Chapter 357 - 319
Chapter 357: Chapter 319
Gu Ning didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, or for how long. When she groggily awoke, her body felt feverish and her nose was uncomfortably stuffed.
She shifted her body and felt a dull ache all over.
Unable to fall back asleep, Gu Ning opened her eyes and pushed herself into a sitting position.
The coat draped over her slid off as she moved.
Gu Ning glanced down at the coat, then turned toward the source of warmth beside her.
Philinos’s eyes were shut tight, still unconscious, but his complexion had improved considerably. A bit of color had returned to his face.
"You’re awake?"
Hearing the voice, Gu Ning finally noticed a tall figure sitting beside her.
The Leopard was back.
He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of pants. He was slightly hunched over, his lean, powerful torso on display as he tilted his head and stared intently at her.
Gu Ning met his gaze in silence for a few seconds before clearing her dry throat.
Before she could speak, a bottle of water rolled to her side.
Gu Ning paused, then picked up the water. "Thank you."
Her voice was hoarse and a little nasal. Hearing it, Wanai frowned slightly.
Gu Ning twisted open the cap and gulped the water down.
Her throat felt like it was on fire, and she had to drink more than half the bottle before the burning sensation subsided.
Just then, an energy bar was tossed in front of her. Before Gu Ning could react, several more packets of instant food—compressed biscuits, dried meat, and the like—followed.
"..." Gu Ning looked down at the food, then up at the Leopard.
"It’s just to tide you over," Wanai said, noticing the young female’s lack of interest in the food. "The fish isn’t ready yet."
Gu Ning mostly understood. Her gaze fell on the steaming pot in front of him.
She craned her neck to get a better look.
A plump, fresh fish was simmering in the pot. It was so big that the pot could barely contain it, its tail sticking out over the edge.
"I only managed to catch two for now. I can’t be away for too long. I’ll go get more after we eat," Wanai said as he continued to clean the other fish. He scraped off the scales with a small knife, gutted it, then skewered it on a stick and set it by the fire to roast.
Gu Ning only half understood. She watched him work, wondering, ’Where did he get fish?’
’Is there a river nearby?’
’Don’t tell me he went all the way back to the lake we fell into to catch them.’
After the Leopard had rescued her and Philinos, he had carried them a long way before they reached this spot.
They were a good distance from that lake now.
Gu Ning didn’t ask. She had no pen and paper, no translation earpiece, and her own terminal was lost. Communicating with him was difficult.
Wanai didn’t say much more either. After preparing the fish, he stood up, walked over to a bucket of water to wash his hands, and then pulled a towel and a bar of soap from his bag.
Gu Ning’s gaze followed him. When she saw him start to wash himself, completely unconcerned by her presence, her breath caught in her throat and she quickly looked away.
Wanai caught the young female’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. He lifted a hand and sniffed himself; the heavy smell of fish still clung to him.
’Guess I’d better wash up.’
He rubbed the soap bar vigorously over his body, then scrubbed himself down with the towel.
Gu Ning hugged her knees, her gaze alternating between Philinos and the two fish.
She did her best to ignore the sounds of the Leopard washing himself.
Just as the roasting fish began to smell fragrant, the Leopard returned to the fireside.
A familiar scent of soap wafted over, mingling with the aroma of the fish.
The scent of the soap instantly brought back a flood of miserable memories from her time in Zone 19.
Gu Ning couldn’t help but look at the Leopard.
Back when she and Cook had first started living together, they used a single bar of soap for everything—bathing, washing their hair, doing laundry—all to save money. She never thought she’d smell that scent again.
The Leopard was drying his hair with the towel. Sensing her gaze, he paused and turned to her. "Hungry?"
Gu Ning didn’t answer. She had just eaten an energy bar, so she wasn’t starving.
Wanai turned the roasting fish and gave the stew in the pot a stir. "It’s almost ready. Just a little longer."
Another silence fell between them.
Wanai casually dried his hair, his eyes fixed on the roasting fish, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
As Gu Ning looked down at her terminal, he shot a quick glance at her. The moment she looked up, he immediately averted his gaze, leaving no trace that he had been watching her.
Seeing that her terminal still had no signal, Gu Ning decided to take the initiative with the Leopard.
Regardless of whether he had ill intentions toward her or her team, she needed to learn more about him.
She formulated the words in her mind, then said to Wanai, "Hello."
Wanai’s ears twitched, and he turned to look at her.
Gu Ning said, "What’s your name? May I know it?"
Hearing her strange pronunciation and phrasing, Wanai paused for a moment before replying, "Wanai."
"Hello, Wanai," Gu Ning replied.
Hearing the formal tone of her greeting, Wanai looked at her and said, "We’re well past introductions."
Gu Ning understood and fell silent.
’It was true... they were quite familiar with each other.’
’But every one of their encounters had been terrifying.’
’The first time was in the public bathhouse, and then those other times in Zone 19...’
As Gu Ning thought it over, her guard went right back up.
’She had moved precisely because of Wanai!’
"You can eat it now."
Wanai’s voice cut through her thoughts. He held the roasted fish, fragrant and slightly charred, out to her.
Gu Ning hesitated for a moment before taking the sizable roasted fish.
She took a bite and hissed; the fish was scalding hot.
Wanai reached out, took the fish from her, and started blowing on it to cool it down, all while keeping an eye on the young female out of the corner of his eye.
’Sensitive to the cold, sensitive to heat, and she even struggles to open a bottle cap.’
’How did she survive in Zone 19 for so long?’
Gu Ning watched Wanai take the fish and, assuming he was going to eat it himself, turned her attention to the bubbling fish stew.
She hadn’t felt that hungry a moment ago, but after one bite of the aromatic fish, her stomach started to growl.
Wanai caught the young female staring at the stew and swallowing. His gaze slid from her lips, cast in a honey-colored glow by the fire, down to the delicate line of her neck. He couldn’t help but swallow as well.
He took a bite of the roasted fish.
"It’s not hot anymore." He handed the fish back to Gu Ning, then lifted the pot off the alcohol stove to let the stew cool down before giving it to her.
As Gu Ning ate the fish, she kept sneaking glances at Wanai.
In that moment, she felt both wary of and inexplicably awkward around this familiar stranger.
Wanai poked at the fire, never once looking her way.
Seeing that he didn’t seem to want to talk to her, Gu Ning focused on silently eating her fish, wondering how she should try to talk to him again.
"Aren’t you going to eat?" After a few more bites, Gu Ning noticed that Wanai hadn’t had any of the stew or eaten anything at all. He was just staring into the fire as if in a trance. Hesitantly, she offered him the fish she was holding.
Only then did Wanai slowly turn his gaze toward her.
Just as Gu Ning was thinking he didn’t want it, he took the fish from her and took a bite right where her own mouth had been.
"I’ll look for some seasoning nearby later," he said.
Gu Ning didn’t really understand him. Seeing that he had only taken one bite before returning the fish, she said, "We... should split it."
’We can’t just keep eating it like this, you take a bite, I take a bite.’
"Mmm," Wanai murmured, imperceptibly shifting closer to her side.