“We won’t head back to the stone castle, it’s too far away.” Elvis told Lea. “I have a cave nearby. If it’s not suitable, then we’ll dig another one. Next time, we will live by this stream.”
Gu Mengmeng said, “Eh eh eh, wait a minute. Why do have to live by this stream? My sons are still in that stone castle.”
“We will go fetch them after we settle down here,” Elvis replied as he carried Gu Mengmeng back to shore.
They had departed in a hurry and didn’t bring any skinned furs. Elvis had no choice but to use his own tail to wrap tightly around Gu Mengmeng, so that she would not fall sick from being exposed to the winds in her wet state.
It had been a long time since Gu Mengmeng last saw Elvis present such a black face to her.
Wasn’t it just a nosebleed? It wasn’t as if she had taken an an illicit lover. Why was he so fierce towards her?
“Erm… hubby, why are you angry?” Gu Mengmeng asked timidly.
Elvis paused and looked at Gu Mengmeng with a very complex and profound gaze. He said in a raspy voice, “I am not angry, I am afraid…”
Gu Mengmeng glanced at Cole, who had been following them the whole time. She pondered for a moment. She felt it was not too possible, but still asked in a tentative manner, “You are afraid of Cole?”
“Him? Ha…” Elvis snorted with disdain.
Gu Mengmeng agreed it was a pretty silly question. Elvis already dared to face off Cole when he was only a third-level beast, not to mention now.
But…
“Then what are you afraid of? Why must we stay by the stream?” Gu Mengmeng really couldn’t understand.
Elvis’ blue eyes seem to hold a bottomless black hole, drawing her down into its spiraling depths. His voice was soft but every word thudded against her heart. “You bled. I am afraid that I will lose you.”
Bled?
Gu Mengmeng thought about it before realization dawned on her. She asked in exasperation, “You thought that I was dying just because my nose bled?”
“Xiao Meng!” This was the first time Elvis had spoken to her so sternly. He was just stating her name but it was already the harshest words he had uttered to her.
But not only was Gu Mengmeng not afraid, she laughed out. She looped her arms around Elvis’ neck and said gently, “Silly hubby. My nose bled because we have been eating too much roasted meats recently. Plus you keep a burning fire every night for fear of me getting a chill, such that my body got too heated up. That is all. My health is still very good and I will not die. Don’t be afraid.”
Elvis remained dubious about Gu Mengmeng’s explanation.
He, Lea and the three little ones all ate and slept the same as her, so why didn’t the rest of them suffer nosebleeds, but only Gu Mengmeng did?
Gu Mengmeng seemed to have seen through Elvis’ thoughts. “You are all males and more hardy than me. I am so delicate, don’t you agree…”
Gu Mengmeng was actually being self-mocking when she used the word “delicate”. She only said it to ease the tension and bring smiles to Elvis’ and Lea’s faces.
But Gu Mengmeng blushed after Elvis and Lea seriously considered her point before nodding in agreement.
Calling herself delicate… ha, she was shameless.
Elvis held Gu Mengmeng tightly in his arms, as if he still couldn’t let go of his worries. He insisted. “Let’s stay by this stream for a few days first. I will bring you back to the stone castle after I am sure you are fine.”
Lea seconded the suggestion and added. “In future, we will ban roasted meats from the menu. And from on, we will keep you warm by having Elvis and I embrace you.”