As the sun began to set, Duwei's search finally bore fruit.
Deep within the woods on the west side of this small island, he found a small puddle of water. It was probably a puddle left over from the rainy season, and there were no wild beasts on the island. The area where the puddle was located was also relatively sheltered from the light. Duwei cautiously inspected the surroundings of this water source and found no traces of wild animal activity.
After tasting it to confirm that the puddle contained freshwater, Duwei felt relieved. The two thirsty teenagers immediately threw themselves down by the edge of the puddle, disregarding any semblance of decorum, and started gulping down the water eagerly. As the cool, slightly strange-tasting water flowed down their parched throats, Duwei couldn't help but let out a contented sigh. The refreshing sensation of the water sliding down their throats made them shiver with pleasure.
Once they had their fill of water, Duwei immediately took off his sheepskin boots and began washing them in the puddle.
"What are you doing?" Vivian blinked, watching Duwei's actions with curiosity.
"Washing my shoes," Duwei replied without pausing his actions. "And then using them to hold water."
"Holding water with shoes?" Vivian's expression turned peculiar.
"Of course," Duwei shrugged. "Besides shoes, do you see any other containers around here to hold water? Do you have a bottle or a jar? Since we don't, shoes are our only option. My shoes are made of sheepskin, so they're waterproof." He glanced at Vivian. "Stop frowning. This is our only way. We don't know how long we'll be stuck in this ghostly place, and we can't stay here guarding this puddle. We have to go to the coast! If you think my shoes are too smelly, you can take off your own shoes to hold water."
Vivian still seemed bewildered, but Duwei urged, "Hurry up. Unless you want to drink water from my shoes tomorrow."
Perhaps it was the threat of drinking water from Duwei's shoes that spurred poor Vivian into action. She quickly fumbled to take off her own shoes.
The female mage's shoes were also leather, and they seemed even better quality than Duwei's sheepskin boots. After taking off her shoes, Vivian seemed a bit at a loss. Her white socks were stained with blood, and it seemed that after half a day of walking, blisters had formed on her feet, and some had burst.
Soon enough, the female mage followed Duwei's lead and swiftly began washing her own shoes by the edge of the puddle. She scrubbed them vigorously numerous times, until Duwei grew impatient. "Washing them twice is enough. Why are you washing them so many times?"
"The...the shoes, they're dirty..."
Duwei chuckled, looking at the innocent girl. "Hey, look, this puddle isn't big, just a small amount of water. You keep washing and washing, sure, the shoes get clean, but the water gets dirty. And in the end, you'll still be drinking this water."
Vivian froze, then pouted with infinite grievance as she filled both boots with water and stood up. "B-b-but, do we really have to drink this?"
"Tomorrow when you're dying of thirst, even if the water is ten times dirtier than this, you'll drink it without hesitation," Duwei said lightly. "Alright, let's head back now."
On the way, Duwei continued to lead the way with his long stick, but after a while, he noticed the female mage falling farther and farther behind. Duwei stopped and frowned at her. "You better hurry up. It's getting late. Once the sun completely sets, it'll be pitch black here, and walking will be even more difficult. It's hard to find direction walking in the woods at night."
Vivian nodded vigorously, picking up her pace to catch up, but after a few steps, she couldn't help but tear up from the pain. "M-my feet, they hurt."
Frowning, Duwei walked over to her and looked down. The delicate soles of the girl's feet had been punctured by thorns in several places. The once smooth and round ankles, as well as several dainty toes, were smeared with dirt and a trickle of blood.
Sighing, Duwei felt somewhat helpless. It was indeed difficult for such a delicate girl to walk barefoot in the jungle.
With a stern face, Duwei hung both shoes around his neck and then bent slightly.
"Get on!"
"Um?"
"I said, get on!" Duwei faced away from the female mage, his voice still cold. "Hurry up. Don't waste time. I'll carry you back."
"B-b-but..."
