"Who are you talking to?"
As soon as the question left her mouth, Chai Xiaomi bit her lip in chagrin.
Wu Li cast a sidelong glance as Colorful Butterfly opened the door and a head popped out. Her two braided pigtails had become loose and sloppy after a night's sleep, with a few fine, soft strands of hair resting against her cheeks, lifting gently in the breeze.
Yet, it wasn't a messy, chaotic sight. Instead, it looked like willow branches intertwining and swaying in the wind, carrying a certain aesthetic beauty within the disarray.
How could she have forgotten after just one night's sleep?
Last night, she had solemnly sworn that as long as he didn't apologize, she would absolutely not speak a word to him.
Not to mention the "underwear incident" that happened this morning.
The conflict should have escalated.
How could she break her vow just because of a little curiosity?
Chai Xiaomi let out an awkward, light cough. Ignoring Wu Li's playful, mocking expression, her sharp eyes caught sight of a third living creature in the vicinity. She quickly squatted by the corridor pillar, speaking to a slow-crawling little snail, "What? You were just telling the little bird that the weather is so nice today? Mmhmm, I think so too."
Before Wu Li could even open his mouth, Chai Xiaomi immediately clawed back a point for herself.
She squatted there with absolute seriousness, making small talk with the snail.
Just then, a rough, harsh shout rang out from the other end of the wooden corridor:
"Bastard! The time to present the gift to Qi Lao has almost passed, what are you still dawdling here for!"
Meng Lu marched over aggressively with several men in tow.
Looking at this bastard who had escaped from the jaws of the tree monster, and thinking of his good friend Chi Lie who had perished in the mountains, his heart was filled with hatred and resentment.
Meng Lu had nowhere to vent his anger, yet he didn't dare attack him directly. The current Wu Li was no longer the child who could be bullied at will. Covered in poisonous creatures and exuding a murderous aura, the slightest misstep would result in a deadly backlash.
He had no choice but to deliberately raise his voice, trying to embarrass him in front of others.
Hearing this loud "bastard."
She sometimes found it strange; Wu Li clearly had a bad temper, yet he never seemed to take his clansmen's insults to heart.
She was even more curious about what kind of background he had that made his clansmen despise him so much.
She had no way of knowing these things, but that grating title made her heart tighten.
Meng Lu shouted so loudly, as if he couldn't wait for everyone to know that Wu Li was an outcast, a lowly existence that anyone could trample on.
The young girl suddenly turned her head, her gaze as clear and sharp as a blade, making her large eyes look exceptionally bright. Her short Miao skirt outlined her graceful figure. As she squatted, the hem of her skirt lifted slightly, revealing glimpses of her fair legs.
A flash of stunning surprise crossed Meng Lu's eyes. He hadn't noticed before that the medicine person raised by this bastard was actually such a rare beauty.
Just as his gaze was about to probe deeper under her skirt, a figure suddenly blocked his view.
Wu Li coldly met his gaze, his tone icier than ever before, "When the time comes, I will go. Just mind your own business."
He paused, then enunciated every word:
"Especially, mind your eyes."
Meng Lu was momentarily stunned.
In the past, no matter how much they hurled verbal abuse at him, Wu Li always looked completely indifferent, too lazy to respond with even a single word. That disdainful attitude often made people feel as if they were punching cotton.
But today, he actually retaliated to his face.
Under Wu Li's intense glare, Meng Lu actually felt his momentum weaken.
Without the Patriarch and the High Priest present to suppress him, what if Wu Li lost control and released all the poisonous Gu from his body...
He didn't dare think further, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Then hurry up and go! The Bloodworm is on you; you must be the one to present it."
Wu Li raised an eyebrow and replied nonchalantly, "Don't worry, I will definitely arrive a step ahead of you."
Chai Xiaomi stood up behind Wu Li.
Seeing him cast a sidelong glance at her, asking with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Why didn't you change your clothes back?"
She pursed her lips, bent down to pick up the snail from the ground, and gently held it in her palm.
Her fingertips lightly touched its little head. Watching its antennae shrink back slightly, she said in a soft tone, "Little snail, doesn't sister look pretty in these clothes? Girls have the freedom to dress as they please, don't you agree?"
The real reason was that her poor little underwear was still being tossed around in Wu Li's hands. After psyching herself up several times, she still couldn't bring herself to wear it again.
The short underpants and dudou of the Miao outfit were much more comfortable to wear than her own underwear. Since she wasn't changing the inside, she might as well not change the outside either; she actually really liked this outfit.
Wu Li's gaze landed on the little snail in her palm.
She spoke so softly to such a tiny creature. Yet from last night until now, what kind of attitude had she given him?
A trace of violent hostility flashed through his eyes, which quickly dissolved into a vast, empty restlessness.
An indescribable frustration felt like a breath of air stuck in his chest, refusing to dissipate.
All for an apology?
Chai Xiaomi lowered her head to the snail and spoke softly again, "Little snail, do people always say you walk too slowly and laugh at you for dawdling? But all things in the world are inherently different. You were born into this world with your own purpose, so don't care about what others say, okay?"
Wu Li suddenly froze in place.
A force he had never imagined struck straight into his heart.
Was it the Bloodworm biting him? It didn't seem like it.
What did her words mean? Was she saying them to him?
He wanted to ask, but she had clearly made up her mind not to speak to him.
Was she really not going to pay attention to him anymore?
He had the ability to make her mute so she couldn't make a sound, yet he had absolutely no way to force her to speak to him.
This realization made him even more irritable. That breath stuck in his chest not only failed to disperse, but became even more stagnant and heavy.
Wu Li stared at her lowered, fair neck, and then looked at the snail retracting its antennae at her fingertips. An almost childish urge to destroy something flashed through his eyes.
But ultimately, that hint of violence only caused his Adam's apple to bob, quietly vanishing into his deepening gaze.
Replacing it was a daze that even he hadn't noticed, along with an unprecedented, vague longing.
Wu Li stood there for a moment before saying quietly, "I have to go to the drum tower to present a gift to Patriarch Yuebai. Stay in this room and don't wander off."
After speaking, he saw the young girl frowning at the little snail.
Judging by her reaction, she had heard his words but was somewhat dissatisfied.
He paused, seemingly compromising a bit, "At most, you can only stroll around nearby. You cannot go too far from this building, hear me?"
Wu Li really couldn't stand the way she clearly heard him but completely ignored him. He grabbed her jaw, turning her face away from the snail and toward him.
He leaned in close, his eyes just inches away.
The boy's grip carried a hint of frustration. Chai Xiaomi furrowed her brows slightly, a trace of grievance flashing through her watery eyes.
Growing up, this was the first time she had been completely seen by a boy.
Obviously, all it would take was a simple apology from him, just three simple words, yet he simply refused.
She thought to herself: A villain is indeed a villain. His moral compass is crooked to the bone, impossible to straighten out!
Wu Li noticed the sudden change in her gaze. His thumb pressed against the skin of her chin; the touch was unexpectedly delicate, like steamed egg custard, making him feel that if he pressed even slightly harder, it would be crushed to mush.
He subconsciously loosened his grip.
Even his usually harsh and cold tone had softened almost imperceptibly. "Did you hear what I said?"
Chai Xiaomi remained silent, but she humored him enough to give a couple of nods.
