Face Under the Mask

It felt both strange and familiar here. It was strange because this was not the place where Xia Yu had previously left the bear, and it felt familiar because it resembled the cave where the bear had originally been.

Walking out of the cave, Xia Yu looked at the surrounding environment and confirmed that this was indeed where the bear had initially been. He had run so far to take the bear away from the village, but the bear had returned on its own.

Would it be worthwhile to run once more? Xia Yu thought about it and abandoned the idea.

Since the bear could come back once, it could come back a second and third time. No matter how far Xia Yu forced the bear to go, he would still encounter the familiar cave. Only if the bear truly wanted to leave voluntarily would it actually do so.

So, why did the bear want to return after leaving?

The only reason Xia Yu could think of was the masked girl.

Had this bear actually developed feelings for that girl?

They were different species, and they were even the same sex!

After complaining silently, Xia Yu lay down at the entrance of the cave, enjoying the breeze.

Although he knew why the bear wouldn't leave, Xia Yu had no way to resolve the issue, as he couldn't harm the girl.

Forget it; he resigned to stay here.

With enough effort, the skills would reach levels 3 or 4, making the bear useless and unnecessary to keep around.

With that thought in mind, he flipped over and started running around the surrounding area.

He gave himself twenty experience cards.

By noon, his stamina had reached level 3, and his strength had reached level 1. Running also gave him some minor strength training, so his strength level increased as well.

Dragging his tired and hungry bear body, Xia Yu went to a small stream nearby and drank large gulps of water.

After drinking, he began catching fish.

With his level 4 agility, no fish could escape his grasp.

He dug a small pit, connecting it to the stream, and raised the caught fish. Xia Yu began to think about how he should eat them.

Previously, using the bear's body, he hadn't felt any hunger. The bear had eaten beforehand. This time, the bear came back in a hurry without eating, causing the feeling of hunger to emerge.

He looked at the fish in the small pit and frowned.

Should he eat them raw?

Or should he try starting a fire by rubbing sticks together?

He gathered some branches from a nearby forest and made his first attempt, but it ended in failure.

The fire-starting technique in his mind came from an animated show he'd watched, and he had never seen any actual technique.

Perhaps he should try using drier wood?

He went back into the forest and gathered another armful of branches before returning to the stream.

Next to the stream, he saw the masked girl.

The masked girl was looking curiously at the fish in the small pit, wondering how they had ended up there on their own.

Upon seeing Xia Yu with the branches in hand, she didn't play with him as usual. Instead, she stood to one side, watching him with curiosity.

Hugging the branches, Xia Yu moved to the small pit, placed a large piece of tree bark on the ground, pressed it down with his hind paw, laid some dead grass on it, then grabbed a branch with both front paws and pressed it against the bark while rubbing vigorously.

The branches rubbed against the smooth tree bark, one, two, rubbing, like the devil's footsteps, on this smooth bark.

However, let alone fire, Xia Yu didn't even see a spark.

He changed to another branch, and tried a different position, but still couldn't make fire.

After trying for an hour, he stood up, threw the branch in his hand on the ground, and kicked the bark into the water.

He sat down on one side, attempting to use his aura to drive away hunger.

At this point, the masked girl who had been sitting on a rock for an hour, and watching him for that time, made a move.

She picked up the branch that Xia Yu had thrown away, gathered them together, and placed the dry grass in the center.

From the small bag she was carrying, she took out a box of matches and lit the dry grass.

The fire quickly ignited.

Turning her head, the girl looked at Xia Yu.

Xia Yu didn't know what kind of expression he should reveal now.

You had matches, why didn't you take them out earlier? You've been watching me for an hour?

Fortunately, it was hard to notice the change of expression on his bear-like face.

He went to the edge of the pit, skewered the fish with a stick, and put it next to the fire.

He didn't know how to roast fish, but he thought it must be better than eating them raw.

After he finished skewering all the fish, the masked girl took them off, took out a knife from her bag, cleaned the fish, and re-skewered them.

Xia Yu clenched his fist; if it wasn't for the fact that the other party was a girl, he would have let her taste the power of his bear fist.

After roasting the fish for a while, the girl turned it over.

After repeating this a few times, the simple grilled fish was ready.

Xia Yu took a skewer and took a bite.

This kind of grilled fish without seasoning wouldn't normally taste good, but the taste buds of his bear body were different from human taste buds.

At least the bear thought it was fine.

After eating a circle of fish, he picked up the last one, thought about it, and handed it to the girl as a reward. The few remaining fish in the pit were also given to the girl.

Seeing Xia Yu's gesture, the girl understood the meaning.

She first took the grilled fish and removed her mask.

Xia Yu's gaze became intense for a moment.

Underneath the mask, as he had expected, was a beautiful face. However, the beauty was a bit excessive.

Unlike An Siyao's ethereal elegance, or Xu Youxiang's cute appearance, the girl had a seductive face.

Those bewildering peach blossom eyes and moist, crystal-clear lips gave Xia Yu some bad ideas.

The unsuspecting girl opened her mouth and bit into the grilled fish, making her temptation even greater.

With great willpower, Xia Yu realized why the girl always wore a mask.

After secretly observing the girl for a while, Xia Yu suddenly felt that the return of the brown bear wasn't a bad thing; if the bear didn't return, he wouldn't be able to see the girl's true face.

No, with such a demonic face, it was a bit inappropriate to call her a girl.

That said, since her face was extraordinary, what about her figure...?

Xia Yu began to observe the girl's ordinary clothes.

Not going to practice endurance anymore, Xia Yu played with the girl for a while and returned to his own body.

Sitting on the bed, he was still recalling the girl's appearance.

This was just a normal memory of seeing beautiful things, Xia Yu was not the type of person who tried to get someone just because they were pretty.

Otherwise, he would've already deceived Yan Wei.

Just as he thought of Yan Wei, Xia Yu received a call from her.

Pressing the answer key, Xia Yu wondered what Yan Wei, who had already met An Siyao, was calling him for.