CH 13

A fish.

A fish, measuring twenty centimeters long.

Though its species and whether it’s poisonous or not are unknown, for an adult man who had been starving for over a day, the allure of this fish was immense.

Compared to Xiao Zhenyun, Si Di possessed far more knowledge about wilderness survival. After identifying the fish species, he boasted a bit to Tai Ji and then took out a dagger from his waist, intending to scale and gut the fish. However, midway through his action, something struck him, and he looked at Xiao Zhenyun with a furrowed brow. “Can you kill fish?”

After asking, he felt a little regretful. After all, Xiao Zhenyun, a prominent Vice Chairman of the guild and a young master from a well-to-do family, was unlikely to know how to scale a fish.  Just as he was thinking of finding something else to do for this paralyzed disabled person, since he couldn’t let him get a free ride, Xiao Zhenyun’s response surprised him, “Yes, I can.”

“Really?” Si Di’s brow furrowed even tighter. He used his fingers to hook onto the fish’s gills, walked over to Xiao Zhenyun, and said, “Don’t start killing the fish and release them. If you do that, I’ll throw you into the water and make you catch them back.” As he spoke, he handed the reversed knife to Xiao Zhenyun, holding the hilt toward him. “Don’t try to play tricks. Even if you have a gun, you can’t beat me.”

Xiao Zhenyun glanced suggestively at Si Di’s severed hand, and Si Di responded with a frown, “Even if both my hands were cut off, you still wouldn’t win.”

“Got it, got it,” Xiao Zhenyun took the knife and displayed a skillful technique. “I can’t survive without you. I won’t do anything foolish.”

Si Di found Xiao Zhenyun’s response strange, though it did convey the intended meaning. He looked down, only to see that Xiao Zhenyun had completely disregarded their conversation, focusing on pressing the fish against a smooth stone surface. With proficiency, he scaled the fish, then sliced open its belly and removed the innards.

During his middle school years, Xiao Zhenyun had often helped his mother handle raw meat, expertly filleting fish, chopping chicken, and cutting eels. Although such tasks diminished after his mother fell ill and passed away, the muscle memory remained.

Si Di couldn’t understand how Xiao Zhenyun could handle such tasks, but he kept it to himself and said nothing.

Meanwhile, Tai Ji had collected several twigs and dried leaves from the woods and piled them by his owner’s side. Xiao Zhenyun thought Si Di might start a fire by drilling wood, but surprisingly, the sentinels clothing, belt, or perhaps something else, enabled him to substitute a lighter. With a gentle spark, a fire flared up.

While Si Di shaved the smaller branches, Tai Ji ran downstream and returned with two more fish, one big and one small. The larger one wriggled energetically in its mouth, leaving a trail of its tail’s afterimage. The black wolf gracefully walked back and spat the fish near Xiao Zhenyun’s hand, using its heavy front paws to knock the fish unconscious, then sat down properly, waiting for him to proceed.

Xiao Zhenyun was quite satisfied with Tai Ji’s hunting skills. He squeezed some guide elements out and generously reached to stroke the wolf’s rough fur, feeling its hardness beneath his touch.

When Si Di raised his head after trimming the wood, he saw his spirit form playfully nudging Xiao Zhenyun’s leg with its furry head. It looked like it could almost nibble on his thin, bony thighs like a chicken leg.

“Tai Ji!” Si Di was suddenly furious and skeptical. A spirit form’s behavior reflected its owner’s most genuine thoughts. Could it be that deep down, he truly desired to be close to Xiao Zhenyun? How could he accept that idea?

In his reprimand, Si Di sensed a faint guide element. Suddenly feeling relieved, he understood why Tai Ji’s attitude had been strange. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then lowered his voice, “Reel in your guide elements.”

“I can’t do that.” Xiao Zhenyun replied, “It brought the food; I have to show some gratitude.”

“…”

Si Di fell silent, realizing that Xiao Zhenyun hadn’t done anything wrong; he had been too sensitive. If another guide had provided guide elements, Si Di would have thanked them, but it was Xiao Zhenyun, and Si Di couldn’t help but be extremely cautious, analyzing every move for hidden intentions.

Now, thinking about it, being so suspicious of every little thing was exhausting. Instead of being so cautious, he might as well have chosen not to rescue him in the first place.

After a while, Si Di adjusted his mindset and suddenly asked, “Since you have guide elements, your spiritual power must have recovered. What about your spiritual body?”

In this deserted island, deep in the wilderness, the role of a spiritual body often surpassed that of the human body itself.

“It…” Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t admit that he estimated the stag would never find water. So, he had summoned it back to his spiritual domain not long ago, and the deer was now resting in the illusion, “It might be lost…”

“A stag?” Why were there so many deer guides recently?

“…” What lousy hearing. He’s a sentinel indeed.

………

Not long after skewering and cleaning the freshly caught fish on the bonfire, the alluring aroma filled the air. Xiao Zhenyun’s stomach, now thoroughly awakened, protested with a slight pang. He glanced at his hands, stained with fish blood and slime, and dirt stuck under his fingernails, along with a few small wounds from scraping against trees during his fall.

“Si Di,” Xiao Zhenyun bent down to take off his shoes and socks, rolling up his pants, “I want to wash my hands. Can you help me?”

