novelonline Chapter 3683 Active Warmth and Deception
Chapter 3683 Active Warmth and Deception
Chapter 3683 Active Warmth and Deception
"Since your legs hurt, let's take a break for now."
Xia De agreed to the girl's request and then called out to the front:
“Janet, you go back to the carriage first. We’ll follow them right away. I remember there’s a spare first-aid kit in the carriage, go find it first.”
Vanessa walked further and further away, while Shad carried the red-haired girl to a tree by the path, cleared the snow off the ground, and let her sit on his coat for a while.
Seeing how heavy the snowstorm was, Xia De suggested:
"I'll go gather some branches to start a fire; I have matches on me."
"Please don't go! I'm scared. It's getting dark soon, and there might be wild animals here."
The red-haired girl looked timid.
"But without fire, we'll freeze to death if we sit here for a while."
"Could you check my foot first? It really hurts."
She moved her right leg with difficulty. Vanessa had already taken off her right shoe; her ankle was too swollen to wear. To prevent her extremities from freezing and dying, Vanessa wrapped the girl's spare jacket from her backpack over her socks.
At that moment, she stretched out her foot toward Shad and sat there looking up at him standing in front of her.
She chuckled in Xia De's ear, her voice incredibly pleasant amidst the rustling of falling snow.
Shade shook his head:
"I'm sorry, I'm not very knowledgeable about diagnosing and treating fracture symptoms. But it's best not to move around too much in your current condition, just keep things as they are. I'll gather firewood nearby. Actually, we should be more worried about hypothermia than fractures right now."
The girl didn't insist, and Shad quickly found enough firewood nearby. Firewood in these snow-covered forests is usually damp and difficult to ignite, so Shad dried it first before taking it back.
The snow fell even heavier, seemingly due to the overcast sky, and the sky quickly turned from dusk to night. As Xia De squatted down to light the fire, he heard the girl making rustling noises, and when he lit the campfire with a match, he looked up and saw the strange girl's small right foot appear in the firelight.
Of course, her ankle was still swollen like a potato.
She looked at Xia De with tears in her eyes, probably in real pain, her expression clearly hoping that Xia De would comfort her.
"It still hurts, doesn't it?"
"Yes, I think it must be a fracture. Could you massage it for me? I heard that massaging a swollen foot will relieve the pain. Also, my foot is so cold, even wrapped in clothes, it's still cold. Could you warm it up for me?"
"I heard that you shouldn't touch a fractured foot, and that massaging it will only make the injury worse."
Even so, he still went over and moved her closer to the campfire, and used her spare coat, which had fallen into the snow, to wrap her foot again.
"Let's warm ourselves by the fire, night is coming."
While Xia De was doing these things, he felt someone gently patting his shoulder; it was the girl brushing the snow off his sweater.
"Thank you."
Her eyes reflected the firelight and Xia De, and the blush on her cheeks was hard to tell whether it was from shyness or the reflection of the flames.
Shade shook his head:
“No need to be so polite. With the snow falling so heavily, we probably can’t continue for the time being. But don’t worry, my companions will probably call for help soon since we haven’t shown up yet. Let’s wait a little longer. Would you like something to eat? I have a few chocolate biscuits in my pocket.”
He handed the biscuit wrapped in a handkerchief to the girl, who took it and thanked him quietly again. After taking a bite of the sandwich biscuit, she shyly handed it to Xia De.
"You didn't have dinner either, did you?"
Shad shook his head at the cookie with teeth marks on it:
I'm not hungry right now, you eat.
As he spoke, he sat down by the fire and reached out his hand as if to warm himself by the fire.
The "she" beside him continued to laugh, while the girl, like a little rabbit, ate two cookies next to Shad, wrapped the remaining cookies in a handkerchief and handed them to him, then also made a gesture of warming herself by the fire.
“Mr. Watson, did you and that blonde lady come here on a date? Could you tell me your story? You must have a very good relationship.”
"It wasn't just because of a date. Someone asked me to come here to retrieve something, and I just brought her along on the way."
"Oh, I see. Did I interrupt your schedule? Is tonight a candlelight dinner?"
"It's alright, it's not a bother. In this kind of weather, I can't leave you alone on the mountain."
The girl instinctively tightened her coat, seemingly still feeling a bit cold even by the fire. She pursed her lips and looked at Xia De, as if wanting to say something but hesitant to speak, finally asking:
"You gave me your coat, aren't you cold?"
"It's a bit cold, but thankfully there are still fires here. Don't go to places far from the city by yourself again; it's dangerous."
"But I've heard that the Frost Kiss Corridor in winter is a place where love can be found, and many locals have met their love here."
