Chapter 94
Chapter 94
Qingshui had no idea how long she had lain curled up, drifting in and out of consciousness, before her utterly exhausted body finally recovered a little strength.
Her mind struggled partway free of the mire of fever. Her thoughts were still heavy and clouded, but at least she no longer felt quite so miserable.
The blood vessels in her forehead continued to throb, and the taut, pounding pain had not eased.
Qingshui slowly raised her heavy head.
Almost at the same moment, the girl beside her stirred. In the pitch-black hollow, where they could barely see their hands in front of their faces, two pairs of eyes silently met.
Neither of them spoke. There was not even a clear exchange of looks. Yet in the dark silence, a strange understanding passed between them.
They were like two wounded beasts that had crossed paths in the wilderness, able to sense each other’s next move from nothing more than their breathing.
It was time to leave.
They couldn’t stay here any longer.
Qingshui began to move. Feeling around in the darkness, she found the clothes she had taken off the night before. After being warmed by their body heat all night, the cold, wet, clammy garments had somehow dried completely.
With great effort, she pulled them on one piece at a time.
Once dressed, she slowly shifted toward the entrance. Carefully parting the clump of plants concealing it, she eased her head outside inch by inch.
Beyond the hollow was nothing but blackness.
It was the latter half of the night, and the forest canopy swallowed the moonlight, leaving the mountain woods so dark that she couldn’t see her hand before her face.
She strained her ears for anything unusual, but all she could hear was the incessant clamor inside her head.
“Hee-hee… Awake now, are you? You poor little mouse… Going back out there to die?”
“Look at the one beside you…” The deep voice was thick with malicious pity. “Do you think following you will make her death even worse?”
“Skinned… sinews torn out… hung up like cured meat… just like the ones you saw… Hee-hee. Do you remember now?”
Qingshui squeezed her eyes shut, her brows knitting tightly. She tried to concentrate and block out the voices, but they clung to her like maggots burrowing into bone. No matter what she did, she couldn’t shake them.
“Shut up!”
She heard herself hiss the words under her breath.
The voices in her mind seemed to pause, only to erupt into even shriller laughter. Yet perhaps because of that feeble act of defiance, their ceaseless babble briefly subsided.
In that fleeting instant of quiet, she caught the deathly silence of the outside world.
She relaxed slightly and glanced back into the hollow.
The girl’s face was only a deeper shadow in the darkness. Her eyes remained hollow and numb, reflecting no trace of light.
She seemed not to have heard Qingshui’s muttered outburst at all. Or perhaps she had heard it and simply didn’t care.
Qingshui looked away, drew a deep breath of icy air, and crawled out of the cramped tree hollow first.
When she stood on solid ground again, her legs buckled from being curled up for so long and from her lingering weakness. She stumbled and hurriedly caught hold of the trunk beside her.
The coarse bark scraped against her palm. Closing her eyes, she took stock of her condition. She felt a little better than she had yesterday, when she had been so weak that she was on the verge of death.
Her fever still raged, but the violent dizziness that had made the world spin and threatened to send her into unconsciousness at any moment had eased.
That was probably the only good news.
A nearly inaudible rustle came from behind her.
The girl crawled out as well. She straightened like a weightless shadow, silently moved to a position half a step behind Qingshui, and stopped.
Qingshui set off, and the girl followed without a word, like a walking corpse.
One in front and one behind, they made their way through the mountain forest beneath an impenetrable veil of night.
Qingshui continued straining to distinguish every sound around them while devoting part of her attention to fighting off the whispers that surfaced in her mind from time to time.
After they had walked for an unknown length of time, the darkness gradually receded and a pale glow appeared on the horizon. Qingshui couldn’t stop herself from trembling faintly.
But even more terrifying than the cold was the hunger.
Cramp after cramp twisted through her stomach. Her high fever and weakness had suppressed her appetite for a while, but the moment her body began trying to recover, its demand for energy became overwhelming and unbearable.
The fever had left her mouth dry and bitter. Every contraction of her empty stomach brought a burning pain and a wave of weakness that spread up her esophagus to her chest, draining even the strength she needed to stand.
She had to eat something.
Qingshui dug up every grass root she could find and stuffed them all into her stomach, but that pitiful amount of roughage did nothing to quell her raging hunger.
Just then, a faint sound came from up ahead.
Splash…
Both of them stopped at once. Crouching low, they crept toward the sound of water with extreme care.
When they reached the top of the slope, a narrow but crystal-clear mountain stream came into view below. The water was shallow and slow-moving, revealing smooth pebbles on the streambed and tiny fish darting between them.
But Qingshui immediately remembered the three Madmen carrying fishing rods. After a moment of silence, she turned her attention to the banks on either side of the stream.
No footprints. No fresh blood. No obvious signs that Madmen had been active here. Aside from the running water, there wasn’t another sound.
It should be… safe.
Without hesitation, she approached the stream first. She crouched down, scooped up a handful of water, and brought it to her lips. The icy water slid down her parched throat, easing her desperate thirst.
Then Qingshui fixed her gaze on the surface.
The water was so clear that she soon spotted several fish no larger than a finger joint swimming slowly in the shadows of the rocks.
Holding her breath, Qingshui eased her hand into the frigid stream, little by little. She curled her fingers slightly and waited patiently.
Second after second passed. The cold crept up from her fingertips. Her high fever made it difficult to maintain her focus, and faint, fragmented voices began intruding on her thoughts again. But she forced herself to concentrate, her eyes locked on the fish she had chosen.
Now!
Her hand shot out of the water and closed around the fish with unerring precision.
She had it!
She quickly dropped the fish onto the ground, then repeated the process until she had caught more than a dozen.
They had no fire, nor were they in a safe enough place to start one. They could only resort to the most primitive method.
“Do you have a knife?”
The girl stared silently at the fish on the ground. After a moment, she drew a small knife from the sheath at her waist and handed it over.
Qingshui took the knife and expertly removed the scales and guts. Before long, all the fish had been cleaned. She rinsed the meat briefly in the stream to wash away the blood.
The two of them then hid behind a rock and began to eat. Qingshui handed half the fish to the girl, picked up the other half, and took a savage bite.
The raw fish was cold and slimy, with an overpowering stench. The moment it slid into her stomach, nausea surged through her.
The girl’s face instantly went deathly pale. She was clearly fighting the urge to vomit. Without looking up, Qingshui said softly, “Swallow it whole.”
She said nothing more. With her head lowered, she silently devoured the raw fish in quick bites. Cold juices and the fishy reek flooded her mouth before sliding down her throat, temporarily soothing the burning hunger.
The raw fish sat heavy in her stomach, giving her a faint, illusory sense of fullness.
“My name is… Song Yunqing.”
The girl had finally spoken. Her voice was so weak it was barely audible.
Qingshui paused, then replied quietly, “I’m Qingshui.”
It was only an exchange of names, yet it seemed to tie a thin, fragile thread between them.