Chapter 20: Island Survival 1
“Chirp, chirp.”
A few bird calls came from within the low shrubbery. Chu Yun’s brows twitched slightly; she followed the sound, pushed aside the bushes, and revealed what was inside.
A young bird hung in the middle of a tree fork. Covered in soft, warm-yellow down, its wings weren’t fully developed, yet it was still frantically flapping them in an attempt to escape the brush, only to remain trapped by the jumble of wood surrounding it.
Seeing a strange human, it was even more terrified and let out a series of panicked chirps.
“Don’t struggle, I’ll save you.”
Chu Yun softened her tone for once, carefully pushing aside the branches around the fledgling. She scooped the young bird out with both hands; perhaps because of Chu Yun’s gentle movements, the bird’s cries settled into a calmer rhythm.
Chu Yun scrutinized the little bird, finding an injury beneath its wing. It had likely been grazed by a branch when it fell from the nest.
Coincidentally, she had gathered some medicinal herbs for treating wounds. Chu Yun retrieved the herbs from her storage ring, ground them up with the hilt of her knife, and applied them to the fledgling’s wound.
The young bird hadn’t fully developed and couldn’t fly yet, so its nest must be nearby. Chu Yun looked up, and sure enough, she spotted a nest in a specific spot above her.
Birds were living creatures and couldn’t be placed into the storage ring. She had no choice but to tuck it carefully into her jacket pocket, then climb the target tree. Like an agile monkey, she quickly reached the location of the nest.
The nest was empty; the mother bird had likely gone out to search for food and hadn’t noticed the fledgling fall out. Chu Yun found a suitable spot to lean against a branch, took the young bird out of her pocket, and placed it back in the nest.
“Be more careful next time.”
If it had encountered those starving players, they might have slaughtered and eaten it. While she wasn’t exactly a saint, she wouldn’t harm these weak creatures unless she was at the absolute brink of survival.
The fledgling seemed to understand Chu Yun, chirping happily at her twice.
Chu Yun smiled, stroked the young bird’s soft feathers, and then nimbly climbed down the tree.
Ten minutes later, Chu Yun returned to their camp. By then, Xu Dongdong hadn’t just chopped a large pile of branches; he had also collected a hefty bundle of seafood.
“Sister Chu Yun, where did you go?”
“After the tide went out this morning, I saw lots of seafood left on the beach, so I gathered some. There’s so much, it’s enough for a few meals!”
Xu Dongdong pointed at the crabs, shrimp, and sea snails on the ground, wearing the look of someone fishing for praise.
“Mm, not bad.”
Chu Yun nodded with satisfaction; a new food source had been secured.
“Let’s hurry and set up the tent, then we can have lunch.”
It was already 1:00 PM, and their stomachs were starting to rumble.
Chu Yun took the lead with Xu Dongdong as her assistant. They cleared away the turf and shrubs in the center of the camp and lit a pile of wormwood to smolder, warding off various unidentified little insects.
Next, she used several branches to build a support frame in the shape of a triangular pyramid. The pyramid stood 1.2 meters tall; one couldn’t stand inside and had to bend over to enter, but it was perfectly fine for sitting.
Once the roof was framed, Chu Yun took palm fronds and several wide leaves to cover it, layering them one by one until not a single gap remained. She covered the floor of the shelter with a thick layer of thatch, padding it with the straw mat she had bought from the old man.
A simple, makeshift refugee tent was finished. Chu Yun and Xu Dongdong sat inside and lay down; the space was just enough for two people—any more would have been a squeeze. The thatch had been dried thoroughly, feeling exceptionally soft to lie on, and one could smell the scent of the sun mingled with the earth.
Although crude, it was fully functional: it could serve as a place to sleep and was waterproof and insect-proof. To get it to this state on an island where one had to do everything by hand was quite an accomplishment.
Lunch was seafood and vegetable instant noodles. A pot was hung from wood over a simple fire pit, bubbling away with all sorts of delicacies.