She explained shyly, glanced at Xia De again, and then whispered:
"If you feel cold, you can move closer to me, we can warm each other, I don't mind."
As she spoke, she lowered her head, her face already flushed.
Shad did move a little closer to her, but not to the point of being directly touching her:
"Let's just keep talking like this. It's getting dark soon, and we might freeze without even realizing it. Let's talk about anything, like, what do you think of Fatoumunst Island? Do you need me to recommend some sights?"
The girl then whispered:
"Can we talk about something else?"
"What do you want to say?"
"Are you always so kind in helping others?"
"It's not always like this, but we'll help if we can, since everyone's life is tough."
The red-haired girl then raised her head, as if she had mustered her courage:
"I really don't know how to thank you for what you did this time. I know you're a very good person and must have had many amazing experiences. Before I leave this island, can I come visit you and hear some of your stories?"
"Of course, I'll stay in the town of the Fatu people for now. Although the living facilities are not as complete as those in the City of Time, the atmosphere there is very good."
The girl boldly grabbed Xia De's hand, her grip light, and blushing as she made sure he didn't pull away before continuing:
"I know I'm not as pretty as that lady from before, but the rumors about Frost Kiss Corridor are probably true. We don't know when we'll be rescued tonight, so please come closer to me. I'm willing to share warmth with you."
She looked up at Xia De with hazy eyes, blinked a few times, then closed her eyes and moved closer to him, only to be pushed away by Xia De again:
"Sorry, that won't do. I didn't save you to take advantage of you."
"This wasn't taking advantage of me, it was my own choice. I'm not that kind of shameless girl, I...I...I really felt so sorry for you, so very sorry for you."
As she spoke, her eyes reddened and she lowered her head. Seeing that Xia De did not get up and leave, she suddenly opened her arms to hug Xia De, but Xia De dodged her.
She wanted to speak further, but an impatient voice came from the woods at that moment:
"After doing something like this, you still say you're not a shameless girl. My heart is colder than the snowstorm you summoned. What's the word for 'you' again?"
Claire asked angrily as she walked out of the woods, while Megan shook her head:
"I would never want to say that kind of word."
Vanessa was just as angry;
"Letting you be alone with him for a while is just a way to buy time and see what you're up to. Do you really think we're that generous?"
"Why bother talking to her so much? Wouldn't it be better to just take action?"
Flora, with her gray-white hair, pursed her lips and wore a cold expression; the artist rarely showed such an expression.
The four great witches surrounded the burning campfire from four directions, and it was clear that there were others in the forest who did not immediately appear.
"So, you knew all along that I had a problem?"
The red-haired girl by the fire asked Shad with a somewhat sad expression, and Shad stood up by the fire:
“I don’t like to suspect a stranger, but the way you appeared and asked for help is too suspicious. I hate being lied to. As for being completely sure you have a problem, that’s when I carried you on my back. Now give up resisting. I have a lot of questions I want to talk to you about. Maybe we can avoid fighting.”
The girl, still sitting by the fire, had tears in her eyes:
Don't you have any feelings for me at all?
"If you had listened to my advice and hadn't cast a spell on me while I was away, I might have felt a little better about you. I know you have the power to make others like you, but that power doesn't work on me. Your acting is quite good, but I really don't like being lied to like this."
The red-haired girl wiped away her tears:
"Men, they're all the same—ah!"
The piercing shriek extinguished the flames around the two, and as the four great witches who had surrounded them attacked together, the moonlight had already carved a dazzling trail of light in the snowy night.
The moonlight slashed straight at the unfamiliar red-haired girl's body. She stood there without dodging, and after bringing her hands together, she opened her palms and pushed forward forcefully. The black light absorbed most of the silver moonlight. Although the weakened moonlight still left her body a bloody mess after passing through the black light, it did not completely sever her body.
"Mr. Snake's power! You really are the person we've been looking for."
Then, the black mist that surged from beneath her feet completely engulfed the girl. The four great witches' tentative attacks landed on her, but only produced screams that sounded like they came from different individuals.
As the black mist dissipated, the red-haired girl had transformed into a bizarre creature with a human head and a snake's body. The snake's tail, which served as its lower body, was pitch black and terrifying. Within the black mist that coiled around the tail, hideous and grotesque faces surged and churned. Shad even sensed a power similar to that of the "Infinite Serpent."
Her face, however, became even more exquisite than before, so exquisite that it seemed less like a naturally born human and more like a work of art sculpted by human hands. The source of that beauty was undoubtedly "desire." The combination of a human body and a snake's tail symbolized the union of two evil forces, and the enemy of Act Five had finally reappeared.