A faint rustling sound reached her, and her heart leaped with joy.
She cautiously parted the bushes in front of her.
Not far away, a herd of sika deer was grazing.
She crouched down and approached them silently.
Just as she was about to attack, an alert fawn seemed to sense the danger and was the first to bolt.
The herd was instantly startled, fleeing deeper into the forest.
Seeing this, Xi Yao didn’t hesitate to give chase.
As she ran on, the dense woods gradually became unfamiliar.
It was only then that Xi Yao realized she was lost.
The surrounding trees blotted out the sun, allowing only dappled specks of light to filter through the layers of branches and leaves.
She stopped, trying hard to get her bearings.
After a few wrong turns, Xi Yao’s heart began to beat faster, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
It was clear the sun would set soon.
If she couldn’t find her way back, she would have to spend the night in the forest.
She forced herself to calm down, closed her eyes, and tried to recall how to navigate.
‘With interstellar all-around navigation, you never need to remember directions.’
‘But…’
She seemed to remember reading in some ancient texts that you could use plant growth to determine direction.
Opening her eyes, Xi Yao began to carefully observe the surrounding trees, noticing that the moss on one side of many trunks was especially thick.
She made an educated guess.
Moss thrives in the shade, so the side with more moss was most likely north.
Once she had a general direction, she started walking slowly forward.
She gripped the vine whip in her hand, remaining vigilant of any movement around her.
One had to be cautious in the depths of a forest.
Suddenly, a RUSTLING sound came from the bushes.
Xi Yao tensed up instantly, assuming a defensive stance.
A spiky, unidentifiable animal emerged from the grass.
It met her gaze for a moment before scurrying away.
Xi Yao let out a sigh of relief.
She didn’t want to fight right now; she just wanted to find her way back.
The forest was extremely dangerous at night.
She took out her Mechanical Gun, held it in her hand, and continued on her way.
As she walked, a peculiar scent seemed to fill the air—an indescribable, unique smell that was a mixture of sour and salty.
Xi Yao’s heart skipped a beat.
‘Could it be what I think it is?’
Her pace quickened unconsciously as she followed the scent.
Ahead, a lush sumac tree came into view.
Amid its delicate green leaves hung clusters of red berries, their surfaces coated in a thin layer of white crystals.
Xi Yao’s mouth fell slightly open, her eyes unable to hide their excitement.
She reached out to pick one, her fingertips brushing against the sumac’s slightly prickly skin.
The berry came off easily into her palm.
She couldn’t wait to pop one into her mouth.
First, a burst of sourness stimulated her taste buds, followed by a savory saltiness that slowly spread.
The intertwining flavors were wonderful.
She cast aside all other thoughts and quickly plucked cluster after cluster of the salt-crusted berries.
‘A tree this big…
these berries are enough for me to process a lot of salt.’
She worked quickly, and in no time, she had picked everything within her reach.
Just as she was debating whether to climb up and pick more, a strange noise came from nearby, startling the birds in the tree into flight.
Xi Yao was instantly on alert.
She pulled the Mechanical Gun from her dimensional space, her body tensing as she stared warily toward the source of the sound.
A large, dark brown bear burst out from the undergrowth.
Upon noticing Xi Yao, it let out a deep growl and rose up on its hind legs.
Xi Yao gulped as she looked at the brown bear, which was twice her height and many times her size.
‘Only an idiot would choose close-quarters combat in this situation.’
Giving the bear no time to react, Xi Yao fired the first shot.
A Silenced Bullet cut through the air, heading straight for the animal.
The bear reacted with incredible speed.
Its massive body swerved, and the bullet grazed its fur, leaving only a shallow scratch.
The pain enraged the bear further.
With a ferocious glint in its eyes, it pushed off with all four paws and charged at Xi Yao.
Xi Yao’s heart tightened.
‘The Mechanical Gun isn’t weak, but taking down such a huge and ferocious bear in one shot is no easy task.’
She quickly repositioned herself, dodging around a thick tree trunk while continuously firing, trying to intimidate the beast.
But the bear’s hide was thick.
The few bullets that hit only slowed it down slightly; they couldn’t stop its attack at all.
Xi Yao switched guns again.
This one was a powerful Pulse Gun.
It had a massive kick, but its power was not to be underestimated.
She gripped the gun’s body tightly with both hands, her finger curled around the trigger, her eyes locked on the furiously charging bear.
The bear was incredibly fast, closing the distance in the blink of an eye.
Xi Yao took a deep breath, steadied herself, and just as the bear was about to pounce, she pulled the trigger.
PFFT—
THUD—
The powerful impact sent the bear’s massive body flying sideways, and it slammed heavily into a large tree more than ten meters away.
The thick trunk snapped instantly, crashing to the ground with a RUSTLE of falling leaves and branches.
Half of the bear’s head was gone, leaving only a mangled stump of flesh and bone.
Red and white brain matter was splattered everywhere, and a thick, metallic stench filled the air.
Its limbs were still twitching slightly, but in the blink of an eye, it went still.
Xi Yao stood frozen, her mind a complete blank.
It took a long moment for her to come to her senses.
Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking from the gun’s immense recoil and the shock of the event, and her legs felt weak.
She swallowed hard, gazing at the bloody scene before her with a mixture of shock and fear.
“It’s…
finally over,” she murmured, her voice sounding exceptionally faint in the silent forest.
After calming herself for a while, Xi Yao slowly walked over to the bear to confirm that it was completely dead.
She wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and, fighting back nausea, took out a knife with a trembling hand and cut off the remaining half of its head.
‘It’s just too gruesome to look at.’
She had no energy left to deal with it, so she stored the headless bear in her dimensional space.
Pulling herself together, and unsure if she could find this spot again, she chopped down the remaining sumac branches and bundled them up to take with her.
The sun was almost down.
If she couldn’t find her way back, she would have to spend the night in the mountains.
The sky grew darker and darker.
Xi Yao’s pace through the forest quickened, but every attempt to get her bearings was thwarted by the deceptively similar trees.
She felt like she was just walking in circles.
The surrounding light was gradually devoured by the dense canopy of leaves.
Finally, the last glimmer of twilight vanished, and Xi Yao had to accept the fact that she would be spending the night in the mountains.
Suppressing her unease, she began to search for a place to take shelter.
Fortunately, she found a cave at the base of a cliff.
The entrance wasn’t large, and a damp odor emanated from within.
She took an Energy Lamp from her dimensional space and switched it on.
The pale white light instantly dispelled the darkness inside the cave, but the damp, musty smell only grew stronger.
Xi Yao frowned.
Looking around, she saw the cave walls were covered in some unknown, slimy moss that gave off an eerie feeling.
She cautiously took a few steps inside, then her foot suddenly slipped, and she almost fell.
Looking down, she saw the ground was soaking wet.
‘This environment is completely unsuitable for shelter.’
She had no choice but to leave.
In the end, she found a large tree not far from the cave, climbed up, and decided to make do for the night in its branches.