After receiving her friends blessings and Zhou Wei's instructions Venus went home.
Venus sat on the porch with her injured foot dipped into a wooden bucket filled with cold river water. She was in no mood to deal with anyone. When Zhao Xin approached her, she didn't even lift her head.
She told him, without looking up, that she didn't want to talk and suggested he speak to Bai Lan instead. She was tired, both physically and emotionally, and didn't want to play games anymore.
Zhao Xin sat down beside her and lightly tapped Zhao Li An, who was playing near them. The boy corrected him for using what Bai Lan called a "no-no" word. Venus stayed silent as they argued about it. She didn't defend Zhao Xin, even when he turned to her for backup. Instead, she simply shrugged.
Zhao Xin accused her of being upset about the previous night, but Venus denied it flatly. Brushing off Bai Lan's questions, she claimed that nothing had happened. They had just gone to the local hot springs and then stopped at the village teahouse for dinner. It sounded harmless enough, but the silence between them now told another story.
When her father the pack leader, returned home and saw Venus with her foot in the water, he muttered something about canceling her training journey to the Elite Mountain Healer medical academy. Bai Lan, ever the dreamer, suggested that Zhao Xin, who was heading to visit his grandmother in the Yunnan highlands, could escort Venus to her healer's retreat.
Everyone turned to Zhao Xin. He gave a firm "no." Venus agreed with Zhao Xin. The idea of being stuck in a carriage, or worse, hiking through wild territory with Zhao Xin sounded like torture.
Luo Lan grunted. "Then it's settled. Venus isn't going."
Venus Lin Yue
.....
For the next two hours, Venus tried to find anyone who could escort her through the mountain passes to Yunnan. No one was free. Most of her fellow healer apprentices were busy with their own training or didn't have the stamina for the journey through werewolf borderlands.
That left her with only one person, Zhao Xin.
She found him shirtless on top of the old storehouse, hammering wooden shingles. She couldn't help but notice his strong, scar-lined back and the way his muscles shifted with each movement. She hated that her wolf stirred inside her, remembering how close they had been last night.
She walked up and told him they needed to talk.
He didn't stop hammering.
She told him she regretted kissing him the night before. That she was angry, not just at him, but at herself. He had caught her off guard. She wished she could turn back time and erase the moment when his lips met hers under the moonlight.
Zhao Xin said regret was a heavy thing to carry for eternity.
Venus agreed but pressed on. She explained that she needed help getting to Yunnan. She had no other options.
Zhao Xin finally jumped down from the roof. He reminded her of the unspoken rule they had made—not to get involved in each other's business. Traveling through rogue territory together, setting up tents in wolf-neutral zones, sharing campfires... That wasn't staying out of each other's lives.
Venus faked a smile. "I love camping," she lied.
He raised an eyebrow. "No, you don't."
She insisted she could handle it, that they'd have enough time to argue along the way to keep things interesting. He still refused. He even joked that she let her dog chew up the enchanted practice qi ball he had given her, the one blessed by the elder wolf.
As he walked away, Venus stepped in front of him. She begged. She told him the truth—her mate Gao Tianyu had betrayed her by joining another pack, the Rogue pack. She had to prove herself to the pack elders and to herself. Without this healer training, she had nothing. Even her dog, Falkor, seemed to prefer Zhao Xin now.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Zhao Xin hesitated, looked away, rubbed the back of his neck... then said no.
Venus offered money. A hundred yuan and supplies. He laughed, said dealing with her should come with hazard pay.
She added two boxes of dried meat and energy cakes.
Zhao Xin looked at her hand but didn't take the offer.
Then she broke down.
She told him she was drowning, that nothing in her life was steady anymore. She begged him to prove that it wasn't all hopeless.
He sighed and finally said, "All right. Deal."
Zhao Xin never planned to return to Yunnan, Elite Mountain Healer medical academy was close to his grandma's home let alone agree to travel through the mountains with a girl who made his wolf restless.
But when he looked into Venus's eyes and saw the fire there, the same fire he once had for warrior training, he couldn't say no.
He didn't know what she hoped to prove in Yunnan, but he had no doubt she'd fight tooth and fang to succeed.
Four days later, they packed for the journey. Venus loaded snacks, dried fruits, preserved plums, spicy crackers, into her rucksack. Zhao Xin packed medicinal herbs, a hunting knife, his old dagger with the Phoenix sigil, and a portable spirit blender for his herbal tonics.
Venus raised her eyebrows. "You're bringing that?"
He nodded. "I'm not living off junk."
They said their goodbyes. Bai Lan hugged Venus tightly. Venus's father handed Zhao Xin a protective charm made of silverwood, wishing them a safe journey.
Falkor leaped into the cart, clearly planning to come along.
Zhao Xin frowned. "You're not invited."
But Falkor didn't move until Zhao Xin gave the command in wolf-tongue. Only then did the big dog hop down.
Zhao Li An ran up and clung to Zhao Xin's leg. "Will you come back?"
Zhao Xin knelt and promised he would.
Venus leaned out and called to Zhao Li An. "Aren't you going to give me a hug too?"
The boy ran into her arms. Venus clung to him like she needed his warmth more than anything else. Zhao Xin saw the pain on her face, the deep ache of someone who was losing the last bit of her pack security.
Soon, they were on the main path heading southwest. Farmlands faded behind them, and the forests closed in. A hawk circled overhead, its cry echoing in the silence.
Venus kicked off her boots and relaxed. Then she reached into her bag.
"You hungry?" she asked, holding out a cracker topped with creamy cheese paste.
Zhao Xin shook his head.
She leaned over and pushed the cracker toward his mouth.
"It won't kill you."