The little crybaby in the group, the young master is a softie

"They're all new. Go change them." Qiu Ge pointed deeper into the woods. "There's a lake over there."

Su Yang bent down and picked up the clothes. The T-shirt was a bit larger than he usually wore, but the pants were just right, as if they had been specially selected...

"What are you still standing there for?" Qiu Ge frowned. "Do you want to keep stinking?"

Su Yang raised his eyes and glared at her, his disgust in his eyes undisguised, and walked towards the direction she pointed with his clothes in his arms. After walking a few steps, he stopped, turned around and said coldly: "Turn around, no peeking."

Qiu Ge turned around as he was told, with his back to him, and looked at the mountains in the distance.

Su Yang then hurried into the woods. As Ling Ye had said, there was a lake hidden in the woods. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds. On the shore grew some unknown wildflowers, so beautiful it seemed unreal.

"Hehe, the owner of this broken illusion finally did something human."

He deftly took off his smelly clothes and dived into it. The cool feeling spread from the soles of his feet to his whole body, making him feel extremely comfortable.

Halfway through his bath, Su Yang felt something was wrong. He felt a chill on his back. He turned around and saw Qiu Gu standing on the shore, looking at him expressionlessly.

"Fuck! What the hell are you doing here? Get out of here!" He suddenly sank down, the cold water covering his chest in an instant, leaving only his head above the surface. "You little stinky girl, do you have any shame? What's so great about peeping at other people taking a bath? If you have the guts, come and fight me openly!"

Qiu Gu stood on the shore, looking at Su Yang who was furious in the water, her brows slightly furrowed. There was no anger at being scolded in her eyes, only clear confusion, like a child who could not understand complicated instructions.

"I didn't peek. You took a long time to wash."

"What's wrong with it being a long time? I enjoy it! What's it to you?" Su Yang gritted his teeth. If he wasn't naked, he would have rushed up and punched her twice.

"I'm afraid you'll drown." Qiu Ge added.

Su Yang was so choked up that he almost fainted: "Stop pretending here! I think you're doing this on purpose! Pervert! Peeping Tom!"

He became more and more agitated as he cursed, and he almost lost his grip on the water. He swayed and nearly choked. He quickly shrank back down: "Still looking? Get away from me! If you keep looking, I'll dig out your eyes and stomp on them!"

Qiu Gu tilted his head, as if he finally understood his anger, took two steps back, and still stood where he could be seen, with his back to the bushes by the lake, like a conscientious guard, but also revealing an indescribable stubbornness.

Su Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly began scrubbing. The cool water washed away the sweat and dirt on his body, and also cooled his burning cheeks. As he washed, he secretly glanced at the shore out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that Qiu Gu didn't look back, he felt a little relieved.

When he put on the new clothes, they fit him perfectly, except that the T-shirt was a little loose, it almost seemed like it was made for him.

He walked behind Qiu Gu, without saying a word, and just walked back. Qiu Gu immediately followed him, still keeping a distance of three meters.

In this dreamlike world, the days are short, the dusks are long, and the lakeside breeze, laden with moisture, stirs a dampness in the heart. This silent journey is far from over.

At night, Su Yang found a dry cave and leaned against the stone wall, closing his eyes to rest. He heard Qiu Gu fiddling with something at the entrance, making a rustling sound. He was too lazy to open his eyes until a burning smell wafted in, then he sat up with a frown.

She was squatting beside the fire at the entrance of the cave, holding a branch with a roasted wild fruit on it. The skin of the fruit was cracked, revealing the charcoal-colored flesh inside.

She took a bite and her brows immediately wrinkled into knots, but she chewed it twice and swallowed it, then picked up another one and put it into the fire. She didn't hold the branch firmly, and the fruit fell to the ground and rolled to Su Yang's feet.

He kicked the fruit away and said, "You useless thing! You can't even roast a fruit properly."

Qiu Gu picked up another fruit and this time roasted it directly with her hands. Her fingertips were burned by the flame. She raised it and slowly turned it in circles. The skin gradually turned caramel color and a sweet fragrance wafted over.

She handed over the roasted fruit, the peel stained with charcoal ash. Su Yang didn't even glance at it: "Go away, it's disgusting to look at."

Qiu Gu withdrew his hand and started eating it himself, with fruit crumbs on the corners of his mouth. He stared at him straight, like an ignorant wild beast.

