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Upon recognizing the person as Gu Bei, Ye Xiaohan's heart filled with joy. Although she didn't understand why Gu Bei had suddenly appeared here, that didn't matter at all.
What mattered was that Gu Bei was alive and back by her side.
As she waited for Gu Bei to swim over to her, she couldn't help but paddle in his direction.
After swimming for a while, Ye Xiaohan suddenly felt something was off.
Gu Bei wasn't coming closer; instead, he was flailing in place. Looking more closely, she realized he was starting to sink.
His awkward movements clearly indicated that he couldn't swim at all!
Ye Xiaohan couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. What was wrong with him? He clearly couldn't swim, yet he had jumped into the river like that.
There was no choice; she had to rescue Gu Bei first.
"Ugh!" Gu Bei lay on the ground, coughing up the water he had swallowed. Ye Xiaohan stood by, pressing on his stomach to help him expel the water.
"You really are something! Don't you know whether you can swim or not? How can you save someone like this? You're just asking to be buried with them," Ye Xiaohan scolded, still feeling annoyed as she pressed down hard on Gu Bei's stomach.
Gu Bei coughed again, clearing out the remaining river water. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he looked up at her with a hint of grievance. "That last push was on purpose, wasn't it? There was no need to be that forceful."
"Hmph!" Ye Xiaohan shot him a glare. "Who told you to be so foolish? Next time, will you still dare to act recklessly like a hero?"
This time they were lucky; Ye Xiaohan was a good swimmer. But what if next time she went to save someone and there happened to be no one around who could swim? That would be asking for trouble!
"Hey? Why are you silent? What are you staring at me for? I'm talking to you; did you hear me?" Ye Xiaohan noticed Gu Bei staring blankly at her and gave him a little push.
As a result, instead of waking Gu Bei, it seemed that Ye Xiaohan had triggered Gu Bei's instincts. He suddenly rolled over and pulled Ye Xiaohan into his embrace.
"I saw you being pushed into the river earlier and thought something terrible would happen to you. I was so worried!" Gu Bei held Ye Xiaohan tightly, his body slightly trembling, as if he was still shaken by Ye Xiaohan's earlier peril.
Ye Xiaohan hesitated for a moment before reaching out to hug Gu Bei back, gently patting his back. "I was just pretending to be in trouble to make her believe I was in danger. Actually, I can swim; I'm quite good at it!"
Gu Bei, who had been rescued by Ye Xiaohan, clearly understood this point deeply. He quickly calmed down, but the worry in his expression did not fade.
"How did you end up here? Do you know where this place is? When did you get here? Why were you with the people from Bandit Hideout?"
Gu Bei's questions piled up in his mind and filled Ye Xiaohan's ears.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Ye Xiaohan hurriedly covered Gu Bei's mouth to give her ears a moment of peace. "You’re asking so many questions at once; which one should I answer first?"
Ye Xiaohan looked around and said, "Shouldn't we find another place? What if someone finds us here?"
What if the people from Bandit Hideout realized she was missing and, after questioning Rou, she accidentally let it slip?
She wasn't worried about what would happen to Rou for endangering others; rather, she was concerned that once Rou revealed the situation, the people from the Village would come looking for her. If they didn't find a body, they would surely suspect that this was Ye Xiaohan's clever escape plan.
Gu Bei had a different opinion. "There won't be any problems for now. This is their so-called forbidden area; generally, no one comes in here. The reason I’ve been able to hide here for so long is precisely because of that."
"Forbidden area?" Ye Xiaohan nodded. "No wonder when I tried to eavesdrop earlier, it seemed like they were preparing to search elsewhere and hadn't even considered this area."
It seemed Rou was willing to risk punishment just to bring Ye Xiaohan into the forbidden area to kill her for Zhao Ren.
However, aside from being a bit of a hassle for Ye Xiaohan, she didn't care much about Rou's intentions; her primary concern now was Gu Bei.
