At this time of year, the fruit growing in the wild had not fully ripened. Xu Zhiqiu endured the bitterness on her tongue and took a few more bites, only to throw up everything she had eaten.
The sky gradually darkened, and golden sunset light shone on the river.
Xu Zhiqiu sat on a large pebble by the river, her shoes set aside, playing with a reed in her hands.
The crimson clouds faded into the distance, leaving the sky a hazy gray.
She tossed what she was holding into the unfathomably deep river. The broken reed floated on the surface and drifted downstream with the current.
Xu Zhiqiu lay back on the rock, bewilderment showing on her face.
It was a dream, right? It had to be a dream. Once she was fully awake, she would wake from it and return to the home where she belonged.
She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she saw a baboon mask looming close.
!
Xu Zhiqiu was so startled that she nearly rolled into the river. She hurriedly sat up. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm more curious about why you're lying here. There are plenty of demons around these woods. If some other demon had come instead of me, you'd be dead today." As he spoke, he straightened up, as though he had not been the one leaning over her a moment earlier.
"I lay down and fell asleep," Xu Zhiqiu answered.
The sky had gone completely dark. The woods around them were pitch-black, with only the bright moonlight illuminating the area.
"Heh."
Hearing him scoff again, Xu Zhiqiu helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead. "Could you stop going 'heh' all the time?"
"Hmph. Who are you to tell me what to do?" he asked, his voice