“Where is the ghost?” Luo Shangyu had already finished undressing and was preparing to go into the river.
Upon hearing Qin Yu’s words, she draped her coat back over her shoulders and walked to the spot Qin Yu was pointing at, holding her staff aloft.
Qin Yu had recovered slightly from her fright.
She covered her face, realizing she had lost her composure.
‘How could there be ghosts in this world? I’ve clearly just scared myself.’
Qin Yu realized she would definitely be teased by Luo Shangyu now.
She secretly hoped that there really was a ghost there to prove that what happened wasn’t just a hallucination.
On the bank, Luo Shangyu’s body suddenly froze.
She bent over and stared at the ground for a long time without speaking.
The slapping sound continued, and it even seemed to be getting louder.
The sound echoed abruptly through the dark forest, which was already eerie enough.
With Luo Shangyu standing there motionless, Qin Yu shuddered in the water.
The already cold river felt like an ice cellar.
“Hahaha!” Luo Shangyu suddenly burst into laughter.
The sound was so sudden that it startled Qin Yu, causing her to fall back into the river again.
“You call this a ‘ghost’?” Luo Shangyu held up a long, black object.
Under the light of the staff, Qin Yu could see clearly that it was a fish.
A very, very large fish.
It turned out that the slapping sound was just that fish jumping out of the water, and she had somehow caught it!
Qin Yu rubbed her head, not knowing what to do.
Luo Shangyu placed the large fish on the bank and stuck her staff into the ground as a light source.
Then, she took off her coat and jumped in next to Qin Yu, splashing quite a bit of water.
“Who would have thought that the dignified Crown Prince Qin Yu of the Chengji Empire would be so cowardly as to be afraid of a fish?” Luo Shangyu grinned mischievously and put an arm around Qin Yu’s shoulder.
“Hmph!” Qin Yu huffed, her face turning red.
She swung her right leg in a sweep, striking toward Luo Shangyu.
Luo Shangyu was still immersed in the joy of teasing Qin Yu and didn’t realize danger was approaching.
Tripped by Qin Yu, she was caught completely off guard.
Combined with the extremely slippery stones at the bottom of the river, Luo Shangyu tumbled face-first into the water.
“Cough, cough…” Luo Shangyu struggled to stand up, only to see Qin Yu standing against the light with a face full of satisfied revenge.
“Aya, Qin Yu, I didn’t think you’d play so dirty!”
“Wasn’t it you who started laughing at me for being a coward?” Qin Yu said with her hands on her hips.
“Hey! You’re cowardly and you won’t even admit it!”
“That… that’s not called being cowardly!” Qin Yu argued loudly, “If it were you, you would have been just as scared!”
“Fine, fine, it’s not called being cowardly — ” As Luo Shangyu spoke, she walked over to Qin Yu’s side.
Taking advantage of Qin Yu’s inattention, she stuck out a foot and tripped her.
“Cough, cough… Luo Shangyu, you’re so mean!” Qin Yu struggled to climb out of the water, wiping the droplets from her face and speaking petulantly.
“I’m ignoring you!”
Luo Shangyu smiled slightly.
Watching Qin Yu walk to the side to scrub herself in a huff, she couldn’t hide the amusement on her face.
Luo Shangyu knew that it wouldn’t be long before Qin Yu asked her to come back.
After spending these few days together, Luo Shangyu had already discovered that Qin Yu was very clingy.
As for how she knew…
Every night after falling asleep, Qin Yu would always wrap herself around Luo Shangyu’s arm, holding on so tightly that Luo Shangyu had to put in quite a bit of effort to break free every morning.
Luo Shangyu sat down in a shallower part of the river, waiting for Qin Yu to call her over.
Just as she expected, the moment she sat down, Qin Yu called out softly, “Luo Shangyu…”
“Hmm?”
“It’s nothing.” Qin Yu looked back and saw Luo Shangyu still sitting there, then turned her head away again.
‘Oh? She’s actually quite shy!’ Luo Shangyu decided not to wait any longer.
She stood up and moved behind Qin Yu.
“Let me help you wash up.”
Qin Yu was startled at first, but then a look of joy appeared on her face.
“Okay!”
Even though there was no soap, the cool river water tasted sweet.
It made Qin Yu feel as though the places washed by the water were drifting with her own unique fragrance.
Luo Shangyu carefully helped her clean every inch of her skin.
The sensation of her nerve endings being stimulated reached Qin Yu’s brain, filling her with a sense of pleasure.
“All finished!” Luo Shangyu turned Qin Yu around, carefully checking to see if there were any spots that weren’t clean yet.
“Now it’s my turn to help you wash!” Qin Yu turned around, intending to help Luo Shangyu clean her body.
Luo Shangyu’s body visibly stiffened.
“I never imagined that the Crown Prince of the Chengji Empire would actually be willing to personally help me bathe!”
“Don’t say that…” Qin Yu said in a low voice, “You and I are friends. What’s wrong with friends helping each other out?”
“Friends?” Luo Shangyu chewed on the word carefully.
“Mhm, we are the best of friends!” Qin Yu looked very happy.
“If it weren’t for you, I might have been taken to the capital of the Kingdom of Yiyong to be beheaded by now.”
“Fine, we are best friends!” Luo Shangyu repeated with a smile.
She had never thought that Qin Yu would hold her in such high regard.
As a hermit, Luo Shangyu had lived alone for 1,000 years with few people to talk to.
Consequently, she had no close friends — she didn’t even have regular friends.
‘Since Qin Yu considers me her best friend, I cannot let her down…’ Luo Shangyu made a secret vow in her heart.
While Qin Yu was helping Luo Shangyu wash her hair, she became extremely interested in the other woman’s ears.
She reached out and gently pinched the tip of Luo Shangyu’s ear.
“Ngh…” Luo Shangyu let out a soft moan, “Don’t do that…”
Luo Shangyu’s voice had lost its usual assertiveness, becoming weak and powerless.
To Qin Yu’s ears, it sounded more like… a plea.
‘So Luo Shangyu’s ears are this sensitive?’ After silently noting this, Qin Yu stopped her movements.
After they finished bathing, Luo Shangyu climbed onto the bank first.
She had placed her clothes on the same rock as Qin Yu.
After using magic to dry her clothes and Qin Yu’s, she pulled Qin Yu up onto the bank.
Qin Yu looked at the rock, which wasn’t very high above the water’s surface, and fell into thought.
Just now, she had only been able to get onto the rock in one step thanks to Luo Shangyu.
If she had relied on herself, she wouldn’t have been able to get up at all.
Looking at her current body, Qin Yu couldn’t help but laugh mockingly at her height.
She really needed to adapt more!
***
Back in the tree hollow, the fire was giving off heat, making both Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu feel as though they were about to sweat.
On the fire stood a simple wooden rack, and on it sat the small pot.
A pot of meat soup was boiling inside, steam rising from it.
“It smells so good!” Qin Yu stirred the meat soup with a spoon, the fragrance hitting her nose.
Seeing Luo Shangyu turn and walk out of the hollow, Qin Yu took the spoon and served two bowls of soup for them.
“Don’t be in such a hurry; we still have more to eat.” Luo Shangyu said as she walked in from outside, holding the large fish Qin Yu had caught by mistake earlier, “We can also make grilled fish out of this!”
“Great!” Qin Yu was instantly excited.
With so much food tonight, she felt as if she were going to turn into a total glutton.
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