Chapter 46: Forty-Six

Wei Shu, forgotten by Li Yuanxi, used her pathfinder stick to steady herself on the slippery ground. Black mud and decaying leaves caked onto the soles of her shoes with every step.

The cold wind stung her skin. After walking for a while, she stopped to catch her breath, the stick feeling warm in her hand.

On the other side, Li Yuanxi, who had just realized Wei Shu was missing, frantically retraced her steps, picking up two arrows along the way.

She struggled to climb back up the cliff, looked around, cupped her hands around her mouth, and shouted, “Shu Shu! Xiao Shu! Where are you?”

Unable to find her, Li Yuanxi jogged all the way back to where they had started chasing the deer. She searched for a long time but couldn’t find her.

She turned back to look for traces of Wei Shu’s movements. The mountain forest was full of their footprints, making it hard to distinguish which direction she had taken. Li Yuanxi’s nose was beaded with sweat from the effort.

Frustrated, Li Yuanxi scratched her face. Clenching her jaw, a sharp glint in her eye, she followed one set of nearby tracks, then another.

Wei Shu had taken a wrong turn and walked in circles three times before finding a safe, gentle path. So the footprints on the ground went in three directions.

Wei Shu smiled to herself: Sorry, but since you left me behind, I had to find my own way.

Li Yuanxi: …

After checking the first trail and finding nothing, Li Yuanxi circled back to the second one and finally found the correct path. She followed the footprints and the marks from the pathfinder stick, jogging forward.

She ran and shouted Wei Shu’s name, but got no response from the hillside.

Wei Shu finally made it down the mountain, only to realize she had chosen an unfamiliar beach. But once she was on the sand, she could find her way home from any direction.

Halfway there, she realized that Li Yuanxi, upon discovering she was missing, would absolutely come back to find her.

Wei Shu looked at the bare trees and fell silent. Silently, she turned around and headed back into the gray, withered mountain forest. With a helpless sigh, she turned again and decided to stay put and wait for Li Yuanxi.

“Xiao Shu… Shu Shu… President Wei…”

A distant voice came from the bottom of the slope. Wei Shu lazily lifted her eyes and looked ahead. A smile touched her lips as she muttered, “You idiot.”

Crunch… crunch…

Rapid footsteps broke the twigs and leaves underfoot.

“Xiao Shu!!!”

Li Yuanxi ran down the slope, skirted a low bush, and immediately spotted Wei Shu leaning against a tree. Wei Shu looked up, her expression relaxed and calm, watching the excited Li Yuanxi rush towards her.

Her gaze fell on the dried blood on Li Yuanxi’s palms, and the black mud, leaves, and dry grass on her front and pants.

Li Yuanxi ran straight up to Wei Shu. A gust of cold wind hit Wei Shu’s face. She squinted at Li Yuanxi, whose eyes were rimmed with red and filled with urgency.

Li Yuanxi tried to hug her, but Wei Shu stopped her with a finger on her chest. “What?” Li Yuanxi’s voice was full of grievance, her expression pathetic as she looked at the finger pressing against her chest.

“Dirty.” Wei Shu squinted, using her slender, pale hand to poke at Li Yuanxi’s chest hard. Her lips were a bit pale from being in the wind, her face wrapped in a beige scarf.

Li Yuanxi grabbed her cold fingertips, her own hot palm making Wei Shu not want to pull away immediately. Wei Shu drooped her eyelids, not wanting to look at the person who had abandoned her without a word.

“I was wrong.” Li Yuanxi held Wei Shu’s right hand with both of hers, shaking it like a cute, soft little Omega, looking at her pitifully.

Wei Shu let out a soft laugh, reached up, and covered Li Yuanxi’s eyes. She didn’t want to look at her. Every time she begged for forgiveness, she looked exactly like the big German Shepherd at home when it had done something wrong—big, watery eyes, so pitiful.

Li Yuanxi’s long eyelashes swept across Wei Shu’s palm, tickling her. Wei Shu slightly cupped her hand, then casually lowered it. “Come on, let’s go see the deer you hunted.”

