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墨書 Inktalez
Xu Nuan struggled to control her expressions and hands.
At this moment, who cared about being comfortable? Wasn't this behavior just outright shameless?
She lowered her hand that was covering her mouth and stared directly at Gu Ze, ready to slap him aside in the next second. However, she noticed Deng Yinyin and the others were watching them.
The cave was small and shallow. Although Xu Nuan sat at the edge, maintaining a certain distance from the others, that distance was only about a meter.
This meant that everyone could see the interaction between her and Gu Ze.
Xu Nuan pulled her hand back and shifted her body further away from Gu Ze. Her ears were burning hot; she had no energy to decipher the gazes filled with jealousy, admiration, and awkwardness.
"Just turn your back to us while changing, or should I help you change like last time?"
As Xu Nuan tried to bore a hole into the ground with her gaze, she heard Gu Ze say this and quickly looked up, putting on a fierce expression.
"Wasn't it because I couldn't move last time that I needed you to change the bandage?"
Xu Nuan accidentally raised her voice too loud. Upon noticing the others' stares, her ears turned even redder.
And Gu Ze, the culprit behind it all, chuckled a few times.
"True, you remember it quite well."
Xu Nuan began to grind her teeth; she really wanted to bite this suddenly ill-tempered man to death.
Isn't it usually women who are fickle? But this man changed his demeanor faster than any woman. He had been gentle and considerate on the road; how did he suddenly turn into a rogue during their break?
Xu Nuan was baffled. Then she saw Gu Ze's broad smile and snorted a few times before snatching the item from his hands and turning away.
When she noticed blood seeping from her abdomen again, Xu Nuan was surprised. After an entire day, she hadn’t realized her wound had reopened. How did Gu Ze notice? With such a faint smell of blood in the wind and rain, it should have been blown away. Did he have a dog’s nose or something?
Xu Nuan was filled with various negative thoughts, her face showing defiance while a warm current surged within her heart.
However, this warmth instantly faded when Xu Nuan turned around and found Gu Ze sitting beside her, staring intently in her direction. Embarrassment and irritation took its place.
"Aren't you hungry? Aren't you tired?"
Xu Nuan lowered her voice, not wanting others to notice their interaction. The two questions she asked could also be interpreted as: Why are you so idle?
After waiting for a moment without a response from Gu Ze, Xu Nuan realized he was merely staring blankly in her direction. Her face flushed; it seemed she had misunderstood.
It was only much later that Xu Nuan finally understood that Gu Ze's presence was meant to challenge her limits, and his behavior could not be understood through the lens of a normal man's actions.
"Your bandaging was too quick."
As Xu Nuan berated herself for overthinking, Gu Ze suddenly said this.
Xu Nuan froze for three seconds before expressionlessly tossing the remaining bandages in her hand at Gu Ze's face. She then turned away and used her backpack as a pillow, lying down.
Ah, the thoughts of a woman.
At night, the heavy rain continued to pour down, though the thunder had lessened. Before sleeping, Xu Hang and Gu Ze dug a bit at the entrance of the cave to elevate the ground there, preventing rainwater from pooling inside.
Xu Nuan felt exhausted. The tension from the day, combined with the prolonged sound of thunder and the overly somber tones of her surroundings, created a certain psychological pressure. It was late at night, yet she didn’t feel sleepy.
She could hear her companions' breathing nearby, while outside, the heavy rain fell on the grass, stones, and puddles with different sounds. Occasionally, distant thunder rumbled through the air, accompanied by the sound of wind rustling through the trees.
Thinking back, it seemed she hadn’t had a sleepless night in quite some time. During these days, she had either been too tired or felt secure enough to fall asleep quickly. She no longer overthought things at night; most of her burdens were shared with others. Collective brainstorming truly was an excellent method; it had lightened her load significantly.
Why did she suddenly feel so heavy-hearted when everything seemed much easier now?
There was something weighing on her chest, making it hard for her to breathe. It was like this during the day and at night as well; she didn't dare toss and turn too much, fearing she would disturb the others' sleep.
With her eyes closed, the events that had transpired flashed quickly before her mind. For Xu Nuan, this was no longer just a matter of things changing.
"Ha."
Xu Nuan let out a soft sigh and turned her head to look at the others. Deng Yinyin was sleeping at the far end, which meant she was naturally facing the men. The person sleeping closest to the edge was Gu Ze.
Suddenly, this scene felt very familiar. A long time ago, during their time in the snowy mountains, when both she and Gu Ze were still without companions, there had been a night of silent companionship.
She remembered the emotions she felt then—one person shedding tears from unbearable pain while another suffered from longing. Yet, in that moment, there was someone to share the difficult hours with.
She had never mentioned the feelings that stirred within her at that time, always thinking that expressing such emotions would somehow change their nature.
However, this time, Xu Nuan did not see anyone meeting her gaze.
