"Wei Xing!" she cried as she rushed over to his side. She was just about to reach down to shake him when his eyes fluttered open. She let out a cry and stumbled backward onto her butt.
"What'd you scream for?" he asked looking very irritated. He looked scarier than ever.
"I thought you died!" she snapped.
He scoffed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.
"A little bit of poison isn't going to kill me," he said sounding quite confident despite looking like a ghost.
She breathed out a sigh of relief and took a seat next to him. They both leaned against the wall of the cave.
Neither of them spoke as they stared at the fire. It sizzled and crackled as it echoed off the cave walls. Who knew how long they sat for when Wei Xing finally spoke up.
"Talk to me," he said.
"Huh?"
"Talk to me so I won't have to think about the pain," he explained.
"Oh... um..."
What the hell were they supposed to talk about?
All she could think about was how to survive another day without getting killed by her teammates.
"Ah! Aren't we supposed to travel in groups? Why are you alone? Where are your teammates?" she asked.
"Don't know. Even if we travel in a pack, points are given separately for your own kills. My teammates didn't want me stealing their thunder, so we split up," he replied.
"What a bunch of selfish ass... I mean... That was a selfish move on their part," she said trying to cover up her slang word. He suddenly chuckled and Xiu Xiang couldn't help but turn to look at him.
There it was, that smile. How can he look so damn gorgeous just from smiling?
"How strange. Normally, I can't stand the thought of being near someone I don't know but I find you highly refreshing. Is it because you're weirder than most?" he commented.
She knew he was complimenting her but why did it sound so much like an insult?
"Thank you...?"
He chuckled only to wince in pain.
"Are you feeling any side effects from the poison?" Xiu Xiang asked feeling a little frantic each time she sees him wince in pain.
"I'm fine."
There was silence between the two of them again.
"Is it possible to move over to a different peak?" Xiu Xiang asked suddenly.
"It's possible," he said.
"How do I do that?" she asked. If she could move out of North Peak and enter a different peak, she was sure that she could change her fate somehow.
"You'd have to get the Master of the peak you want to enter and the peak you're residing in to come to an agreement. Only then can you move to a different peak. Which peak do you want to enter?" he asked.
"Don't know, as long as I get out of North Peak," she replied.
"That bad, huh?"
"You saw what they did to me," she said as she thought back to all the punishments she suffered. She hasn't even lived a full year in this world as the Demoness and already she wanted to destroy North Peak. The people there were vicious. It's no wonder that the Demoness came back and destroyed them with a vengeance.
"There has to be a reason why you're being treated unfairly," Wei Xing reasoned.
"Do you really think that people need a reason to bully the weak? They don't need a reason. It's simply because they know their stronger and no matter what they do, the weak will always obey. It's survival of the fittest," Xiu Xiang said. The raging flame of the fire reflected in her eyes looks as if trying to show how strongly her hate for the North Peak was.
Wei Xing didn't refute her words because he knew, like her, that this was how the world works or so she thought.
She turned to look at him and realized that his eyes were closed. His body shivered nonstop. He was suffering from the side effects, alright.
"Are you alright?" she cried as she lightly shook him. This time, he didn't open his eyes nor reply to her question.
Fearing that he might not survive the night, Xiu Xiang dragged his body closer to the fire. When his shivering wouldn't stop, she sighed and reluctantly wrapped her arms around him to transfer some of her body heat.
"He's my enemy in the distant future. Wouldn't it be best to let him die?" she thought as she looked down at his face.
He really looked too beautiful for a man. How was this even possible?
She really didn't have the heart to let him die.
Suddenly, Wei Xing shifted around in her arms as if trying to find a comfortable position. In the end, his arms wrapped around her waist while his upper body used her lap as a pillow.
"Make yourself comfortable, would you?" she thought feeling kind of annoyed.
The wrinkles in his forehead smoothed out and he finally started to breathe regularly. He looked less intimidating now that he was asleep. He looked quite adorable, almost like a weak child. Her annoyance disappeared and she suddenly felt pity for him. His teammates had left him because they didn't want him taking all the glory. She also noticed that every time she saw him, he was always alone, just like her.
Was this perhaps the reason why he was so nice to her? Because he understood where she was coming from?
"Sigh... remember this well, Wei Xing. Someday far off in the future, if we are to ever cross paths, remember how I saved you before you decide to kill me," she thought with a heavy sigh.
Xiu Xiang ah, Xiu Xiang, you stupid girl. You had the life. It wasn't much but you had ramen and a computer screen of endless web novels.
Why oh, why did you make a stupid wish to become the Demoness?
Her stomach growled loudly causing Wei Xing's brows to furrow for a few seconds only to smooth out again.
"I want to sleep too so I that I don't have to feel so hungry," she muttered.
A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she wiped the sweat off his forehead with her sleeves.
"Enemies, huh? I really don't want to become your enemy. You're actually the only person who's been kind to me since I first arrived here," she said as she stared at his jade-like face.
Xiu Xiang finally felt fatigued and her eyelids felt heavy. Soon she also fell asleep.
Something growled next to Wei Xing's ears and he awoke but he didn't bother opening his eyes. He could hear Xiu Xiang talking to herself.
What a strange girl, he thought, until he heard her say that she didn't want to become his enemy.
Enemy? Why would they become enemies?
He really couldn't understand this girl.
His eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was Xiu Xiang's sleeping face. She must be extremely tired, he thought.
Before he realized it, his hand had already reached up to brush her cheek. Her brows furrowed from his touch and his hand instantly jerked away, fearing that his touch had woken her up, but she didn't.
Letting out a sigh of relief, he silently watched her sleep. That scar on her face... who would do something so terrible as to scar a girl? How painful it must've been.
He had been alone most of his life, but he at least had Master Lin Hong who cared for him. Xiu Xiang had no one. He felt as if someone had yanked his heart out and squeezed the life out of it. He was going to make sure that this silly girl never gets hurt again.