Jiang Xue gave an "oh" and quickly walked over, handing him the outer garment. Shui Yixuan gracefully swung the garment around and draped it over himself, then began fastening the hidden buttons and belt. Once dressed, his inner clothing had already dried, looking as good as new with breezy sleeves and a light sash. A truly outstanding young nobleman.

"Come, I’ll grill some fish for you." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Fish?

Jiang Xue turned her head and saw a large pile of fish of various sizes on the shore. Her beautiful eyes widened: "So many?"

"I caught a bit more since I had nothing to do, and it’s getting late, whatever we can’t finish we’ll take back."

At first, Jiang Xue thought Shui Yixuan would use the traditional method of rubbing sticks to make fire. After all, she hadn’t seen him take out his sword, but unexpectedly, he drew his sword from his belt and pulled a dagger from his boot. Sparks flew between the two weapons as they landed on the prepared moss, and before long, smoke started rising.

She watched wide-eyed, wondering why it seemed so easy for him. If it were rubbing sticks for a fire, it wouldn’t be so exhausting.

"This requires skill, once you’ve done it enough, you’ll get the hang of it. Clashing the dagger and longsword also needs inner strength."

The pleasant voice seemed to know exactly what she was thinking, explaining his ease in striking sparks. Jiang Xue looked at Shui Yixuan with a bit of envy.

"I’m already at the age of hairpin, isn’t it too late to cultivate inner strength now?"

He had a slight smile: "Not too early, but if you can persist, nothing’s impossible. I’m quite curious, where did you learn your medical and poison skills? My grandfather says you’re a genius, self-taught in things even he hasn’t seen, always talking about your excellence. So I’ve admired you for a long time. How is it that such an excellent person as you doesn’t know inner strength? Instead, you practice those close combat skills?"

Jiang Xue sighed embarrassedly: "If I said I don’t know why I have those skills, would you believe me? Those things are in my mind, yet I never knew why. It’s like inner strength; I don’t have the methodology for cultivation in my head, so naturally I can’t master it. But for medical, poison, and those close combat practices, I have memories, as if I’m not from this time and space, but have come to this one. Do you believe in reincarnation or crossing time? Maybe I’m a fairy fallen from the sky?"

By the end, she was grinning cheekily, looking unserious as if joking, yet she was actually speaking the truth.

Only this way could she explain her talents, and Shui Yixuan obviously didn’t take her words seriously, as it seemed too fantastical for them. He thought Jiang Xue might be hiding something even more shocking than her background, not knowing that even the secret of her lineage had been revealed. What other secret could there be?

The firelight was somewhat warm, and the smoke a bit choking. Jiang Xue moved back a little. Seeing this, he gestured with his chin.

"If you’re tired, lean against the tree trunk and rest for a while. I just searched around and found a few wild boars. The signal’s been sent to have them carried over."

Jiang Xue, delighted, leaned closer, her eyes shining with curiosity: "Really?"

"Of course it’s true, but the two big wild boars ran away, leaving four small ones."

Jiang Xue chuckled, "Big or small, these beasts just waste grain, offering themselves as rations to us is no bad thing."

"Your flawed reasoning leaves me speechless. Are you justifying killing for your own sake?"

Jiang Xue pouted, "Seeing through but not exposing, don’t you have any tact?"

He was amused and helpless: "Yes, yes, for the sake of eating some meat, you’ve gone through a lot of trouble. Here, the fish is ready, have a taste."

Jiang Xue looked at the beautifully grilled golden fish and praised: "Not bad, quite good skills, but without seasoning, the taste could be better!"

She had things in her space, but since both had fallen into the water, it was inconvenient to take them out. Thankfully, even without salt, the grilled fish was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with a slight fishy taste. It wasn’t hard to eat, though not the best either, having too many bones. But she still politely complimented that the flavor was nice.

She was full after eating one fish of roughly one or two jin, but he insisted she eat another, with the reasoning that:

"You’re too thin, when holding you there’s not much flesh. If you nourished yourself more, you’d be softer to hold, and more comfortable."

Jiang Xue blushed, unable to help but glare at him: "Are you flirting with me?"