Chapter 331 - Even a princess has her urges
Because of Shui Junzhuo's participation, it was unrealistic for them to search in the mountains on a rainy night. Cloud Grass might be priceless, but it paled in comparison to the princess of the Shui Family.
So they only briefly looked around in the surroundings before they returned to the cave. There was a fire lit in the cave, and the interior of the cave wasn't moist, so the mud was hardened. There was more stability for footing right now.
"I'll be sleeping outside. Holler for me if there's anything!" Ah Jun whispered to Shui Junzhuo as he glanced at Su Tao.
Su Tao could feel his heart throbbing. The meaning behind that glance from Ah Jun was too blatant, despite the lack of emotions. If you dare to do anything to our Missy, watch out, because I'll burn you alive.
Although Su Tao did not witness Ah Jun's strength, he knew that the latter could easily kick his ass.
When Ah Jun left the cave, Shui Junzhuo chuckled and looked at Su Tao. "Alright, we're left alone now."
"What do you want to do to me?" Su Tao shivered as any impure intentions of his had dissipated from Ah Jun's threat. But if Shui Junzhuo did anything to him, wouldn't he be in an awkward position?
"What can I do to you?" Shui Junzhuo smiled as she rolled her eyes at Su Tao. "I want to chat with you."
"Chat? But I'm not good at it!" Su Tao sounded somewhat disappointed.
"Pfft!" Shui Junzhuo burst into laughter as she replied, "You're a chatterbox. Is there anyone more rogue than you?"
"Alright, I'll play along with you, since you have such high opinions of me. I'll have a ¥0.50 chat with you!" Su Tao entered his tent. In this manner, he wouldn't be able to see Shui Junzhuo's face, and could even purify his thoughts.
Shui Junzhuo had also entered into her tent. She raised her head, looked at the ceiling through the transparent roof. With a blossoming smile, she asked, "Aside from the ¥0.50, is there anything better?"
"Of course. A chat is also classified into different levels, and the topic will also be different. ¥0.50 is merely the lowest level." Su Tao tried his best to explain.
"Alright, then give me a ¥250 one!" Shui Junzhuo said playfully.
"Big Sister, are you making a corner to curse me?" Su Tao changed his posture and glanced at her tent. He could only her shadow lying down. Despite the two layers of separation, a blurred figure made it more romantic.
"Oh right, did you live in the mountains in the past?" Shui Junzhuo asked curiously. "Why does it seem that you're familiar with the mountainous environment?"
"Yeah, I was a monkey in my past life!" Su Tao said in a serious tone.
Teased by his words, Shui Junzhuo played along, "Then you must have been the king of the mountain; the smartest amongst the monkeys."
"You really do know how to play along and mock people!" Su Tao realised that Shui Junzhuo had a sharp tongue. She looked gentle on the surface, but she was filled with a bizarre temperament deep in her bones.
"Well, I've lived in the mountains for two to three years. At that time, I had to live in the mountains so that I could learn to recognise the herbs better." Su Tao wasn't willing to mention his past, since it was a bitter experience. He liked TCM, but he didn't enjoy the process of learning it.
"So where did you go for the past ten years?" Shui Junzhuo couldn't help herself from asking. Even with the Shui Family's intelligence, they did not manage to find Su Tao's history for the past ten years. Clearly, Su Tao must be hiding a big secret.
"I went to a place that I will never want to recall." Su Tao sighed.
Seeing that Su Tao wasn't willing to talk about it, Shui Junzhuo did not force him and sighed, "Since young, I had a wish. I want to live an unrestrained normal life, and I'm really happy with today's experience."
As Su Tao smiled, he corrected Shui Junzhuo, "You're wrong. Today's experience is not something an ordinary person would experience. What normal people experience is a life of nine to five working and abiding the rules."
"Alright, then my wish has changed now. I want to live an interesting life!" Shui Junzhuo did not feel unhappy with Su Tao's correction. She continued, "Do you think that I'm an indecisive person?"
"It's normal. Even a smart woman would become a fool for love!" Su Tao teased.
"Love?" Shui Junzhuo felt her heart jolt as she replied in disdain, "I'm not in love, what nonsense!"
"Haha!" Su Tao could sense the fluctuation in Shui Junzhuo's emotions. Wooing a girl didn't have to be endless fawning. They had to stimulate the girl's emotions by making them feel happy and angry to bring their feelings on a rollercoaster ride.
He was naturally successful in stirring Shui Junzhuo's emotions. However, he still felt a little guilty for teasing her and replied, "Alright, let's not talk about love. We'll talk about our dreams!"
"Why don't you start first!" Shui Junzhuo was a little unhappy. For some reason, chatting with Su Tao felt as if she was being manipulated. The latter could guess whatever she thinks, and she had to change their advantage. Hence, she threw the question back to Su Tao.
