The cliff face was steep. Like a centipede, Cui Yunchu used both her hands and feet to crawl over to Shen Xiabai's side.
By now, her strength was completely depleted; she could only lie prone on the ground, panting heavily.
"Shen... Xiabai."
She called out a few times in a row, but the man lying on the ground remained entirely motionless.
With great effort, Cui Yunchu reached out a hand to check his breathing.
He was actually still alive. To have crashed against the rock wall and not died—he truly had the devil's own luck.
However... the breath puffing from his nose was unusually scorching, so hot that Cui Yunchu hurriedly curled her fingers back.
He had a fever too.
It made sense. She, at least, had been shielded by dense foliage, while Shen Xiabai had been thoroughly drenched by the rain all night long.
Propping herself up halfway, Cui Yunchu reached toward Shen Xiabai's clothes.
Hmm, his clothes are dry. That will do.
Cui Yunchu considered herself someone who hadn't completely lost her conscience. Frowning, she did experience a brief moment of guilt and inner conflict.
But the moment was very short-lived, and she promptly began stripping Shen Xiabai of his outer robes.
"As the saying goes, better you perish than me. I'll just treat this as you repaying the life you owe me from our past life. After today, all our grievances will be wiped clean."
She struggled to untie his belt and lift his arms, completely ignoring the bloodstains on his robe. Her eyes held nothing but a fierce desire to survive.
Cui Yunchu only felt cold, a cold that pierced right to the bone.
Especially when the wind blew, her lips turned purple, and she sped up her movements.
Just as the robe was about to come off, a scalding hand suddenly clamped down hard on her wrist. The previously unconscious Shen Xiabai forced his head up, eyes wide open, his lips moving faintly. "What... what are you doing?"
Startled, Cui Yunchu nearly screamed. She yanked the garment and shoved Shen Xiabai's body heavily back onto the ground.
With a loud thud, Shen Xiabai's eyes rolled back hard into his head, his legs twitching slightly.
"..."
"I... I didn't mean to!" Hugging the robe, Cui Yunchu scrambled and tumbled into a nearby corner.
Shen Xiabai cast a sidelong glance.
He watched as Cui Yunchu threw his robe over herself with the utmost speed, then immediately curled up into a tight ball, hugging herself fiercely.
The wind was strong on the cliff face. Shen Xiabai lay there wearing only his inner garments, with water occasionally dripping down onto him from the rocky ledge above.
It was freezing, as if he were walking naked through the dead of winter.
His voice was hoarse. Even though he exerted a tremendous amount of effort, the sound he produced was incredibly faint; it looked as though his lips merely twitched a few times.
Yet, Cui Yunchu understood him perfectly.
He was cursing her for being utterly shameless.
"."
The weak are prey to the strong; that is just the way of the world. If their situations were reversed today, he might be even more ruthless than she was.
"Curse at me again, and I'll push you off to be smashed to pieces," Cui Yunchu threatened viciously.
Shen Xiabai's eyes seemed to widen slightly. His chest heaved violently a few times, and then his head lolled to the side as his eyes slipped shut.
Cui Yunchu, "..."
It didn't look like he had succumbed to his injuries; rather, it looked very much like he had passed out from sheer anger.
Was that really necessary? She had only taken his outer robe, after all.
Cui Yunchu curled her lip and went back to huddling up for warmth.
The spot she occupied was a small alcove that blocked a fair amount of the wind and rain, making it slightly less freezing. However, the space was extremely cramped, forcing Cui Yunchu to curl herself up as tightly as possible.
But as the saying goes, it never rains but it pours. At that moment, the heavens opened up and it started raining again.
The rain hit the rock wall, splashing tiny, icy droplets onto her body.
Her head grew heavier, and she was so cold her lips quivered continuously.
Meanwhile, Shen Xiabai, lying out on the rock, had no cover whatsoever. The rain and wind battered him mercilessly.
Beneath him, a small pool of crimson soon began to bloom.
Cui Yunchu frowned, an intense inner battle raging in her heart once more.
The little angel in white said, "He was implicated because of you, after all. Are you really going to watch him freeze to death? Besides, you stripped him of his clothes."
The little devil in black argued, "So what? It's karma. Think about how clean and decisive his sword thrust was in your past life—he ran you right through! The fact that you haven't pushed him off the cliff to fall to his death is mercy enough."
Cui Yunchu scratched her head in frustration.
Suddenly, her eyes flickered, and she looked up sharply at Shen Xiabai lying in the rain.
She could drag him over and make full use of him. As for whether he lived or died, she would leave that to fate.
Remembering the scorching heat radiating from his body, Cui Yunchu instantly felt a little less cold herself.
She immediately shimmied out into the rain, grabbed Shen Xiabai's arm with one hand, and used every ounce of her strength to drag him toward the small alcove.
She was already injured, and this exertion caused her wounds to tear open further. She gasped in pain as blood mixed with rainwater and streamed down her cheeks.
She looked bizarre and utterly terrifying.
Gritting her teeth, Cui Yunchu let out a grunt with every heave, repeating the motion in a way that was actually somewhat comical.
Being dragged across the rough ground was enough to rouse even an unconscious person. Shen Xiabai groggily opened his eyes, only to be greeted by Cui Yunchu's pale, terrifying face.
Her features were somewhat contorted from the effort, yet she refused to let go, gripping his arm with immense force.
Shen Xiabai froze. Whether it was the rain pouring over him or something else, his vision was blurry, and he almost thought he was hallucinating.
"What... what are you doing now?"
By now, Cui Yunchu was used to his sudden outbursts. "Pulling you over," she replied simply.
Shen Xiabai's eyes half-closed. Rainwater fell onto his lips and slid into his mouth, prompting him to swallow a few times.
Cui Yunchu said, "Just go back to sleep."
"." Shen Xiabai turned his head to look at Cui Yunchu, his gaze complex and dark. He didn't speak, but surprisingly, he cooperated, slowly shifting his body to help her.
It took a Herculean effort for Cui Yunchu to finally drag him over and prop him up against the wall.
Glancing down, she saw Shen Xiabai staring at her with half-open, ink-dark eyes.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Cui Yunchu frowned. "If you don't sleep, I'm throwing you back out there."
"..." Shen Xiabai had no strength left to argue with her. He withdrew his gaze, closed his eyes, and soon fell motionless once more.
Wearing the oversized robe, Cui Yunchu was still shivering from the cold.
She shook Shen Xiabai. When he didn't respond, she reached out a hand toward him, but stopped halfway.
Her brows knitted tightly as if she were pondering something. A moment later, she pulled her hand back and surprisingly unfastened her own belt.
After all, she had the bitter lessons of her past life. She had to be cautious in case he suddenly woke up again.
Using all her strength, Cui Yunchu tied Shen Xiabai's hands firmly together before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
"A person with a fever is no worse than a warm stove."
She still experienced a brief moment of shyness and hesitation.
But thinking about survival, and thinking about the physical intimacy they had shared in their past life, simply cuddling for warmth was really nothing. The fact that she hadn't stripped him of his inner garments was already showing mercy.
With this in mind, feeling both apprehensive and guilty, Cui Yunchu pressed her body tightly against Shen Xiabai's.
So warm.
The scorching heat from Shen Xiabai's body dispelled most of the chill clinging to Cui Yunchu. She felt that she could definitely hold on for a few more days now.
She only prayed that Shen Xiabai wouldn't die too soon.
At the very least, he needed to last until she could wait for rescuers to arrive.
