Chapter 151: Ambiguous Warmth in the Frigid Night

The curtain of rain poured straight down as if someone were tilting a basin of water from above, and almost no human trace could be seen across the entire East Dog Teeth. Those clawing, thick trees were also startled by this sudden downpour; instead of stretching their branches, washing their trunks, or opening their root systems to greedily absorb the nectar as they had just moments ago, they lowered their heads one after another to evade the sudden violence of the storm.

Along the pitch-black mountain trail, two figures held hands as they walked quickly. They looked extremely disheveled; the umbrellas they held in their hands were completely incapable of blocking the torrential rain, and both of them were practically drenched to the bone. To make matters worse, the gentle breeze from earlier now unleashed its remaining strength, and the howling of the cold wind could actually be heard amidst the rain. Those thick trees were shaken violently by the gale, several times nearly blowing the umbrellas out of Yan Xu's and her hands, while also obstructing their bodies to make their movement even more difficult along this already treacherous mountain path. If not for supporting one another, they probably would have fallen down one after another, and even so, one of them had ended up twisting an ankle.

"Damn it!" Inside his mind, Yan Xu kept cursing those experts and professors. Was this what they called light rain? And claiming it would have little impact on Hong Kong—this was nothing short of a torrential downpour! Moreover, the wind kept picking up; if it continued like this, it could easily turn into a gale.

He had originally been chatting and laughing with Joey Wong along the dark little path. The gentle breeze and fine rain had not only failed to ruin the atmosphere between the two of them, but had instead brought them a touch of leisure. Neither of them had anticipated, however, that the originally light rain would grow heavier and heavier, turning into the massive downpour before their eyes and continuing to intensify. The umbrella in Yan Xu's hand had become completely useless in the howling wind and driving rain, leaving both of them soaked to the skin.

"We're almost there." Seeing Joey Wong beside him with a somewhat pale face and limping slightly, Yan Xu wiped the rainwater from his face with his hand as the surrounding environment began to look familiar to him. This was precisely the grove at the head of the village, and he could even faintly make out the distant silhouettes of houses in the darkness.

"Mm!" The biting cold carried by the rainwater and chilly wind caused Joey Wong to only nod slightly. Her entire body was practically burrowed into Yan Xu's embrace; under such circumstances, there was no room for any shy thoughts.

"Ah! We've finally made it." Half-embracing Joey Wong, Yan Xu rushed into a dilapidated, abandoned farmhouse at the very first moment and had Joey Wong sit on a wooden stool near the doorway. Although the house was crumbling and leaking wind and rain from every direction, it was far better than the piercing, bone-chilling cold outside.

"Brother Xu, how come there's no one around?" Yan Xu wiped the rainwater from his face with his hands and quickly took off his completely drenched heavy coat. In the rain, he had been soaked through from the inside out, and his outer coat was still constantly dripping water. Meanwhile, Joey Wong beside him was not doing the same; instead, she looked outside in puzzlement because the entire village was simply too quiet. Even if such weather made filming impossible, there should at least have been people talking and making a commotion, yet now there was only the roaring sound of the heavy rain and the howling wind, and not even the shadow of a vehicle could be seen outside.

"Exactly, where are the people?" Prompted by Joey Wong, Yan Xu also sensed that something was wrong. He poked his head out, but aside from rows of dark, gloomy houses, he failed to find the slightest trace of a person.

"Let's go take a look!" Yan Xu turned back to look at Joey Wong and said.

"Mm!" Joey Wong nodded.

Supported by Yan Xu, the two of them practically scoured the entire village, yet still failed to find a single person. In truth, before they had even walked half the distance, they already held the answer in their hearts; it was just that a part of them still hoped the crew might have left one or two people behind to watch over the props. That sliver of hope, however, was quickly shattered.

Perhaps because of this sudden storm, the members of the crew had all departed. Yan Xu also knew they had not gone far; on the other side of East Dog Teeth was another village, which featured inns specially opened for hiking tourists. The crew members were probably all over there now. Of course, distance here was measured in terms of automobiles; if Yan Xu were to walk, it would take at least an hour, not to mention that he now had Joey Wong with her sprained ankle by his side.

"What should we do?" With only Yan Xu and Joey Wong remaining in the vast expanse of East Dog Teeth, compounded by the ravages and baptism of the storm—even within this village that had been tidied up by the film crew—Joey Wong felt a wave of fear.

"With rain falling this heavily, leaving is out of the question. We'll just have to make do and spend the night here." Yan Xu looked at Joey Wong, who was shivering slightly from the cold, and casually tore down a curtain used as a prop in one of the rooms, handing it to her. "Hurry up and dry the rain off yourself, or you'll catch a cold in a moment."

"Are we going to stay here for the night?" Taking the curtain fabric from Yan Xu's hand, Joey Wong looked at the room where wind and rain leaked from everywhere. It truly was a heavy rain outside and a light rain inside, a gale outside and a breeze inside. Even the clattering sound of the roof tiles shifting in the wind was incessant. Looking at the dilapidated roof, she was genuinely afraid that a stronger gust of wind might lift the entire roof right off.

"For now, this is all we can do. Let's go find a better house first. With wind and rain leaking everywhere here, it's pretty much the same as being outside!" Yan Xu continued. On such a freezing day, whether two people staying in a room like this could last the night remained a question.

The previous settlement had been completely abandoned; apart from a few houses, the rest were broken walls and ruined foundations. Although many areas had undergone repairs by the film crew, those repairs were merely superficial in order to save costs. In some places, just to accentuate the sense of dilapidation, they had simply nailed down straw and wooden boards and called it a day. Yan Xu even saw many repaired sections blown right back to their original state in the high winds.

Fortunately, because an upcoming scene was set indoors, the crew had chosen a relatively sturdy house in the village to renovate. It featured wooden flooring, sliding doors and windows, cascading layers of white gauze curtains, and classical decorative pieces. Although it looked tattered on the outside, the interior had been furnished in an antique style. Moreover, to avoid any flaws, the holes in the roof had been patched up with wooden boards and tiles. While it couldn't last for very long, it would hold up for a month or two—by which time all the scenes would have long since been filmed.

Aside from those classical furnishings, lighting equipment required for filming inside the house had already been prepared. However, because of the heavy rain, the generator truck had departed, turning all the lighting equipment into mere decorations. Fortunately, this was a costume drama; candle stands had been placed all around the perimeter of the room's interior. After helping Joey Wong into the house, Yan Xu searched for a long time before groping his way to the matches placed beside a candle stand, and lit the candles around the room one by one. Though not as bright as electric lights, it was more than enough.

"Ah! It hurts!" Right after the final candle was lit, Joey Wong's voice came from behind, causing Yan Xu to turn his head sharply.

And at that very turn of his head, Yan Xu's eyes fixed in place, leaving him completely stunned and dumbstruck.

Joey Wong sat upon the wooden flooring in the center of the room, her hair draped in strands across her shoulders, with tiny droplets of rainwater still trickling down from it. Her thoroughly drenched heavy coat had been stripped off and tossed aside, but the blue shirt underneath was also soaked through, clinging thinly to her body and fully revealing her graceful