"Hiss."
The excruciating pain made Shao He involuntarily cry out.
But she dared not waste a drop of blood and hurriedly shoved her middle finger into the child's mouth.
Moments later, the child finally stopped crying. Half-fed, he fell into a deep sleep, and Shao He sucked on her middle finger briefly until her parched throat moistened a little. Then, cradling the child, she leaned on a large tree to stand up.
There were many vultures around, and bones were strewn everywhere, the intense stench of decay causing her head to spin.
"We need to leave this place quickly... Ah!"
As she muttered and stepped forward, she hadn't taken two steps before suddenly losing her footing as if she had stepped on something and fell hard to the ground!
It was a 'corpse' that had been moved to the ground.
"Bad luck."
Cushioning the child with one hand, she cursed softly, then got up, ready to keep moving forward.
Unexpectedly, the "corpse" she had stepped on suddenly moved.
"?!"
Even Shao He was so frightened her pupils trembled!
Under the mottled tree shadows, the "corpse's" tightly closed eyes suddenly opened!
Like a wolf hidden in the night, dangerously chilling to the bone.
Shao He snapped back to her senses, scoffed softly, "Not dead, huh?"
The man looked up.
The moment he saw Shao He, the chill in his eyes momentarily paused, then countless ripples stirred in his otherwise placid gaze.
His lips slightly parted, his voice in the night air carrying a bone-chilling tenor, "Is it you?"
At these words, Shao He's body suddenly tensed.
Her eyebrows slightly furrowed, her voice testing and light in the dim night air, "You recognize me?"
The man did not speak, only his cold gaze slightly lowered.
The atmosphere suddenly fell into dead silence.
If this man truly knew her, why was there no memory of this man in the original host's memories?
"Wah—"
A cry broke the icy stillness of the air.
Seeing the man not responding, Shao He, holding her child, got up intending to leave. If they stayed any longer, the risk for her and her child would increase immensely.
"Wait a moment."
The man suddenly spoke.
His eyes, blending into the night, looked up again, his voice rugged, "This child...how old is he?"
Despite the man being too injured to sit up, Shao He did not guard against him, but while soothing the child, she quietly answered, "Born today."
Born today?
Pei Huaian's heart skipped a beat, even his dark pupils involuntarily tightened.
With his body aching severely, he said in a hoarse voice tinged with coldness, "Miss, you are frail, how about resting here with me? Someone will come to get me soon, and you can leave with me."
Shao He's eyes suddenly wore a layer of wariness.
She curled her fingers around the child's swaddle, stepped back two steps and turned to leave, leaving behind only one final phrase.
"No need."
There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
She never believed in the spontaneous generosity of strangers.
Especially when she could barely look after herself, she was not foolish enough to rescue another burden.
Pei Huaian said nothing and did not try to retain her.
His eyes under the night, like amber, stared straight at the receding back of Shao He, until the cawing of crows rose again and his hoarse voice followed.
"Survive well...we will meet again."
The baby's crying echoed through the sinister Mass Burial Mound, rippling until it faded away into the distance.