Zhen stretched out his arm and spread his five fingers; the outlines of his fingers were still visible, but only outlines.
Yuan Zhao grabbed Qiao Zhen's arm and used it to get up. "I can see things better than you. I'll go. There are many obstacles on Wuqi Mountain. We could easily get lost."
Qiao Zhen was shocked: "Why didn't you say so earlier??"
Yuan Zhao lowered his head silently. "I thought you knew that the fog on Wuqi Mountain only clears up at noon."
"Impossible. When I tried to sneak in, they made me climb up the mountain using wooden stakes. There was no fog then." Qiao Zhen scratched the back of his head.
Yuan Zhao explained, "That's because there were no illusions set up there at the time, so there was no fog."
Qiao Zhen was completely confused, but she knew that these were settings made by the mission targets and there was basically no logic to them, so she said with a clear conscience, "Then go find some fruit."
"Okay." Yuan Zhao released Qiao Zhen's hand and took out two carrots from the bundle. "Eat some first."
Qiao Zhen took the two carrots, crunched a bite on each, and then turned around and accused, "Good heavens, you're always hoarding food."
"..." Yuan Zhao, shocked by Qiao Zhen's shamelessness, silently left to find the fruit.
Qiao Zhen sat cross-legged under the tree. Being alone in such a quiet place where she couldn't see anything made her feel inexplicably uneasy. So she hugged the horse's leg and muttered to herself, "Horse, oh horse, if anything happens later, you have to protect me."
"Ha! The girl is still so... stupid."
The familiar voice and tone—it was the young man who had led Qiao Zhen on her failed escape attempt from Qingfeng Palace. But the sudden appearance of the voice still startled Qiao Zhen.
"You're the stupid one! You're the dumb one!" Qiao Zhen snapped, her sharp claws raised like a cat with its fur standing on end. She frantically stuffed the carrot into the cloth bag slung across her shoulder. "Don't you know that scaring someone can be deadly?!"
The man seemed unconcerned by Qiao Zhen's furious tone. He brought his face close to Qiao Zhen's and asked, "So you're Brother Yuan's divorced wife?"
Qiao Zhen slapped the man across the right cheek, yelling, "You son of a bitch! Do you even know what divorce means?"
The sound was crisp and clear, and the man received the slap squarely. He looked at Qiao Zhen with a very calm gaze, "Girl, do you know where the last person who hit me is now?"
Qiao Zhen straightened her back and said with a stiff upper lip, "In hell, do you know where the next person to hit you will be?"
Where?
Qiao Zhen swiftly slapped him again with her backhand, laughing smugly, "Far away, yet right before my eyes."
The man seemed surprised by her rudeness and immediately slapped her, saying, "What a sharp tongue you have."
Qiao Zhen listened to the subtle sounds of the air flowing in her ear to judge the man's moves. She dodged the man's attack by turning her body to the right. "A sneak attack, huh? People like you are the most despicable. No wonder you and Yuan Lin are birds of a feather."
The man gave a soft hum, and the air around Qiao Zhen's ears seemed to quicken; he was channeling his inner energy.
Qiao Zhen also channeled her inner strength from her dantian to confront the man head-on. She teased, "Hey, little brother, why do you have to be in cahoots with Yuan Lin? Wouldn't it be better to be in cahoots with me? I can introduce you to some pretty ladies, or I'm pretty good-looking too."
"Shameless!"
Qiao Zhen didn't care at all, and she even said something that made people blush, "You're shameless, I'm shameless, we're a match made in heaven!"
Hearing the approaching footsteps in the distance, the man withdrew his internal energy, lightly tapped his foot, and disappeared from the spot.
Qiao Zhen felt the internal force that had been clashing with her suddenly disappear. She frowned and looked at the place where the air had flowed, but all she could see was white, and she couldn't see anything.
"What are you doing?" Yuan Zhao looked at Qiao Zhen's strange posture through the white mist.
Because she had just been testing her internal strength with that person, Qiao Zhen had her hands clenched into claws in front of her. After hearing Yuan Zhao's voice, she shook her arms and said, "I just heard what sounded like a snake. The saying goes, 'A chicken pecking at rice.' A chicken's beak is so powerful. Look at my move, 'Chicken Beak, Snake Body.' It sounds really powerful, right?"
If Yuan Zhao hadn't been able to clearly see the scene where Qiao Zhen was, he would have almost believed Qiao Zhen's nonsense. However, he didn't expose Qiao Zhen. He handed the clean red fruit in his hand to Qiao Zhen, "Yes, let's eat something first. Shall we continue up the mountain later?"
"Of course! If we don't continue up the mountain, wouldn't it be a shame to waste our miserable night sleeping on the mountain yesterday?" Qiao Zhen took a bite of the plump fruit. "Did you wash it? No, right? Well, as they say, a little dirt won't hurt you, hahaha." She laughed a little awkwardly at the end, "Ahem."
Yuan Zhao watched Qiao Zhen eat without any regard for his image, and silently curled the corners of his lips. "Mount up and eat as you go."
"Oh, okay." After agreeing, Qiao Zhen realized a serious problem: she couldn't see the horse. "How about you help me up?"
Looking at Qiao Zhen's conflicted face, Yuan Zhao couldn't help but chuckle softly, "Okay."
Hearing Yuan Zhao's mocking tone, Qiao Zhen became enraged. "Let me tell you, you're just a hair's breadth away from getting beaten up." She pinched the tip of her index finger with her thumb. "You better watch out, I'm even scared of myself when I'm angry."
Yuan Zhao suppressed his laughter, helped Qiao Zhen onto the horse, and then led the two horses on the ground. "Eat slowly, don't choke."
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