"No buts. Listen, little girl, we need to hurry back to the dragon before it gets dark. We're not familiar with this island, and who knows what's on it. Neither of us has any means of self-defense right now. We need to hurry! Now, stop talking, get on!"
Duwei's stern voice left poor Vivian too frightened to argue anymore. She quickly imitated Duwei, hanging her shoes around her neck and obediently climbed onto his back.
After carrying the female mage for a while, Duwei began to feel a bit strained. Despite having the mind of an adult, his body was that of a teenager, and a frail one at that.
"T-thank...thank you."
After a while, the mage on his back spoke in a low, stuttering voice. Her voice was so low that Duwei almost didn't hear her. Nevertheless, he just grunted in response, not saying a word.
And so, on this desolate and uninhabited island, as night fell, poor little Vivian lay on the back of a stranger, able to see the black sky through the dense branches above her head. Lowering her gaze, she could see the boy beneath her struggling to move forward, and she could hear Duwei's labored breaths.
Suddenly, Vivian felt that this honest, albeit somewhat intimidating, young nobleman wasn't as scary as she had initially thought...
Returning to the crash site where the dragon still lay asleep, Duwei breathed a sigh of relief. According to Vivian's stuttering explanation on the way back, the dragon could slowly recover from its injuries while sleeping, even without food or water during this time.
This relieved Duwei. Otherwise, this small amount of freshwater wouldn't have been enough for them to drink, let alone sustain a dragon.
Struggling back to their makeshift camp, Duwei dropped the female mage to the ground and collapsed beside her, gasping for air.
"I can't... I can't..." Duwei gasped heavily, as if he were dying, his body feeling weak and sore. He complained, "If it were before, even if I had to carry or piggyback someone, I could run a kilometer in one breath. But now, my body is just too weak..."
This time, when Vivian was thrown to the ground by Duwei, she didn't cry out in pain. Instead, she sat up abruptly, watching Duwei struggle to catch his breath. Suddenly, the silly girl jumped up, frantically plucking a large leaf from a nearby tree and sitting quietly beside Duwei, using her small hands to fan him with all her might.
After catching his breath for a while, Duwei looked up at Vivian. "What are you doing?"
"I... I think you look really tired, so I'm fanning you," Vivian said earnestly, her eyes wide open.
Duwei couldn't help but smile. This girl, although a bit silly, was also quite adorable. "Thank you... But, don't you know it's early spring now, and the weather is still quite cold?"
Duwei gently took the large leaf from the female mage's hand, smiling at her flushed cheeks. Then he said, "Alright, now we need to make a fire. Otherwise, we won't be able to bear the cold at night. We don't have anything with us right now, and if we catch a cold, it will be troublesome."
In fact, solving the problem of the cold night wasn't difficult at all; they could just sleep beside the dragon.
After all, that dragon was a fire dragon... However, sleeping beside such a colossal creature, if it happened to roll over in its sleep, they could be crushed to death. And Vivian might just become the first mage in history to be crushed to death by her own magical pet.
Duwei gathered enough twigs and leaves, allowing the female mage to cast a fire spell... a tiny Fireball spell (given that Vivian's magical abilities were now greatly diminished).
With the twigs ignited and Vivian holding a torch, Duwei gathered enough branches and they went to the nearby beach. Duwei built a bonfire, piling the branches high and letting the fire burn fiercely.
In the darkness, the bright flames of the fire would likely be visible even from a distance!
Duwei sighed. This was their only hope. He hoped that any passing ships would see the bonfire and send help. That way, perhaps they could be rescued.
Having done everything, Duwei was exhausted. He lay sprawled on the beach, sighing deeply.
Just then... grumble!
Duwei paused, then heard another sound...
Grumble!
He sat up, looking at Vivian with a smile that was not quite a smile.
"Sorry, my stomach..." The firelight cast a blush on the female mage's face as she covered her stomach sheepishly. "I'm hungry."
"Me too," Duwei sighed. "Unfortunately, we haven't found any small animals on this island. Otherwise, we could catch a couple and have an outdoor barbecue here."
