Chapter 3637: Initiative, Warming Up, and Deception

"Since your leg hurts, let's take a break for a while."

Xia De agreed to the girl's request and shouted to the front:

"Janet, you go back to the carriage first. We will follow shortly; I remember there is a spare medical kit in the carriage, go find it first."

So Vanessa's figure walked further and further away, while Xia De carried the red-haired girl to a tree by the path, cleared the snow from the ground, and let her sit on his coat for the time being.

Seeing that the wind and snow were so heavy, Xia De suggested:

"I'll go pick up some branches to start a fire; I have matches."

"Can you not leave? I'm scared; it's going to be dark soon, and maybe there are wild beasts here."

The red-haired girl showed a timid expression.

"But if there's no fire, we'll freeze to death sitting here for a while."

"Then can you check my foot first? It really hurts."

She moved her right leg with difficulty; Vanessa had already taken off her right shoe earlier, and the ankle was so swollen that the shoe couldn't be worn. To prevent necrosis of the extremities, Vanessa had wrapped her socks with a spare coat from the girl's own backpack.

At this moment, she extended that foot toward Xia De and sat there, looking up at him as he stood before her.

"She" laughed in Xia De's ear, and the sound was very pleasant amidst the rustling of the falling snow.

Xia De shook his head:

"Sorry, I don't really know how to treat fracture symptoms. But it's best not to move around in your current condition; let's maintain the status quo for now. I'll just pick up firewood nearby; compared to the fracture, we should actually be more worried about hypothermia right now."

The girl didn't insist, and Xia De soon found enough firewood nearby. Firewood in such snowy forests is usually damp and not easy to ignite, so Xia De dried them out a bit before taking them back.

The snow fell even heavier, and perhaps because of the overcast sky, the daylight quickly passed through dusk into night. As Xia De squatted to light the fire, he heard the girl rustling, doing something unknown, and when he ignited the bonfire with a match and looked up, he saw the stranger's small right foot appearing in the firelight.

Of course, her ankle was still swollen like a potato.

She looked at Xia De with tears in her eyes; it must have really hurt, and the expression in her eyes was clearly hoping for Xia De to comfort her.

"Still hurting a lot, is it?"

"Yes, I think this must be a fracture... can you help me massage it? I heard that if you massage a swollen foot, it won't hurt anymore. And my foot is so cold, even wrapped in clothes it's still cold; can you help me warm it up?"

"I heard that a broken foot shouldn't be touched; massaging it will only make the injury worse."

Although he said this, he still walked over and moved her closer to the bonfire, and used her own spare coat that had fallen into the snow to re-wrap the foot:

"Warm yourself by the fire; the night is coming."

And while Xia De was doing these things, he felt someone gently patting his shoulder; it was the girl helping him pat the falling snow off his sweater.

"Thank you."

Her eyes reflected the firelight and Xia De, and the flush on her cheeks was unclear whether it was from shyness or the reflection of the flames.

Xia De shook his head:

"No need to be so polite. With the snow falling so heavily, I'm afraid we won't be able to walk down for the time being. But don't worry, my companion will likely send someone to save us soon when she sees we haven't appeared for a long time. Let's wait a bit longer; do you want to eat something? I still have a few chocolate cookies in my pocket."

He handed the cookies wrapped in a handkerchief to the girl, who took them and thanked him softly again. After taking a bite of the sandwich cookie, she embarrassedly handed it to Xia De:

"You haven't had dinner either, right?"

Xia De shook his head at the bitten cookie:

"Not hungry for now, you eat."

He said, sitting down by the fire as well, and reached out to warm himself.

The "she" in his ear continued to laugh, while the girl ate two cookies by Xia De's side like a little rabbit, wrapped the remaining cookies in the handkerchief and handed them back to him, then also made a gesture of warming herself by the fire:

"Mr. Watson, did you and the blonde lady from earlier come here for a date? Can you tell me your story? Your relationship must be very good."

"It wasn't just because of a date; someone entrusted me to retrieve an item here, so I brought her along to take a look on the way."

"I see... did I disturb your itinerary? Is it a candlelight dinner tonight?"

"It doesn't matter, this doesn't count as a disturbance. In this weather, I couldn't leave you alone on the mountain anyway."

So the girl subconsciously tightened her clothes, looking as if she were still a bit cold even by the fire. She pursed her lips and looked at Xia De, as if wanting to say something but feeling too embarrassed, and finally asked:

"You gave your coat to me; aren't you cold?"

"A little cold, but it's good that there's a fire here. Don't run off alone to places far from the city in the future; it's dangerous."

"But I heard that the Frost-Kissed Corridor in winter can bring love, and many locals have encountered love here."