Si Di’s gaze lifted from the flickering flames, landing on Xiao Zhenyun’s shrunken calves. Despite spending untold amounts of money to maintain and nourish them, ‘Xiao Zhenyun’ was still visibly burdened by his leg condition compared to a healthy person’s natural legs.

It can be said that almost every person with a physical disability would consciously or unconsciously avoid their own shortcomings.

These legs were Xiao Zhenyun’s taboo, his sore spot, his source of insecurity and darkness.

Yet, at this moment, Xiao Zhenyun boldly exposed his afflicted legs to the sunlight without a hint of concern about his differences. Si Di was surprised by this gesture, sitting there motionless, staring at him.

Xiao Zhenyun narrowed his eyes in confusion. Though he was innocent himself, he had to admit he had chosen a rather complex character to occupy to gain a second chance at life. There were gains and losses, and this person before him had saved his life. It was a situation where he owed a debt of gratitude, and to express it, he decided to suppress some of his reservations. After a moment’s thought, he politely added, “Could you please help me? Thank you?”

Si Di: “…”

He silently stood up and walked over to lift Xiao Zhenyun up in a horizontal embrace. The nearly six-foot-tall man felt as light as a slender woman, his whole body consisting of delicate bones. Si Di waded across the water to the other side of the pond, finding a spot where Xiao Zhenyun could sit, and even bend down to reach the water.

Watching the long-haired guide sitting obediently by the shore, carefully cleaning the dirt from under his nails, Si Di suddenly felt like he was looking at a mermaid who couldn’t swim. Like a mermaid who lost his fish tail after drinking the witch’s potion, gaining two human legs but unable to use them to walk.

The land no longer belonged to him, and the sea rejected him.

Xiao Zhenyun really hated his long hair. He couldn’t understand why the character ‘Xiao Zhenyun’ in the book insisted on keeping such long hair, except for its good looks that couldn’t fill his stomach; it was nothing but trouble. When he usually washed his hair, he became impatient, but thankfully, there were AI-controlled robotic arms at home to help. However, in this wilderness, he just wanted to cut it all off with a single stroke, to be done with it.

In the future, when he returns to the city, he would have to follow the plot, and in the plot, he had to have long hair. Xiao Zhenyun reminded himself to stay calm.

Si Di patiently waited for him to finish washing, then took the initiative to carry him back. The fish were almost grilled by that time. He handed one to Xiao Zhenyun and tossed the smaller one to Tai Ji as an offering. He, on the other hand, quietly held a stick and stared blankly at the fish above.

Xiao Zhenyun had never eaten such a delicious fish in his entire life, freshly caught and eaten on the spot, without adding any seasoning, yet free from any fishy smell. Instead, the fish meat itself was filled with a sweet taste. The grilling was done perfectly, with a crispy skin and juicy, flavorful interior.

Chomping and munching through half of it, just as he was about to flip it over to continue, Xiao Zhenyun noticed that Si Di’s fish remained untouched. Curiously, he asked, “…Why aren’t you eating?”

The sentinel glanced at him, seemingly blaming him for asking such an obvious question. “It’s too hot.”

Sensitive taste buds? Xiao Zhenyun initially thought about it with ordinary people’s thinking, but then realized that sentinels had heightened senses and a milder palate, unable to tolerate hot or cold food.

When Xiao Zhenyun started licking the fish’s tail, Si Di finally took a bite at a leisurely pace, but he ate it rapidly, and both of them ended up finishing their belated lunch at the same time.

Though they were still not quite full.

“It’s going to rain soon,” Si Di said, looking up at the sky, with a solemn expression. He quickly extinguished the bonfire, then tied Xiao Zhenyun’s left leg as he did in the morning, carrying him on his back again, and secured both of them with a rope around their waists.

They needed to find a safe, dry, and high spot to take shelter before the rain fell. Of course, this task fell solely on Si Di’s shoulders; Xiao Zhenyun couldn’t do much and had to rely on Si Di to carry him.

…But not entirely useless, as when the raindrops began to fall and they had no clue where to spend the night, Xiao Zhenyun released a bit of his guiding elements to soothe Si Di’s visibly agitated state.

However, Si Di’s mental state had already reached a point of no return. With only a little guiding element, it was utterly futile. Earlier, Si Di had struggled to suppress pain and frenzy through surface-level mental grooming for an extended period. Then, he carelessly allowed Du Nai to establish a mental link with him yesterday, and Du Nai utilized his guiding element to launch an attack, causing Si Di’s already chaotic spiritual domain to worsen.

During the day, Si Di managed to hold on and refuse to collapse, but as night fell, his physical strength reached its limits, weakening his control over his body. Coupled with the noisy sound of rain, he felt that his mind was on the verge of collapse, and he could erupt into madness at any moment. Xiao Zhenyun’s guiding elements could only delay the inevitable, and Si Di knew that he would soon succumb to mental madness, and it was certain.

Should he remind Xiao Zhenyun?

…But what use was it to remind this ‘mermaid’? He couldn’t escape.

Once he fell into mental madness, he would indiscriminately attack any living being nearby, and Xiao Zhenyun would undoubtedly die.

But if he put Xiao Zhenyun down in the pouring rain and hid in an unpopulated area, waiting for madness to arrive while being soaked in rain for the entire night, relying on Xiao Zhenyun’s physical fitness, there would still be only a dead end, not to mention the lurking dangers in the rainforest.

This guide won’t survive…

He’s going to die on this dark and damp rainy night.

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