At this moment, the sun had not yet fully risen, scattering the faint white mist in the forest. The leaves and grass tips were dripping with glistening dew.
The soil was wet and sticky, and the tree trunk was emitting water vapor. It seemed like there was rain that nobody noticed in the middle of the night.
Qi Guang looked at the rolling beads of water on the grass, and his throat moved.
He endured for a long time but was unable to resist and came closer.
He gently shook the tip of the grass and let a few drops of dew fall into his mouth.
There seems to be a fire burning in his throat, and all he can taste in his mouth is blood. The cool and sweet taste dripped on the tip of his tongue, disappearing into thin air1无影无踪 IDIOM without a trace; disappear into thin air without reaching his throat.
His tongue was dry, and scraping the cracks in his lips provided no moisture. The moisture is merely an illusion2错觉 IDIOM illusion; misconception; wrong impression.
He restrained his thirst and anxiousness, forcing himself to tear away his gaze from the dew. He concentrated his attention on observing the tree trunk’s position.
Some of the annual growth rings on the tree trunk were thin on the south, while those on the north were thick. Yesterday, he decided on his target direction: the river in the northeast.3annual growth rings are used to determine the age of trees; the thickness of these rings also reveals environmental conditions during a tree’s lifetime. I think this implies that since the rings are thick in the north, that direction has more water.
It’s not the nearest river, but he excluded the rivers with thin and narrow flows that he remembers, as in the past, they needed to be dredged manually and were more likely to be obstructed by collapsed buildings, given that their locations were in densely built areas.
His target river was the one with the highest likelihood of survival among the rivers surrounding the university.
After determining his direction and boosting his morale, he started the live broadcast.
Qi Guang looked away from his mosaic lower body in the live stream and corrected the camera. He zoomed in and fixed the shot just above his collarbone.
Before leaving, Qi Guang didn’t forget to fasten the little basket he finely woven yesterday at his waist and rub mud on his arms and face to prevent sunburn.
His destination was about ten kilometers away from here. With his current physical condition, if he worked hard, he should be able to arrive before noon—assuming he didn’t go in the wrong direction and didn’t encounter any danger on the way. In that case, he could rely on the river if it was not blocked.
If he was unlucky…
Qi Guang was at a loss; whether starving to death or being bitten to death was more tragic.
Quickening one’s pace was uninteresting. He needed to repeatedly focus on confirming that his route did not intersect with any animals, avoiding running into them.
Although the live broadcast had already started, only his gasping and parched cough could be heard.
In the camera, sweat and mud were plastered on his entire face, looking battered and exhausted.
In the upper right corner, the original 0 viewer count fluctuates between 0 and 5, with an occasional 2.
“??” or “???” floated over in the barrage, fully reflecting the dumbfounded viewers thinking, ‘Although I don’t understand it, it seems pretty awesome.’
Qi Guang didn’t have time to attend to these matters. Today’s live broadcast is merely to fulfill the tasks and the required broadcast duration. Later, he can even turn off the barrage and system prompts.
During the journey, he gathered various soft and hard branches of different thicknesses. After collecting for a while, he finally found a curved, bow-shaped twig and a withered, dried-up, thin vine.
At the moment, he doesn’t know what its function will be in the future, but having it can put his mind at ease.
The cries of cicadas, along with the sun’s gradual rise, became exhausted and hoarse4声嘶力竭 be hoarse and exhausted; shout oneself hoarse; shout oneself blue in the face. Qi Guang wiped the sweat that dripped down his forehead, patiently using the tip of the stick to sweep the ground full of fallen leaves and twigs. This is to prevent him from stepping on something he shouldn’t have when walking barefoot.
In the gap between the fallen leaves and twigs, he saw round, dark-brown balls, like berries falling from a tree.
But these are definitely not berries.
Qi Guang used the tip of the branch to crush the ball; it’s parched and also sticky. There’s a 90% possibility that these are produced by some kind of common animal livestock that says “baa”5the bleating of sheep 咩/哶 onomatopoeia miē.
To put it more bluntly—-these black small balls are sheep dung.
On the way, he saw rabbits, some rats, quite a variety of bird breeds, and now he found sheep dung.
The appearance of sheep dung is a pretty good sign. Qi Guang felt a surge of vitality and enthusiasm in his heart.
Larger herbivores are unlikely to deviate from the water source and go to land that is too distant. A sheep is an animal that has the habit of walking around, almost like a natural road signal.
Qi Guang recalled the approximate location of the river and continued to follow the traces of sheep dung on the ground. Before the sun rose to the top, he finally caught a loud and clear sound of babbling water.
Surrounded by the transparent, sweet atmosphere on both sides, it induces a dizzying sensation, portraying a vivid, illusionary vision of water flowing from a spring.
If it weren’t for not having the physical strength to even drag his feet to take a step, Qi Guang would turn in the direction of the stream and run wildly. Instead of one foot deep and one foot shallow6One foot deep and one foot shallow explain Describes uneven road surface and unstable walking supported by a walking stick, like a snail crawling on the ground.