“Wait a moment.” Li Yuanxi put down her basket, took off her dirty jacket in a few swift moves, and draped it over Wei Shu.

The warmth from her body immediately transferred to Wei Shu. Wei Shu looked at the yellow jacket on her and frowned. “You took it off. Aren’t you cold? Take it back.”

As she was about to pull it off, Li Yuanxi grabbed her hand, picked up the basket, and walked ahead. Wei Shu frowned, not wanting to move.

“Let’s go! I’m not cold. Have you ever seen Alphas wear so many clothes in winter?” Li Yuanxi’s cheerful voice made Wei Shu’s body shiver slightly before she was pulled along.

“Is this the deer you killed?” Wei Shu stood beside the fallen deer, looking at the pool of dried, dark blood on the ground, then at the deer that was bigger than her. “How are we going to move this?”

“Uh… in a few trips, I guess. Otherwise, we can’t move it.” Li Yuanxi scratched her head, feeling proud yet awkward. She had been so happy chasing the deer that she had completely forgotten about the weight issue.

Wei Shu furrowed her brow. That was the only option. But this time, they couldn’t go back the way they came. They had to go straight down the mountain, or they’d be going in circles all day and wouldn’t get the deer home.

“Shu Shu, don’t look. I’ll skin it quickly.” Li Yuanxi held the sharp, cold short knife and told her to look away.

“I’m not scared. Hurry up. If the body gets cold, the skin won’t be easy to remove.” Wei Shu took a step back. Li Yuanxi nodded and quickly cut the skin around the deer’s hooves.

After making the cuts, she sliced straight down. The deer was hung upside down on a tree branch. Li Yuanxi pulled hard, and the still-warm deerskin came off relatively easily.

With a yank, the milky-white outer layer of fat came off along with most of the skin, revealing the beautiful, fatty venison. The lean red meat was wrapped in white membrane and fat.

Li Yuanxi removed the complete skin, cutting it off near the deer’s head. She breathed out a puff of white mist, her face excited.

“This skin is big and wide enough to make clothes for you directly.” Li Yuanxi eagerly handed it to Wei Shu. An intense, gamey deer smell hit Wei Shu, making her a bit lightheaded.

“Thanks. Put it down for now. Cut up the meat, and we’ll carry it back first.” Wei Shu tilted her head. Li Yuanxi burst out laughing, a very unrefined, loud laugh. “Haha, you’re just scared!”

Wei Shu forcefully rolled her eyes and ignored her. She placed the basket beside the meat, ready for Li Yuanxi to cut it into pieces. She hoped it wouldn’t get too dirty, so they wouldn’t have to wash it at the seaside.

The short knife in Li Yuanxi’s hand easily sliced through the deer’s belly, leaving a bit at the end to hold the innards.

She took out the organs. While she was thinking about where to put them, Wei Shu found a pile of leaves that hadn’t wilted yet.

Within twenty minutes, she had cut a full basket of meat. Wei Shu looked at the remaining half a deer and realized, for the first time, that having too much meat was also a problem.

“At least we don’t have to worry about running out of meat now.” Wei Shu rested her head on Li Yuanxi’s shoulder. Li Yuanxi’s hands were covered in blood, so she could only keep them raised. She felt a bit troubled too. “Let’s eat roast deer leg tonight.”

“Sounds good.” Wei Shu nodded. They packed everything up to carry back. The organs were wrapped in the deerskin for Wei Shu to carry.

Li Yuanxi’s backpack weighed about fifty jin. She used her pathfinder stick to brace herself in the mud, walking heavily but steadily.

Wei Shu stepped in her footprints to avoid slipping. It took them over forty minutes to get back to the cave.

“Ah, that’s a lot of meat.” Li Yuanxi rested her basket against the blue stone outside the cave, then turned to put it heavily on the ground.

Wei Shu placed the deerskin on the ground. She felt a bit itchy and kept scratching her neck.

Li Yuanxi, hands on her hips, turned and saw that Wei Shu’s entire neck was red, and her scarf was off.

