MLiS – Chapter 11.4

Together With You, It’ll Be Alright

Soon, a taxi flew over and landed next to their car.

Qian Xu got out of the car. He was also in a field adventure suit and carrying an adventure backpack.

Luo Lan was inexplicably nervous and shy. She kept avoiding Qian Xu’s gaze.

In order to hide her strangeness, she introduced them to each other.“He is Qian Xu, an old friend of mine, Chen Sha also knows him. Don’t worry! ”

Su Er took off his goggles, revealing two honeycomb-like mutated eyes. With all his strength, he shook hands with Qian Xu. “I’m Su Er. I heard from the princess that you are the one who taught her to shoot. Let’s have a chat about it when we have time.”

Qian Xu didn’t look disturbed. He looked directly into Su Er’s eyes, held his hand, and politely said, “Okay!”

When Su Er retracted his hand, he quietly shook his aching hand.

Su Qi smiled sweetly, “I’m Su Qi. In the rock forest, Su Er and I have fatal shortcomings in our abilities. We cannot go in with you, but we are waiting outside. So, please take care of the princess.”

Qian Xu was neither humble nor arrogant. “Luo Lan and I are teammates and will certainly take care of each other.”

Su Er and Su Qi exchanged a satisfied look.

————·————·————

Luo Lan and Qian Xu passed through the border and walked into Yanlin where the rock forest at.

Luo Lan lowered her head and followed quietly behind Qian Xu, mind turning quickly to search for a topic. What should they talk about? It’s too late to say hello; it’s too hypocritical to thank him for his help; it’s too serious to discuss the plan

“Xiao Xun^[1].” Qian Xu slowed his steps and walked side by side with her. “For six hours every night, there will be no storm in the rock forest. We will rest in the cave during the day and move at night. We should be able to get to the center of the rock forest where the Yanfeng beast lives in three nights, hunt the Yanfeng beast in two days, and withdraw from the rock forest in three nights.”

Luo Lan agreed without objection.

Although the peripheral area was not the core area of the storm, the wind was still strong. The road in the rock forest turns a thousand times more difficult to walk.

For safety reasons, they walked side by side, close to each other.

Luo Lan stared at Qian Xu’s hand beside her. Moving gently along with his steps, sometimes almost touched her hand and slid over.

Her senses became extremely sharp and her heart was telling her to make a move. She wanted to hold Qian Xu’s hand. However, she had a thief’s heart but no thief’s courage. She stretched out her hand several times and withdrew it timidly every time she nearly held Qian Xu’s hand.

Hands opened. Hands closed. Her mood was up and down.

She then played a guessing game in her mind a thousand times.

He specially came to accompany her to complete the physical ability promotion task. He should like her, right?

Should be!

But.. maybe it’s just out of years of their friendship that he decided to help her?

Did he like her? Did he not?

Like… Don’t like…

A maiden heart full of love was like a letter full of love words. Folded and caressed over and over again, but she never dared to shove the letter into Qian Xu’s hand.

After walking through the narrow road between the two boulders, they entered a relatively open place and the wind suddenly became violent. The rocks as big as fists flew everywhere and nearly hit Luo Lan.

She was late to react and almost got hit. Fortunately, Qian Xu pulled her in time and took her back to the path between the boulders.

Qian Xu pressed her to stand close to the boulder, “The storm is coming to an end. Let’s wait until the wind stops.”

Luo Lan was disappointed in herself. “I’m sorry, just now… I was a little distracted. There won’t be any next time.”

Qian Xu didn’t ask her what she was thinking. He said lightly, “Be careful. The more you go in, the more dangerous it is.”

Luo Lan was so upset she didn’t dare to entertain any ideas. She pricked her ears and listened to the wind.

The wind galloped across the rocks, making a long whine, like a sob that was unwilling to part, the voice became louder and louder, and then gradually quieted until nothing could be heard.

Luo Lan said, “The wind had stopped.”

As if to make up for her mistakes, she walked forward and focused on capturing all kinds of sounds and scenes.

