Chapter 145: The Heavens Are Unfathomable

It was truly strange. Although Su Xue was extremely reluctant to admit this fact, she was nonetheless deeply conflicted. No matter how she thought about it, she now found herself paying close attention to Zhang Can's every move at all times, his every action pulling at her heartstrings without a moment's rest.

Despite the bitter cold, the campfire was burning fiercely, radiating spring-like warmth all around it. Her body was enveloped in a thick, heat-retaining sleeping bag. The seventeen people had divided themselves into groups of two to take turns keeping watch, two hours per shift, as a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances.

Zheng Dabao had the most experience in this regard. He understood that on the mountain, the main hazards to guard against were avalanches, severe blizzards, and heavy rain or snow. However, in this particular section, there was not much accumulated snow, so the risk of an avalanche was practically non-existent; the only things to watch out for were wild beasts, such as the wolf packs that had attacked them at the foot of the mountain.

Perhaps due to the large group size, there was no disturbance whatsoever throughout the night. Wang Qian's seven bodyguards, who were former special forces soldiers, were exceptionally vigilant. Yet in this environment, knowing that they were not facing an ambush closing in from all directions—since the only opponent here was the natural environment—their psychological guard was naturally somewhat lowered.

In truth, among all of them—whether it was Zheng Dabao and his five subordinates, who were seasoned in such trials, or Wang Qian's hardy special forces bodyguards—their resistance to this severe cold fell far short of Zhang Can's. The energy of the Water-Averting Pearl within Zhang Can allowed him to experience extreme cold or extreme heat as if he were sitting in an air-conditioned room with a constant temperature. He was entirely unaffected, and this ability became even more pronounced the harsher the environment.

Su Xue was jolted awake by the cold. When she felt an ice-cold, piercing chill on her face and head, she woke up with a start. Opening her eyes, she realized that the large campfire had almost burned out. The two people on night watch were sitting by the fire nodding off, having forgotten to add wood.

Tucking her head in, Su Xue glanced over at Zhang Can. She saw that both of his hands were stretched outside the sleeping bag, resting under his head, with a large section of his bare arms exposed. She could not help frowning, unzipped her own sleeping bag, crawled out, and gently tucked Zhang Can's arms back inside.

The zipper of Zhang Can's sleeping bag was not pulled shut at all. This careless fellow couldn't even take care of such a trivial matter or look after himself properly; how could anyone ever feel at ease leaving him to his own devices?

The moment the thought of feeling at ease crossed her mind, Su Xue was startled once again. If she had not fallen in love with him, why would she care whether or not her mind was at ease?

When she thought further about how Zhang Can still had two beautiful rivals in love by his side, vexation welled up in her heart again. It was clear that Zhang Can treated that country girl next door the best. Zhou Nan, the one she guarded against the most, did not seem to hold any distinct advantage in front of Zhang Can. From this, it was evident that Zhang Can was not someone who clung to power and wealth. If it were anyone else—or rather, the vast majority of people—having a girl like her or Zhou Nan fall in love with them would surely make them hold on for dear life and never let go. Yet Zhang Can had not done so, which made Su Xue feel even more insecure.

Ever since she met Zhang Can, looking back at the time they had spent together, there had never been a single moment when Zhang Can showed her even the slightest bit of favor. It was as if he treated her like a complete stranger he had never met, never holding her in his heart for a single moment, never paying attention to her.

The moment Zhang Can shifted to his side, he woke up. Opening his eyes, he saw Su Xue squatting beside him, looking down at him. He couldn't help being startled, shrank back slightly, then sat up and moved a distance away from Su Xue.

From this single action of Zhang Can's, Su Xue understood why he held no favor for her and why his attitude remained guarded and unfriendly: Zhang Can was afraid of her. Especially the closer she got to him, the more terrified he became!

How could someone who harbored such constant fear and dread toward her ever draw close to her? No matter how beautiful she was, even if she looked like an immortal celestial maiden, it would be of no use.

Thinking back on the past, perhaps she really had beaten Zhang Can too severely, always projecting a fierce and savage image in front of him. Who wouldn't be afraid of her?

At that moment, regret suddenly surged in Su Xue's heart as to why she had possessed such a savage personality in the past. Seeing Zhang Can staring at her with guarded eyes, she immediately softened her voice and said, "What are you doing? I'm not going to eat you..."

Her voice was rendered very soft, even somewhat sweet, which instead left Zhang Can stunned. Immediately, his guard went up even higher. Su Xue's expression was entirely abnormal; he had never seen her act this way. It was bound to be some kind of sinister scheme!

Zhang Can became even more defensive. When someone whom one was accustomed to seeing and interacting with in a certain way suddenly changed completely, anyone would feel it was unnatural—even if Su Xue herself felt it was natural, and even if she genuinely wished to make gentle gestures and display a soft expression.

Zhang Can simply crawled out of his sleeping bag, sat by the campfire, and began stoking the fire. He added dry branches, but wanting to restore the fire to its most blazing intensity in a short time would still take a while.

He looked up at the sky. It was not yet dawn, but it was faintly turning pale. Pulling out his phone to check the time, he saw it was only four o'clock in the morning. There were still one or two hours before daybreak.

Su Xue bit her lip, wanting to say something, but felt it was awkward to bring it up. With so many people around, if others heard, she would naturally feel embarrassed. After a moment of thought, she said in a low voice, "Zhang Can, could we go walk over there for a bit, please?"

Zhang Can was taken aback. His initial intention was to dodge Su Xue, yet he hadn't expected her to invite him to take a walk. Would this be detrimental to him? On second thought, however, it seemed unlikely; he could be considered to have saved her life twice, after all. Besides, during recent times, no conflicts had arisen between her and him. He felt that things had been much better lately than before—at least Su Xue's words and actions toward him were now much more docile than they used to be. Therefore, after mulling it over, he figured Su Xue shouldn't harbor any malicious intent toward him.