"What about wild fruits then?" Hunger seemed to sharpen the female mage's mind a bit.
"Look around, do you see any fruit trees? There isn't even a berry bush. Just leaves and wild grass," Duwei sighed. "Otherwise, would I need you to remind me?"
"Well, what about fish?" The female mage looked at Duwei pitifully. "There must be fish in the sea, right?"
Duwei shrugged, looking at Vivian. "Can you swim?"
The female mage shook her head.
"Neither can I," Duwei chuckled bitterly. "I'm as much of a landlubber as you are. I don't have the skill to catch fish underwater. And during the day, I've searched the coastline. All I found were some empty shells and conches. Unless your stomach can digest hard shells?"
"But...but I'm so hungry," Vivian pitifully pouted, blinking at Duwei.
"I know, but let's sleep for the night. Tomorrow morning, I'll try to find a long branch by the shore to see if we can catch some fish in the shallow waters... Right now, it's too dark. Neither of us can swim, and it would be disastrous if we drowned," Duwei said.
Vivian sighed and could only sit down obediently...unintentionally, she sat down next to Duwei.
"Let's talk. Talking can help distract from hunger," Duwei smiled. "We haven't properly introduced ourselves yet. Speaking of which, now we can consider ourselves comrades in adversity."
"How...how do we know each other?" Vivian asked.
"For example..." Duwei thought for a moment, then looked up at the stars in the sky. "For example, you're so young, probably not much older than me, right? How did you become a Grand Mage? That's quite remarkable."
"I...I don't know," Vivian also hugged her knees like Duwei and sighed softly. "I've been with my teacher since I was little. I've never been outside. This is the second time."
Duwei turned to look at the silly girl beside him and suddenly smiled. "Actually, your voice is quite pleasant, soft and sweet. If you didn't stutter, it would be even more pleasant."
"Sorry, I...I didn't mean to," Vivian blushed. "I've never been good at speaking since I was little."
"Actually, the more you stutter, the more you should talk. Anything, the more you do it, the better you'll become," Duwei chuckled. "Alright, tell me about yourself. How did you become an eighth-level mage? Achieving such success at such a young age must be unparalleled in the entire empire."
Vivian looked at Duwei blankly.
Duwei sighed, smiling wryly. "Hey, I'm praising you. Can you at least react?"
"Oh...sorry, I...I..." Vivian was flustered again.
"Silly girl," Duwei shook his head. "Do you know anything besides magic?"
Then, Duwei patiently chatted with Vivian for a while. Vivian struggled to tell Duwei some of her situation.
She had been learning magic with her teacher since she could remember.
However, no matter how much Duwei asked, the silly girl clenched her teeth and refused to reveal a single word about her teacher's identity, not even falling for Duwei's tricks.
Let's just assume her teacher was an extraordinary figure.
Vivian had lived with her teacher in a secluded place since she was young, which she said was also deep in the mountains. For over a decade, Vivian had only left the house twice. Besides that, almost all her time was spent studying magic.
Her daily tasks included learning various magical knowledge, memorizing various obscure and difficult-to-understand spells, and...helping her teacher with laundry.
"Washing clothes?" Duwei chuckled. "You can do laundry?"
He casually took Vivian's small hand and examined it. "With such tender little hands, you don't seem like someone who does household chores."
"I...I can!" Vivian's face turned red, either because Duwei didn't believe her or because she felt shy being held by him. "I can use magic to wash...just need to cast a spell, and clothes can wash themselves."
"Oh...so it's like a washing machine..." Duwei's mind raced.
Vivian's two outings. The first time, she was brought by her teacher to the headquarters of the Magic Guild in Yanjing, where she participated in a secret, unofficial magic level assessment.
Before that assessment, her teacher had said, "Make those fools from the Magic Guild stare in disbelief! Let them know what an incredible genius I've nurtured!!"
The result...the mages responsible for that assessment from the Magic Guild were indeed almost staring in disbelief.
