Niley noticed that the burning pain on her back slowly turned into a tickling itch. Han suddenly turned around and grabbed her hand. "Alright, it doesn't hurt anymore."
He didn't say anything else when he saw Niley's confused expression. He just quietly put on the torn clothes she had pulled off him.
Niley already thought Han was a quiet person, but since it was her fault that he got hurt, she felt guilty and didn't dare look at him. Because of that, she didn't see the fleeting darkness in his eyes.
Feeling the coolness from his skin earlier, she took out a thick jacket from her space and handed it to him.
Han frowned. He knew his young wife wasn't an ordinary person, but she was too careless around him.
Taking things out of thin air like that—if someone with bad intentions saw it, they might think she was a monster.
Thinking of that, he couldn't help but laugh quietly. Wasn't their fifth brother just like that?
Hearing him laugh, Niley was surprised. She turned to look and saw the cold, sharp features of his face soften into a rare smile. It was like snow melting and spring returning. She couldn't help but be drawn in by it.
"You look really good when you smile."
As soon as she said it, the smile vanished.
Han's face turned cold again, but the change was so sudden that it looked stiff.
Niley raised her eyebrow. What? She complimented him, and now he looked even grumpier?
Han looked awkward and didn't dare look at her. He stared at the jacket in her hand, quickly took it, and stuttered, "Th-thank you, wife."
His face turned a little red.
Seeing that, Niley shook her head and said, "You're welcome."
Then she stored all the wolves on the ground into her space. Han stepped forward, worried. "Wife, this isn't okay."
Niley understood what he meant, so she explained, "Once we reach the edge of the mountain, you can go and borrow an ox cart. For now, let's do this."
"I see," Han said after hearing her. He had thought she planned to go back just like this.
Looks like he had underestimated her.
He shook his head and unfolded the jacket, only to see that it was stained with blood. He frowned.
"We have to leave this place quickly."
Niley smelled the strong scent of blood. She looked back and saw Han still staring at the jacket. Then she realized he didn't know how to put it on.
She hesitated for a moment but then stepped forward, took the jacket from his hands, and motioned for him to put his arms through the sleeves.
Han was stunned and looked at her. "The jacket… it's dirty."
"So what? It still needs to be washed later anyway."
When he still didn't move, she called out a stream of water from her space to clean the blood off his hands and body.
"Wife… thank you."
"Is 'thank you' the only thing you know how to say?"
Niley said as she handed the jacket back and signaled for him to put his arms in. Luckily, this one didn't have a zipper. After putting it on, Han started buttoning it up. His cold body finally started to warm up.
No wonder Mu Zhi had quickly become attached to her. A woman who's strong, mysterious, and also kind and caring toward men—how could anyone not like her?
"We really need to leave now."
Niley said after checking their surroundings once Han finished dressing.
Before Han could answer, she grabbed his sleeve and started running.
They finally stopped when they reached the edge of the mountain. But Niley had run too fast and stopped too suddenly, so Han crashed into her, and they both fell to the ground. Instinctively, she held him close—one arm around his head, the other around his waist.
They rolled about ten meters before coming to a stop.
Right after they left, a group of huge gray wolves charged into the spot they had just been, howling as they smelled the blood.
"Oh my gosh, what is going on with this mountain? There are wolves now?!"
"Has there ever been a peaceful winter? Didn't wolves come down and eat people when we were kids?"
"Quiet! Look over there! What is that?"
Three men who had come to the mountain together looked pale after hearing the wolves. They huddled close. One of them pointed at a dark figure that had just rolled down the hill, shaking all over.
They had just talked about wolves. Could that be one?
The other two followed his finger and were just as scared, frozen in place.
On Niley's side, she had been hurt while protecting Han during the fall and couldn't help but cough.
"Who's there, trying to act all mysterious?!"
"Yeah, come out now!"
"If you don't, we won't be polite!"
...
Just as she started to recover, she heard their voices. Han was still lying on her and hadn't moved. She didn't dare move either and gently patted his back, trying to calm him down. "It's okay. You can get up now."
Right after she spoke, she felt something warm drip onto her neck.
Oh no! Not only did she get him hurt, but now he's crying too!
She was about to comfort him when a shadow fell over her. Looking up, she saw three married men with eyes full of gossip staring at her and Han.
In this matriarchal world, a man's reputation was as important as a woman's in ancient times. She quickly pulled up the hood on Han's sleepwear to cover his face and calmly looked at the three men. "You guys came up the mountain too?"
The three men paused when they saw Niley's face. They remembered her from the last time Jiang Yu made a fuss about selling his second brother—how beautiful she was, like a goddess.
And now? Still so beautiful!
But they didn't expect someone like her to dislike her current husbands and find someone new.
They couldn't tell who the man was because of the hood, but from his body shape, he looked good. So even someone as stunning as her couldn't escape common desires, huh?
The three of them exchanged glances and were just about to tease her when Niley stood up with Han and started tidying up their clothes.
She still kindly reminded them, "We just rolled down from the mountain. Be careful."
But her words only made their curiosity grow stronger. One of them even tried to pull Han's hood down to see his face. Niley quickly pulled Han behind her and hurriedly led him away.
After completely leaving the three men behind, she finally let out a sigh.
This matriarchal world really was like a drama with three men on stage at all times.
If she wasn't the one being watched, she might have joined in on the gossip.
She slowed her steps to match Han's. "Are you okay? Did you get scared?"
"No, I was just worried about you, wife."