But then another problem arose.
Her body was delicate, unsuited for living in the wild. On top of that, if she kept eating only these things, what would happen if she got sick?
Compared to that, the possible nutritional imbalance from eating only fruit seemed less important.
Xing Lian’s heart was always uneasy, but fortunately the worst didn’t happen—she didn’t get sick or feel unwell.
And so, she was raised by the little fox for a few days.
From initial anxiety to current calm, she even had the mood to let her mind wander.
The forest was huge, and it was hard for her to find her way out.
‘If I can’t leave, will I have to stay here forever?’
‘Where is Yue Li now? Is she looking for me? After so long without seeing me, has she given up?’
The more Xing Lian thought, the more unsettled she became. She had to distract herself with other things.
Only the little one was by her side. Xing Lian stroked the white fox, curious about its behavior.
‘Why is the little one so good to me for no reason?’
Thinking of the black snake she encountered earlier, it also didn’t seem to want to harm her.
‘Do I have an affinity that attracts small animals?’
Xing Lian asked curiously.
The little white fox blinked in confusion.
Although the little one was very spirited, it was essentially naive and obviously couldn’t answer her question.
But the little one liked her—that was definitely true.
Unable to figure out the reason, Xing Lian stopped thinking about it. The most important thing now was survival.
With the little fox around, she had no worries about food and drink for the short term, but the place she lived was uncomfortable.
The fox den was too small; there was no way she could live there. Xing Lian wanted to find a mountain cave.
But finding a mountain cave in the forest was extremely difficult. Even if she found one, it might already be occupied by other animals. She didn’t dare gamble that all animals would be friendly to her.
With no choice, she had to settle for second best. She found a low tree, collected some branches for support, and piled a bunch of large leaves on top as a roof.
The shelter she made this way was very crude—it leaked when it rained and didn’t block the wind—but it was better than being out in the open.
With the shelter problem solved, what remained was the bed. Her body was delicate and couldn’t stand lying on the ground, so she had to spread a thick layer of dry leaves.
Xing Lian’s skin was very sensitive and could barely tolerate the prickling of the leaves, but the environment was harsh and she had no conditions to be picky.
Food and shelter were barely handled. What remained was the hygiene issue.
She had nothing on her except a little white dress. After wearing it for a few days, the white dress turned gray and dusty. Plus, she had sweated before, and it felt very uncomfortable.
She had to strip and bathe by the small stream. After bathing, she had to wash her clothes. While the clothes dried, she only had a pair of panties on.
Being in the wilderness in only her underwear—the feeling was unspeakably embarrassing.
Although this was a remote mountain forest with no one around, Xing Lian still felt very shy.
And this shame she experienced almost every day. After going through it several times, her tolerance for embarrassment had increased a lot.
Surviving in the forest was very difficult, but Xing Lian overcame each challenge one by one. Although there was a lot of luck involved, success was success, and it made her quite proud.
Though she lived poorly under harsh conditions, she had managed to survive.
If she could keep persisting, maybe she really would have a day when she could escape.
Xing Lian had made up her mind.
She still hadn’t given up on reuniting with Yue Li. She wanted to continue waiting here, but she wouldn’t wait forever.
One month. She would wait at most one month.
If after one month, Yue Li hadn’t found her, then she would have to find a way to save herself.
But saving herself was extremely difficult. She still hoped that one day when she opened her eyes, she would see Yue Li appear.
Holding onto this thought, for the next few days, no matter how hard or tiring it was, Xing Lian gritted her teeth and persisted.
Although it was warm season, the weather wasn’t always sunny. Occasionally, there would be wind and rain.
Xing Lian’s ‘little house’ couldn’t block the wind and rain. She was almost tortured to death by the changeable weather, but fortunately she still held on.
During the day, she tried to survive; at night, she cuddled the little fox and slept. Thanks to the little one’s presence, she had something to do at night and could get through it, feeling less scared. Xing Lian was very grateful to it.
And so time slowly passed, and soon half a month went by.
Xing Lian found she had overestimated herself.
She thought she could last a month, but after half a month of this harsh life, she was about to go crazy.
‘Can’t bear it. Really can’t bear it anymore.’
Xing Lian didn’t want to wait. She decided to prepare well today, pack more food, and try to leave the forest tomorrow.
After making this decision, Xing Lian felt much more energetic.
Though she didn’t know what the outcome would be, she no longer had to wait painfully, and she felt lighter.
‘Yes, easier.’
In fact, Xing Lian understood in her heart.
After being separated from Yue Li, the first three days were the most likely time to reunite. Now that so much time had passed, the possibility of them reuniting was very low. It was unlikely Yue Li would find her.
She hadn’t been willing to admit this truth before, simply because leaving was too difficult. But now it was different.
Since she was already cornered, she could no longer deceive herself.
That night, Xing Lian slept very soundly.
No longer holding onto false hope, she bravely took a step forward. Whatever the result, she would accept it, because she had tried.
But fortune is fickle, and fate plays tricks.
Xing Lian thought that after half a month, no one would come looking for her anymore, but she was wrong—dead wrong.
Neither Yue Li nor the white dog-girl had given up searching for her. After all, such a breathtaking beauty was rare in the world—how could they give up easily?
Ever since being separated from Xing Lian, Yue Li had been searching for her, but the process was not smooth.
The forest was too big, finding one person was very difficult, and in the process, she had to guard against enemy ambushes.
The white dog-girl had it easier. As a minor high-level official in the empire, she could command her subordinates to work.
At her command, many black-clad beast-girls entered the forest to search for Xing Lian.
So when Xing Lian opened her eyes and saw the black-clad beast-girl in front of her, she was completely stunned.
Good news: she hadn’t been abandoned. Someone was still looking for her.
Bad news: the one who found her was a stranger, and she harbored hostile intentions.
“You, you, you… don’t come near me!”
Waking up to find a stranger in front of her, the person staring at her with burning eyes, made Xing Lian very uneasy.
That gaze was scorching, making her whole body uncomfortable. Xing Lian was very familiar with that look, and she had a very bad feeling.
“You tell me not to come, so I won’t? Why should I listen to you?”
The black-clad beast-girl said as she approached Xing Lian, wanting to do happy things with her.
Although the order she received was to find the target and take her away directly, without allowing bullying, the beauty before her was so stunning that it would be unthinkable not to bully her!
‘Not bullying her would be unworthy of being a woman!’