Chi Lie's face was a mask of utter terror as he slowly turned his head.
Behind him, an ancient tree shrouded in vines seemed to come alive, twisting and swaying.
Wu Li's arrow had struck true, embedding itself deep in the tree's bark, from which fresh blood now gushed.
A hoarse, pained screech echoed, and the vines thrashed in the air like countless writhing tentacles.
One of them swiftly coiled around Chi Lie.
"Ah—Help!!!"
"You bastard... Wu, Wu Li! Save me!!"
Hoisted violently into the air by the vine, Chi Lie's face turned as pale as paper.
The evil spirits of the Chishan Deep Forest were things he had only heard of in elders' tales. Most supernatural beings wouldn't attack humans if left unprovoked.
But that damned half-breed had shot an arrow straight into the ancient tree demon's trunk!
He had actually been able to tell this tree was extraordinary.
Chi Lie's pants were soaked through, his soul scared out of him as he screamed curses: "Wu Li! You did this on purpose! The High Priest will never let you get away with this!"
Wu Li, however, had already slung his bow and crossed his arms, leaning leisurely against a nearby tree, a flash of bloodthirsty excitement passing through his eyes.
As if enjoying a fine play.
"Correct, I did it on purpose," Wu Li said languidly. "But who will know? Unless—"
He drew out his words deliberately, his gaze drifting lightly to one side.
"—there's a third person in these woods."
Chai Xiaomi, hiding behind a tree, stiffened all over.
She hadn't planned to hide this long; her original intention was to find the right moment to beg Wu Li to take her to Yuebai.
But seeing another person also tailing him, she had held back from revealing herself.
Who could have predicted the situation would take such a drastic turn?
Her mind was in turmoil when that clear, cold voice rang out again, soaked in frost.
"I already said, no need to hide. How long do you plan to skulk there?"
So, that sentence in Miao language earlier wasn't directed at the man at all. It was for her.
Wu Li had known all along that she understood Miao.
Chai Xiaomi slowly crawled out from behind the tree. The scene before her nearly made her legs give way.
The man who just moments ago had been roaring and cursing full of life now had his eyeballs bulging out of their sockets, bleeding from all seven orifices.
His entire body resembled a zombie instantly drained of life, with only a thin layer of skin clinging to his bones.
"See clearly now? This is the fate of those who sneak around following me."
Wu Li looked her over lazily, noting how she forced composure, struggling to hide the panic in her eyes.
Suddenly feeling mischievous, he gave her a sharp shove toward the tree monster.
Caught completely off guard, Chai Xiaomi stumbled and fell beneath the wildly thrashing vines.
As if they could smell living flesh, the vines instantly changed direction, lunging for her!
"Mother of—!"
What kind of unforgivable sinner was she? To die and suffer this torment on top of it!
Chai Xiaomi's mask of calm shattered instantly. Lying on her side, she hugged her head with both hands, curling into a tiny ball.
Just as the vines were about to touch her, the scorpion tattoo on the back of her hand flashed with a faint glimmer of light.
All the vines recoiled as if they had seen something utterly terrifying, instantly retracting to the trunk and coiling tightly into a defensive posture.
Chai Xiaomi kept her eyes tightly shut, unaware the vines had retreated.
Only when dry leaves crunched under approaching footsteps did she sense someone drawing near. A figure stopped beside her.
A clear, laughing voice fell from above her head, like a mountain spring:
"You're a bit better than him. At least you didn't wet your pants."
Chai Xiaomi lifted half her face from the crook of her arm.
Wu Li was crouching beside her, tilting his head to look at her. Her terrified appearance seemed to amuse him.
The boy's beautiful eyes curved, shards of light dancing in his heterochromatic pupils, like stars submerged in clear spring water, shimmering and shifting.
Ut-ter-ly! Wicked!
Chai Xiaomi felt like grinding her molars to dust.
