Yu Shuya upheld her pride and withdrew her outreached hand.
She cursed a little in her heart before she spoke again.
"Thank you anyway, although you did not help me."
She had no intention to be polite to this young man initially. But when she turned her head, she glimpsed a longbow nearby.
The bow looked new, and she did not notice it after wandering around the area.
He should be the owner of the longbow. To own a longbow at such a young age, he should be a man with some abilities.
A punch from him could cost her life if she angered him. She smiled even sweeter at this thought.
However, Yu Shuya had no idea that the long years of starvation had turned her face sunken and withered. She looked like a skull wrapped in a layer of skin when she smiled.
"Stop smiling. You're so ugly."
She initially wanted to shower the young man with praises in exchange for information. But her expression turned weird at his comment.
How could the young man make such an unkind remark to a girl?
But she immediately recalled that she, too, had never seen her face before. Was she ugly?
Yu Niang had been telling her she was beautiful countless times since yesterday. She believed her and thought she was a great beauty since she was young. Perhaps Yu Niang was cheering her up.
She panicked when she thought of Yu Niang.
She had been away for far too long. Did Yu Niang notice her disappearance? Would she be worried about her right now?
She hurriedly struggled to stand up.
Ye Yuxuan, the young man in white, immediately took two steps backward, not intending to extend her his helping hand.
Yu Shuya gritted her teeth and slowly stood up with the support from the tree trunk.
Her eyes swept around her surroundings and caught sight of a sturdy branch nearby. She could use that as crutches.
"Are you in a lot of pain?"
Yu Shuya nodded when she noticed the worry in his eyes.
Ye Yuxuan nodded too when he saw her reply. But he continued to stare at her without a word.
Yu Shuya was rendered speechless over his reaction. Was he here to make a fool of her? Was he here to watch her being in pain and how long she could endure?
Refusing to believe that he was merciless, she glared at him with her eyes wide open.
When she saw that the young man turned his head around after a while, she turned her head around too for fear that he would see her facial expression.
You were too young to compete with me.
Ye Yuxuan could tell that Yu Shuya was mocking him from her trembling shoulders. Despite that, he said nothing. He watched her walk to a nearby spot, lowered her body to pick up the branch, and used it as her crutch.
"Goodbye..."
Although she found the young man strange and had offended her, she did not sense any malice from him. She turned around after a moment of thought and waved him goodbye.
Yu Shuya initially thought that he would leave after she bid him farewell. He did not. He even tailed her, for some reason unknown.
Her intuition was accurate, although she did not turn around nor heard his footsteps. Not only was he tailing her, but he had been watching her along the way too.