TM Ch16

Chapter 16 Lending a Hand

In the darkness, the sounds of two sets of footsteps echoed alternately through the forest. The wind howled past, emitting a piercing whistle. They had never ventured so deep into the island at night, and now, surrounded by the overwhelming wind, they could faintly hear the low growls of wild beasts coming from somewhere they couldn’t pinpoint.

Rong Qi could see nothing, but he remained alert, listening intently to the sounds around him.

“I didn’t realize this cursed forest was so lively during the night.”

Gu Yunxing replied, “Wild animals stay hidden during the day and are active at night. We might have just missed them.”

Rong Qi still felt uneasy. The growls were clearly not the sort of sound a pheasant or wild rabbit would make. He had wandered around the island for a long time these past few days. Could it really be such a coincidence that he hadn’t encountered them even once?

He sensed an unsettling feeling creeping up on him, but now wasn’t the time to investigate the source of the sounds.

The two took turns dragging their ‘belongings,’ moving towards the cliff at a slow pace.

The cold wind was biting and icy. They could still withstand it at first, but later on, they had to circulate their internal energy to keep warm.

They passed several steep slopes, and whenever Rong Qi felt his footing slip, Gu Yunxing was always there, pulling him up just in time. Despite the danger, they made their way through without incident.

They walked for an unknown amount of time, so long that Rong Qi suspected it was almost sunrise. Finally, Gu Yunxing stopped.

“We’ve arrived,” he said, taking Rong Qi’s hand and guiding it to the wooden wall.

Rong Qi groped around for a moment, then realized this was the entrance Gu Yunxing had left in the wall during the day. The entrance was narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time. He cautiously moved a few steps inside, unsure of his exact position, but he quickly noticed that the howling wind that had nearly suffocated him outside had suddenly lessened.

“Gu Yunxing, you actually succeeded,” he muttered in disbelief. The messy, ugly ‘walls’ from earlier during the day really could block the wind?

Gu Yunxing replied modestly, “We’re on the north side of the cliff. The wind tonight is coming from the southeast, so that’s why it’s working.”

While speaking, Gu Yunxing guided Rong Qi to sit on the ground. Once seated, the hand that had been gripping his wrist loosened. Rong Qi heard Gu Yunxing’s footsteps as he walked back outside, only for them to quickly return.

Just as Rong Qi was about to ask a question, something was draped over him.

He reached out and discovered it was the rabbit fur blanket. When the tide had come in, Gu Yunxing had taken the blanket out immediately, so it hadn’t gotten wet. It felt colder and stiffer than the fox fur coat, but in this moment, Rong Qi still felt a bit of warmth.

Gu Yunxing sat down beside him. “Right Protector Rong.”

Rong Qi looked at him and waited, but after a long pause, when Gu Yunxing didn’t continue, he replied dryly, “There are only the two of us on the island. Even if you don’t call my name, I know you’re talking to me.”

Gu Yunxing chuckled lightly.

The distinct sound of fabric brushing against skin reached his ears. Rong Qi gripped the corner of the blanket, sensing that Gu Yunxing was leaning in.

Rong Qi: “What are you doing?”

Gu Yunxing: “Don’t move.”

His body pressed closer. He grasped the other corner of the blanket and wrapped them both inside.

Rong Qi’s eyes widened in shock, and his body froze. His fist clenched, then unclenched. In the end, he neither lashed out nor pushed him away.

With each breath, warm air mingled between them, and through the layers of fabric, warmth slowly spread, gradually thawing his cold limbs.

Rong Qi’s eyelids grew heavy. The fatigue from the journey turned into sleepiness. He gave up on other thoughts, but as he drifted off, an inexplicable frustration arose in his heart. He had let this encroachment slide, simply because he couldn’t resist clinging to this bit of warmth… truly pathetic.

He slept very soundly.

When he woke the next morning, the first thing he saw was the stone wall, and beyond that, the grayish sky.

Rong Qi turned his head and found Gu Yunxing with his eyes tightly shut, his head nearly pressed against Rong Qi’s cheek.

