Because she was too close to the worm's body, Chang Xia couldn't avoid the splattering blood when her knife cut the wound, causing half of her body to be stained red, and even some splashed on her cheeks.
"Why did you save her at that time?" Xia Yibing ignored the pitiful look in the girl's eyes and continued to squeeze her right shoulder. She came close to her and said harshly, "Do you know how dangerous it is to do that? Ah?"
"I don't know." Hitzfeld raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips, "I just did it subconsciously... I didn't think too much about it. Now I think it was quite stupid..."
She once read a theory that said that questions that throw out various options and ask people what they would choose are actually meaningless, because when people are actually faced with choices, the answers they give through actual actions may be completely different from the answers they originally gave.
This does make sense. For example, she couldn't understand it now - she should be a cold-blooded person at heart, so why did she do such a crazy thing at that time.
Leah had only known her for a few days? She subconsciously took such a risk for this girl.
Is it because she values her relationship with Weilencel too much and is afraid that this archaeological expert will no longer cooperate if something happens to her?
Or... did I remember some meaningless information while chatting in the pub, including her family... including her elderly father who was a quadriplegic?
Maybe both.
Sighing, Hitzfeld simply followed Darent's example and gave up: "Anyway, the result is good... Look, can you help me with my shoulders first - ah! Ah ah~~~~!!"
As she screamed, the woman connected her shoulders with a "click", and then she felt a shadow covering her head.
When I looked up, I saw a large group of people gathered around.
Oh, actually not too many... just Darent, Weirencel and Leah, plus Smail's golden knights.
Kak was not here. The attack just now almost scared the crew to death. She saw them carrying the equipment back to the car.
"I must pay tribute to your noble character." Willensel took Leah's hand and pulled her in front of the two of them. "Your choice in the critical moment saved a life, and you could have chosen not to do so... I must apologize for my previous prejudice against you!"
"I just did it casually." His shoulder was still in pain, but with so many people watching, Hitzfeld couldn't show any pain, so he pretended to be calm and raised his head a little, resting it directly on the woman's soft and plump thigh.
"..." Xia Yibing's mouth twitched a few times, and she decided not to get angry for the time being to save her some face.
"Besides...prejudice? What prejudice? Pogin-Welensere - I thought we had made it very clear before. This is just a pure transaction!"
"It's a deal!" Seeing that she had no intention of using this rescue to ask for bargaining chips, Willensel breathed a sigh of relief and said in a relaxed tone, "But there are many ways to trade, and you just happened to choose the most convincing one."
If the previous words were somewhat acting, then this sentence was completely sincere.
Really, this Aisun Hitzfeld didn't act like a young girl at all. For a moment, he thought he was dealing with those old-timers who had been famous for a long time.
As Leah timidly thanked him, Willensel took off his hat again to greet the girl. The people around him, anyone who was wearing a hat... such as the caravan members, also took off their hats and nodded their chins in this direction.
She had already gained their respect, both for strength and character.
Then Darent came over to ask her how she was doing - but his attitude was too fake, and the girl made some sarcastic remarks ("You should go look at the film with Kak to see if that big guy was included. Then I'll find you a worm puppet when I edit the film so you can ride on it and be a brave worm cowboy.") and he got so angry that he just said a few words and then wandered off.
"Excuse me." Smail pushed through the crowd and came in. "I have something to discuss with her."
The crowd dispersed and started to pack up their things.
This is obvious. On the plain without any shelter, the smell of blood can drift far away. It is too dangerous to stay here.
"What is it?" Hitzfeld shifted his position so that he could rest his knees more comfortably.
"I was planning on asking if you were okay, but it looks like you're fine."
The white-haired knight nodded and looked at the white whale next to him.
“That gun…”
"Given to me by Her Majesty the Queen."
"...As if I didn't ask."
With a look of bitter smile and envy on his face, Smail shook his head repeatedly.
"What's the matter?" Xia Yibing stared at him with an unfriendly tone.
Although the attack just now happened too suddenly, it is also a fact that the patrol team was unable to provide timely rescue.
She certainly wouldn't doubt the other party's ability to protect them, but there was a hint of dissatisfaction on her face.
"We just checked the abdominal cavity of that thing and found a lot of animal remains inside," Smail said. "This is not a good sign, because there are even remains of carnivorous social animals such as red coyotes."
"It must have the guts to attack such a social species because it has companions." Hitzfeld concluded, "So there are more worms underground. We have to keep going without rest?"
"Flick should have told me... it's boring talking to you."
"Oh, then I find it very interesting to talk to you."
Smail was so disgusted but couldn't refute, so he just stood there with his hands on his hips.
"Don't talk nonsense." Xia Yibing interrupted them, staring at the white-haired knight. "We can keep traveling without rest, but what about at night? So many people have to sleep, right?"
This is indeed a problem.
Hitzfeld realized it, too.
We are traveling without rest in order to get rid of this swarm of worms, but if we can't get rid of them or if we encounter another swarm of worms, won't we be able to sleep at night?
Even if the human can hold on, the horse will be exhausted to death, right?
brush!
A half-rolled piece of parchment was thrown down.
Grabbing it open, Hitzfeld took a look.
"Is this... a plains map?"
"That's right." Smail went around to the other side and squatted down, pointing to a location on the map.
“We are here now.”
"Ah."
"Then go forward... here. See this rock? We have to keep going until here before we can rest."
"Fault zone?" Hitzfeld showed an interested look. "Why? Fault zones are not dangerous?"
There may be oases around the fault zone, and there are always various poisonous insect predators around the oases.
"It's different here." Smail said with certainty.
“There are always a few places on the plains that we develop on a regular basis.”
