Dax replied and ran out of patience. “Just keep searching!”

“Could he be hiding in Zen’s tent? But Dax, I don’t want to go in. Remember the other time when he freaking slit someone’s throat?”

“Coward! Stay here then!”

As Dax was trying to lift the curtain and stepped in, suddenly someone behind me threw a cat out of the tent!

“Meow------------!” The cat screamed as it ran off.

The next thing I knew was that right next to my neck was a cold sword. It was dark inside the tent, but still able to vaguely feel how sharp this sword was.

The coldness of the metal felt as if it was burning through my skin. That moment my whole body was stiff as a stone statue.

“Do not make a sound.” A deep voice whispered near my ears.

I dared not to even make one heavy breath. The sword was so sharp that if I breathe just a bit harder, it would cut through my skin. It was so quiet here other than the pounding of my heart.

The man behind me did not make a sound, and I knew at this point the “sleeping tiger” had woken up. Now my throat could be slit open at any second.

Outside the tent, Dax and the other guy swore damn words and finally left after believing it was the cat making the sounds earlier.

I still dared not to move an inch. Every muscle of my body tensed up.

Now what!?

Do I just wait here and do nothing to fight against the man behind?

My hand slowly reached the pocket and held onto the pocket knife tightly. I couldn’t die here because Rene was still waiting for me. For some reason, the cold sword against my neck had loosen.

That was the only chance!

I swung my arm with all force, and the pocket knife seemed to cut through something!

But it was very dark inside the tent, that I could barely see if the knife had hit the target or not, so I kept on attacking all around, not even knowing where the man was anymore.

Until there was a strong hand grab onto my wrist so hard that I could barely move, and the pocket knife was soon taken away. Then my other wrist was also grabbed. He basically used one hand to control both of my wrists.

All I could do now was to bite onto his arm like a dog would to his enemy.

A candle flickered, and soon it lit up the tent.

A bronze mask shone warmly right in front of my face.

Right at that moment, my eyes widened to a point that was not possible. I was not expecting to see this guy at all, especially in the Underground.

“Are you done biting?” His voice was so deep.

My jaws almost dropped to the ground.

“Iceberg?” I uttered slowly, still stunned.

He let go of me, and put the pocket knife back in my hands while I was still in a daze. I almost wanted to slap my face to see if this was a dream. Fear prevented me from realizing that the deep voice was so familiar.

Wait, was he here all along?

“Was it you who saved me that night?” I asked with urgency.

He put the sword back into the metallic scabbard with ease and sat down on a wooden chair.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” He said with an uninterested voice.

I knew that was an illusion all along. Although it wasn’t him that night, he did indeed save me this time.

“Thank you for today.” I said with gratitude.

He was silent for a few seconds.

“You think too much. I just prefer not to let others know I have a strange girl in my tent, that would save a lot of headaches.”

Yes, Iceberg was still an iceberg, emotionless and cold. This jerk really pissed me off!

Wait…………

His right hand was bleeding…………..

Could it be……………

No, it must be!

“I am sorry about your hand. I didn’t know it was you.”

He stared carelessly at his right hand, as if this was nothing to be concerned about. Considering his wounds when I found him in the blizzard, this cut was nothing. Still, my guilt would not let me go. No matter what reasons, he did indeed save me earlier.

He was hurt because of me.

“Any first aid items lying around?” I asked.

He didn’t respond, just as I expected.

“Fine, I will find it myself.”

I started to look around the tent, and opened the drawer to check if there were any medicinal powder or any cloth I could use as bandages. After some search, I could only find a hand-sized miniature ceramic bottle.

“Is this herbal powder inside?” I held the mini bottle toward him.

He didn’t even look at it, but coldly stared at the other way.

“Fine, if you don’t say anything, then it is what I am looking for. If this is poison, don’t blame me.”

I sat closer, “Give me your hand.”

“Don’t make a fuss about little things. You better hurry and go.” He finally couldn’t hold his frustration.

“I will go after bandaging up your wound.”

Seeing that he won’t cooperate at all, I dragged his hand over, and gently applied the medicinal powder onto the bleeding wound. The powder was made of all kinds of herbs, and surprisingly worked very well to stop minor bleeding.

“So your name is Zen.” I said while working on the wound, “What are you doing here? You left without any words, I thought you were heading to a great destination.”

So his destination is the Underground and to work with the gang to suppress the weak? If so, I really regretted saving his life in the first place.

“None of your business.”

This dude really didn’t know how to communicate like a normal being.

“You are right, it’s really not my business.” It was not like we were friends or anything.

His mouth corner was stiff for a second.

After applying the herbal powder onto the wound, I split the bottom edge of my clothes and wrapped around his hand, and lastly and purposefully tied a tighter knot.

“This place is not for you, don’t come here from now on.” He said emotionlessly.

It wasn’t like I wanted to be here in the first place, if it was not for the food cards.

“Listen, when I was at the hot spring, Dax and the other guy were talking about poisoning you at Headman Daoba’s birthday feast. Although it’s not really my business, since you have saved me today, this is the return of your kindness. You still owe me an apology for smacking my head, one day I will get that back.”

This stubborn dude won’t apologize for a good reason, and I knew it. Still, I won’t let it go so easily. At least this would serve as a reminder.

As I was getting ready to leave, there were some footsteps right out the tent. I stood there without knowing how to react. Right at that moment, Zen threw me onto the bed, and agilely got in to cover both of us with a heavy blanket.

Was this blanket made of demon skin?

“Zen, is everything all right?” A strange voice rang outside the curtain.

Night wind blew softly and lifted the curtain from time to time.

“Stop peeking.” He whispered to me.

Then he got hold of my head with one hand and tugged me completely under the blanket. He was so close that I could hear his heart beating. Jeez, I had never lied on the same bed with a grown man ever in my life. The next thing I knew was that my face was flushed with redness, and being under the blanket and lacking oxygen didn’t help much.

He was way broader and taller than me, so in this position, I would not be surprised that he would completely block the outsider’s view even if that guy stepped in.

Zen cleared his throat, and replied coldly, “Nothing over here.”

“I was just worried because of the noises earlier. Since there is nothing, I will leave now.”

The footsteps went away slowly, but Zen still seemed alert.

Jeez, this was the most awkward thing I had ever done. I wished he didn’t stare at me with those blue eyes, as if something was really going on between us. If I didn’t know he hated me so much and his cold temper, I probably would have thought he had a crush on me.

Finally he seemed to be back to his normal self again, and got out of the bed. I hurried and sat up while trying to calm myself down. Hopefully he didn’t notice how hot my face was.

To break off the awkward silence, I tried speaking without my tongue tied up.

“Who was that?”