Ultimately, Xu An's worst fear came to pass.
However, that was something beyond her control.
While the few people were talking, Zhou Haimei also finished her bath and came out wrapped in a quilt.
"Whew~ So cold."
Xu An brought over the hot water she had boiled for Zhou Haimei to drink.
"Thank you, An An, it's so warm." After drinking the hot water, Zhou Haimei sighed with satisfaction and looked at Xu An with a contented expression.
"If I were a man, I'd definitely marry you, hahahaha."
Zhou Haimei said jokingly, her pretty face hidden in the quilt, only her cunning eyes peeking out.
Xu An smiled helplessly, "I won't joke with you anymore. I'm going to take a bath. The food is warming by the fire, keep an eye on it."
After Zhou Haimei agreed, Xu An took her clean clothes and walked towards the wooden house behind them.
Upon entering and confirming no one was inside, Xu An flashed into her space.
She absolutely refused to suffer in this icy, snowy weather outside. After a comfortable hot bath and putting on her clean clothes, she leisurely walked out.
She did not forget to fetch a bucket of snow water and place it on the stove to boil, just for show.
Long before meeting Qin Chuan, Xu An had already retrieved Gou Dan back into her space.
After dallying with Gou Dan for a while, Xu An went to check the corpses of the mutated monsters harvested this time and took stock of the gold and other rare metals she hadn't exchanged before. With a rough idea, she felt reassured and emerged from her space.
Returning to the wooden house, Zhou Haimei and Qin Chuan had already prepared the meal.
Xu An looked at the wound on Qin Chuan's leg, hidden by his trouser leg.
"Is your wound alright?"
"It's fine." Qin Chuan didn't say anything more.
Seeing Qin Chuan's normal complexion, not appearing weak at all, Xu An dismissed her concern.
Qin Chuan should be able to handle his wounds himself. It seemed those monstrous fish only had astonishing bite force and no fatal toxins.
However, Xu An still took out an anti-inflammatory pill from her pocket and handed it to Qin Chuan.
"Anti-inflammatory. Be careful not to let the wound get infected. Eat the meal first, then take this."
Qin Chuan looked up at the medicine in Xu An's hand, then his gaze followed the medicine all the way to Xu An's face.
He seemed to be searching for something on Xu An's face, but as if he found nothing, he then lowered his head in disappointment.
But he didn't refuse the pill in Xu An's hand. He wouldn't make things difficult for himself.
After eating, the three of them discussed who would take watch for the night, and the other two fell into a deep sleep.
Xu An looked at the vast snowy night before her, feeling a slight unease, wondering what the situation was like at the lighthouse.
At this moment, Xu An had never longed for pre-apocalypse high technology so much.
It would be great to have a mobile phone now. All her worries could be perfectly resolved by making a phone call to her family.
The long night stretched on, and the fire in the wooden house crackled. They had a rare, good sleep.
As it approached the middle of the night, Xu An prepared to wake Zhou Haimei for their shift, but from afar, she heard faint cries, one after another.
Xu An initially thought it was some unknown wild beast on the mountain, but upon listening closely, she realized it was a human voice.
Perhaps it was because the distance was too far, or because of the snowfall, the sound grew weaker and weaker, almost to the point of being inaudible.
Zhou Haimei, woken up, rubbed her eyes and sleepily looked at Xu An, who was sitting by the window, lost in thought and not sleeping at all, looking puzzled.
"An An, why aren't you sleeping? It's so late."
Xu An didn't know whether to say anything. Their voices were a bit loud, and Qin Chuan was somehow also woken up.
He was already having a hard time due to his leg injury. Now, hearing their conversation, he couldn't sleep and decided to get up.
He looked in the direction Xu An was gazing, which was towards the fishing village.
"Did something happen?"
After asking, Qin Chuan looked at Xu An blankly, suddenly feeling that he had become so nosy since coming down here.
Xu An looked at Qin Chuan. "Something seems to have happened in the fishing village over there."
She seemed to be waiting for Qin Chuan's answer, her face expressionless.
"Do you want to go and take a look?"
Xu An's gaze shifted to Qin Chuan's injured leg.
"Whether to go or not, the decision is yours."
Xu An naturally knew what had happened between Qin Chuan and those fishermen.
What those women said might not have been false. Their betrayal of Qin Chuan could have been due to threats or other reasons.
But no matter what, the lives of those people were now in Qin Chuan's hands.
Qin Chuan didn't answer, but his actions spoke for themselves. He wrapped his leg wound with a clean cotton cloth.
Then, he began to put on his clothes, preparing to go out.
Zhou Haimei, watching Qin Chuan and Xu An both making moves, was a little stunned.
"No, what are you two playing at? What are you doing?"
Xu An simply explained, "The fishing village over there might have been attacked by monsters. We're going to check it out."
Hearing the word "monsters," Zhou Haimei's shoulders instinctively cringed.
Thinking of the fierce scene from earlier made her tremble all over.
"If it's the same sea monster from today, aren't you two walking into a trap? I don't have any more bombs."
Xu An said decisively, "No, judging by the current situation, it's unlikely to be that kind of small sea monster. If a large-scale sea monster came ashore, we would also be affected, but we are still safe here." Speaking of which, Xu An glanced back at Qin Chuan.
"If my guess is correct, the sea monster that was chasing you before probably isn't dead yet."
As Xu An finished speaking, Qin Chuan nodded without hesitation, "Indeed. At the time, I only remembered cutting off one of its tentacles, but before I lost consciousness, that monster had apparently escaped."
"That makes sense."
Zhou Haimei was still hesitant, but seeing that Qin Chuan and Xu An were already dressed and ready to leave.
She then stopped hesitating and also started putting on her clothes.
Xu An gently patted Zhou Haimei's shoulder.
"We're just looking around the vicinity. We'll help if we can, but we won't rashly go forward."
With Xu An's assurance, Zhou Haimei's concerns were significantly eased.
The three walked out of the wooden house one after another. Because Qin Chuan's leg was inconvenient, Xu An and Zhou Haimei deliberately slowed their pace and waited for him ahead.
Qin Chuan clearly noticed the slowing steps of the two ahead, waiting for him.
His usually tough heart seemed to have a soft spot covered.