"I overheard that you were injured," Ye Xiaohan said as she forcefully pulled Gu Bei away from her, who was still holding onto her tightly. "Where are you hurt? Show me!"
Gu Bei hesitated and instinctively took a step back, seemingly trying to hide his wounds. But Ye Xiaohan quickly grabbed him, preventing any escape.
"Why are you running? Hurry up!" Ye Xiaohan urged. When she saw that Gu Bei still refused to cooperate, she decided to take matters into her own hands and unbuttoned his shirt.
The multitude of scars was suddenly exposed under the bright sunlight, revealing not only the swollen edges of the wounds but also the deep gashes that showed signs of infection and pus.
"What? How could it be this serious!" Even though Ye Xiaohan was accustomed to seeing various injuries, she was deeply shocked at this moment. There was a sense of emotional pain that she had never felt while treating her patients.
Just moments ago, Gu Bei's agile movements had led Ye Xiaohan to believe that his injuries weren't severe; it now appeared he had merely been forcing himself to endure.
The reason for his actions was clear—he had rushed to save her, even forgetting that he couldn't swim.
Ye Xiaohan gently placed her fingers on the uninjured skin, a difficult task given that there was hardly any intact skin on Gu Bei's body; everywhere she looked, there were wounds and swollen areas infected by those injuries.
Gu Bei didn't want her to worry, so he tried to reassure her: "It just looks serious; it doesn't really hurt that much. I've had worse injuries before, and I healed just fine. I'll be okay."
His words did little to ease Ye Xiaohan's concern; in fact, they only fueled her anger further. "Oh, you're so impressive! Should I give you a round of applause?"
Not knowing where he had gone wrong to upset her, Gu Bei could only silently close his mouth and refrain from speaking.
Ye Xiaohan quickly searched the area for anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving herbs to provide basic care for Gu Bei.
"I lost my medicine, so I'll have to make do with these for now. Once we get back, I'll properly bandage you up."
Ye Xiaohan had brought a considerable amount of medicine, but some had been used as weapons while fleeing from the men in black. The rest had been confiscated by the bandits after she was captured and taken into the Bandit Hideout.
"What happened to these wounds?" The severity of the injuries varied, suggesting they were not all inflicted at the same time.
Gu Bei cautiously observed Ye Xiaohan's expression and felt that she seemed to be no longer angry. He quickly recounted the events to her: "Some of these injuries are from when we were besieging the Bandit Hideout, but most of them happened afterward. I got them while I was escaping."
The Bandit Hideout indeed had a stark contrast between its peaceful facade and the dark, damp depths of the Prison below.
After being captured, Gu Bei had been locked up there. During that time, he was subjected to severe torture and relentless questioning by the Bandits. In such circumstances, he could only try to appear weaker, hoping that the Bandits would relax their vigilance while celebrating their victory over his defeated forces.
After carefully assessing the possibility of escape, Gu Bei took advantage of a deep night when he lured a Guard into loosening his restraints for a meal. He then knocked out the Guard and, under the cover of darkness, concealed himself as he fled into forbidden territory.
No matter how lightly Gu Bei downplayed his experiences, anyone who saw him in his current state would understand the horrors he had endured.
As Ye Xiaohan skillfully applied medicine to his wounds, she couldn't help but feel an overwhelming hatred for the Bandit Hideout.
"And you?" After briefly finishing his own story, Gu Bei began to inquire about Ye Xiaohan. To him, her presence here was far more alarming than any ordeal he had faced.
Ye Xiaohan shared her own experiences, starting from Liu Susu's arrival to explain why she ended up in the river.
The two of them observed a moment of silence for their fallen companions, but it could only last so long; they didn't even have time to grieve properly now.
"We need to get out of here quickly; it's very dangerous," Gu Bei said as he redressed himself. Thanks to the sunlight from Summer Heat, his clothes had dried completely in just a short while.
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