Seeing my furrowed brow and grave expression, Xiao Shu asked in confusion, "What's wrong? What seems off?"

I told him what the Hunchbacked Old Woman had just said, and recounted my previous experience tasting the Water of the Sea of Souls, explaining that it wasn't that I was unwilling to drink it, but that the water was genuinely almost impossible to swallow.

After listening, Xiao Shu remained silent, sat up, picked up the canteen, leaned over, and brought a ladleful of the lake water to his lips. It was clear that his mobility had largely returned; his movements—reaching, bending his knees, hunching his back—were now fluid.

After taking a sip, he lightly smacked his lips and remarked, "It is a bit astringent."

Then he tilted his head back and gulped down the entire canteen of water.

I stared at him in astonishment, as if I had encountered a visitor from Mars. When he first emerged from the tunnel, the stench of the Sea of Souls had made him retch uncontrollably by the stone wall; now, he downed a whole flask of the water without even frowning. Connecting that incident with what just happened, I realized this fellow's tolerance was far beyond ordinary.

I took the canteen from his hand, ladled up a measure, and tasted it. The reek was unbearable, the bitterness extreme—it was as disgustingly foul as ever. However, since he had taken the lead, and with the hopes of both of us resting on my shoulders, it would have been inexcusable for me not to drink. I had no choice but to pinch my nose, suppress the nausea, and force the water down.

Once the flask was empty, the Intestinal Gu began to stir. I could feel them swimming up and down inside me, yet there was absolutely no pain. A soft whisper echoed in my mind: Thank you. After that, there were no further words.

"The Hunchbacked Old Woman says thank you," I told Xiao Shu.

"That’s good. We still need to cooperate with her. And thank you for what you just did!" Xiao Shu patted my shoulder, turned his head to look at me, and offered a knowing, slight smile, his spirits fully restored.

"It's nothing. In this life, one needs friends to rely on; no one can conquer the world alone," I said lightly, deliberately keeping my tone subdued and humble.

"Let’s look at the map and figure out our next move," saying this, Xiao Shu rose and walked back toward where the backpacks lay.

When I had searched for tools to save him, I had turned both backpacks inside out. Food, supplies, reading material, and trinkets were strewn across the ground. Now, the exposed rations had attracted a small gathering of creatures. Several weasels stood stock-still by the thicket, observing my and Xiao Shu’s movements; two squirrels were crouched in the grass, sniffing the aroma of the food but daring not approach; the boldest was a civet cat, which brazenly climbed over, tore open the plastic bag holding the bread, squatted down, and began devouring it ravenously.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Shu shook his head helplessly and bent down, picking up the scattered items one by one, putting them back into the packs. The civet cat, realizing the delicacy was about to be taken away, suddenly coiled its body and lunged, leaping to Xiao Shu’s feet and sinking its teeth into his ankle.

Xiao Shu yelped, flung his leg outward, sending the civet cat flying a long distance. The little creature flipped over mid-air, landing squarely on its four paws. It immediately raised its tail, hunched its shoulders, and made low growling noises, adopting a menacing posture, ready to continue the fight for the tasty bread.

I watched from the side, finding it quite amusing. Such immense attraction for a small piece of bread in a civet cat! Was it not a carnivore?

Thinking this, I picked up the leftover piece of bread from the ground and tossed it in front of the animal. Then, I tore open another plastic bag, pulled out a whole, untouched loaf, and threw that too. As the bread landed before it, the civet looked between the two of us, hesitated for a moment, snatched the whole loaf, and vanished into the undergrowth.

The weasels, having witnessed the entire event clearly, rushed out from the edge of the thicket after the civet departed and scrambled to carry off the remaining piece of bread left on the ground.