The wild rabbit, suspended upside down, struggled with increasing violence. The vine rope was pulled taut, emitting a sharp “creak-creak” sound as if it might snap at any moment.
Lin Xi stood before her prey, her small face tense as an internal battle raged within her.
She knew she had to act. If she let this rabbit escape, she would go hungry again tonight, and by tomorrow, she might not even have the strength to set another trap.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to the rabbit—though whether she was saying it to the creature or to herself, she didn’t know.
She raised the jagged porcelain shard in her hand and lunged, aiming to pierce the rabbit’s most vulnerable spot: its neck!
The scene of a swift, clean kill she had imagined did not happen.
Though the porcelain shard was sharp, it was no professional blade. Combined with her meager strength, the shard only sliced through the rabbit’s fur, leaving a bloody gash. Rather than killing it, the strike only triggered an even more frantic struggle!
THUMP!
The rabbit kicked out violently, striking Lin Xi square in the chest.
A massive force surged through her; Lin Xi let out a muffled groan as she was sent flying backward, the back of her head slamming heavily against a protruding rock!
BUZZ—!
Sharp pain and vertigo instantly flooded her brain. Golden sparks danced before her eyes as the world spun uncontrollably.
She felt a warm liquid trickling from the back of her head—sticky and smelling of rust.
It was blood!
She struggled to crawl back up, but her body refused to obey. Her consciousness was rapidly slipping away.
No… I can’t sleep…
If I fall asleep, I’ll never wake up again!
She might become a meal for that rabbit, or for some other beast in the woods…
Just as she was on the verge of losing consciousness, a dark shadow streaked past like a bolt of lightning.
It was Huzi!
Seeing his master injured, Huzi was instantly enraged. His fur bristled all over, and he let out a wild, savage roar—one completely unbefitting his small, thin frame—as he lunged fiercely at the still-struggling rabbit!
It accurately bit the rabbit’s throat, using every ounce of its strength to maintain a death grip.
The rabbit’s struggles gradually weakened until, finally, its four legs went limp and it stopped moving entirely.
Having dealt with the enemy, Huzi immediately ran to Lin Xi’s side. He anxiously licked the cold sweat from her face, letting out a low, mournful whimper from his throat.
His master’s life force was fading!
Huzi’s licking and his surge of anxious emotion pulled Lin Xi back from the brink of unconsciousness. She struggled to open her eyes, meeting Huzi’s emerald gaze, which was filled with worry.
“Huzi… I’m okay…” she tried to comfort him, but her voice was as weak as a mosquito’s hum.
The wound on the back of her head was still bleeding. She felt her strength and body heat draining away along with her blood.
Was she going to die?
After finally being reborn, finally escaping—was she really going to die in such a pathetic way, at the paws of a rabbit?
She was unwilling!
She truly could not accept this!
“Save me… someone save me…” She used the very last shred of her spiritual power to send out a desperate distress signal to her surroundings.
This time, the response she received didn’t come from birds or beasts.
Instead, it was a… botanical intent.
It was incredibly faint and blurry, like a ripple in water, coming from an unremarkable plant with small purple flowers not far away.
The intent it transmitted to her wasn’t an emotion, but rather an… attribute.
“Stop bleeding… cooling…”
Though Lin Xi’s mind was groggy, her survival instinct allowed her to instantly seize this literal lifeline.
She struggled, crawling inch by inch toward the direction of that plant.
Every centimeter moved felt like it cost her a lifetime of strength. Blood stained the grass beneath her.
Finally, she reached the plant.
She recognized this plant!
In her past life, while working in the sweatshops of the South, when her coworkers got injured on the job and couldn’t afford medicine, they would go to the wasteland behind the factory to find this grass, chew it up, and apply it to their wounds, saying it could stop bleeding and reduce inflammation. They called it “Viola philippica” (Purple Flower Danding).
But how could she suddenly “hear” the thoughts of plants?
Could it be… that her “Beast-Taming” ability had actually… evolved under the circumstances of her severe injury and extreme mental exhaustion?
Not only could she sense the emotions of animals, but she could even vaguely perceive the medicinal properties of plants!
There was no time for deep thought. With trembling hands, she plucked a few leaves and, mimicking the workers in her memory, put them into her mouth and chewed them vigorously.
A bitter, pungent juice spread through her mouth, but she didn’t care. She took the chewed herbal pulp and, with great effort, accurately applied it to the wound on the back of her head.
A cool sensation instantly radiated from the wound, dispelling some of the burning pain.
Even more miraculously, that warm, constant flowing sensation actually… slowly stopped!
The bleeding had been staunched!
Lin Xi let out a long sigh of relief, her entire body going limp like a puddle of mud as she collapsed completely onto the ground.
She had survived.
Once again, she had been pulled back from the gates of hell.
Looking at the unremarkable Viola plant beside her, her heart was filled with awe and gratitude. To her, this mountain forest was no longer just a hiding place or a hunting ground—it was a vast, selfless medicinal garden!
The animals were her guides and allies, while these silent plants were her guarantee of survival!
After resting for a long time, she finally regained some strength. Struggling to sit up, she looked at the dead rabbit and the sticky herbal paste on the back of her head, letting out a wry smile.
She had food now, and she had medicine.
But a new problem had arrived.
She needed fire.
Without fire, she would be forced to eat raw flesh and drink blood, and the rabbit would soon rot. Without fire, she had no way to stay warm during the freezing nights.
Furthermore, she was injured and had bled. The heavy scent of blood would surely attract the real, large-scale predators of the mountains.
She had to start a fire as soon as possible! She needed flames and smoke to drive away those potential dangers.
Steeding herself against a tree trunk, she stood up shakily and began searching the vicinity for tools to start a fire. She remembered that making a fire required tinder, kindling, and two hard stones capable of striking a spark.
Using her porcelain shard, she carefully scraped some bark shavings from a dry trunk to serve as tinder. Then, she began searching the ground for suitable stones.
There were plenty of rocks in the mountains, but most were ordinary fieldstones—too soft to ever produce a spark. She searched for a long time, the old injuries on her knees and the fresh wound on the back of her head throbbing in unison, making her feel as though she might faint again.
Just as she was on the verge of despair, a kingfisher with vibrant feathers flew over from the direction of the creek and perched on a branch in front of her, letting out two sharp chirps: “Chirp, chirp!”
The intent it conveyed was crystal clear:
『Stones… shiny ones… by the water…』
Lin Xi’s eyes lit up. She immediately headed toward the stream the kingfisher had pointed out.
Sure enough, by the clear creek water, she discovered several dark gray stones with sharp edges and a hard texture. She picked up two and struck them together with all her might!
Scree!
A cluster of bright, golden sparks suddenly erupted in the dim forest!
It was flint!
Lin Xi’s heart leaped with joy. She carefully cradled her tinder and crouched down, preparing for her first life-or-death attempt at making fire—not by friction, but by strike!
However, at the exact moment she struck the second cluster of sparks and the tinder was about to ignite, the sky suddenly went dark. A gust of icy wind, swirling with leaves and grit, howled past.
Immediately following, pea-sized raindrops began to pelt down without warning—pitter-patter!
“No!”
Lin Xi watched in horror as the wisp of blue smoke that had just begun to rise from the tinder was instantly snuffed out by the rain.
A sudden rainstorm had arrived, drenching her last hope to the bone.