Gu Youyou sat on the rock at the mouth of the cave for an entire afternoon, and as the sun set behind the mountains, Jin Zijin finally returned.
He looked very dejected, his lips chapped and his complexion flushed. His walk was somewhat erratic; he appeared to be in great pain.
Seeing him in such a rundown state, all of her afternoon resentment towards him vanished in an instant.
Gu Youyou quickly got to her feet, steadying his faltering form.
Jin Zijin seemed to be running on his last breath to make it back to the cave, and as soon as Gu Youyou supported him, the last string of tension snapped, and he collapsed onto her.
Gu Youyou’s slight frame could hardly support Jin Zijin’s tall and burly figure, and unsteady, they both toppled to the ground.
The ground was littered with small stones and tree branches. Gu Youyou felt a piercing pain in her hand, and upon lifting it, she saw a striking wound on the outside of her thumb, caused by a tree branch.
Jin Zijin, who had fallen beside her, seemingly summoned some strength from nowhere, fiercely grabbed her hand, his eyes fixated on the bleeding wound.
"Zijin, what’s wrong with you?"
Jin Zijin’s intense gaze on his own bleeding hand was frightening, and Gu Youyou began to feel inexplicably anxious.
Perhaps it was Gu Youyou’s crisp voice that snapped Jin Zijin back to his senses, as he gently lifted his head to look at her.
After a moment’s pause, he said, "Why aren’t you more careful? Does it hurt?"
Gu Youyou felt the cold blood from her body being sucked into his mouth, and her icy hand began to warm up.
He was cleaning the wound on her hand, but he was also drinking her blood.
She was very aware of it.
Let him drink, she thought. If he gently sucked all the cold blood from her body, she would never feel cold again...
Gu Youyou did not know when she had fallen into a deep sleep, nor when she had groggily awakened. When she woke up, the sun was high in the sky, and she was lying on Jin Zijin’s back as he carried her, hurrying along the path.
She was grateful that there had been no persistent spring rains lately; the weather had been good every day. Otherwise, with her lack of a fixed abode, she wouldn’t know where to seek shelter from the rain.
The broad expanse of his back was warm and strong, comforting and satisfying to her.
She shifted slightly, and the person in front seemed to sense it.
Jin Zijin tensed his back, paused, and then lifted his feet to continue walking.
He said, "You’ve awakened!"
Gu Youyou felt warm and sunny inside and out. She gently leaned her head against Jin Zijin’s broad back and said with a voice clear as jade dropping onto a plate, "Mm, where are you taking me?"
Regardless of why he had come, he took her out of that tiny dark room and saved her life; that was a fact. And no matter where he went, he had not yet left her behind; that was also true.
As for the future, well, she would worry about that later!