In a short period of time, the three people were destined to be unable to leave this desert island. They picked up the wreckage of the abandoned and broken ship and built a simple wooden shed covered with many broad leaves they picked. The island is not big and can be walked around in less than two hours, but they avoided some of the towering cliffs facing the sea. But those mountains are not high and are bare. From a distance, there is nothing, so there is no need to go up.
The food was very limited. Originally, they had plenty of supplies and shipped some fresh food at the customs office. But now, the dry food has been soaked in water, and most of the fruits and vegetables have been washed away. Only a bag of rice is left, and the bag is broken. The supplies on this island are not rich enough. Maybe only one person can survive for a long time, but the number of wild fruits is limited after all, and the only meat that can be easily obtained is fish, which is better than nothing. This is their third day on the island. Although the sky is clear, the looming sea fog in the distance still blocks the view. Qi Huan climbed up a tall coconut tree and looked into the distance.
"Monkey-like."
"Who are you talking about!"
If he couldn't pick these sturdy coconuts with one hand, he would have smashed two of them on Bai Ya. Anyone can say that about him, except Bai Ya who has done this before.
"Do you know the difference between monkeys and humans?" Qi Huan said with his legs firmly on the tree, while wrapping a rough canvas around the trunk, "Humans can use tools."
As he spoke, he slid down smoothly through the friction between the rough cloth and the smooth tree trunk. It was probably moved up little by little with it. Bai Ya didn't argue with him and just glanced at where he was looking.
"What did 'the man' discover?"
"There are some illusory outlines. I judge that it should be the main island... It should be the territory of the Nine Heavens Kingdom. I can't assess the distance between them. I have to wait for the sea fog to completely dissipate before I can judge."
"When will the sea fog dissipate? Don't you know this? Or...when will the monsters leave?"
Bai Ya's question was a bit "tricky", but Qi Huan understood what he meant. Qi Huan answered seriously:
"If you trust my intuition, I can say that the monster is ready to leave - but this will probably be a long process."
"intuition?"
Bai Ya always felt that this was similar to the monkey metaphor, something Qi Huan used to say back to him. But it was difficult for him to refute. Regardless of martial arts, his spiritual power was considered to be above average among ordinary people, so his senses other than the five senses were also relatively sensitive. Intuition is a kind of thing, and what his intuition can tell him so far is no different from Qi Huan's inference.
Something has come and is leaving. The goal of this thing may be to block their entry, or it may not. The two of them couldn't even explain what specific existence it was, because they had never seen it before, so they only relied on feelings and estimates. It was a huge and unknown force, and its existence must be related to some characteristics of the barrier and the Nine Heavens Kingdom.
Qi Huan lowered his head and saw Bai Ya holding a rabbit in his hand. But when he looked carefully, he found that not only did the little animal's ears grow longer, but its entire body was also longer, like a mink. But does mink have this color?
"What's this?" he asked, pointing to the animal.
"lunch."
"..." Qi Huan took a deep breath, "It's not good to be picky under these conditions, but wouldn't it be safer for us to eat something with a clear species? What kind of animal is this? Have you seen it?"
"No." Bai Ya shook his head honestly, "Maybe it's a monster."
"..."
Qi Huan did feel some spiritual energy from this little animal, which was much stronger than an ordinary rabbit, but compared with the demonic energy, this kind of power was much softer. He couldn't make a simple judgment, so he tried to explain to Bai Ya:
"This kind of desert island is relatively isolated, with limited species, and the circulation of spiritual power is not satisfactory. There are indeed many animals in these closed areas that are different from our common ones...their colors and habits will evolve according to the environment and become more Suitable for survival and reproduction in the present. So... is it a bit hasty for you to define it as a monster so simply?"
Bai Ya thought for a moment and nodded approvingly.
"Then it's edible."
"...Eat, eat."
Qi Huan gave up trying to reason with this man. After all, his stomach also protested. After eating wild fruits for three days in a row, he felt a little exhausted and couldn't find the strength to climb trees. Forget it, saving your life is important. The little animal was dead anyway, so it was better to maximize the value of its sacrifice.
One of them carried lunch and the other dragged a rag and walked towards the temporary shelter stationed inside. They lit a fire, and Jun Aoyan was there to guard it. Originally, Qi Huan felt that he was more suitable to stay, but firstly, considering that the two of them were still at odds, and secondly, because Miss Jun seemed to have contracted typhoid fever during the storm and was unable to move around easily.
Before arriving at the destination, Qi Huan said: "Lao Bai, do you think... Miss Jun is really sick? I'm not very good at diagnosis, but I know a little bit about herbal medicine. The medical supplies have also been confiscated by the sea. If anyone is really sick, If you get sick, I'm afraid you won't be able to afford it."