"Alright then!" Zhang Can replied. He stood up, and seeing him rise, Su Xue took the lead and walked ahead toward the edge of the clearing outside the trees. The ground there sloped upward slightly and was covered with a shallow layer of snow. As Su Xue stepped on it, the snow made a soft crunching sound, leaving a trail of footprints behind her as she walked.

Zhang Can followed closely behind her. After walking for a short distance, Su Xue turned her head to glance back at the people by the campfire. None of them had woken up; they were still fast asleep. In reality, a person's sleeping habits—or the time when they were most reluctant to move—fell precisely between two or three in the morning and past six, a period commonly referred to as "sleeping in."

After rounding a bend along the hillside, the campfire was completely out of sight and sound. Having walked a distance of more than a hundred meters, they stopped at a flat patch of ground. Su Xue looked around, but there was no suitable place to sit.

Zhang Can smiled, brought his hands—which had been clasped behind his back—around to the front, and handed Su Xue a leather cushion. Su Xue was startled; she hadn't expected Zhang Can to actually bring along a leather cushion. In the snow, only something like this would do. If one sat directly on the ground, body heat would melt the snow, but with the leather cushion in between, there was no need to worry; even if the snow melted, it wouldn't wet her trousers.

Su Xue took the cushion, flattened it out on the snow, and smoothed it over—though there was nothing actually on it—before sitting down. However, when she sat, she occupied only half of the space, then turned her head sideways, beckoned to Zhang Can, and smiled, "Come on, sit down here."

Zhang Can was stunned. Looking at Su Xue's smiling, flower-like face, he was extremely puzzled. What had gotten into this girl lately? She was always pulling such abnormal stunts. That leather cushion clearly only had enough room for one person. If two people sat on it, they would have to press flesh against flesh and sit extremely close together!

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Can still shook his head. Su Xue was someone he couldn't afford to provoke. "No, I'll just stand. If you have something to say, just say it."

Su Xue instantly grew angry, glaring at Zhang Can and biting her lip. Yet, after thinking better of it, she forced her expression to soften once more and said gently, "Don't be afraid. I won't hit you. I promise, I will never hit you again... Come on and sit down. It's so cold; pressing close together will make it much less cold."

"No... no need, I'm not cold!" Zhang Can replied sheepishly. Of course, he was telling the truth—he genuinely wasn't cold.

"As if you're not cold! How could you not be cold?" Su Xue retorted, instantly annoyed. This Zhang Can still seemed deeply wary of her, which proved that he was truly terrified of her past behavior. No matter what she said, how she promised, or how gentle she tried to be, Zhang Can simply wouldn't believe her.

Zhang Can let out a long breath into the air, stretched his arms, and smiled. "Look, I'm really not cold. Just tell me whatever it is you want to say."

"There's nothing special. I just couldn't sleep and wanted to chat with you. Is that not allowed?" Su Xue stared at Zhang Can as she spoke, her eyes sparkling like stars.

"Oh... of course it is!" Zhang Can replied with a bitter smile, yet he stubbornly refused to sit on the leather cushion beside Su Xue.

"Sigh... Are you still thinking about that girl named Xiaoqin?" Su Xue sighed, then asked Zhang Can in a wistful tone.

Zhang Can pinched his fingers together, playing with his hands, having no idea how to answer Su Xue's question. To be honest, he had just woken up and hadn't been thinking about anything at all. Why on earth was this Su Xue suddenly bringing this up out of the blue?

"I was just thinking... that Zhou Nan, don't you think she's even better? Don't you think she's even prettier?" Su Xue glanced sideways at Zhang Can as she questioned him, her eyes fixed on him to test his reaction and see how he would respond. "That Miss Zhou, I see that she's not only pretty, but she also has a wonderful temperament. I heard she's even the daughter of the Secretary of the Jingcheng Municipal Party Committee. Such background connections are so powerful! I feel like she seems to really like you. Why haven't you shown any interest in return? If you let her slip away, it would be such a waste!"

At the mention of this, Zhang Can let out a hum of annoyance. A wave of irritation rose within him, though he didn't want to fly off the handle at Su Xue. He said flatly, "Other people being pretty is their own business, and a Municipal Party Committee Secretary is not someone of our standing can hope to climb up to. Besides, you must have seen wrong; I don't think she has any such intentions, and I certainly don't have any such thoughts either. Also..."

Zhang Can paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, as for Xiaoqin—that's right, my fiancée—I'm planning to hold our wedding as soon as we return!"

When the subject of Zhou Nan came up, Zhang Can felt a fire burning inside him. He hadn't wanted to bring the matter up in the first place, but Su Xue just had to touch on the sore spot. Since he didn't want to lose his temper in front of Su Xue, he decided to simply make his relationship with Liu Xiaoqin crystal clear to her.

Upon hearing this, Su Xue instead felt a wave of relief wash over her. In her heart, she considered Zhou Nan to be her primary formidable rival; if Zhang Can had no designs on Zhou Nan, then things would be much easier to handle. As for that girl Liu Xiaoqin, she was just a country girl and easy to deal with. Now that she understood that Zhang Can was not someone who fawned over power and wealth, she felt most at ease about him. If ordinary people knew her true identity and background, it would be far more intimidating than Zhou Nan's!

"You can't say for sure. In matters of today, who can predict the future?" Su Xue smiled brightly, resting her chin on her hands while cupping her face. Her face and hands were as white as the snow around them, and this appearance was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

"People who are married still get divorced, and you two aren't even married yet. No one has the ability to predict future events. Isn't there a saying that goes, 'Heaven's will is unpredictable'?"