After working in her space for a while, Qin Junyao opened her eyes.
She looked at the stars in the sky and struggled a bit before getting up.
“Miss Qin, where are you going?” Hou Gan, who was on night duty, asked when he saw Qin Junyao get up.
“Uncle Hou Si, I’m just going to… take care of something,” Qin Junyao gestured towards the nearby woods.
She had drunk too much mushroom soup that evening and couldn’t avoid getting up.
“Ask your fourth aunt to accompany you.” The women slept together at night, and it was inconvenient for Hou Gan to go and wake someone up himself.
“No need, I’m not afraid of the dark,” Qin Junyao said and started to walk towards the woods on the left.
“The woods are not safe at night. Wait here, I’ll wake your father,” Hou Gan said, going to call Qin Mu.
Qin Junyao continued to say there was no need, but Uncle Hou Si ignored her and insisted on calling her father.
Sigh! Qin Junyao had no choice but to stand in place, reminding herself to drink less water at night. If she really had to go, she would wake her mother first.
“Jun Yao, your father is waiting here for you. If anything happens, just shout loudly,” Qin’s father instructed Qin Junyao’s retreating back.
“I know, Dad,” Qin Junyao replied and walked further away.
The woods were quiet at night, and even the slightest sound could travel far.
To avoid the awkwardness of making noise while relieving herself, Qin Junyao had to walk further in.
Was she not afraid?
She was.
But Qin Junyao was even more afraid of the embarrassment that felt like social suicide.
She found a place with short grass and finished her business. After taking two steps, she suddenly heard a “swish, swish” sound.
It sounded like two things rubbing against each other.
After her space expanded twice, Qin Junyao’s vision and hearing had improved significantly, though she herself hadn’t fully realized it.
When she concentrated, her hearing distance was no less than that of martial arts practitioners like Zhao Liangcai.
This “swish, swish” sound grew louder in her ears, occasionally accompanied by sounds like digging.
Qin Junyao shifted her steps and was startled by the sound of her own foot stepping on a branch. The sound was so loud.
Fearing she would alert the creature making the noise, she stood still.
Zhao Liangcai, hiding in the dark and observing a black bear scratching its back against a large tree, also heard the faint sound of a branch being stepped on.
Initially, he thought it was some small animal, but after the sound of the branch disappeared and there was no further noise, he suspected a fierce beast might be targeting this half-grown black bear, waiting for an opportunity.
This place was not far from their resting area, and if two wild beasts started fighting and charged out, it could be fatal.
Thinking this, Zhao Liangcai cautiously moved towards the direction of the sound.
Qin Junyao stood still and concentrated, her senses becoming even sharper. She sensed something approaching her.
Her left hand kept changing weapons, sometimes a sickle, sometimes scissors, until finally she produced a saber and gripped it in her right hand.
Cold sweat trickled into Qin Junyao’s eyes, but she didn’t move. She knew she had no combat ability, and the best way to protect herself was to remain calm and still.
Movement would only make the nocturnal animals feel threatened and prone to attack. All Qin Junyao could do now was pray for good luck and hope to encounter a beast that had already eaten its fill.
Zhao Liangcai took a few steps forward and rounded a large tree. In the shadows, he discovered a human figure, which made him frown.
Upon closer inspection, the short figure was holding…
A knife!
Zhao Liangcai instantly entered combat mode, his upper body slightly hunched, fists clenched, and he charged towards the figure.
Qin Junyao thought the wild beast approaching her had stopped and was leaving. Suddenly, she saw a tall, sturdy dark figure rapidly approaching from behind a large tree.
Zhao Liangcai, standing at 1.9 meters tall, appeared even more imposing in the flickering shadows of the woods, like a bipedal black bear.
Although Qin Junyao had never encountered such a situation, her calm demeanor remained. She tightly gripped her right hand and swung the saber to chop at the approaching shadow.
The dark figure on the other side dodged, grabbed Qin Junyao’s wrist, pulled, flipped, and twisted. Qin Junyao’s right hand was forced above her head and turned backward.
She herself turned halfway, arching her back towards the dark figure, and the saber naturally fell to the ground.
The intense pain in her wrist made Qin Junyao involuntarily let out a soft groan.
Zhao Liangcai’s hand, which was about to grab Qin Junyao’s neck, paused.
“?”
“A woman?”
“Who are you? What is your purpose here?”
The familiar voice reached Qin Junyao’s ears, making her want to curse.
Zhao the Hammer, you’re really something.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Junyao gritted her teeth and said through the pain, “Qin Junyao.”
“?”
Zhao Liangcai’s body, already tense from preparing for battle, tensed further. His eyes widened, and he suddenly seemed at a loss, involuntarily tightening his grip.
“Your mother.”
“Let go!!!”
Qin Junyao increased the volume of the last two words. Her wrist was about to break.
Let go, let go.
Zhao Liangcai’s mind was filled with the thought of letting go, and only then did his hand loosen.
He saw Qin Junyao holding her arm up and kindly helped her lower it.
Unexpectedly, a “crack” sound came from Qin Junyao’s shoulder.
Then, the area where they stood fell into an unnervingly silent stillness.
“Zhao—”
Before Qin Junyao could finish her sentence, Zhao Liangcai suddenly covered her mouth with his left hand, placed his right hand at her waist, and, embracing her arm tightly, lifted her entire body.
For convenience, Zhao Liangcai held her diagonally. If Qin Junyao’s soul could leave her body and look from the front, their posture would be like someone carrying a plastic mannequin in a modern department store.
“Don’t make a sound, there’s a bear.”
Zhao Liangcai heard the black bear’s scratching stop. He was ready to run with Qin Junyao at any moment.
Qin Junyao looked at the woods ahead with a sense of resignation. Her upper body was held steady by Zhao Liangcai, and her lower body hung naturally from her waist due to gravity.
Her wrist hurt, her shoulder hurt, and her lower back was also aching from the strain. She had just wanted to relieve herself after drinking too much soup at night, and was she being punished so cruelly?
When the black bear resumed its scratching, Zhao Liangcai, half-carrying Qin Junyao, quickly retreated towards the resting area.
“Jun Yao? Jun Yao?” Qin’s father called out anxiously after waiting for a while and not seeing his daughter emerge.
Hearing the voice, Qin Junyao struggled with all her might. This time, Zhao Liangcai reacted quickly and let go immediately.
Qin Junyao lost her balance and twisted her foot again.
“My apologies, Miss Qin. I’m used to carrying axes like this. And just now, there was a bear scratching on the tree, and you were holding a knife, I…”
Qin Junyao’s expression was blank. Her right arm hung limply to her side, her left hand clutched her left waist, and her right foot limped. She took two steps forward and replied to Qin’s father, who was still calling out, “I’m here.”
Then, she turned to look at Zhao Liangcai. “You disappear immediately, don’t let anyone see you. Then, pick up my saber for me. Lastly, I do not accept apologies.”
With that, Qin Junyao limped away without looking back.
Hiding behind a tree, Zhao Liangcai heard Qin’s father ask Qin Junyao how she got injured. Qin Junyao’s reply was that she had lost her footing and fallen into a pit.
Later, he saw Doctor Sheng get up to examine Qin Junyao’s injuries, and he walked back into the woods.
He was going to find that bear and fight it.
If the bear hadn’t been out at night scratching itself, none of this would have happened.
The bear, which had stopped scratching and was now rolling on the ground: “???”