"It's not typhoid."
"Hey, have you checked your pulse?" Qi Huan glanced at him sideways, "I can't tell you can do this. Is she pretending to be ill?"
"She is sick, but it's not typhoid." Bai Ya stopped as he got closer to the black smoke burning in the stronghold. "She was stimulated by something... I think so."
"You mean something unclean?"
"I don't know." Bai Ya said truthfully, "But I have seen similar things before."
"...Okay. Hope it's okay."
The two of them continued walking. After opening the leaf door as a shelter, they passed through the simple fence and returned to the fire in front of the wooden shed. Jun Aoyan saw them coming back and just nodded without saying much.
"There's not enough fresh water for the sun." Aoyan pointed to an ugly "basin" that they put together temporarily, "I'll go get some sea water later."
Fresh water is an important survival resource, they know this. Even if they didn't know, people from the court had told them before they came that the more sea water they drank, the less likely they would be to quench their thirst, and would instead aggravate their dehydration. At the beginning, Jun Aoyan said that in desert areas where water is very limited, even a little dirty water is of great significance. The military would create a simple filtration device out of burlap, gravel, and sand that would make the water clear, or at least look clear. She didn't know whether seawater could achieve the same effect, so the three of them gave it a try. The filtered water is indeed a little lighter, but it's not very effective.
During the day the next day, Qi Huan tinkered with a new device. It's simple, just attach the wide leaves to the edge of the container, covering the upper layer, and let the leaf tips hang down toward the other container. The evaporated seawater condenses together and flows into the new container in the direction of the leaves. This is the principle of sun salt, but if the water that should have evaporated is collected, wouldn't it be less salty?
Qi Huan said to Ao Yan, "I'll go with you."
"No need. It's not that far."
"It's okay to wander around, maybe pick up some crab shells or something."
"Well, that's fine."
Bai Ya still has no direct communication with her, but at least he doesn't reject her when talking to Qi Huan, which is a bit of progress. Indeed, before they actually came to the South Country, they encountered a shipwreck and became grasshoppers on a rope. No one can be ignorant. Bai Ya quickly disembowelled "Lunch" with a weapon, passed it through with a sharpened stick, and plucked out the hair in a numb motion. That skillful set of actions made Qi Huan wonder whether he often stole other people's free-range chickens.
Taking the basin modified from a box to the beach, Qi Huan took the initiative to talk to Jun Aoyan.
"I saw the direction of the southern island. When the weather gets better, we can build a boat and go there to have a look."
"Um."
Aoyan didn't ask how far away it was or how to build the ship, which showed that he wasn't focused on this topic at all. Qi Huan didn't hide anything and asked her directly:
"Miss Jun, our current situation is the same as expected: isolated and helpless, fending for ourselves. However, Bai Shaoxia and I both feel that you are more depressed than when you were on the boat. Why is this? Could it be that you are not good at water? What happened after this Does it frighten you? Don't be afraid, you can see that we are not living well."
Jun Aoyan was indeed depressed, very depressed. It wasn't so obvious just from her expression. She was always so calm, and the tenacity in that calmness had not faded, but he could no longer see Aoyan's unique sharpness. He didn't know how to describe that kind of sharpness, it seemed to be innate in Aoyan. It is a form of aggression as well as self-defense. Now this self-preservation is self-defeating.
"I... nothing special." Jun Aoyan said lightly, without any emotion, "Maybe I used to follow my father or my friends in the army from birth to death. Now I feel a little uncomfortable sharing the same difficulties with people I don't know very well. Get used to it, maybe you were scared. It’s nothing, don’t worry.”
There was no flaw in Aoyan's words, leaving Qi Huan unable to do anything. But he knew very well that this argument was untenable. The background of the death of her parents and the long military life made her more self-reliant than anyone else. At any time, she knew better than anyone that she could not rely on anyone and had to rely on her own strength for everything. Of course - team combat is another story. It's just that today's enemy is different than ever, it's invisible, temporarily.
But can such an ethereal and unknown thing scare her? Qi Huan doesn't think so. He needs to know the truth in order to fundamentally remove the obstacles, but the current situation is that Miss Jun is not cooperative. In this regard, she is very similar to Bai Ya.
Indeed, although they spent about ten days together, it was far from enough. Ten days is not enough to understand any side of anyone, Qi Huan knew it very well. They are all people with certain abilities, and they need to cooperate and get along. This is a difficult step as things stand. We are all adults who have been severely beaten in the world, and no one would cut open their heart and lungs and be honest with them right away.
However, Qi Huan believes that this day will come soon.
Recommended: The Witch Doctor Awakens to read on your mobile phone.
