Qi Family Gang (13)

The hand wrapped in white cloth felt soft and boneless, carrying a bone-chilling cold, and... it was somewhat damp.

Whether it was because the person lacked the temperature of a living human or something else, Headman Qi even felt as if the hand were wet.

He pulled his hand back quickly as if he had been burned. "Truly sorry. The hour is late, and our horse gang would like to borrow a place to stay the night. We will leave first thing tomorrow morning."

The villager looked at the silver nugget in their hand as if they had no reaction. Headman Qi thought to himself that things were looking bad; could it be that they hadn't even seen silver before?

But soon, the villager took the chestnut-sized piece of silver and turned to walk away.

Headman Qi smiled.

Their willingness to take the money meant this would work. They didn't need the villagers to help them tidy up, so he called over several horsemen to clear out two stilt houses for themselves.

These stilt houses looked delicate, but they actually had a decent capacity.

The people of the horse gang weren't delicate or picky; they didn't care about sleeping on actual beds as long as they had a place to stay.

They did a rough organization of the abandoned stilt houses, gathering the furniture together and spreading their bedrolls on the floor.

Each stilt house had five or six rooms; if they squeezed in, fitting fifteen or sixteen people was no problem.

Nan Yue and the others were grouped together, mainly because Zhu Xi Ning and Nan Yue had a fair amount of influence within the horse gang.

They shared a building with Headman Qi, while Manager Wu went to the other one.

Headman Qi had a room to himself, not because he was unwilling to sleep with others, but mainly because the others complained his snoring was too loud and preferred to squeeze together elsewhere.

Nan Yue and her six companions split between two rooms. Gu Xiang Kai and Chi Yu went to one, while Yin Qian and Jiang Yuhao, who had almost no combat capability, needed more protection.

Nan Yue and two others stayed together. Jiang Siyan was spreading out Nan Yue's bedding. Although the settlement was on the second floor and treated for waterproofing, the ground was still quite damp, likely due to the long-term environmental influence.

Jiang Siyan didn't use the original items from the settlement. He laid his own bedroll on the bottom and then placed Nan Yue's bedding on top. After testing it, the feeling of dampness and cold wasn't as deep.

Nan Yue watched Jiang Siyan busying himself, but her mind was on those strange villagers from earlier.

Setting aside their attire, she felt as if these villagers gave her a very familiar feeling.

But because they were wrapped so tightly in white cloth, she couldn't even distinguish their gender, let alone their looks; she could only see their approximate height and build.

For some reason, Nan Yue felt a sense of familiarity.

"Use our own water."

The water Manager Wu and the others had found earlier was basically fine since there were living creatures in it.

There were also large jars under the stilt houses used to collect water, most likely rainwater.

But to be safe, none of them wanted to use the water from Fish Fry Village.

Nan Yue ate her hard dry rations while sitting on the relatively comfortable bedding. "How are you going to sleep?"

Jiang Siyan found a straw raincoat to use as a straw mat on the floor.

"I'll make do for a night."

He hadn't planned on sleeping anyway. Among everyone, he was the person with the fewest survival needs. Even if he didn't eat, drink, or sleep, he wouldn't die.

His awakened ability could maintain his minimum health...

Until he was killed in one hit.

Nan Yue looked at him, wanting to say something but stopping herself. The deeper her contact with Jiang Siyan and the longer they spent together, the more her heart ached for him.

His ability was his life-saving straw, but also his poison.

It prevented him from finding release during his most painful moments and made it very likely he would be used by others because of his awakened ability.

He must have suffered quite a lot to reach this point.

He was already used to it.

But Nan Yue was not.

Nan Yue didn't like him sacrificing himself like this, using his awakened ability to pave the way for missions.

She sat up slightly and patted the space beside her.

"Come here. This spot is quite wide."

A horseman's bedding was just a roll of straw mat and a cloth wrap, which became a relatively comfortable mattress once set up.

Jiang Siyan hesitated for a moment before walking over.

"I'm going to take a look around. You two should rest after you finish eating."

Nan Yue's figure disappeared out the door. Beside them, Zhu Xi Ning, who had been playing dumb the whole time, teased him.

"I thought you'd be very happy that A-Nan asked you to sleep with her."

Among them, besides Wen Xiang Yuan, Zhu Xi Ning was likely the first to see Jiang Siyan's feelings for Nan Yue.

After all, she was someone who had read countless web novels.

Even if she hadn't experienced it herself, she had seen it plenty of times.

Jiang Siyan turned to glance at her. "The bed isn't big enough."

He was certainly willing to be close to Nan Yue. Although he wasn't in a hurry, it was naturally good if Nan Yue could slowly accept him until one day they could become something more than teammates.

But the prerequisite was safety.

And it was not safe here.

He felt that the air here was very uncomfortable—damp and hot, like the saliva of some animal. He wanted nothing more than for Nan Yue to stay as far away from these things as possible.

"Sigh..."

Zhu Xi Ning sighed and said nothing more. Jiang Siyan was still too dense.

If Nan Yue didn't have some special feelings for him, how could she have suggested sleeping together?

Besides, they were teammates bound by life and death; who would just give their bedding to another person?

It was a bit too intimate.

Zhu Xi Ning shook her head and lay down on her bedding to rest.

Gu Xiang Kai's room was across from Nan Yue's, with a corridor in between that creaked and groaned whenever someone stepped on it.

This stilt house was too old.

"Is everything normal?"

Gu Xiang Kai and Chi Yu had their bedding by the door, protecting the other two.

Gu Xiang Kai nodded when he saw Nan Yue arrive. "We didn't use the water here just to be safe."

They were all experienced scavengers; they didn't need Nan Yue to remind them of these things.

"Everything is normal."

Yin Qian added with a frown, "It's just that the places where I was bitten are too itchy. I think I'm having an allergic reaction."

Chi Yu rolled her eyes, and Yin Qian immediately became aggressive.

"I am someone listed on the Beauty Rankings! My skin is very delicate!"

Chi Yu curled her lip. "Weakling."

Yin Qian: "...!"

Nan Yue looked by the light of the oil lamp. Yin Qian's skin probably really was the fairest among them. His exposed neck was flushed a faint red, and she could see fine red rashes under the firelight.

"Take off your clothes."

Yin Qian: "..."

Just as he was about to say something, Yin Qian suddenly looked behind Nan Yue and immediately raised his hands like a cowering quail. "It wasn't me, I didn't do anything."

When Nan Yue turned around, Jiang Siyan was standing behind her.

Jiang Siyan looked at Yin Qian indifferently. "Stop talking nonsense. If she tells you to take them off, take them off."

He wasn't a fool like Xiang Guang.

Preventing the person he liked from being beautiful, excellent, or looking at others...

That was not only disrespectful to the other person but even more disrespectful to himself.

If Nan Yue wanted to do something, he, Jiang Siyan, would only risk his life to help her achieve it.

How could he ever become a constraint to her for such a ridiculous reason?

Yin Qian rolled his eyes, not knowing what this big brother was thinking. He took off his outer robe and took a sharp breath himself.