-

As the sun crested overhead, Su Yang resumed his hike. The afternoon sun was blazing, so he stopped beneath a large tree, picked a few wild fruits, and leaned against the trunk to nibble on them. Qiu Gu silently sat down across from him, pulling out a piece of dry, hard wolf meat from his bosom and chewing it slowly. Blood trickled down the corners of his mouth, making him feel nauseous.

"Ugh! Can you eat from a distance?" Su Yang threw the uneaten fruit at her. "It makes me sick just looking at it."

Qiu Gu looked up at him, still chewing the meat without stopping, his eyes still emotionless, and moved to the side, further away from him.

Su Yang finally felt better. He closed his eyes, hoping to rest, but then he heard a soft sound like fabric ripping. He opened his eyes and saw Qiu Gu biting away the bandage on her wrist with her teeth. The wound from the wolf's claws the previous day had opened, and blood was oozing out. She rubbed her saliva onto the wound, her movements as rough as if she were treating a piece of rotten meat.

"Fuck! That's fucking disgusting!"

Su Yang cursed under his breath and turned away, but couldn't help but glance at her out of the corner of his eye. Seeing her biting the bandage and pulling at the wound, and seeing her not even frowning, he felt inexplicably angry. It wasn't sympathy, but the feeling that this lunatic didn't even treat him as a human being. It was annoying just to see him.

After treating the wound, Qiu Gu looked up and met his gaze. He suddenly threw the half piece of wolf meat in his hand towards him and said, "Eat it?"

"Get lost!" Su Yang kicked the wolf meat away. "Who wants to eat the dirty stuff you chewed on?"

Qiu Gu didn't say anything else. He picked up the wolf meat and continued to chew it. His eyes fell on his ankle. The herbal compress had been washed off and the swelling became obvious again.

While searching for a new cave that evening, Su Yang's ankle ached so much that he couldn't help but frown after every two steps. Qiu Gu gathered some herbs from somewhere, kneaded them into a ball, and tossed it at his feet: "Apply it."

"Get out! No need for your pretend kindness." Su Yang kicked the medicine ball away, and the herbs rolled all over the floor.

Qiu Gu's face darkened. He bent down to pick up the medicine ball, grabbed his ankle, and forcefully applied the medicine on it. The force was so great that Su Yang grimaced in pain.

"Let the fuck go!" Su Yang struggled and wanted to kick her, but she held him down tightly and he couldn't move.

"If you move again, I'll cut your tendons." Qiu Gu's voice was as cold as ice, and the fierceness in his eyes made Su Yang freeze instantly.

He looked at her profile as she lowered her head to bandage her face. The bruise on her forehead was particularly conspicuous in the twilight. It was probably caused by the collision when she was hunting the wolf that day. It was covered by the hat and he didn't see it before.

……

In the illusion, the weather was cloudy for two consecutive days. When it cleared up, Su Yang's ankle had subsided a lot. Although he still limped a little when walking, at least he could exert force normally.

He stood by the lake, stretching his ankles and watching the small fish swimming in the water. He suddenly felt interested. He had been eating wild fruits for the past few days and his mouth was already dry.

"Tsk! Stay away from me." Su Yang saw Qiu Gu following him again, frowning and taking two steps toward the lake, deliberately keeping his distance. He bent down, picked up a flat stone, weighed it twice, and flung it into the water. The stone bounced three times on the surface, startling the fish and sending them swimming away.

Qiu Ge leaned against an old tree on the shore, his hands in his pockets, watching his movements with an indescribable concentration in his eyes.

Su Yang took off his shoes and walked into the water. The water barely reached his ankles, and the cool touch lifted his spirits. He stared at the movement in the water, spotted a palm-sized fish, and reached out to grab it, but the fish's tail splashed water all over his face.

"grass!"

Su Yang wiped his face, held his breath, moved slowly, and stared at the fish in the water.

The prisoner's skeleton was still leaning against the tree, like a silent stone statue. Only when the wind blew the corners of her clothes could she be seen as a living creature.

Su Yang tried a few more times, but either he caught nothing or the fish slipped away, leaving him splashed with water and in a state of disarray. He was a little annoyed and was about to go ashore to find a branch to use as a harpoon when he heard a splash behind him.

He looked back and saw Qiu Gu had also entered the water at some point, now bent over, groping for something. Her movements were swift, like the agility of a water bird, and she stood up in a moment, clutching a fish nearly two feet long, its gills still flaring and its tail swishing through the water.

"Here." She threw the fish over, her tone as flat as if she was handing a stone.

Su Yang caught it subconsciously. The slime from the fish stained his hands, making them greasy and disgusting. He frowned and threw the fish back into the water: "Who asked you to catch it? I can catch it myself."