Gu Ze appeared to be in deep sleep, lying straight on his back. From Xu Nuan's angle, she could only see his profile, which remained quite blurry.
Even though the scene was unclear, Xu Nuan inexplicably felt that his profile must be just as handsome as his face; after all, this man had that kind of capital.
In the dimly lit cave, Xu Nuan stared blankly at Gu Ze's side profile for a while before slowly turning her head away. She lay flat on her back, closed her eyes, and forced herself to fall asleep quickly so she could gather strength for the challenges ahead.
What Xu Nuan didn't know was that after she turned away, Gu Ze slowly opened his eyes and glanced at her before turning back and closing them again.
Time passed—how long it was, she couldn't tell. Just as Xu Nuan began to drift into a hazy sleep, she heard a sound resembling a landslide, with boulders rolling down around them.
A landslide?
Xu Nuan immediately woke up, sitting straight up. Before she could step outside to check the situation, she noticed that Gu Ze had also sat up, frowning as he looked at the scene outside the cave.
She assumed Gu Ze was a light sleeper and hurriedly got up. Peering outside, she saw that a landslide was indeed occurring not far away, with boulders rolling violently. They could feel the tremors on their side as well.
Turning back to Gu Ze, Xu Nuan said, "Wake everyone up and let's leave quickly; it's dangerous here."
The others had not been sleeping soundly during the earthquake and were quickly roused by her call. They hurriedly put on their clothes, donned their raincoats, grabbed their backpacks, and took their flashlights as they exited the cave and rushed into the rain.
Since it was a landslide, they naturally needed to head in the opposite direction. However, the mountain paths were even harder to navigate at night, and with the ground shaking intermittently, their progress was quite difficult.
Xu Nuan felt a sense of foreboding. She hadn’t slept at all and was already physically exhausted from the day; she wondered how much longer she could hold on.
Just as she was lost in thought, Xu Nuan tripped over a bump in the path and fell. Gu Ze was a bit farther away and couldn’t reach her in time to help.
By the time Xu Nuan pushed herself up with her scraped hand, Gu Ze had rushed over and grabbed her bleeding hand to examine it closely.
"I was too careless; I need to wash this and put on some medicine," he said.
Xu Nuan blinked. Wasn’t it her carelessness that caused her to fall? It had happened so many times before because she had let her guard down.
"The rain will wash it clean; we need to leave this place first. No need for medicine," she replied.
Xu Nuan found herself puzzled by her contradictory nature—sometimes she insisted on living life meticulously, while other times she was carefree and indifferent about everything, including herself.
She tried to shake off Gu Ze's hand and move forward, but he held onto her again.
"I'm coming with you; a girl's hands shouldn't be left scarred."
Xu Nuan suddenly recalled the words Gu Ze had once said to her, but that was during a time when they felt safe. Now, amidst the distant rumblings of a landslide in Heavy Rain, it felt wrong to dwell on those memories.
The few people walking ahead had already ignored the interaction between the two, and even Deng Yinyin, occasionally provoked by their exchange, was now solely focused on survival.
As she pondered how to delicately express the need to be mindful of the occasion and timing, Gu Ze added another remark.
"Besides, you still need to play the drums; you can't afford to have any injuries on your hands."
Upon hearing that, Xu Nuan froze, allowing Gu Ze to insist on cleaning her hands under the heavy rain, applying medication, and then putting on a rubber glove.
"I’m not playing the drums anymore."
After a long pause, Xu Nuan heard her own voice sounding strained.
Gu Ze had once shared many moments with her. Back in college, he had attended one of her drum performances and was astonished by how such a delicate girl could possess such explosive energy.
He had talked to her about various aspects of her college life, most of which she had buried deep within her memories.
Those memories had since been tainted gray.
She used to love playing the drums, but that was in the past.
What was once gone should not affect the future; otherwise, it would be too fragile.
"Why aren't you playing anymore?"
Xu Nuan also caught the strain in Gu Ze's voice.
"I remember you used to really enjoy playing the drums."
Xu Nuan didn't dare to look at Gu Ze's expression.
"You know, back then, I was just momentarily infatuated with the drums. Isn't it normal to give it up after graduation? After all, I was focused on my work at that time."
She lied.
It wasn't a fleeting infatuation with the drums; she had once sworn to her companions that she would stick with them and play the drums for a lifetime.
But Gu Ze, why was he so fixated on whether she played the drums or not? Why did he make her remember things she shouldn't?
"Is that so?"
She noticed Gu Ze slowly letting go of her hand, then silently walking away.
Xu Nuan suddenly felt a dryness in the corners of her eyes, as if raindrops had fallen into them and then slid down her face.
The atmosphere between them suddenly became very silent.
As Xu Nuan puzzled over whether she needed something to break this silence, she heard the startled cries of Xu Hang and Xie Huai ahead.
"Deng Yinyin!"
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