She took a deep breath, abruptly bit the tip of her tongue, and forced the tears to well up in her eyes.
In the moment of Wu Li's astonishment, she suddenly threw herself into his arms.
The boy was caught off guard, his heel slipped, and the two of them tumbled together into a thick pile of fallen leaves.
Don't you hate tears? Then I'll wipe them all over you!
Chai Xiaomi burst into furious sobs, scalding teardrops falling onto the boy's fair neck, flowing over a silver collar and seeping entirely into his indigo Miao attire, blooming into dark, damp patches.
"I secretly followed you because I was worried about you! That stretch of mountain path was so steep, I got blisters on my feet from walking, and you still wanted me to get drained dry by the tree monster! Wuwuwu, I truly fed my sincere heart to a dog!"
Her body trembled uncontrollably with her sobs. Although her whimpers weren't loud, because she was pressed close to his ear, each faint, delicate sob drilled clearly into his eardrum, tugging at unfamiliar nerves.
At the same time, that faint, elusive strange fragrance from last night now became exceptionally distinct, wisping and curling around his breath.
"Hey, I didn't really mean for you to get drained by the tree," Wu Li's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty, his voice slightly hoarse.
If anyone were to devour her, it should only be the poisonous creatures he kept in his Gu cave.
The girl pretended not to hear, continuing to cry into his neck.
In the moment she was rubbing her tears, her soft lips suddenly brushed past his ear.
Though it carried a slight coolness, Wu Li reacted as if scalded, shoving her off him with a sudden, swift movement that even held a trace of panic.
"Get off!"
He stood up abruptly, turning his back to her.
His tone was so cold it made the nearby tree monster shudder three times, its humble vines coiling themselves tighter.
Wu Li hung his head low, the tips of his reddened ears exposed in the thin morning light.
He felt as if he had been bound by some invisible rope moments ago, utterly flustered.
An unfamiliar sentiment he had never experienced before, like being afflicted by the most insidious Gu, made his entire body stiffen. He wanted to sink into it, yet instinctively sought to escape.
"Do you also know witchcraft and Gu sorcery?" Wu Li asked her with a darkened face.
Chai Xiaomi opened her large, tear-dampened eyes, her face streaked with tear tracks, and parted her lips with an innocent, naive expression: "Huh?"
Dull and foolish, clearly not clever. How could she possibly know?
Wu Li pressed his lips into a tight line, drawing his own conclusion.
It was probably backlash from his poisonous scorpion love Gu. That rapid heartbeat earlier must have been caused by the backlash.
It definitely was.
Wu Li said nothing more, silently shouldering his bow and starting back.
"Wu Li, wait for me, wait for me!" Chai Xiaomi wiped her tears dry and hurriedly chased after him.
She noticed that Wu Li's pace was different from last time when he left the cave without pause. This time, he had clearly slowed down.
Occasionally, after walking a stretch and finding her lagging too far behind, he would wait impatiently for a while.
His impatience was obvious. He would hold an arrow and vent his frustration by hacking away all the surrounding branches and flowers.
As if carrying a baleful aura, the plants would instantly wither and yellow, eventually turning into black ash.
Wherever he passed, not a blade of grass grew.
Once she caught up, Wu Li would toss out a lukewarm, sarcastic remark:
"I could walk backwards with my eyes closed and still be faster than you."
"Even the eighty-year-old grannies in the village gather herbs on the mountain more nimbly than you."
"Where's all that energy you had when you pounced on me? Used up already?"
......
Chai Xiaomi had nearly exhausted her stamina and truly had no energy left to deal with such a venomous-tongued, bratty junior.
She could only curse him fiercely in her heart: No wonder the female lead wants nothing to do with you! With a vile personality and ruthless methods, you'd scheme to have someone else do your dirty work without batting an eye!
The thought of Chi Lie eventually being reduced to a shriveled human hide, forever left in those deep, remote mountains, made her shudder involuntarily.
