boyutpedia Chapter 2 A long day
Chapter 2 A long day
When Linni woke up again, it was already the next morning. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, shining brightly on her face, making her feel a little dazzled. She blinked, her consciousness returning: she had been hiking with her companions, then she had lost her footing and fallen to the bottom of the mountain, and then it seemed she was in a tree hollow with a super handsome man... you know...? Thinking of this, Linni quickly looked around: it was a tree hollow of about twenty square meters, and she was the only one in it at the moment; the blond man she had spent a passionate night with was nowhere to be seen.
Linni slowly sat up, still feeling a little uncomfortable, her naked body bearing traces of passion. She noticed a thick layer of soft, large leaves beneath her. Gently stroking the leaves, feeling their texture, she observed the empty tree hollow, a feeling of indescribable loss welling up inside her.
As Linni dressed, she wondered: Had the man really just abandoned her? Or had he truly vanished into flames? It was as unbelievable as a dream. She looked at her left shoulder and noticed a flame mark on her upper left arm. The mark was like a simple black and white tattoo, colorless, yet the few simple lines were incredibly lifelike. Linni suddenly remembered him saying that his time was running out, and only by becoming her partner could he stay with her forever. So Linni reached out and gently touched the flame. It felt warmer than her own body temperature. She tentatively called out softly, "Yao? Yao, are you there?"
The flame mark suddenly became a little hot, then returned to calm.
Lin Ni was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed: It really is there! The disappointment she felt earlier was immediately driven away by all sorts of curiosity: Did I encounter a spirit or some great deity undergoing tribulation?
Linni peered through a tree hollow about half a meter in size and saw dappled sunlight filtering through the gaps in the branches, casting a colorful glow on the forest floor. There was nothing else in the hollow, so she decided to climb out to take a look. Then she discovered that the hollow was actually higher than a one-story building! There were no branches to hold onto, so how was she going to get down?
Linni groped around in the tree hollow for a while and finally found a small hole in a corner. Looking down, it also resembled a tree hollow. The problem was, was she really going to jump from a height of three or four meters? It seemed like that was the only option. She first took out water and bread from her backpack and ate them, then took out her phone to check the time. The phone showed it was 2:00 AM—2:00 AM? She looked up at the sun, then at the signal—no signal. Although she had a power bank, a phone without a signal was useless at this point. She combed her slightly disheveled long hair back into a braid and decided to climb out of the tree hollow.
Before leaving, Linni glanced at her fallen petals on the leaves. She couldn't carry such large leaves with her, but leaving them there made her feel uneasy. Linni took out a lighter from her backpack and tried to burn some, but it was difficult. So she placed a tissue on top and lit it. After the tissue burned out, the marks on the leaves were completely obscured.
Lin Ni smiled reassuringly and carefully began to climb out of the tree hollow. She first slid down slowly, holding onto the edge of the hollow with both hands, until she was hanging precariously before letting go and jumping. Although Lin Ni was only a little under 1.6 meters tall, her arm span meant she wasn't actually very high off the ground; the impact of the jump left her legs a little numb. Lin Ni stood there for a moment to catch her breath, then took a selfie with the distant volcano as a backdrop, followed by another photo of the primeval forest including the large tree. She then turned off her phone and put it back in her backpack. It was as if she were saying to herself, and also to Yao on her arm, "Let's go! Let's explore this unknown world together!"
Linni walked with her back to the volcano, seeing many plants she had never seen before, and various plants laden with all sorts of fruits. Linni's mouth watered, but she dared not pick any to eat, fearing she might accidentally poison herself. After walking for half a day, Linni was very hungry. The sun wasn't even at noon yet, so she couldn't resist eating a sausage. She then checked her phone; it was 8:00 AM. Six hours had passed; it should be noon by now, so why was it still morning? No wonder she was so tired and hungry!
Linni picked a leaf bigger than her face and placed it on the ground. Sitting on the leaf, she ate her bread and checked her backpack: a change of clothes, two sets of underwear, two packs of instant noodles, twelve sausages, three packs of bread, five packs of beef jerky, a water cup (almost empty), a stainless steel lunchbox (they planned to use it to cook food and water on the mountain), which contained stainless steel retractable chopsticks and a spoon, a small bottle of salt, a small bottle of seasoned spices, a tied bag, a first-aid kit, a sewing kit, a mobile phone, a power bank, a lighter, a high-powered flashlight, a multi-functional folding knife, a comb, toothpaste, a toothbrush, a towel, a bottle of medicated oil, two packs of tissues, most of a pack of wet wipes, and a pack of sanitary napkins. That was all she had.
The tent they used for camping was shared by two girls, who took turns carrying it. This way, their not-so-strong carrying capacity could last longer. The tent was initially being carried by one of the girls, but her hat, trekking poles, and binoculars were lost when she fell down the mountain.
After taking stock of her belongings, Lin Ni thought about her next move: of course, she wanted to find a group of people, but her top priority was to find fresh water, or she would die of thirst.
After eating some more food, Linni put the folding knife in her pocket for later use. She also applied some Tiger Balm; it has to be said, there were so many mosquitoes in this primeval forest! And they were huge! She had two large bites on her face and hands. The mosquitoes in this forest probably hadn't encountered such a potent insecticide as Tiger Balm, so after applying it, no mosquitoes swarmed around her. As she was preparing to leave and continue on her way, she suddenly saw several small birds fly down from the sky. They perched on a large tree not far away and began eating the fruit: these were edible fruits!
The fruit was bright red, looking like apples, but smaller than the ones sold in the market. Most importantly, apples weren't this red; some were even purplish-red, so she was hesitant to eat them. Now, seeing the birds eating them, Linni swallowed hard and ran over. She saw many red fruits on the ground, and ants eating them—those ants were about the size of a finger; how painful it would be to be bitten by them! She wasn't very good at climbing trees, and now she dared not get too close.
Linni found a branch and knocked down some fruit. She picked one up, wiped it with her clothes, put it in her mouth, and took a small bite. Mmm, so sweet!