It hissed and bubbled, the broth concentrating the sweetness of the seafood and wild vegetables. The noodles were cooked soft and tender, coated in the broth and emitting a faint, wheaty fragrance. It smelled absolutely heavenly; the two couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.
Back on the wooden boat, instant noodles were too conspicuous, so neither of them had dared to pull them out, spending their days eating nothing but fish and dry bread until they were sick of it. Now, they could finally enjoy a wonderful meal.
The instant noodles had been bought with Chu Yun’s gold coins and didn’t count as communal supplies. Even though Chu Yun generously said it didn’t matter, Xu Dongdong felt bad about it, taking the initiative to handle the fire-starting, cooking, and pot-scrubbing.
Every time he cooked, Chu Yun stood by to guide him. He had improved his culinary skills quite a bit and would soon be capable of taking full control of the kitchen.
Chu Yun was the output for combat power and intelligence. He knew his own limits; while he was training to improve himself, his talents lay elsewhere, so he positioned himself as the logistical “healer,” ensuring the squad’s basic infrastructure was maintained.
After extinguishing the fire pit in the center of the camp, the two quickly devoured the seafood and finished the instant noodles, even drinking the broth down to the last drop.
After resting for an hour, the two headed into the depths of the jungle, beginning their exploration of the island.
Chu Yun walked and stopped intermittently, picking quite a few herbs and wild vegetables along the way. Among them, she even dug up a few mushrooms that were about to break through the soil.
Xu Dongdong followed her, gaining quite a bit of experience.
Chu Yun noticed that the deeper they went, the more traces of animal tracks, feathers, and droppings appeared. It seemed small animals roamed here. After discussing it with Xu Dongdong, she selected several prime locations to set traps.
They lacked proper digging tools, so the two had to laboriously excavate with their spiked maces and wooden sticks. To live long, Chu Yun thought, one needs to have all the survival tools.
The two split the work and labored for a full three hours just to dig four shallow pits. They tossed a tiny bit of dry bread into the pits, placed a few thorny brambles inside, and covered the surface with thatch and soil to camouflage them. A few simple traps were complete. While they wouldn’t catch large animals, small ones wouldn’t stand a chance.
Once they marked their spots, the two prepared to head back. They had been out for four hours; retracing the path they had already walked made for a fast return, and forty minutes later, they were back at camp.
It was exactly 7:00 PM. Night had fallen, and everything was plunged into silence.
Chu Yun rekindled the fire in the center of the camp, and the light flared up, dispelling the darkness for a small radius. The wood crackled and popped as it burned, occasionally sending sparks flying. Chu Yun stared at the sparks, lost in a daze for a while.
Dinner was Xu Dongdong’s responsibility; he prepared a pot of mushroom and vegetable soup, paired with dry bread. The bread was hard to swallow on its own, but once soaked in the broth, it became soft and savory—reminding Chu Yun of the naan bread she used to eat. A bowl of soup paired with a piece of naan bread was enough to make her feel perfectly full.
With water, fire, and a pot, Chu Yun went to the beach to fetch a bucket of water to boil. Mixing it with cold water, she carried it into a hidden cluster of bushes. She hadn’t bathed in five days, and her clothes had been soaked in seawater again and again; by now, they smelled of a nauseating fishiness.
She rinsed her mouth thoroughly, used shampoo and body wash to scrub herself comfortably from head to toe, and only ended her bath when there wasn’t a single trace of odor left on her body. Putting on her only change of clothes, she soaked her dirty garments in the wooden bucket with warm water and laundry detergent, hanging them on a tree branch to dry once they were clean.
With her body clean, her mood inexplicably improved by a lot.
When she returned, the water in the pot had boiled again. She handed the wooden bucket and toiletries over to Xu Dongdong.
Xu Dongdong accepted them happily to prepare some hot water. He didn’t have gold coins to buy toiletries, and while he wasn’t as fastidious as a woman, he was naturally fond of cleanliness.
Xu Dongdong took the first half of the night again, with Chu Yun taking the second. Once Xu Dongdong returned, Chu Yun crawled into the tent to sleep. That night, Chu Yun felt that even her dreams were sweet.
