The atmosphere suddenly became very awkward.
At night, the mist permeated, making the surroundings look somewhat eerie and terrifying.
Zhou Niannian felt a chill down her spine, as if someone was blowing on her back.
Her skin crawled.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Dai Xiaomei seemed to suddenly think of something, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, revealing a slightly cold expression.
"Since you've found out, I won't pretend anymore."
"Look closely, I'm actually Xiaoqian~"
Her voice was ethereal and carried a slight laugh, making her seem even more like a specter.
Zhou Niannian's heart tightened, wondering how they had suddenly entered the story of A Chinese Ghost Story.
This wasn't the end. Dai Xiaomei looked behind herself and said with a smile,
"Don't you agree, Caichen?"
This remark was directed at Yao.
Under the cover of darkness, Yao's grim and wooden face looked particularly terrifying, and the scar on his face seemed to leap out.
Suddenly, Dai Xiaomei pounced towards Zhou Niannian, smiling with ill intent.
"Help!"
Zhou Niannian screamed in terror, as if she had fallen to the ground.
But Jiang Fan's cold hand grabbed her by the nape of her neck.
She shrieked in fear, tears streaming down her face.
Yet, when Dai Xiaomei reached her, she simply giggled and tickled her.
The tickling sensation made Zhou Niannian burst into laughter, nearly collapsing, her body swaying.
Jiang Fan's grip tightened abruptly, firmly holding Zhou Niannian's body.
"Don't move, you have a wound on your nape."
Jiang Fan leaned in slightly and said sternly.
"You were likely bitten by a poisonous mosquito and are hallucinating."
"Then, then what should we do~"
Zhou Niannian's voice trembled slightly, filled with fear.
But such a wound was not unusual for Jiang Fan.
"Just wash it with saline, but it means the venomous insects here are very dangerous, everyone be careful."
Zhou Niannian relaxed and nodded at his words, saying 'Oh'.
After a long while, she suddenly realized!
"Wait! You're not ghosts after all!!!"
"Hahaha."
Dai Xiaomei pointed at Zhou Niannian and burst into laughter.
"You only realized now? So you're afraid of ghosts."
"Don't talk nonsense, how can there be ghosts in a world that advocates scientific development."
Jiang Fan frowned.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Niannian immediately retorted indignantly,
"Then why were you holding me so tightly!"
"You were struggling so violently."
Jiang Fan explained.
"If I didn't use some strength, how could I hold you down to check your wound."
"She called you Caichen, why didn't you respond."
Zhou Niannian yelled at Yao again.
Yao did not respond, only Dai Xiaomei was laughing so hard she was crying.
"Hahaha. He definitely doesn't know who Caichen is, that's why I told him. This is called cooperation."
"You dare to scare me!"
Zhou Niannian threw all pretense of modesty aside and directly pinched Dai Xiaomei's ear.
"Stop messing around, let's go bandage the wound first."
Jiang Fan grabbed Zhou Niannian's shoulder and pulled her away.
As Jiang Fan's palm touched her, Zhou Niannian's heart suddenly began to beat faster and faster.
She really wanted to pretend to be reserved and say, "I don't need your help," but the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them.
The four returned to the campsite, and Jiang Fan made saline solution with the salt they had saved.
He carefully cleaned Zhou Niannian's wound and then used a band-aid that Yao had brought.
While cleaning the wound, his gaze fell on her clothes, as if he could see the small white undergarment beneath.
There might be more injuries later, and bandages might not be enough.
If absolutely necessary, they could tear off their underwear to make bandages.
They were all backup bandages!
The viewers in the live stream were already in fits of laughter.
"So Zhou Niannian is actually afraid of ghosts."
"How many girls in the world aren't afraid of ghosts? Only someone as carefree as Dai Xiaomei isn't."
"By the way, why use saline to disinfect? I've seen in TV shows that they suck out the venom with their mouths."
"Pah, you pervert, you think the mosquito bit the wrong spot and it should have moved a little lower, right?"
"Why do I always feel like Jiang Shen is looking at the wrong spot? Could he be thinking of using underwear as bandages?"
"Alright, alright, we're all seasoned drivers here, we all understand."
How could they not understand Jiang Fan's gaze?
This was clearly a natural male reaction!
Everyone understood implicitly.
But Jiang Fan wasn't thinking that deeply, he just felt that Zhou Niannian's underwear had a larger surface area and could be disassembled into more bandages.
.......
After this ordeal, everyone lost their sleepiness.
They sat around the campfire in silence.
Zhou Niannian was the first to complain.
"I can't take it anymore, if I don't shower soon, I'm going to stink!"
"No matter what, we have to find a place to wash tomorrow!"
She said indignantly, as if cleanliness would prevent insect bites.
But Jiang Fan had the same idea and nodded.
"Okay."
He carefully mashed the burnt wood into ash.
The scene here was too strange, many things seemed real yet illusory, and poisonous creatures were present.
Wood ash could sterilize and stop bleeding, and it was the most needed item in a perilous situation when there was no hemostatic medicine.
Moreover, it could also be used for cleaning during a bath!
Late at night, after Zhou Niannian's hallucination, the sleepless group gathered around the bonfire for warmth.
Zhou Niannian had already prepared sobering tea using plant sap, and each person received a cup.
Holding the tea, everyone let out a relaxed sigh.
The quiet campsite felt somewhat desolate.
Dai Xiaomei took a sip of tea and quickly brought up a topic,
"By the way, Yao."
"You've lived with wolves for eighteen years, how did you live?"
Being addressed, Yao pondered and tried hard to organize his thoughts.
"Hunting... hunting rabbits... sometimes... hunting bears too!"
The scar on his face was from an injury sustained during a hunt.
Looking at the scar, Dai Xiaomei asked curiously,
"Did you roast the hunted prey with fire?"
"Fire... no."
Yao thought for a moment and added,
"Prey... eaten raw."
These two sentences silenced the two women.
Zhou Niannian and Dai Xiaomei's faces darkened, and they couldn't help but feel heartache. Their lives must have been so miserable.
They had already experienced the hardships of survival in the wild for a week.
Losing modern conveniences, they found everything inconvenient.
And Yao had lived through eighteen years of wilderness survival.
They could hardly imagine it.
"Too miserable!"
Dai Xiaomei murmured.
As soon as she spoke, she immediately felt that her words were inappropriate and quickly covered her mouth.
"I... I didn't mean it that way, I meant... it was very difficult."
"Difficult... no!"
A happy smile spread across Yao's usually silent face.
"Being with family... is happiness."
Everyone fell silent. Yao's so-called family was naturally the wolf pack.
Although the wolf pack seemed dangerous to them, compared to Yao, who was treated as family—
Perhaps the guileless wolf pack was his true family.
Instantly, Zhou Niannian thought of her parents.
She remembered the steaming hot meals at home, her parents' earnest gazes.
And her younger brother, who had been so cute and reliable since childhood.
Her heart warmed.
Past grievances were let go in that moment.
Zhou Niannian suddenly raised her glass.
"It's okay, in this place, there are only the four of us."
"From today on, we are your family."
She wasn't a petty person, and after the misunderstanding was cleared up, she naturally let go of animosity with a smile.
Laughter and joy echoed in the campsite.
"Sister!"
Yao replied obediently, though somewhat woodenly.
Dai Xiaomei, enjoying the spectacle, pointed at Jiang Fan and teased.
"Since we're all family now, then you see, you should call Jiang Fan..."
She paused, expecting Yao to finish the sentence.
Yao looked at Zhou Niannian and Jiang Fan and uttered,
"Brother-in-law?"