Chapter 102: Quite Scary

Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Quite Scary

The thick, gamey, and foul stench of urine assaulted Bai Wanwan’s nose.

Unable to bear it, she turned her head to the side and began to gag.

As she was retching, she noticed a movement beside her and looked up.

Zhu Xiu, still not giving up, had used his long tail to drag the wild boar back in front of her.

Bai Wanwan looked at him. "What are you doing?"

After asking, it dawned on her. ’Is he trying to find food for me?’

Realizing her tone might have been a bit harsh, Bai Wanwan immediately changed her attitude, softening her voice. "This thing stinks too much, and it’s so big. I can’t eat it."

It was impossible to tell if the King Cobra understood. His massive head remained poised in front of Bai Wanwan, his pure black eyes revealing no emotion.

Bai Wanwan looked up to meet his gaze and asked tentatively, "Did you... understand? If not, I can explain it again."

The moment she finished speaking, she was coiled up again.

Zhu Xiu carried her as he continued to travel through the forest. Lying on his back, Bai Wanwan didn’t dare to make any sudden moves.

"Zhu Xiu, it’s a little tiring to be carried like this. Why don’t you take me back to the tribe?"

"The forest is very dangerous. If you get distracted for even a moment, I could be eaten by another beast."

Bai Wanwan rambled on. Even though she knew the chances of him taking her back to the Black Dog Tribe were slim, she still had to try.

Zhu Xiu returned her to the cave. After setting her down, he slithered into its depths.

"Zhu Xiu, where are you going?"

Zhu Xiu didn’t answer her, disappearing in an instant.

After waiting for a moment, Bai Wanwan quickly used the cave wall to support herself as she stood up. She then scurried to the mouth of the cave and peered outside.

Outside the cave, towering trees blotted out the sky. It felt as if countless Fierce Beasts were lurking in the deep shadows, ready to rush out and bite her at any moment.

She meekly pulled back the foot she had extended and sat back down where she had been before.

GRUMBLE...

The sound from her stomach reminded Bai Wanwan that she hadn’t eaten in a long time.

While Zhu Xiu was gone, she used Points to redeem a tiramisu from her System Space and scarfed it down in a few bites.

With the sweet treat in her belly, her mood was not so grim.

Even though she was bored of waiting, she remained patient.

After glancing into the depths of the cave more than ten times, the thought of going in to have a look finally crossed her mind.

But as she stared into the pitch-black depths...

...It was like an abyssal behemoth opening its gaping maw to devour her.

A shiver of fear went through her.

’Maybe... I should just forget it?’

Her brows furrowed deeply enough to crush a fly. On one hand, she felt a primal fear; on the other, she was worried about Zhu Xiu.

After hesitating for a long while, her concern for Zhu Xiu finally overcame her fear. Steeling herself, she mustered her courage and took a step inside.

But before she had taken two steps, a sound echoed from within the cave.

The King Cobra’s enormous beastly form slowly slithered out of the darkness.

A look of delight spread across Bai Wanwan’s face. "You’re finally back."

She had barely opened her mouth when Zhu Xiu swung his tail toward her.

Then, a dense shower of something rained down.

At that moment, Bai Wanwan hadn’t yet realized the gravity of the situation.

But when she got a clear look at what those things were, she shot up as if her butt was spring-loaded.

She started screaming and hopping around frantically on her tiptoes.

"Quick... quickly get this stuff away from me! Get it away!"

In both of her lifetimes combined, Bai Wanwan had never seen anything more disgusting or horrifying.

She was completely surrounded by rats, a dense carpet of them covering the floor.

In her terror, she lost all control of her limbs and even stepped on a few of them.

Her face was a terrifying shade of white. "Zhu Xiu, help me! Get me out of here!"

The King Cobra coiled up nearby. In his mind, females loved to eat these little morsels.

’She’s sure to love them.’

Hearing her screams, he tilted his head, as if trying to figure out what on earth she was doing.

Bai Wanwan was scared to death, but she had a pretty good idea what was going through Zhu Xiu’s mind.

"I don’t eat rats! They’re disgusting! Get them away from me right now!"

This time, Zhu Xiu seemed to understand.

With a flick of his long tail, he swept her out of the encirclement of dead rats.

Panting for breath, she leaned against his beastly form. From a mix of fear and agitation, her eyes welled with tears.

"Zhu Xiu, what on earth are you doing?"

She had reached her breaking point. One dead rat was disgusting enough, but there were at least a hundred of them here.

Bai Wanwan was so angry with him that she didn’t want to say another word.

After fuming for a long while, she came to a realization. ’This male’s mind isn’t even clear. What’s the point of being angry with him? What would he understand?’

Suddenly, it felt like punching a wad of cotton—completely futile.

So, Bai Wanwan could only fume by herself, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.

Time passed, and as Bai Wanwan stewed, her anger gradually faded.

She had only eaten a small piece of cake in over ten hours, so she soon felt hungry again.

She wanted something hot to eat. After glancing at Zhu Xiu, she got up and tentatively started walking toward the cave entrance.

Zhu Xiu didn’t stop her. He simply followed at a slight distance, seemingly curious about what she was up to.

Bai Wanwan searched around and found some dry branches and leaves.

Given the current environment and conditions, she couldn’t make anything else, but roasting potatoes and corn should be no problem.

She took the Fire Stone out of her System Space and struck it against the dry leaves.

Starting a fire with the Fire Stone was remarkably easy. After just a few strikes, the flames caught onto the dry leaves.

The cave gradually began to brighten.

Just as Bai Wanwan was feeling pleased, a massive shadow rapidly approached.

With a loud SMACK, the fire was extinguished.

Stunned for a full five seconds, Bai Wanwan finally raised her head to look at Zhu Xiu.

She took a deep breath!

Their gazes collided. Bai Wanwan didn’t say a word, but flames seemed to dance in her eyes.

’Patience!’

She repeated herself to him, enunciating every word, "I am hungry now. I need to start a fire to cook. Do not put it out again!"

She tentatively squatted down to light the fire again.

The entire time she was striking the stone, she kept her eyes fixed on Zhu Xiu.

When the flames once again caught on the leaves, Zhu Xiu clearly had a stress reaction; his long tail shot up.

Bai Wanwan shot to her feet, blocking his path. "Don’t you move!"

Startled by her shout, the King Cobra blinked, and his raised tail slowly lowered.

’Good, as long as he can understand.’

Bai Wanwan squatted down again. As she got the fire going, she grumbled, "When are you going to recover? If you keep tormenting me like this every day, I’m afraid I won’t last much longer..."

Zhu Xiu’s beastly form remained towering beside her, as tense and still as a rod.

Seeing the fire grow larger, he was tempted several times to seize the opportunity and extinguish it.

Bai Wanwan kept her eyes on him. The moment he so much as twitched, she would shoot him a glare. With great difficulty, she managed to protect her fire.

Unable to extinguish the fire, Zhu Xiu had no choice but to slide behind the young female. That way, if there was any danger, he could snatch her away at a moment’s notice.

Bai Wanwan redeemed potatoes and corn from her System Space.

She buried the potatoes in the embers and skewered the corn on a stick to roast it slowly.

As she roasted the food, she looked over at Zhu Xiu out of boredom and noticed that the black mist around his body seemed a little fainter than it was yesterday.

She felt a small sense of relief. ’All the hardship I’ve been through wasn’t for nothing, then.’

"Can you turn back into your human form? You’re pretty scary looking like a giant mosquito coil."

Zhu Xiu merely held his head high and stared at her, offering no response whatsoever.