Shui Junzhuo was trained in negotiation tactics, and if you lost control of the situation in a negotiation, the other party will find a flaw and launch assaults!
"I actually don't have any dreams!" Su Tao replied with disappointment after a long pondering.
"Liar!" Shui Junzhuo immediately became unhappy. "Isn't reviving TCM your dream?"
"It's not, actually." Su Tao smiled. "Responsibility cannot be linked together with dreams."
Adjusting his posture, Su Tao looked up towards the sky through the transparent roof.
Letting out a sigh, Shui Junzhuo responded, "It's a waste of energy to chat with you. You're always twisting the topic around, and I hate philosophical subjects the most!"
"Alright, I'll be more direct about it." Su Tao knew that he had to be moderate with his trolling. Otherwise, he would lose points instead. "TCM is my responsibility, and it's a wish of my late grandfather. It was his dream, and I have to fulfil his dream as his grandson; this is responsibility. I don't have any grand dreams, I just hope to have a comfortable life and see my loved ones every morning; for those I like to recuperate, and for those I hate to like me!"
Shui Junzhuo couldn't help bursting into a smile as she replied, "I can still understand the first half of your words, but I can't understand the second half of your words! Why do you want those you hate to like you back?"
"This way, I will have a special sense of existence!" Letting out a long sigh, Su Tao continued, "Simply putting it; my dream is to be someone that everyone loves."
"To be one that leaves seeds of love around?" Shui Junzhuo commented with complicated feelings. Su Tao had such potential that even her grandfather had taken a liking for him, which was something that Su Tao intended.
"Being an affectionate person is not the same as a person fickle in love!" Su Tao tried his best to explain.
"Men!" Shui Junzhuo snorted as she unhappily said, "I don't want to talk with you anymore. I want to sleep!"
Su Tao's topic was drenched with a bucket of cold water by Shui Junzhuo, and it felt like having a fly in his mouth.
As the campfire flickered, sizzling and crackling sounds echoed throughout the silent cave.
Although Shui Junzhuo was in a sleeping bag, she could still feel the breeze blowing in from the entrance of the cave. Letting out a sneeze, she flipped her frail body around.
"You getting cold?" Su Tao asked in concern.
"Un!" Shui Junzhuo was still fuming in anger as she casually replied.
Letting out a sigh, Su Tao's head popped out of the sleeping bag and he hurled a few dry sticks into the campfire, which the temperature increased about a dozen minutes later.
When he returned to his sleeping bag, he saw Shui Junzhuo moving her body and sighed. He knew that this princess wasn't used to life in the mountains.
For him, having a cave, campfire, tent, sleeping bag, and someone guarding outside was luxurious in the mountains. It was almost comparable to high-end outdoor club activity.
Tomorrow would be a long day. Cao Dingjun's condition might have been under control for the time being, but they had to hurry. Hence, Su Tao cherished every single second of rest. As his consciousness went hazy, he was suddenly disrupted by the sounds of Shui Junzhuo flipping around. Letting out a sigh, Su Tao walked over. "Are you alright?"
Hearing no response from Shui Junzhuo, Su Tao was instantly worried and he immediately pulled apart the tent. He saw Shui Junzhuo covering half of her face as she reprimanded, "What are you doing?"
"So you're not asleep! Why didn't you say anything? I thought that you might be bitten by a snake or caught a fever!" Letting out a sigh, Su Tao examined Shui Junzhuo's reddened face and asked after a brief pondering, "You… want to pee?"
"Yeah!" Shui Junzhuo nodded her head as she inwardly gave him a thumbs-up for his ability to understand others.
In fact, she was already reaching her limits. However, she couldn't talk about it to save embarrassment. She initially wanted to endure it till daybreak to relieve it. But that was a physiological reaction, so how could she bear it?
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?!" Su Tao waved his hand as he continued, "I'll think of something for you."
If Shui Junzhuo was a man, she could resolve it in a corner without leaving the cave.
However, they're in a cave, and it wasn't appropriate for a woman to relieve herself here.
Su Tao couldn't help thinking of the plots in Wuxia novels where a man and woman stayed in a cave for months or even a year. He suddenly wondered how they managed to relieve themselves and for it to not be awkward.
Just when Shui Junzhuo was pondering about how Su Tao was going to resolve her physiological issue, she saw Su Tao walking over with a bag.
"Just deal with it here, and I'll throw it out for you. Holler at me when you're done, I'll take a fresh breath outside." Su Tao did not bother to study Shui Junzhuo's facial expression and walked out.
Girls had a thin face, and it wouldn't be good if you spoke too much and affected their mood.
Standing outside for three to five minutes, Su Tao could hear a soft cough that continued for three times before he went in.
With her face lowered, Shui Junzhuo pointed at the white plastic bag by the corner.
Rubbing his nose, Su Tao lifted the warm bag and headed out of the cave!