But the benefit of walking like a snail was that before reaching the water source, he found a pretty good shelter—a dwelling lying on the mountain slope, a mini-cave facing the sun.
As estimated by the naked eye, there is no trace of animals living in the cave. It is much better compared to the uncovered ground outside without walls. It’s dry, can shelter from the wind, and can get a bit of sunlight.
The only drawback of this cave is that it’s a bit high, approximately 2 meters above the ground. To enter or exit, one must climb onto the rocks and vines.
However, this can lessen the possibility of wild animals stealing his home.
Qi Guang reminded himself not to forget that the university in Shen City was next to a wildlife park. Lions, tigers, and brown bears might all emerge from this forest.
……
Water source, shelter, and some food may also be collected in the water source. Qi Guang feels that he has good luck.
He marked the position of the cave and advanced to continue to follow the loud and clear babbling of water.
As he moved forward, the scent of water became distinct and more evident. Qi Guang continued to advance. Not to mention the physical strength to take a step; the whole time, he was even still capable of quickening his pace.
He moved ahead continuously.
……
In an instant, he reached the shade of a tree, and the sunlight abruptly brightened. The crystal-clear white reflection of the waves in the water spread out across his line of vision—The river was lively, and the current was flowing at great speed.
The river’s edge was adorned with ash-gray rocks and stones of various sizes, creating a natural border for the forest. In addition, dense green moss stretched out along the rocks.
The shade of the tree was lacking and was also illuminated by the sunlight.
The river gleamed and rippled like golden silks and satins. It appeared as if it were from a fairytale that had been passed down by word of mouth, shimmering with golden light like a miraculous river.
Qi Guang untied the little basket around his waist and placed it on the shore. He took several deep breaths before approaching carefully.
He stepped barefoot on the gravel at the side of the riverbank, and the sound of the splash of water followed as it poured in on the gaps of the rocks and stones. He scooped the clear and fresh water in the center of his palm with both hands; it seemed as if the sunlight had merged with the water.
It wasn’t until he felt the water flowing into his mouth that Qi Guang instantly confirmed it was not a hallucination to satisfy his thirst7画饼充饥 lit. to allay one’s hunger using a picture of a cake, to feed on illusions (idiom), false hope The original meaning of “drawing cakes to satisfy hunger” is to draw a cake to relieve hunger, and later it was extended to a metaphor for comforting oneself by thinking up something urgently needed in front of you; .
He really found a water source.
The long stream babbles, and the water is so clear that you can see the bottom of the small river.
Qi Guang swallowed every drop of the water almost greedily, licking it from the palm of his hands to his arms, where it trickled down. Every drop of water pouring into his mouth was full of indescribable sweetness, and it moistened each and every part of his dried-up cells.
He leaned forward on the shore, bowing down and burying his head in the water like worship.
He came back to life.
Qi Guang sighed deeply with satisfaction and moved his head out of the water.
The reflection of the sunlight on his body was scalding. Qi Guang strongly resisted the temptation to take a bath; instead, he scooped out the wet river mud, earnestly rubbing it on his body.
At the riverbank, there is no shade from a tree to block the intense sunlight. If he gets sunburned, he will be in trouble.
Finding water and finding shelter were crossed off his to-do list, and Qi Guang, infused with enthusiasm, dived into the next task.
He poured out the materials gathered along the way. The branches were spread out on the gravel on the riverbank to dry, and the withered, thin vines were soaked in water, kneaded into fibers, and put in the sun to dry.
He also discovered a good-looking stone at the river’s edge, with a suitable size to hold in one hand and a sharp edge. Taking advantage of the time the vine was drying in the sun, he polished it on a large rock so that he could have a crude stone tool to cut off the vines.
Qi Guang used his newly made stone tool to cut the vines into pieces on the river’s edge.
Fifteen minutes later, he made a small basket without regard for its quality8粗制滥造 to churn out large quantities without regard for quality (idiom); rough and slipshod work. At the bottom of the basket is an uncommon hole that is nearly the same diameter as his small basket, but its height is much shorter than his existing one.
Holding the newly made basket, he stuffed the old little basket inside until it was flush and dug a few earthworms as bait, and it was precisely like a simply constructed fish trap.
In the past, he used plastic bottles, cutting them in the middle and then stuffing the upper half into the other half. It was convenient and highly efficient, making him genuinely miss the comforts of modern society.
Qi Guang crafted another fishing trap without alteration9依样画葫芦 Draw a gourd according to the pattern” Follow the same example The metaphor is to imitate what is already there, without innovation.. He positioned both traps at the river’s edge, ensuring they wouldn’t be easily washed away, and he earnestly prayed three times that these two traps could solve his food problem tonight.
Shrimp will do if there’s no fish; summer river snails and small crabs are also not bad.
It’s acceptable as long as it’s edible.
Afterward, Qi Guang again prayed earnestly that he could smoothly start a fire.
![The Way of the Empress [Interstellar]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-04-at-8.01.00-PM.png "The Way of the Empress [Interstellar]")
