Seeing the moisture glistening in Xiao Shu's eyes, Xiaoyu quietly lowered his head. He didn't know how to respond to her outpouring, especially that line: "Now I can finally rest assured, you're still alive." Was he truly alive? Attacked by thousands of spiders, this body should have been reduced to ash by their sulfuric acid-like venom. Didn't Xiao Shu find his unblemished state strange?

Lost in thought, Xiaoyu suddenly recalled something else: the woman who had handed him the healing water by the edge of the Sea of the Dead—had Xiao Shu seen her? If she had, could she explain the revelation given by the pool? Thus, Xiaoyu spoke, asking, "That wo...woman, did you see her?"

At the sound of his question, Xiao Shu's expression immediately dimmed, her smile instantly replaced by a frown. She murmured softly, "I didn't manage to meet her."

Xiaoyu felt disappointed too. The only lead connected to the pool had vanished. Leaning against a tree, he gazed up at the dense bloom of peach blossoms and muttered, "To survive such a disaster..."

"How did you survive?" Hearing him muse aloud, Xiao Shu suddenly inquired.

"I..." Xiaoyu had intended to pour out everything he saw and heard upon waking, like shelling beans from a bamboo tube, and tell Xiao Shu everything. But then he abruptly remembered the tale of the ninety-nine restless souls he’d heard in Miao Village, and the words caught in his throat. He reasoned that his own survival remained uncertain, so it was best to avoid the topic if possible. Therefore, he brushed it off lightly, saying, "I don't know either. I just woke up here."

"Was it like having a dream?" Hearing this, Xiao Shu suddenly felt a spark of humor and quipped, "Like that?"

"Yes, just a fleeting dream," Xiaoyu replied blandly, forcing a slight smile onto his face to neatly close the subject.

"It must have been the pool that saved you. I’ll go fetch some water to treat Ah Li’s burns." Saying this, Xiao Shu unhooked the canteen hanging from her belt, twisted off the cap, and bent down to scoop water from the pool. After drawing a full canteen, she brought it to her lips, took a careful sip, nodded to herself, and then tilted her head back, intending to drain the entire contents. This simple, commonplace action must have struck some hidden nerve in Xiaoyu, because he strode forward instantly and slapped the canteen right out of her grasp just as it neared her mouth. The canteen tumbled to the ground with a clatter, spilling the full measure of pool water into the dark, earthy soil.

Xiao Shu's eyes widened; she couldn't believe Xiaoyu was the one who had done such a thing. Angrily, she demanded, "You... what is wrong with you?"

Xiaoyu held the arm that had struck the canteen suspended in mid-air. He himself didn't know what had happened. He only felt a monumental surge of fury crash over him as Xiao Shu raised the water to drink, an overwhelming compulsion to knock the canteen away, yet he didn't know the source of that rage or how Xiao Shu drinking water had offended him.

"I... I don't know... I'm sorry..." Xiaoyu’s face flushed, and he stammered incoherently, gripping his sickle tightly as he retreated step by step from the peach grove.

Seeing Xiaoyu’s uncharacteristic behavior, Xiao Shu suppressed her anger, quickly picked up the canteen, efficiently refilled it from the pool, secured the cap, and chased after him.

"Uncle Ming..." Just as Xiaoyu was walking backward with his hands behind his back, lost and adrift, a pair of small hands suddenly reached out from behind him, tightly gripping his leg, calling out "Uncle Ming" with deep affection. Xiaoyu turned around. The child clinging to his legs was none other than Ah Li, whom he had held while taking refuge on the stalagmite the night before. At that moment, Ah Li, her arms lightly burned, encircled Xiaoyu's thigh, pressing close to him.