Almost two months had passed since the day Erina and Henry went up the mountain together. Because of her diligent study and practice, she mastered the basic general techniques and was taught the fighting techniques by Orson.
Orson had to admit that Erina learned very quickly, at first she was still confused and forgetful, but she became more and more focused.
However, he saw that every time she practiced too passionately, her eyes suddenly flashed with murderous intent and then disappeared. She had the same expression this morning.
After lunch, Erina was about to lie down and rest when she suddenly heard the sound of chickens chirping in the yard, so she immediately got up to go check it out. Although there were many wild chickens on the mountain, they had never strayed here before.
Just as she tiptoed out, she was startled when a man's head poked through the door of the next room. They both turned to the tiny chicken and then looked at each other.
“Erina, do you want to eat chicken?” Henry asked softly.
“But...”
Before she could finish her sentence, he put his hand to his lips to signal silence and gently walked next to her and whispered.
“Let's catch it and roast it.”
“Master will scold you.” Erina replied worriedly.
“Master is taking a nap. I'll carry it down to the waterfall.”
Hearing his sweet words, Erina nodded in agreement. Looking at the live chicken, the couple kept swallowing their saliva.
For nearly two months, they were vegetarians following Orson, so they all craved meat, and now the chicken suddenly ran in here and gave its life to them.
So, Erina took a small handful of rice, and threw it in the middle of the yard, luring the prey into the trap. Henry rolled up his shirt and waited until the chicken was engrossed in eating and forgot to be alert, then he would take action. He planned to catch it on the first try because if he missed, it would cry and startle Orson.
After a few minutes, it seemed that the chicken was completely fascinated by the rice, so Henry quickly rushed over and grabbed its neck. Erina was so happy that she wanted to jump up.
But the couple's joy did not last long when Orson suddenly appeared at the golden moment.
“Henry, what are you doing?”
A soft voice sounded behind Henry, making him startled and turn his head. Taking advantage of the moment when he was afraid and loosened his grip, the chicken struggled violently, flapping its wings and flying away.
Then, because it was so panicked, it crashed into Orson's face, scaring the two disciples so much that their faces turned pale. No one said anything, he and she simultaneously knelt down on the ground.
“You guys want to eat meat?” Orson asked while leisurely brushing away the chicken feathers on his clothes.
“Master, I wanted to eat. Catching the chicken was my idea and had nothing to do with Erina.” Henry quickly admitted all his faults.
Although Erina felt a little guilty, she kept silent. After all, it was Henry who seduced her and made her commit the crime. Just now, she intended to chase the chicken away, not kill and roast it. Because he seduced her and made her crave chicken, she thought it was right to let him take the blame alone.
“Both of you, stand up.” Orson smiled gently, his hand gently stroking his white beard.
Henry and Erina immediately obeyed his words and stood up. Henry's face was thicker than Erina's, so he kept looking straight at Orson to see if he wanted to teach him anything else. Her face was thin, so she lowered her head.
“The stream on the left mountainside has a lot of fish. You two go down there and catch them. You two don't need to be vegetarian like me.”
As soon as Orson finished speaking, Erina looked up. Seeing him nod slightly, her facial muscles relaxed a bit.
Next, after being taught the secret of catching fish by Orson, Henry quickly ran inside to get a bamboo basket and a fish-catching net and pulled Erina to the stream.
The left side of the mountain had many tree roots and tangled vines, making it difficult for the two of them to move. From the time they went up the mountain until now, they had never passed this way. If Orson hadn't pointed it out, he and she probably wouldn't have known there were fish here.
Following Orson's instructions, Henry stripped the bark of a tree growing along the stream bank, crushed it, and dropped it into the stream.
This bark was not very toxic, it only made the fish drunk so they could be caught easily, but it did not kill them. When the water became clear again, the fish would be alert as usual.
Erina attentively observed the watercolor slowly turning dark red, spreading to every corner. A moment later, seeing the surface of the stream begin to stir, she happily shouted.
“Young master, the fish are coming up, this way, this way.”
“You just stand on the stream bank, let me catch them.”
After saying that, he took the fishing net and waded into the middle of the stream.
