Chapter Fifteen: His care
The third day on the peak felt like a lifetime. Lin Wan felt like she was composed of 40% of grit and 60% of mountain dust.
Weiwei, if I don't get a bath in the next hour, I'm going to develop a new ecosystem on my skin, she thought, scratching her arm irritably.
[Host, there is a thermal spring 400 meters below this ledge. However, the path is steep. Also, I should inform you that your 'Mate Bond' with Wang is pulsing. He is within a five-mile radius. And you should also know that, he is currently in 'Extermination Mode.']
Great. So I have a ticking time bomb husband coming for me and a guilt-tripped eagle guarding me. Fantastic.
Lin Wan stood up and marched over to Wei Xiang. "I need to wash. Now. Escort me to the spring."
Stunned Wei Xiang ignored the obvious question of how she knew of a spring around here, he was too busy thinking about something else.
Wei Xiang looked up, his bronze skin flushing slightly. "The spring? It is... exposed. I cannot. . .
"
"You can stand with your back turned and play the sentry," Lin Wan interrupted, crossing her arms. "I've survived scorpions and falling from the sky; I think I can handle a little cold water. But I need someone to make sure nothing creeps up on me."
Wei Xiang stood, his height towering over her, yet he kept his head bowed. "As you wish."
" Wan'er" he said internally, he didn't think he had the right to call her name, but saying it in his heart was his little guilty pleasure.
He had heard her name when she muttered it in her sleep, and saying it felt like a prayer he didn't have the right to whisper. He led her down the mountain, clearing every jagged stone from her path with his spear. He moved like a shadow, silent and watchful.
When they reached the spring, a beautiful, steaming pool tucked behind a natural stone wall, Wei Xiang turned his back immediately.
He stood at the entrance of the grotto, his spear held white-knuckled in his hands.
Lin Wan stripped off her ruined modern clothes, sighing as the warm water hit her skin. She looked at her reflection in the water. She looked different. Her skin was more vibrant, her eyes sharper. The 'System' was changing her, adapting her to this world.
Weiwei, why is he being so... distant? He's acting like I'm some royal princess
[Host, in this world, a male who fails to protect a female feels 'dishonored.' To Wei Xiang, you are a goddess he dropped. He believes that until he is stronger, he doesn't even deserve to look at you. It's a very common 'High Guardian' psychological trait. They are very melodramatic.]
Tell me about it, Lin Wan thought, scrubbing her hair.
When she finished and stepped out, shivering in the cool air, she realized the hide she wore were essentially rags now. She tried to piece them together, but they were hopeless.
Wei Xiang appeared, still looking away, and held out a bundle. It was a snow-white mountain goat hide, cleaned and softened with herbal oils.
"I hunted it this morning," he said, his voice thick. "I cleaned it while you slept. It is not the hide you are used to, but it is warm. It will protect you better than those... strange blue skins you wore."
Lin Wan took the hide, the fur incredibly soft against her skin. "Thank you, Wei Xiang. It's beautiful."
"I am leaving tomorrow," he said suddenly.
Lin Wan froze, the hide halfway over her shoulders. "What? You can't fly yet! Your wings can barely spread out, it will snap!"
"I am going to the Deep Forest of the Ancestors," Wei Xiang said, finally turning to look at her.
The golden light of the setting sun caught the intensity in his eyes. "I am a three-stripe warrior of the sky, yet I was brought down by a common rogue. I am not worthy to stand beside you, Lin Wan. I will fight the primal beasts. I will level up my beast-core. I will become a five-stripe Guardian."
He stepped closer, just once, smelling of cedar and mountain air. "When I am strong enough to guard you from every shadow in this world, I will find you. Until then... stay safe with your beasthusband."
Lin Wan opened her mouth to argue, to tell him he didn't need to prove anything, but a sound cut her off.
A roar.
It wasn't a mountain beast. It was a sound of pure, silver-furred fury echoing from the base of the cliff. The scent of raw earth and aggressive, possessive mate hit the wind.
Wang.
[Ding! Warning! Mate #1 has entered the 'Jealousy Zone.' Conflict is imminent!]
"He is here," Wei Xiang whispered, his hand tightening on his spear. "I will see you again, Wan'er. When I am worthy of you"
With a sudden, pained leap, he shifted, not into the full eagle, but a half-form with massive, feathered arms, and disappeared into the darkening treeline just as a silver shape began to scale the cliff with terrifying speed.