Because, from a magical perspective, Vivian was indeed a genius! And she was a genius among geniuses!
A fourteen-year-old eighth-level mage! Almost unprecedented in the history of mages!!
"That...that was a year ago," Vivian said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "The mages wanted me to stay in the Imperial Yanjing, but my teacher said there was no one to wash the clothes at home, so he brought me back."
"Hmph, your teacher didn't want you to be swayed by the people from the Magic Guild," Duwei said, of course not as naive as Vivian. "An eighth-level mage is a significant figure anywhere! Even in the Magic Guild, how many mages are above eighth level? Hmph...and you're so young."
"Um," Vivian blinked her eyes. She couldn't quite understand Duwei's words, but she quickly became happy. "I passed the assessment that time, and my teacher was very happy. He gave me a gift, which was a...a...a Dayfire!"
"That dragon?"
"Yeah!" Vivian talked about her magical pet, immediately radiant with joy. "That's it!"
Duwei sighed...who exactly was her teacher? To actually give a dragon as a gift!!
This wasn't just any cat or dog! It's a dragon!!
And Vivian stayed with her teacher in seclusion for another year...still studying magic and doing laundry every day.
Then, her most recent outing was her second time in the outside world. It was to capture the escaped Dread Phantom...her teacher's pet.
"Wait a minute!" Duwei suddenly jumped up, his face showing excitement as he looked at Vivian. "That Dread Phantom, it's still with you, right?"
Vivian nodded, tapping her head. She untied her robe, revealing a small phantom locked in a cage hanging from her waist.
"Belly, oh belly, now you're saved!" Duwei's eyes lit up with hunger, and he swallowed. "Hey, silly girl! We don't have to starve now. Hmm, this little thing looks plump and meaty! Although we don't have any seasoning here, after peeling off its skin and roasting it, it should taste quite good."
"...!" Vivian blinked her eyes, taking a while to understand Duwei's words before suddenly screaming, "Ah!! No, no, you can't eat my Chirpy! It's...it's my teacher's pet. If you eat it, I...I..."
"I don't care!" Duwei shouted, "We've been hungry all day. If we stay hungry, tomorrow we'll all be weak, and we don't even know if we can catch fish!"
"No, no, no, you can't eat my Chirpy!" Vivian fiercely hugged the small cage to her chest, refusing to let Duwei take it away. "Don't eat my Chirpy!"
"Hmph! Then I'll eat your dragon!" Duwei shouted back. "With its size, cutting off a piece of meat won't kill it, right?"
"Eat...eat eat eat eat eat eat the dragon?"
Vivian felt like she was about to faint.
Just when she thought this young noble seemed like a decent person, he turned into a demon in an instant!
Eat a dragon? Oh Almighty, please spare poor little Vivian! In my whole life, I've never heard of anyone daring to have designs on a dragon...and as food!
"No, no, don't eat my Dayfire! No, don't eat my Chirpy...wah...dad, mom..." Seeing Duwei's fierce expression, Vivian resorted to tears again.
Helpless, Duwei looked at the crying girl and could only shake his head. "This won't work, that won't work...Hmph, fine! Let's leave it to you for tonight. Tomorrow, I'll try to catch some fish. If we can't catch any tomorrow, then we can't just starve to death! If there's no other way, I'll have to resort to using this Dread Phantom!"
At that moment, it wasn't just Vivian crying. Even the chubby little Dread Phantom inside the cage, a higher-level magical beast capable of understanding human speech, shivered in fear after hearing Duwei's "declaration," its eyes the size of beans staring blankly at Duwei, its fat body trembling.
Hearing Duwei's words, Vivian felt a bit relieved, but she quickly began to pray in her heart...
Oh Almighty, please protect poor little Vivian...let this demon catch some fish tomorrow...oh no no no, it's not that poor little Vivian is greedy, it's just to save Chirpy's life...um, if possible, Vivian can skip eating fish, um...or just have a little...please, Almighty...sob sob sob...but, I'm so hungry, Vivian also wants to eat fish...