Xia Chuan didn't chase very far. Once he confirmed those beasts definitely couldn't return anytime soon, he stopped in his tracks, spinning the dagger in his hand.

Shen Lan, on the other hand, caught up to one of them in just a few extremely fast steps. Pouncing over, he grabbed its two front paws, instantly turning the tables as he fiercely beat the beast, leaving it barely alive.

He chased them one by one, quickly taking down three in a very short time. Still not satisfied, he swept his eyes around, discovering the remaining few had completely vanished without a trace. Even if he wanted to chase, there was no direction to go.

Only then did he dust off his hands, pick up the barely breathing bodies of the three beasts, and without a word, sling them over his shoulders as if carrying three newly made stiff fox furs, returning in triumph.

"I think these things probably taste pretty good." Shen Lan, who dared to eat anything except the heavens and earth, casually lifted a beast's front paw hanging on his chest and waved it at Xia Chuan, saying this.

Xia Chuan: "..."

The two of them sauntered back up the slope with their spoils, returning inside the walls.

The primitive residents who had watched the whole thing were stunned by them. They stood in a row of sturdy short columns, all with a "WTF" look as they welcomed the two heroes back.

Shen Lan lifted a hand to scratch his neck, probably itchy from the beast's fur. Not wanting to keep carrying them, he simply took the three beasts down and tossed them on the ground. Gesturing to the chief and other tribespeople to help themselves, he put an arm around Xia Chuan and strode towards their hut.

With the glaring beasts gone, the people finally relaxed a bit, coming down from the walls and gathering around the few beasts.

A crisis seemed to have passed just like that. With Xia Chuan and Shen Lan's involvement, it went incomparably smoother.

From start to finish, it didn't take very long. When Shen Lan and Xia Chuan returned to the hut, the sky was still pitch dark with no sign of dawn. There was no problem getting another good night's sleep.

It's just that Shen Lan had no intention of sleeping obediently...

Mindful of his inferior vision, Xia Chuan went down the two flights of steps into the hut ahead of him. But before he could even steady himself, he felt an extremely powerful force clamp down on his shoulders from behind. In a daze, he was pushed by Shen Lan against the wall, his back slamming against it as Shen Lan wedged a leg between his.

"Continue..." Shen Lan pinned him against the wall, said these two words, then lowered his head wanting to kiss him.

As a result, as soon as he tilted his head, Shen Lan felt something cold press against his neck. Glancing down, he saw it was the hilt of Xia Chuan's dagger, not the blade.

Xia Chuan looked up at him helplessly, irritated: "You'll be done after today..."

Shen Lan blinked and shook his head: "Of course not."

Xia Chuan then said: "I won't live past tomorrow..."

Shen Lan hurriedly shook his head: "How could that be?"

Xia Chuan said expressionlessly: "Then why do you insist on rolling around in dirt today when you could sleep?"

Shen Lan: "..."

He was rendered speechless. On one hand, he felt the previous few kisses were far from satisfying. On the other hand, he also felt it really was time to sleep and tomorrow wasn't the end... He hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't bear to keep the sleepy Xia Chuan up with his antics.

So he lifted a hand to block the dagger hilt at his neck, then took the chance to lean in and heavily kiss Xia Chuan's lips, making a childish exaggerated smacking sound.

He said: "You mean, there will be plenty of time in the future, and I can kiss you whenever I want..." Xia Chuan glanced at him, put away his dagger, and climbed onto the extremely simple "bed", lying on his side facing the wall.

"Oh, if you don't speak up, then you're admitting it by default." Having spent so much time with Xia Chuan, Shen Lan had long figured out his temperament. When Xia Chuan felt awkward, he would change the subject, and when he felt embarrassed, he would avoid the inquirer's gaze with a blank expression and go do something else.

Saying half of what he wanted to say and suddenly going to bed was obviously the latter.

Shen Lan felt extremely satisfied and followed behind, also climbing onto the bed. He turned Xia Chuan, who was facing the wall, over and hugged him like a human pillow, closing his eyes to continue his nap.

It was unknown whether it was because of the agitation in the first half of the night or the fighting in the second half, but the two of them were quite sleepy. The effects brought by the fish finally couldn't overcome their drowsiness again, and this time it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.

Because of the three beasts Shen Lan brought back, the leader still didn't need to lead people out hunting for the past two days, and naturally didn't need to get up early. The kindness of each person in the tribe was very obvious, and in the morning, they were well-behaved and didn't make much noise, doing everything quietly, so they didn't wake up Xia Chuan and the others.

Thus, they slept straight until nearly noon the next day.

After waking up, the two simply washed up. Just as they were about to go out, they saw Laura dragging Allen, with a tall figure following behind, waving at them from a distance, and then squeezing into Xia Chuan's house one after another without giving them a chance to refuse.

That tall figure was none other than Dennis, who had been lying in the injured room for two days.

"You can already get out of bed?" Xia Chuan glanced at his back with some surprise.

Dennis carefully moved his muscles and bones, and sat on the edge of the bed without any courtesy, saying, "Hey, I'm telling you, although this place is primitive, the medicinal properties of the herbs are incredibly strong. Just that lump of pulped leaves those two women applied for me had an extraordinarily good effect. After applying a thick layer for two days, the wounds have all healed. As long as I don't make big movements and tear the newly formed scabs, there's no big problem."

Xia Chuan nodded.

Because he had just washed up, Xia Chuan's shirt collar wasn't buttoned up, but was left open with two buttons undone.

As Dennis was chatting, his eyes unintentionally swept over Xia Chuan's neck, and his expression paused. His gaze, which had just turned away, suddenly turned back and landed on Xia Chuan's neck again. He then raised his hand, pointed at the side of Xia Chuan's neck, and said, "What's going on with you?"

"Hm?" Xia Chuan made a questioning sound, and then noticed where Dennis' gaze had landed.

Hearing Dennis' question, Laura also glanced at the side of Xia Chuan's neck, but coughed slightly with a somewhat strange expression.

Xia Chuan frowned and touched the side of his neck. "What's wrong? Is there a wound?"

"Let me see the wound." Shen Lan, who had originally been standing to the side with his arms crossed, immediately leaned over upon hearing this.

Dennis' face twitched, and he said with a dry laugh, "There's no wound, just a few slightly red spots."

Xia Chuan thought for a moment after hearing this, and finally remembered that last night, Shen Lan had kissed the side of his neck heavily and for a long time, even biting it a few times, most likely leaving some marks.

Shen Lan, seeing the marks clearly: "..."

Xia Chuan: "..."

For a moment, the room fell into a strange silence. After a while, Dennis, that blockhead who couldn't read the room, said, "Wait, my brain is having trouble processing this. Who left these marks on you? Aren't you basically always with Shen Lan... Oh, I get it. Pretend I didn't say anything."

He hadn't been able to sleep well in the injured room last night either and had just woken up not long ago, so his mind was a bit muddled and couldn't quite grasp the relationship between them. It wasn't until he had said half of it that he remembered he himself was the one who first noticed that something wasn't quite right between Xia Chuan and Shen Lan.

With Shen Lan and Xia Chuan staring at him, he felt a little uneasy. In order to save the atmosphere, he added with a dry laugh, "Hehe, I just didn't expect you two to develop so quickly. I don't mean anything else."

Laura: "..."