Xia Chuan only half propped himself up, his hands pressed against the ground could barely support his weight, relying almost entirely on the strength of his back and waist to maintain his position.

Shen Lan's kisses were urgent and fierce, each one mixed with an extremely strong suppressive force, almost making him collapse completely.

His kissing was just like his eating - once he started, he didn't know when to stop, as if he could never get enough. He was used to staying in the sea, and could hold his breath long enough to run around the city walls twice, but Xia Chuan didn't have such godly abilities. Even though he had undergone special training to hold his breath longer than ordinary people, he was still no match for Shen Lan.

The bonfire made the temperature in the room a bit high. Xia Chuan was kissed breathless, and his skin also heated up and became hot in the anxious state of oxygen deprivation. He felt his heartbeat was fast and heavy, causing his chest to tremble with each beat.

He was always eagerly trying to catch a bit of oxygen through his slightly parted lips, making his breathing rough and short. But every time, after only gasping once or twice, Shen Lan would sweep his tongue over Xia Chuan's lips, sealing them tightly.

Every time he leaned back a little, Shen Lan would chase forward a bit.

Usually calm and rational, this was probably the first time Xia Chuan had the feeling of "his mind and heart simultaneously becoming a blank mess". But even without thinking, he actually knew in his heart that the fish and the sounds from next door were just excuses when it came down to it.

If his body was a bit feverish, he could just put out the fire to cool down. The faint sounds from next door could be directly blocked out or distracted from to reduce their impact.

Taking it a step further, even if these influences couldn't be eliminated and really made him restless and anxious, if it was someone other than Shen Lan pressing him down and kissing him, he would probably kick them in the face and beat them up badly, no room for negotiation.

To put it bluntly, that nod of his just now was the most unconscious and genuine reaction from his heart.

Although he couldn't even say when this mentality started or why.

Perhaps it was because Shen Lan was so exceptionally powerful that for the first time, Xia Chuan began to pay attention to another person, absolutely trusting in their strength, and could even rely on them at times without any sense of unease; or perhaps it was the feeling of being connected by life and death during their nonstop escape, and such experiences and feelings made it too easy to develop some special emotions; or maybe Shen Lan's personality really suited his tastes well...

Regardless of the source, the fact of the matter was that the two of them were now panting and entangled in a kiss in this extremely crude mud hut.

When Xia Chuan finally lay down completely on the bed, he finally turned his head to avoid Shen Lan's kiss and took a few deep breaths.

As he tilted his head back slightly, the tendons and bones on his neck were pulled into a beautiful line, converging between his collarbones. Shen Lan's lips had just moved away from the corner of his mouth, and he followed along Xia Chuan's jawline, kissing past his Adam's apple, then biting and kissing down that protruding tendon bit by bit, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily, each one making Xia Chuan furrow his brows and pant heavily...

Hearing his panting, Shen Lan only felt his heart itch more, the feeling of anxiety growing heavier, as if nothing was ever enough.

Just as he simply propped himself up on his arms to change position, inserting the leg he was kneeling on between Xia Chuan's knees, a long whistle suddenly sounded not far outside the hut. The whistle was sharp and short, ringing out four times in a row, sounding quite urgent.

Xia Chuan's eyes snapped open the moment the whistle sounded.

His eyes were still covered in a layer of mist, looking momentarily dazed, as if he hadn't immediately realized what that whistle signified. However, this expression was almost fleeting, quickly returning to clarity. He said in a low voice, "There's an emergency whistle, something happened."

Shen Lan played deaf, not raising his head and continuing to bury himself in the crook of Xia Chuan's neck, not showing the slightest intention of leaving.

Xia Chuan: "..."

He narrowed his eyes, then raised his freed left hand, patted Shen Lan's head, and took the opportunity to push him to the side. "Get up."

Shen Lan finally lifted his head, squinting at Xia Chuan's opening and closing lips. "Your voice is already hoarse like this, and you still care about the whistle..." After saying that, he bit Xia Chuan's lips again.

Xia Chuan: "..." Where's the connection between these two things...

The whistle outside sounded again, this time only twice, and then a clamor of voices came from all around. The voices grew louder and louder as people hurriedly gathered around Xia Chuan and the others from all directions.

This hut was neither soundproof nor could it block out all lines of sight. The gaps in the doors and windows were so large that Xia Chuan could even see through them the silhouettes of people constantly passing by the door.

With such a commotion, he couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to.

With the chaos outside the door, Shen Lan naturally couldn't remain calm and play deaf either. He stared blankly with no expression for a second, extremely impatiently lifting his eyelids to glance in the direction of the door, then buried his head on Xia Chuan's shoulder, sighed, and finally stood up while rubbing his face in irritation.

He reached out a hand, Xia Chuan grabbed it, using the leverage to also stand up.

The two stepped out the door one after the other, Xia Chuan straightening his clothes as he walked. As a result, he saw almost the entire tribe, men and women, even mixed with a smattering of elderly and children, rushing out of the mud huts one after another.

Some people's hair was a bird's nest from sleep, their faces still had red marks from lying on their hands, looking like they hadn't even fully woken up.

However, they simply picked up handy weapons as they left, heading straight for various parts of the wall, busily but orderly guarding the perimeter in less than a minute. Such methodical speed and accuracy showed they were quite experienced.

Although Xia Chuan and Shen Lan didn't have this kind of experience, their temporary cooperation was not inferior. They quickly found the most critical points and stood by the wall.

The only discrepancy was that they were the only two in the entire place without any weapons in hand. Their only dagger had been removed by Shen Lan and left by the bed in the hut during their earlier entanglement. But this did not prevent them from using the footholds on the wall to flip up onto it faster than the others.

Shen Lan had poor eyesight, making it even harder to see the vertical stone shards embedded in the wall in the darkness of the night. As Xia Chuan himself avoided the stone shards while climbing over the wall's edge, he didn't forget to swiftly grab Shen Lan's wrist to prevent him from directly pressing his palm onto the sharp blade of a stone shard.

The two were very close to the watchtower. Aegon had rested for most of the afternoon and was scheduled to keep watch at night. The few short and urgent whistles just now were from him, clearly indicating he had discovered an emergency situation.

Although Xia Chuan and Shen Lan couldn't understand his bird-like clamoring, they understood the reason for his emergency notification the instant they climbed over the wall.

In the shadows near the grove at the foot of the hill, a large, blurry dark mass was hidden within. If it weren't for one of them having excellent vision and the other having exceptional hearing, they might not have discovered it right away.