Although it was done out of necessity, to Beisitian, Zhou Jiren was still a man. Her nostrils flared slightly, catching the fresh scent of soap on him, mixed with bursts of masculine energy. Her cheeks turned slightly red, feeling a bit warm.
Besides, what embarrassed Beisitian the most was that her chest was completely pressed against Zhou Jiren’s back. The sensation was very obvious to her, and certainly, it was just as obvious to Zhou Jiren!
When the softness pressed down, Zhou Jiren’s breath caught for a mont. He pressed his lips tightly together, controlling himself not to let his imagination run wild. He tied them both together, carefully sliding down the rope. From his appearance, even though he carried soone on his back, he seed at ease, as if it was no big deal to him.
The two were parallel to the slope, affected by gravity; even though they were tied together, Beisitian felt like she was falling. This feeling left her no ti for embarrassnt, as fear crept into her heart, and she instinctively wrapped her arms around Zhou Jiren’s neck.
Zhou Jiren was slightly stunned, sensing Beisitian’s subconscious reliance. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and his movents beca even more cautious.
The mountain was not very high, and Zhou Jiren moved decisively and nimbly. He quickly found a safe foothold and leaped into a cave with a few strides.
The terrain here was sowhat steep, so the wolf-dogs couldn’t possibly co down. They rested behind giant rocks at the top of the slope.
Once inside the cave, Beisitian realized her arms were tightly wrapped around Zhou Jiren’s neck. She suddenly felt very embarrassed and hurriedly released him, but since they were still tied together, freeing her arms didn’t alter the fact her chest was still pressed against his back.
Beisitian had never felt so awkward and embarrassed, especially since it was so easy to be skin-to-skin with a man, which left her feeling helpless and confused.
Although her mindset was advanced, she still bore so of the era’s colors in her bones. Despite trying hard to convince herself that her current environnt was different, she still had trouble getting over this ntal block.
Did she have to marry Zhou Jiren?
This thought suddenly sprang up in Beisitian’s mind, and she quickly shook her head to dismiss it; now was not the ti to think about this.
Zhou Jiren was kneeling on one knee, his broad back slightly rising and falling. Whether he was catching his breath or sothing else, he didn’t untie the rope right away.
Beisitian wanted to speak but felt it inappropriate. She couldn’t pinpoint why exactly it was inappropriate. After several hesitations and seeing Zhou Jiren still showing no intention of untying the rope, she finally cleared her throat and spoke up.
"Uh... Mr. Zhou, could you untie the rope first?"
Fortunately, it was shadowed with the sun set, and the cave was unlit, otherwise, Beisitian wouldn’t know how to compose herself.
Zhou Jiren seed to ’rember’ when he heard this and started undoing the rope.
Once free, Beisitian hurriedly left his back, stood up, and retreated two steps to keep so distance from Zhou Jiren.
With an empty back, Zhou Jiren felt a chill sweeping over, and his heart felt a brief pang of emptiness.
The pitch-dark cave returned to silence, except for the sound of Zhou Jiren packing his gear. Both remained very quiet, adding a touch of awkwardness to the atmosphere—it felt sowhat unnatural.
Zhou Jiren silently finished packing his things, and since the work didn’t require detail, he packed everything in the dark.
After finishing, there was a mont of complete silence in the cave. Then there was a sound, and the cave lit up—Zhou Jiren had taken out a flashlight.
This flashlight emitted a white light, unlike the yellow ones so people had at ho; it seed to project further and was brighter.
"I’ve laid a mat on the ground, why don’t you sit down and rest for a bit," Zhou Jiren said softly, not addressing her as ’Miss Bei’ as he usually would.
"Th-thank you," Beisitian replied in a low voice.
The cave was spacious, Zhou Jiren’s height, about 1.88 ters, allowed him to stand straight comfortably inside.
However, the cave wasn’t deep—you could see it all at a glance, which was reassuring, leaving no concerns about hidden dangers.
Outside the cave entrance there were many dry branches, just low shrubs. Zhou Jiren stood at the entrance, pulled up several roots, and after breaking them, he arranged a simple frawork on the cave’s open space and lit a fire with matches.
With the fire lit, the entire cave imdiately ward up.
Sitting on the ground, Beisitian lowered her head slightly. She currently couldn’t look Zhou Jiren in the eye. It felt very peculiar, especially since from just now, the atmosphere between them felt odd.
"Are you hungry?" Zhou Jiren’s voice sounded.
Beisitian lifted her head at the words, imdiately falling into Zhou Jiren’s deep eyes, feeling briefly dazed. She quickly looked away, softly acknowledging before realizing there were long, slender fingers passing dry food to her.
"The conditions are limited, for now, we can only eat this," Zhou Jiren said.
Beisitian watched those hands a mont longer, noticing for the first ti how attractive Zhou Jiren’s hands were—long fingers, strong and well-jointed.
Unable to resist, she looked at her own hands, ntally comparing. Equally slender, but without the sa strength...
"What are you doing?" Zhou Jiren gazed at Beisitian’s strange behavior and asked.
Startled, Beisitian placed a hand on her forehead—what was she doing...? Instantly, she felt a bit self-reproachful.
It seed the mont they entered the cave, the most out of sorts was her!
After calming down a bit, Beisitian tried to adjust her state, pulling out the jerky Zhou Tian had given, roasting it over the fire for flavor, finding it rather good.
"How did Miss Bei co to know these wolf-dogs?" Zhou Jiren asked with his usual deanor, smiling.
"It’s a long story," Beisitian still didn’t want to open up to Zhou Jiren about her affairs.
She understood her odd behavior largely stemd from the ’skin contact’—in her previous life, such contact ant she’d marry the man.
But this hard-won life, Beisitian didn’t want to be hasty in such matters. Moreover, perhaps only she was greatly concerned; for soone from Zhou Jiren’s era, it might not matter at all.
Considering this, though she still felt awkward inside, it was not as out of sync as before.
"Mr. Zhou, your skills are excellent!" Beisitian sincerely praised.
Zhou Jiren smiled, "Being an outdoor enthusiast, simple climbing techniques are quite common."
Simple climbing techniques... Was what just happened considered simple?
Not being an outdoor enthusiast, Beisitian couldn’t judge, but she felt what just happened could not be done by ordinary people.
During the day, with the wolf-dogs around, she didn’t feel it, but with only the two of them in the cave now, Zhou Jiren seed to hear his own heartbeat.
He lifted his gaze to Beisitian. In the firelight, her increasingly beautiful face beca more captivating, her delicate features and every smile or frown drawing attention.
Zhou Jiren’s gaze was thus captured, fixed on Beisitian, suddenly feeling a strong urge to complete their task quickly.
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