She explained embarrassedly, glanced at Xia De again, and then whispered:

"If you feel cold, you can... move closer to me, let's warm each other up; I don't mind."

Saying this, she lowered her head, her face already flushed with red.

Xia De did move closer to her, but not to the point of being directly pressed against her:

"Let's just keep talking like this; it's going to be dark soon, and if we don't keep talking, I'm afraid we'll freeze stiff without knowing it. Talk about anything; for example, how do you feel about Fatumunster Island? Do you need me to recommend some scenery?"

The girl then whispered:

"Can we talk about something else?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Do you always help others so kindly?"

"Not always, but I help when I can; after all, life isn't easy for everyone."

The red-haired girl looked up, as if gathering courage:

"I really don't know how to thank you for this matter. I know you are a very good person and must have had many amazing experiences. Before I leave this island, can I come find you to play and listen to you tell some stories?"

"Of course you can; I am currently staying in the Fatu town. Although the living facilities aren't as complete as in Clockwork City, the living atmosphere there is very good."

The girl then boldly grabbed Xia De's hand; her strength was light, and she blushed as she confirmed Xia De didn't pull away before continuing:

"I know I'm not as pretty as that lady from earlier, but I... the rumors about the Frost-Kissed Corridor are probably true. We don't know when we'll be rescued tonight; please come closer to me, I am willing to share warmth with you."

She looked up at Xia De with hazy eyes, blinked her eyelashes a few times, and then closed her eyes and leaned toward Xia De, but was blocked by him:

"Sorry, that won't do. I didn't save you just to take advantage of you."

"This isn't taking advantage of me; it's my own will. I... I'm not that kind of shameless girl, I, I, I really am to you, to you..."

Saying this, she lowered her head with red eyes, and seeing Xia De didn't get up to leave, she suddenly opened her arms wanting to hug Xia De, but was dodged by him again.

She still wanted to speak, but an impatient voice came from the woods:

"Doing this kind of thing and still claiming not to be a shameless girl. My heart now is colder than the wind and snow you summoned. You... what was that word again?"

Claire asked angrily as she walked out of the woods, and Megan shook her head:

"I don't want to say that kind of word."

Vanessa was equally angry: "Letting you be alone with him was just to stall for time to see what you were actually trying to do; did you really think we were that generous?"

"Why say so much to her? Isn't it better to just act?"

Flora, with her gray-white hair, pursed her lips and looked cold; the artist rarely showed such an expression.

The four great witches surrounded the lit bonfire from four directions, and clearly, besides them, there were others in the woods who hadn't appeared immediately.

"So, you knew I had a problem long ago, right?"

The red-haired girl by the fire asked Xia De with a somewhat sad expression, and Xia De stood up by the fire:

"I don't want to suspect a stranger casually, but your way of appearing and your means of seeking help were simply too suspicious; I really hate it when others deceive me. As for being completely sure you had a problem, it was when you were carried by me. Give up resistance now; I have many questions I want to discuss with you, perhaps we don't need to resort to violence."

The girl, still sitting by the fire, had tears in her eyes:

"Don't you have any good feelings for me at all?"

"If you could have understood my persuasion just now, and hadn't cast a spell on me while I was carrying you, I might have had some good feelings for you. I know you have the power to force others to like you, but that power is useless on me. Your acting was excellent, but I really don't like being deceived like this."

The red-haired girl wiped her tears:

"Men, really, not a single one is any good—ah!"

The sound wave formed by the piercing scream extinguished the flames beside the two, and as the four great witches who had surrounded them acted together, moonlight had already carved dazzling light marks in the snowy night.

That beam of moonlight slashed straight toward the stranger's red-haired body; she stood there without dodging, and after clasping her hands together, she pushed forward violently with her palms open. The black light absorbed most of the silver moonlight, and after the weakened moonlight penetrated the black light, although it still left her body covered in blood and flesh, it didn't completely sever the body.

"Mr. Snake's power! You really are the person we are looking for."

Then, the black mist surging from beneath her own feet completely swallowed the girl. The probing attacks of the four great witches landed on it, but only fed back screams that seemed to originate from different individuals.

When the black mist dissipated, the red-haired girl from just now had turned into a bizarre figure with a human head and a snake body. The snake tail that served as the lower body presented a terrifying pitch-black appearance, and within the black mist entwining the snake tail, hideous and terrifying faces constantly churned; Xia De even felt power similar to the "Infinite Snake" from within.

And her face had become even more exquisite than before, so exquisite that it didn't look like a naturally born human, but like an artificially carved work of art. The source of that beauty was undoubtedly "desire," the combination of a human body and a snake tail, symbolizing the combination of the powers of two evil existences; the enemy of the fifth act had finally appeared again. ===== CHAPTER 3638 =====