Seeing the fish were sluggish, it seemed that they could be caught by hand, so Erina also jumped into the stream. However, she was wrong, although the fish were drunk, they still knew how to escape, it was easy to catch them with a net but it was difficult to catch them with bare hands.
In just a moment, the basket in Henry's hand was full. Turning around, he saw Erina hunched over following the fish.
Her appearance was no different from when she was a child, catching dragonflies around the garden, making him unable to hold back his laughter. Childhood memories suddenly rushed back into his mind, making him extremely excited.
“Erina, I caught forty-nine fish. I'll wait for you to catch one more fish to make it fifty fish.” Henry put the basket on the stream bank, put his hands on his hips, and said.
For a long time, Erina kept chasing the fish but it kept slipping away, so she was very frustrated, and now he said sarcastic words to her, causing her self-esteem to rise to the highest level. She turned around and glared at him.
“You catch fish with a net, of course, it's fast.”
“Don't you admire me? Then let's compete to see who can catch a fish with their bare hands.” He smiled, his voice seemed provocative.
“Okay, let's do it.”
Erina finished her sentence eloquently, and the fish hunt began. Because she was afraid of being distracted, she only focused on one fish, and wherever it swam, she followed it. Finally, she forced it into the cliff near the creek.
She gathered all her strength and attention and stretched her hand forward. Suddenly, from behind, Henry rushed forward, and slammed his hand hard on the stream bed, causing the fish she had been following to swish its tail and swim away.
“Young master, you did it on purpose, right?” Erina opened her mouth and screamed.
“No, the fish I was aiming for also swam here, so…”
Before Henry could finish his sentence, Erina had already waded to another place, trying her best to stalk another fish. Seeing the fish stop right under the floating rock, she quickly approached it.
Unfortunately, the rocks here were close together, so no matter how she ambushed, it would be inconvenient. Thinking back and forth, she lifted her leg to climb up the rock, intending to catch it from above.
Erina was looking intently when suddenly the water surface stirred and her fish also disappeared. Hearing Henry's loud laughter behind her, she immediately turned her head.
“I won.” Henry was delighted, holding the fish and approaching her.
Henry made her miss two opportunities within her reach, so she was upset and didn't reply. Then, because she was angry, when she tried to jump off the rock, she accidentally slipped, causing her whole body to sway and fall backward.
Henry panicked, quickly threw away the fish, and rushed to help her. His strong arms hugged her slender body.
In fear and surprise, Erina completely lost all reaction, her eyes as clear as autumn lake water kept opening wide, staring at him. The sunlight filtered through the leaves, landing on the wet hair, adding to the charm on the man's face.
“Erina, are you okay?”
When Henry asked, she was suddenly startled and quickly grabbed him for support to stand up straight.
“I dropped the fish so let's make up, don't be angry anymore.” Henry raised his empty hands and waved.
“Let's go home.” She whispered.
Erina quickly passed him and waded straight to the stream bank. She was really angry just now, but because she slipped and fell, she was so scared that her anger disappeared.
The two of them walked and conveniently picked some wild vegetables to cook fish soup. Looking at the image of the girl in the pure white martial arts uniform like a white cloud floating in the middle of the forest, Henry just wished that time would stop at this moment so that he could stay close to her forever.
Every time he thought about the fact that because Erina wanted to escape her position as his fiancée and leave him to be with another man, she was willing to accept the difficulties that awaited her in a distant country, his heart was filled with bitterness.
All these years of being together could not make her feel the slightest bit moved towards him. He didn't like the feeling she had for him that came from pity or responsibility.
Henry was lost in thought, so he fell behind a long distance. When he heard Erina calling, he was startled and hurriedly ran after her.
“Why are you so slow?” She frowned in annoyance.
“The fish basket is so heavy.” He replied with a smile.
“How many kilograms do you weigh? You only carry a few fish, but you said they are heavy.”
After asking, Erina did not wait for an answer but turned around and continued walking. Henry hurriedly stepped forward, clearing the tangled vines to clear the way for her. In his heart, she was the queen and he was willing to be the guard kneeling at her feet forever.
The gentle forest wind blew the white outfit fluttering. The sunlight was gentler as it passed through the thin clouds, falling on the couple's footprints on the dry leaves. A peaceful noon.