Sharing Dreams with My Bestie's Cousin

"Shang Hexing, I’ve rested enough; shall we go down the mountain?" Wen Zhi said in a muffled voice.

Shang Hexing replied to her, "Okay, but..."

His words suddenly stopped.

It seemed that thing was approaching because the arm he had around her lower back was tightening bit by bit.

It was clearly a sign that danger was approaching.

"But, but, but what?" Her voice trembled.

Shang Hexing lowered his voice, "That wild monkey is watching us in the dark, it moves closer now and then, it’s not clear what it’s planning to do next."

Wen Zhi was close to crying, "What should we do?"

She felt safe only when she huddled in his embrace, not daring to look back, as monkey’s eyes are very scary at night.

"It’s coming," Shang Hexing said in a lowered voice, "don’t move."

Wen Zhi stiffened, not daring to move.

"Wen Zhi," Shang Hexing called her name to soothe her, "Don’t be afraid, I’m here."

Wen Zhi gave a small hum, very softly.

He said, "Next, hold my right hand as tightly as you can, and be sure not to fall, remember?"

Wen Zhi said, "I remember, but you have to take care of yourself too."

"Hmm," he responded.

"I’ll count down to one, and then you get up in one go, three, two..."

Listening to Shang Hexing’s counting, Wen Zhi silently counted along in her heart.

Three, two, one.

As the last number echoed in her heart, she stood up with the help of Shang Hexing’s arm and then held onto his right hand tightly, just as he had said.

His arm seemed to possess tremendous strength, easily pulling her behind him, and when Wen Zhi regained her senses, all she could see in the dim light was his tall and majestic silhouette, giving her a full sense of security.

With a ’swoosh’ sound,

Shang Hexing kicked the fire apart, sparks scattering in all directions. The monkey was clearly startled, emitting a series of sharp squeaks and leaping about.

Suddenly, a white object was thrown from the monkey’s hand, the fire dispersed, the line of sight too dark, Shang Hexing couldn’t see clearly, so he raised his hand to block it.

The white object hit Shang Hexing’s arm and fell down, finally landing on the ground.

And the monkey had vanished without a trace.

Wen Zhi peered out from behind Shang Hexing, "Did the monkey get scared away?"

Shang Hexing replied to her, "Hmm, its whereabouts are unknown for now, it just shrieked a few times from fright, not calling for its companions, so there’s no need to worry."

Wen Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

Shang Hexing bent down to pick up the white object from the ground, and when Wen Zhi asked what it was, Shang Hexing said, "It’s white."

Wen Zhi casually remarked, "It couldn’t be my phone, could it?"

Shang Hexing turned around and handed it to her, "Indeed it is."

Taking her phone, Wen Zhi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, "It was the monkey that stole my phone."

She checked the phone and found it dirty but not damaged, it just had no power left, and no matter how much she pressed, it wouldn’t light up.

Shang Hexing said, "It followed you here, probably thinking of stealing something else."

"Then it will definitely come back, can we go down the mountain now?" Wen Zhi clutched her phone tighter, somewhat worried, thinking that hurrying down the mountain was for the best.

Shang Hexing agreed but motioned for her to release her grip and said, "I’ll deal with those scattered sparks to prevent a fire, this is a clearing but there are many trees around, just to be safe."

"Okay."

Wen Zhi let go of his hand and obediently waited on the side.

Shang Hexing used his mobile phone to light the way, spending two minutes to deal with the ground, then came over and took her hand, "Let’s go, down the mountain."

Wen Zhi asked, "Is your phone still working?"

Shang Hexing said, "It has power, but there’s no signal here."

Wen Zhi: "No wonder."

Shang Hexing glanced sideways, "You tried to call me?"

"Hmm, it didn’t go through." She snuggled close to him, surrounded by darkness, and being in the deep woods, she felt a bit scared.

When Shang Hexing spoke again, there was a hint of apology in his tone, "Personal matters, I didn’t tell you in advance, and made you worried."

Wen Zhi murmured quietly, "You could have let Chen Zhu know, so I wouldn’t have been worried."

"I’m usually alone; I never told them," he said as they walked.

Wen Zhi paused for a moment and stopped walking.

Shang Hexing also had to stop, lifting the phone a bit higher to shed light on her face, revealing half of her profile in a soft voice he asked, "What’s wrong?"

Wen Zhi shook her head, "Nothing, let’s go."

Shang Hexing turned his phone around to continue lighting the path, speaking to her, "You were very curious earlier about why I would be here, even staying until nighttime without returning home."

Wen Zhi softly replied, "You said it’s your personal matter, I won’t ask."

Shang Hexing: "If you want to know, I’ll tell you."

Wen Zhi’s heartbeat sped up for a few seconds, and she asked, "...What is the reason?"

The atmosphere was quiet for a while.

Wen Zhi thought he had changed his mind and wouldn’t say anything.

But then, he suddenly tightened his grip on her hand and, seeing she did not resist, he finally said, "Don’t be afraid."

Wen Zhi immediately shook her head, "I’m not afraid."

"After my mother passed away, she wasn’t buried in the Shang family’s ancestral tomb. I followed her wish and buried her here," Shang Hexing spoke slowly.

Before Wen Zhi could react,

he even added, "My mother was very gentle, don’t be afraid."