After walking for more than four hours, she began to feel tired. Her body seemed to reach a certain limit. Her temples throbbed and her concentration broke.

While enduring the discomfort, a snake jumped out of a crevice in the rock beside her feet. Luo Lan was taken aback and slipped. 

Qian Xu’s response was quick and he grasped her hand.

With his help, Luo Lan climbed over the steep rock.

When they were safe, Qian Xu examined the surrounding, “We need to find a shelter from the storm.”

Luo Lan was panting. She gave him a nod.

Qian Xu slowed his steps and guided her forward while searching for shelter.

Luo Lan wanted to help him, but she was too focused and consumed a lot of energy and physical strength when rushing through the forest just now. She really couldn’t tell which of the strange boulders in the dark night was suitable for hiding.

Qian Xu chided her, “You’re tired. Rest, don’t force yourself.”

Luo Lan didn’t say a word. She still focused on her five senses according to the method taught by Su Qi and forced them to feel the subtle changes outside. She knows that challenging the physical limit was a double-edged sword. It may improve her ability or cause irreparable damage, but how would one know the result without taking the risks?

Qian Xu tightened his hold on her hand, “Be obedient!”

Luo Lan blinked and looked down at her hand. It seemed that they had been holding hands for a long time? Within a second, her whole mind was attracted to the clasped hands and she completely forgot about other things.

Oh my God! When did it happen?

When she thought about it, it was probably when a snake suddenly jumped out and she almost fell. Qian Xu grabbed her hand at that time.

Later, he never let go.

Luo Lan told herself that it was normal. He was just helping each other. Just teammates taking care of each other…  but she couldn’t control her beating heart.

Ba-dump… ba-dump…

With how loud her heartbeat was, Luo Lan was afraid that Qian Xu could hear it.

Hiding behind her goggles, she peeped slightly and found that Qian Xu was focused on observing the surrounding environment.

Under the dim starlight, he took her hand and walked on the rocky and bumpy road. The surrounding boulders were like ferocious monsters, but his hands were safe and reliable. As long as she was with him, it would be as if they were walking on a splendid avenue of spring and blooming flowers.

Luo Lan pursed her lips and smiled sweetly.

————·————·————

“Do you think this will be alright?” Qian Xu asked.

“Ah? Oh…” Luo Lan quickly averted her gaze from Qian Xu’s face. Her heart was still beating like a drum and she could feel her cheek was still warm. Luckily for her, her goggles covered half of her face.

She composed herself and observed the place chosen by Qian Xu.

It’s not a real cave. It was formed by several broken boulders stacked together on the ground, shaping it into a cave.

Qian Xu sighed, “It’s not an ideal hiding place, but the storm is coming in half an hour.”

“Let’s use this cave!”

Qian Xu released his hold on Luo Lan’s hand, “I’ll go in and take a look, you wait here.”

“Okay!”

Qian Xu probably noticed her lack of strength and didn’t want her to make her more uncomfortable. Luo Lan curled up her hand that was held by Qian Xu. She held it with her other hand tightly and tried to act as naturally as possible.

After a moment passed, Qian Xu came out, “It’s safe inside. You go to rest first. I’ll find another suitable large rock to block the entrance of the cave.”

“Don’t go too far, the storm is coming soon.” Luo Lan’s voice was full of worry.

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Footnotes

1. 小寻 – xiǎo xún; lit. Little Xun. In this context, 小 is a term of endearment. Not a literal “Little.” Usually, 小 is used for someone close, someone you like, or someone you want to protect/cherish. Not limited to that, 小  could also be used when you are older than the other person. But in this context, 小  is used for endearment from Qian Xu to Luo Xun.↵

Amoeba’s Corner

Your majesty. They are holding hands!!!

Holding. Hands!

Qian Xu called Luo Lan “Xiao Xun”!

Xiao Xun!

天哪！

————·————·————

Also, the sneak-a-peek killed me.

Sneak-a-Peek

He guided her hand to his mouth and kissed it. With a soft voice, he asked, “Do you want to do this?”

Obligatory Closing
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This chapter words count (excluding title, footnotes, and TL’s corner): 1438