Cold Dependence - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When the last ray of sunset glow reflected on the coastline, everything seemed to return to its original peace.

At this time, beautiful white seabirds always flew over the vast sea that connected the sky and the earth, picking up the natural gifts left behind after the tide receded.

But this time, no seabirds came here, as if these spiritual creatures were deliberately avoiding this sea area.

On the vast beach, only two people could be faintly seen.

No creatures disturbed, no noisy other sounds, only the gentle sea surface, like a shy maiden, kept them company.

Perhaps this scene was very romantic, if one ignored that one of the women was not human.

This “kiss” seemed very sudden, but long and lingering. Though the touch was so cold, it was as sweet as warm wine, making the unconscious Qi Wenxi unable to resist wanting more, because she was really so cold.

Her body was so cold and in pain.

But in just a moment, she could feel her body’s pain numbed, and the discomfort of the poison eroding her bones gradually faded. Qi Wenxi thought this dream was strange but also sweet.

In the dream, someone actually cared for her and cherished her like this.

This made Qi Wenxi a bit obsessed with this illusory dream, unwilling to wake up.

Jing Lian blinked her golden eyes, like a starry river, gazing at the human woman in her arms who had not yet woken up.

The other’s breathing gradually became steady, the festering wound at her ankle had already disappeared, and the bluish-purple poison marks on her body also vanished.

This human woman should no longer be in danger and would be very safe.

She could also stop caring about this… two-legged creature that didn’t look very tasty.

After one “bite,” Jing Lian squinted her eyes, let go of the pale-faced woman, and licked the sharp teeth in her mouth with the tip of her tongue, savoring the taste from when she saved this woman.

Was it sweet? It had a bit of the scent of blue stone flowers growing at the bottom of the sea, but upon closer taste, it wasn’t quite the same.

Hmm…?

This taste she seemed not to have tasted before, but it probably wasn’t as exciting as the fresh prey livers or such.

But it was okay, she supposed.

Jing Lian pouted, made a slight comparison, then proudly raised an eyebrow.

She felt a little hungry. Although she had just dealt with those little pests that disturbed her peace, she was still a bit famished.

She wondered whether to return to the sea.

But, since she rarely had the leisure to transform into a human form, she looked down at this body. It seemed the last time she took this form was a hundred years ago.

And besides, this time, her old sea buddy, that male creature who escaped the abyss overlord, Hong Que.

Tch.

That old guy always teased her for not understanding human romance and insisted on inviting her to see the big cities of the human world, mainly because there were many delicacies tastier than those at the sea bottom.

Back then, Hong Que, that old buddy, even borrowed a lot of what he called priceless gems to go to the human world, saying it had developed impressively now and eagerly invited her.

She couldn’t quite understand why humans chased after those useless stones.

Hmm…

She seemed to have come ashore a bit earlier than the agreed time to meet Hong Que, all because of this human woman in front of her who disrupted her wake-up and relaxation time.

Jing Lian turned her golden eyes to look around. Her body felt a bit stiff from not having transformed into this small form for so long.

She lifted her foot, preparing to walk toward higher land under the twilight.

Since that old guy Hong Que hadn’t come, she thought she could explore this human world first. Without that nagging old guy, she felt a bit freer.

Thinking this, she mechanically turned her creaking neck, then continued walking toward the inner beach.

A sea breeze blew past.

The woman with wet, swamp-like hair wanted to keep walking forward, but…

“So… cold…”

The sea breeze carried the faint murmur of the human woman clearly to Jing Lian’s ears.

Jing Lian scratched her ears, trying not to look back at the muttering two-legged creature.

But that two-legged creature seemed really fragile, constantly repeating how cold she was, her body trembling.

Was this wind that cold?

Jing Lian, completely naked, slightly raised her beautiful eyebrows, finding it hard to believe.

Finally, she stiffly turned around. As expected, her body still needed to adjust to being on land; even turning wasn’t smooth, with her bones creaking.

As she approached the fragile two-legged creature, a small starfish on the ground, pretending to be dead and thinking the deep-sea lord had left, immediately tried to scurry back to the sea to hide.

But what a coincidence—before it could sense an unknown fear descending, it was crushed to pieces in a second.

Jing Lian felt a slip under her foot; a blind starfish had actually tripped her.

With a squish, the slimy feeling under her foot made her body lose balance and tilt forward.

As she watched her body about to heavily press onto the unconscious human woman, she desperately reached out, grabbed her own shoulder, and forcibly slid to the left, perfectly avoiding the risk of crushing the woman.

But she herself plunged headfirst into a nearby sandpile, with a heavy thud, the beach letting out a wail.

Jing Lian, who had made a huge dent in the beach, lay face-down in the sand. Thinking her body hadn’t fully adapted and her strength couldn’t be controlled freely, she simply stayed down, lying there.

[Whatever, I’ll sleep first.]

Thinking this in her heart, her face stiffly turned to glance at the human woman not far away, still shivering.

She almost pressed down on this two-legged creature.

The human woman unconsciously curled up her body, still trembling.

[Is it that cold? So weak…]

Soon, the sand around the unconscious Qi Wenxi slowly piled up beside her. The magical sand formed a heat-gathering dome, slowly covering Qi Wenxi’s body, blocking all the beach’s wind and tide, shielding from wind and rain.

Jing Lian tilted her head, seeing the other no longer shivering, then proudly let out a soft hum, satisfied. She closed her eyes, buried her face in the sand, and fell asleep.