Gu Qingtong watched her speak confidently, frustrated about the snake bite, and smiled softly: “It’s nothing. Consider the snake bite a warning.”
Yu Rong was preoccupied with the incident and afraid Gu Qingtong would underestimate her skills: “These venomous snakes and fierce beasts are large and easy to guard against. The most unpredictable are small, agile toxic insects. I had already scattered powder elsewhere to prevent snakes and insects, but that small green snake found a way to bite you.”
Gu Qingtong, seeing her finish bandaging and carefully check her for other injuries, pursed her lips: “Rong’er, I’m fine. I wasn’t asleep when it approached, and no other insects bit me.”
“Good that you’re vigilant,” Yu Rong nodded in relief.
Gu Qingtong felt slightly embarrassed.
Yu Rong didn’t notice her expression, just furrowing her small brow and looking in the direction the Yu brothers had left: “Why haven’t they returned? Is this Qin Mian Mountain more dangerous than the depths of Floating Cloud Mountain?”
Though the boys were trained, they were still young. Gu Qingtong was also worried: “Should we go look?”
Yu Rong slowly shook her head: “No, we don’t know which path they took. If we leave and they return, they won’t find us. Moreover, with these tall trees and dense grass, we might not find our way back if we leave.”
“How will they find their way back?”
“They’ve made markers. They’ll naturally find their way.”
“Can’t we follow their markers?”
“No, they’ve wandered back and forth. There’s more than one path, making it difficult to discern.”
Gu Qingtong fell silent after her successive rejections.
Yu Rong turned to look at her dejected face and curved her mouth: “Sister, don’t worry or blame yourself. This is our expertise. Nothing will happen. Besides, we’re here to protect you. Just take care of yourself.”
Gu Qingtong nodded solemnly, waiting in place before finally pushing through a bush: “Sister, because we just hunted a wild boar, and you haven’t eaten anything good these past few days, we wanted to get you some pork to eat. So, we took some time, come quickly with me.”
Yu Rong was about to scold Yu Shi a few words, but he had already turned and run away, so he pulled Gu Qingtong to follow.
