The howl outside grew closer, accompanied by heavy footsteps and the sharp crack of trees snapping. The unknown creature had clearly discovered their hiding place.
A Liey dragged Gu Liang out of the hot spring and swiftly grabbed his stone axe, taking up a defensive position at the cave entrance. He motioned for Gu Liang to hide in the crevice behind the hot spring pool, where he would be more concealed.
Gu Liang crouched behind the rocks, his heart pounding like a drum. Through the cracks, he could see A Lie's tense silhouette and the muscles bulging in his arm as he gripped the stone axe. This male who had once cruelly hurt him now stood unwaveringly between him and the danger.
The vines guarding the entrance were violently torn aside as a massive figure blocked the passage. The creature resembled a giant bear, yet was leaner and taller, covered in rock-like scales, its small eyes flashing with savage intent. It had clearly been drawn by the heat rising from the hot spring.
A Liei let out a low, intimidating growl, but the beast showed no sign of retreat. Instead, it seemed enraged and pressed forward.
Battle was imminent. The bear-like creature lunged forward. A Lie swiftly sidestepped, his stone axe slashing viciously at its shoulder, yet only leaving a white mark on its scales.
This creature proved far more formidable than anticipated.
A Lie was forced to shift. The golden tiger instantly filled the cave entrance, locking jaws with the intruder. The clash of two colossal beasts shook the entire cavern, sending fragments of rock tumbling from the ceiling.
Gu Liang clamped his hand over his mouth, terrified the slightest sound might distract A Lie. He saw the wound on A Lie's hind leg reopen in the struggle, blood staining the golden fur crimson.
The beast seemed to have sensed A Lie's weakness, targeting his injured hind legs relentlessly. A Lie's movements grew sluggish, narrowly evading deadly strikes time and again.
Just as the beast's claws were about to strike A Lie's head, Gu Liang did something reckless—he grabbed a sharp rock and hurled it with all his might at the beast's eye.
The stone struck its mark with precision. The beast let out a pained howl and temporarily halted its assault.
This action enraged it completely. Abandoning A Lie, it lunged toward Gu Liang's hiding place.
A Lie seized the opportunity to lunge forward, his claws slashing viciously at the beast's unprotected belly beneath its scales. The creature let out a wretched howl and spun around, locking in combat with A Lie once more.
This time, A Lie held nothing back. He unleashed every ounce of strength, each strike precise and vicious, heedless of his own wounded body. The hot spring pool ran crimson—blood from the beast or from himself, he could not tell.
Finally, with a piercing, mournful cry, the beast crashed to the ground, motionless.
A Lie transformed back into human form, covered in wounds and barely able to stand. He staggered over to the beast's corpse, confirmed its death, then turned to face Gu Liang.
Their eyes locked, the cave filled only with the sound of their heavy breathing.
A Lie approached Gu Liang step by step, blood dripping from his arms. He stopped before Gu Liang, his golden pupils churning with emotions too complex to decipher.
Suddenly, he reached out—Gu Liang instinctively closed his eyes and flinched—but the expected brutality did not come. A Lie's hand merely rested gently on his head, ruffling his hair as he uttered a muffled, weary syllable.
Then his body swayed, collapsing forward.
Gu Liang reflexively caught his heavy frame, and both of them tumbled down beside the hot spring pool. A Lie had already lost consciousness from blood loss and exhaustion.
Gulong stared at the defenseless face of this powerful male in his arms, his heart surging with unprecedented turmoil. He should have hated him, should have seized the chance to flee or even seek revenge, but his hands moved of their own accord.
He tore strips from his own clothes to make bandages, washed Ah Lie's worst wounds with hot spring water, and applied the remaining medicinal herbs. When his fingers touched the leg wound that had reopened while protecting him, they trembled slightly.
Night fell, and the cave echoed only with the gurgling of the hot spring and A Lie's heavy breathing. Gu Liang kept watch nearby, periodically changing the dressings to ensure he wouldn't succumb to hypothermia.
Moonlight streamed through cracks in the ceiling, falling upon A Lie's sleeping face. Stripped of his usual sharpness and aggression, he appeared almost... serene.
Gu Liang gently touched the mark beneath his collarbone, then looked back at the unconscious A Lie.
Hatred still burned within his heart, but something more complex was quietly taking root.
That night, the line between hunter and prey blurred.