“What’s wrong?” Li Yuanxi walked over, concerned, and looked at Wei Shu’s neck. Wei Shu was holding a small black insect between her fingers. She frowned, looked at Li Yuanxi, and brought her fingers closer.

Li Yuanxi’s eyes widened. “Holy shit… That’s a deer tick! Drop it!”

Li Yuanxi grabbed the deerskin and threw it on the ground, then carefully searched Wei Shu’s clothes. There were definitely more.

Li Yuanxi heated two buckets of water and placed them outside the bathroom. She soaked all of Wei Shu’s clothes in a bucket. She splashed cold water on the deerskin and beat it repeatedly with a stick.

Li Yuanxi’s face was grim. How could she have forgotten that wild deer carried ticks? She should have just left it alone.

She pounded her forehead in frustration. With the weather so cold, Xiao Shu bathing and washing her hair could easily get her sick. She could only build a roaring fire in the cave for Wei Shu to dry her hair and warm up upon her return.

Wei Shu had a towel wrapped around her head and was wearing a very loose set of clothes. Before she could even step out, Li Yuanxi wrapped her entirely in a blanket and carried her back into the cave.

Wei Shu’s cheeks were flushed pink. The ends of her hair were still dripping. She curled up in Li Yuanxi’s arms, not moving a muscle. Her lips were tightly pressed together. She wasn’t wearing any pants, after all.

She pressed her legs together and really didn’t want to talk to Li Yuanxi, who never followed the rules, without any warning. Wei Shu cast a shy, angry glare at Li Yuanxi’s pale jaw.

Unfortunately, the one being glared at didn’t notice. Li Yuanxi strode towards the cave. As she stepped inside, a wave of heat washed over Wei Shu, warming her up.

“Dry your hair in the cave. I’ll go bring back the rest of the deer meat.” Li Yuanxi placed Wei Shu in front of the fire, her voice a bit gloomy. Wei Shu reached out her slender, beautiful wrist and grabbed Li Yuanxi.

“What’s wrong?” Li Yuanxi bent down gently, looking at Wei Shu on the bed. “Bend down a little more.” Wei Shu beckoned.

Li Yuanxi lowered her head, not knowing why. Wei Shu turned and kissed Li Yuanxi’s dry lips. Her tongue slid across Li Yuanxi’s lips and invaded territory that wasn’t her own.

Li Yuanxi’s irritable and regretful feelings were immediately soothed by this warm, fragrant softness. She moved her fingers slightly but didn’t cross the line she had set for herself. She reached out and wrapped her arm around the slender waist.

Li Yuanxi walked alone along the path of dead grass and withering leaves, the same one she and Wei Shu had just taken.

She walked steadily until she reached the spot covered in dark, dried blood. The white bones, stripped clean of meat, were exposed to the air.

Li Yuanxi had to make three trips to carry back the rest of the deer, even falling once and scraping her arm.

She sat on the ground, looking at the large piece of thigh meat and ribs that had fallen. She left some large bones to make soup.

“Ugh, this deer really didn’t want to come home.” Li Yuanxi thought about the at least two more deer she would need to make clothes for herself and Wei Shu.

That night, Li Yuanxi sat by the fire. The wound on her arm had been sprayed with brown iodine and was healing well.

“I threw the large intestine and the deer’s head into the reef area. In a few days, when the tide comes in, we’ll be able to harvest a lot of seafood. We can have some fresh food. We can’t just eat dried and cured stuff all the time.”

Li Yuanxi fished the deer heart and liver, which had been wrapped in plant ash, out of the fire. The blackened deer heart gave off a charred, smoky smell. It wasn’t pretty, cooked in the embers, but it tasted good.

She had also set up a wooden rack over the fire to roast the deer leg. The smell of meat in the cave made Li Yuanxi’s mouth water uncontrollably. It was so tempting.

The deer leg had been rubbed with a mixture of lemon water and dried mint leaves, inside and out. The golden-brown venison sizzled, and even Wei Shu swallowed.

It had been so long since they had smelled something this tantalizing, this delicious.