"There is a rock slab road here, even horses can rest on it."
Chapter 37 Aftermath
After packing up, the team set out on the journey again.
In the slightly bumpy carriage, Hitzfeld pulled the curtains on both windows, looked at the black-haired ponytailed woman who looked confused, and sighed: "Take off your clothes... Don't you think you smell bad now?"
"Ah!" Xia Yibing suddenly realized, raised her left hand which was completely stained red and sniffed it, with an expression of extreme disgust on her face.
There was no need for Hitzfeld to urge her; she took off all her clothes in a few seconds.
Too...too reckless!
Hitzfeld opened her mouth. That was not what she meant... What she was thinking was that at least the innermost underwear or something could be left behind... Because Xia Yibing's coat was made of leather, the insect blood should not be able to penetrate too much.
But she obviously underestimated Xia Yibing's cleanliness obsession - when conditions allowed, she didn't want to endure it for even a minute.
Hitzfeld was forced to rush to the window and close the curtain, then looked at the woman who was wiping her body with a wet towel, unable to say a word.
It was certainly reckless, but this naked and muscular body also exuded a kind of amazing beauty.
She had sketched this kind of beauty on paper many times with her brush, but it was never as good as seeing it with her own eyes, as good as the subtle differences that were alive and trembling, as if they gave the picture a soul.
"Aisun~" Just as she was stunned, Xia Yibing turned around with her back to her, "The back... and my hair are a bit inconvenient, can you help me?"
"okay."
The agreement was quite straightforward. Hitzfeld felt like a puppet. He took the wet wipes from the woman's hand with mechanical movements and began to provide her with more detailed cleaning care.
If seeing with one's own eyes is the difference between drawing and watching a video, then "getting started" is a leap in dimensions that she really doesn't know how to describe.
Xia Yibing lay on the seat with her arms crossed and supporting her head. Her long and toned thighs were bent forward from the knees to adapt to the crowded carriage.
Hitzfeld held a wet wipe in one hand to wipe the insect blood stains on her body, while the other hand was suspended in the air, contracting from time to time.
In the end, she couldn't help it, and pressed it down with some determination, and her five fingers officially touched the back skin of the woman under her.
It's a little different from the silky feeling I imagined.
Is it because of sweat?
That's right... For Xia, who is not a Flintstone Knight, such intense exercise just now was no less than trying his best... I just didn't expect to sweat so much.
"Aisun."
"Ok?"
"I was really scared just now."
“…” Hitzfeld felt a little numb.
She even hoped that Xia Yibing would do something more excessive to her instead of doing this, because she was really not good at dealing with such corny scenes.
“When we rushed out, you told me ‘time’. I knew you just wanted me to delay it.”
"But I imagined what would happen if you hadn't dodged it, and what would happen if you were right in front of me...inside that thing's belly."
"..." Hitzfeld paused in wiping.
"Then I was a little out of control." Xia Yibing stared blankly at the wooden board opposite. "I felt a huge heat surging from my body. I wanted to destroy and kill... It was just like the feeling when I was bewitched and controlled by them."
"Okay, I get it." Hitzfeld exhaled, and continued to wipe while increasing his strength. "I won't take risks again in the future. Anyway, I'm not a combatant. If I encounter any trouble again, I will stay away from it."
She didn't dare let the woman continue talking, because she felt that she would lose control... and simply leaned over and hugged her.
The insect blood hasn’t been wiped clean yet, how disgusting.
"No!" But Xia Yibing insisted. She even turned sideways and stared at the girl: "I must let you know how I feel!"
"Okay..." Hitzfeld's mouth twitched, and he tried his best not to look at the thing shaking violently on her chest, "Just you say it - lie back first, okay? I haven't finished wiping it yet."
"I must let you know how I feel." Xia Yibing emphasized again. After being pushed back by her, she continued, "It's because this feeling is too uncomfortable. What I mean is that if you really care about me, you should also think about me and stop making me worry so much."
"..." Hitzfeld's shoulders slumped, as if he had accepted his fate, and he performed his tasks mechanically.
She racked her brains but couldn't understand how a woman could be so innocent and yet so stupid at the same time.
"I imagined the scene of me losing you." Xia Yibing was still reciting a poorly written lyric poem, "My blood seemed to be boiling, my brain seemed to be exploding, as if ten thousand needles were executing it... My heart was broken!"
"I don't even know what I did at that time. I just remember that I rushed out and swung the knife. When I came to my senses again, when I saw that you were not in the belly of that thing, I realized that it was fake, and you were really still there!"
"At that moment, it was as if I could breathe again."
"I went back to find you, fearing that this reality was just an illusion... When I heard your voice in the smoke and dust, and caught your hand reaching out to me, I was so excited that I almost went crazy - can you understand that feeling? You can try to imagine that you lost me, I mean, if you really -"
She got stuck.
What interrupted her was nothing else but the body of a young girl who pounced on her fiercely.
Through two thin layers of cloth, she could clearly feel the softness of Hitzfeld's chest.
It was the first time she hugged her so tightly.
"…Aisun?"
After a pause, Xia Yibing tried to call her name.
no respond.
The panting sounds in my ears became heavier, punctuated by violent sniffling.
She didn't know how long it had been, and just when she was wondering if she had said something wrong, she heard a soft whisper from behind.
"Sorry……"
"I didn't know...it would be so uncomfortable..."
Hitzfeld did exactly what Xia Yibing said.
She imagined that the person being swallowed by the giant worm was Xia, and then she understood everything.
Whether it was the feeling that the woman had emphasized many times and that she must understand, or her own heart, she now understood it all.
"Uh."
Xia Yibing was a little embarrassed.
She found that she didn't know what to do next.