They had been sitting just before sleep, so how had they ended up lying down?

He wondered, still a bit groggy. After pushing Gu Yunxing’s head aside, he couldn’t help but yawn.

Gu Yunxing immediately woke up.

He glanced at the sky, a brief look of embarrassment flashing in his eyes at having overslept. Then he saw the half-awake Rong Qi and shook him with amusement, “It’s time to wake up, Right Protector Rong.”

Rong Qi narrowed his eyes in dissatisfaction.

“This humble Gu doesnn’t enjoy disturbing someone’s peaceful sleep either,” Gu Yunxing said, “but with the sky covered in clouds and us getting a late start, we need to hurry and finish setting up the shelter.”

Rong Qi turned over, pulling the entire blanket with him.

Gu Yunxing: “……”

A moment later, Rong Qi sat up and grumbled, “Alright, what do you want me to do?”

Gu Yunxing, not bothering with pleasantries, said directly, “Find some food and water.” He glanced up at the empty ‘roof’ above them and added, “We’ve got a lot to do today.”

With the storm approaching, Rong Qi knew the urgency and no longer resisted.

Rong Qi was already familiar with the area, so he quickly found some food. When he returned, he saw that Gu Yunxing had brought back several tree branches. Seeing him, Gu Yunxing stopped working. The two of them sat outside the shelter, quickly filling their stomachs before starting to work wholeheartedly on their ‘nest-building’ project.

Rong Qi didn’t have any particular ideas about the roof, but he planned to make that shabby entrance look more presentable.

So, the two split up and began working in their respective areas.

Rong Qi followed Gu Yunxing’s example and built a wall, positioning it directly in front of the original entrance. This way, the wind wouldn’t blow directly through the opening. When he finished, he saw that Gu Yunxing had already started to shape the roof as well.

Gu Yunxing had stacked several longer tree trunks horizontally above, and at first glance, it did indeed resemble a roof.

Rong Qi was impressed. “Aren’t you worried that a gust of wind will knock them all down?”

Gu Yunxing replied, “This humble Gu has spent a long time studying how the planks in the ship are joined together, so I tried to replicate it. While it’s not as perfect as the seams of a ship’s hull, it should hold.”

Rong Qi leaned over to take a closer look and found that the wood used for the roof had been shaved at both ends into fixed shapes, while the top of the wall was also shaped differently. When the two parts connected, they fit together surprisingly well, with any gaps adjusted by an additional wooden rod.

He remembered hearing from Zou Yuchuan that skilled craftsmen could join pieces of wood so precisely that the seams were practically invisible.

“Could this be the mortise and tenon joint technique?”

Although, it did look a bit… ugly.

Gu Yunxing seemed a little embarrassed but didn’t admit to anything.

Suddenly, Rong Qi realized something. He checked his collar, and sure enough, it was gone!

“When did you steal my dagger?” He didn’t believe Gu Yunxing could turn wood into this shape with just his bare hands!

Gu Yunxing remained calm in the face of the question. “The gaps between the wood are uneven, and the roof is still full of holes. We need to hurry.”

Rong Qi: “……” Was he not even going to offer an explanation?

Gu Yunxing walked to the corner, grabbed a corner of the canvas, and saw that Rong Qi was standing still. “Lend a hand, Lord Right Protector.”

Rong Qi’s temples throbbed for a moment. He really feared those three words… He gritted his teeth. “You’d better succeed! What do you want me to do?”

Gu Yunxing: “Reinforce the roof.”

Following Gu Yunxing’s instructions, Rong Qi helped drape the canvas over the structure. Then, Gu Yunxing took the few wooden planks they had taken down the previous day and placed them in each of the four corners, while the remaining pieces were laid along the outermost edges.

In the end, Rong Qi stood back and looked at the finished shelter. “I’ve once seen children mold clay and stack stones to make playhouses just like this… making the most of resources, wildly imaginative.”

Gu Yunxing glanced up. “From now on, Right Protector Rong and I will be moving into this wildly imaginative house.”