"Understood," the girl swallowed, her gaze fixed on the water flask.
Mu Anxiao reluctantly handed the flask to the girl.
The girl took the flask, said thank you, and twisting off the cap, drank directly from it.
Watching the girl's throat work, Mu Anxiao anxiously asked, "Are you done yet?"
The girl grunted, moved the flask away, raised her arm to wipe the water from her lips, and handed the flask back to Mu Anxiao, saying, "All done."
Mu Anxiao took the flask and glanced sideways at Shen Yan, who stood a little behind her without any apparent discomfort. "Do you want some?"
Shen Yan remained silent, deliberately patting the leather water flask concealed at her waist.
Mu Anxiao blinked in surprise, "You brought two flasks of water too."
Shen Yan said nothing, deliberately shifting her gaze elsewhere.
Mu Anxiao pouted, hefting the flask and staring wide-eyed at the girl, "You drank more than half of my water."
The girl pursed her lips and smiled, "You told me to leave some for you." She pointed at the flask.
Mu Anxiao held the flask and said indignantly, "You're too literal."
"I was so thirsty, I accidentally drank half of it. What could I do?" the girl stammered.
"Annoying," Mu Anxiao said, tilting her head back and raising the flask to pour water into her own mouth from a distance.
Seeing Mu Anxiao's manner of drinking, the girl became displeased, "I didn't complain about you, yet you're complaining about me."
Mu Anxiao finished the last drop of water in the flask, lowered it, and swallowed. "If you think I'm disgusted with you, then I am." With that, she screwed the cap back on and stuffed the flask into her bag.
The moment Mu Anxiao finished speaking, the girl's lips pouted further, clearly unhappy.
Shen Yan glanced at the girl and reached out to pat Mu Anxiao's shoulder, "She's angry."
Mu Anxiao turned her head to look at Shen Yan, who had reminded her. "If she's angry, she's angry. What does it have to do with me?"
Seeing the girl's mood shift, Shen Yan deliberately turned her face away.
"Once we're out of the forest, it's my home. If you treat me like this," the girl narrowed her eyes, "then you two can stay here."
"You asked us to follow you, and now you say this. How responsible of you!" Mu Anxiao was annoyed.
"It's because you angered me."
"How did I anger you?" Mu Anxiao asked, feigning ignorance.
"You clearly told me to leave some water for you, and now you're saying this to me, even calling me disgusting. Tell me, isn't that angering me?"
As a fellow woman, Mu Anxiao found herself speechless.
"Say something. Why aren't you speaking?" the girl stared intently at Mu Anxiao's dazed expression.
Mu Anxiao swallowed, glanced at Shen Yan, who was pointedly looking away, and lowered her voice, "If I apologize to you, will you take us back to eat?"
"That depends on your performance," the girl deliberately widened her eyes.
"This also depends..." Mu Anxiao had encountered all sorts of young ladies before. From her observations, this girl was the type who wouldn't be placated by flattery, someone who needed to be strategized to be appeased.
"Why are you hesitating?" the girl asked, looking at Mu Anxiao's face.
Mu Anxiao deeply felt that being with this girl could only be described as mentally exhausting. She looked up at the sky, which had already begun to darken completely. Thinking of the dry rations in her bag, she reluctantly compromised.
"If I say I'm sorry, you definitely won't let it go. I can only apologize with my actions."