Ye Qing quickly cleaned up the scene, scraped up some loose dirt to cover the bloodstains on the ground, and then hurried away.
“Since the badger’s den is still here, there must be water nearby! When it comes to finding ways to survive, humans can’t compare to animals.”
Following the faint claw marks the badger had left on the ground, she searched all the way until, just before nightfall, she finally spotted a thin trickle of water flowing through a narrow crack in the rocks.
“Finally! Water!”
She cheered and ran toward it.
A clear stream wound down the slick rock face and collected below into a tiny pool no larger than a washbasin.
The mud around the pool was crisscrossed with dried cracks, proof that this had once been a much larger, well-filled pond.
Scattered along the edge of the water were numerous fish bones, yellowed and brittle with age. They had clearly been dead for a long time.
“This drought is so severe that even people can barely survive, let alone you poor fish.”
Looking at the bones, Ye Qing sighed softly.
She scooped up a handful of water. It wasn’t very clear and was slightly muddy, but once the sediment settled and it was boiled, it would become life-saving water.
What delighted her even more was the soft, damp soil around the pond. Amid this endless sea of withered yellow, it still preserved clusters of precious greenery.
“Purslane! And dandelions! They’re all edible!”
Ye Qing’s eyes lit up instantly. She crouched down and quickly pulled up a plant, bringing it to her nose. The fresh, grassy scent rushed into her nostrils, and a wave of joy surged through her.
“I’ve been here for so long, eating nothing but coarse grains and hard naan every day. I haven’t had a single bite of fresh vegetables. These wild greens are just what my poor stomach needs!”
As she spoke, she took out all the empty clay jars from her space and lined them up beside the pond to collect water while the sediment slowly settled.
The pool wasn’t large, but the water flowed continuously, solving her urgent problem.
Ye Qing looked around again.
This area sat on higher rocky ground, and the badger had led her here by following a dried-up streambed uphill. As long as no one deliberately tracked her, hiding here for a few days would be perfectly safe.
She chose a wind-sheltered depression and first used her hoe to dig a shallow firebreak around it. Then she gathered a pile of dry branches and finally took out her fire starter from her space.
The moment it touched the kindling, the flames leaped up.
She found a flat stone from the streambed and set it over the fire, then laid slices of badger meat across it.
Next, she washed a handful of wild greens, tossed them into a clay pot, added freshly collected water, and set it by the fire to simmer.
Before long, a rich aroma of roasting meat filled the air, mixed with the fresh scent of vegetables. It made her stomach growl and nearly brought saliva to her mouth.
For a moment, Ye Qing’s eyes grew hot.
In her previous life, she had been born in peaceful, prosperous China. She had never experienced such hunger and hardship.
Nor had she ever personally hunted a wild beast in the mountains.
And all of this…
Just for a hot meal that could fill her stomach.
Ye Qing cut a thin branch, peeled off the bark, and fashioned it into a pair of chopsticks. She picked up a piece of beautifully browned badger meat and took a huge bite.
The meat was firm and springy, carrying the smoky fragrance of the fire. It was so delicious that she felt she could swallow her tongue.
The badger’s organs would probably taste even better roasted.
An idea struck her.
She took out a small piece of badger liver, washed it repeatedly with clean water, skewered it on a branch, and turned it over the fire.
The liver’s rich aroma quickly spread through the air.
Ye Qing sniffed deeply and swallowed hard.
“It smells amazing! Why isn’t it cooked yet? Hurry up already!”
She gently poked it with her dagger. Seeing that no blood seeped out, she immediately sprinkled a little salt on it, blew on it to cool it down, and impatiently stuffed it into her mouth.
The substantial texture of the meat and the richness of the fat exploded across her taste buds.
Her eyes grew moist.
“This is the first proper, fresh meat I’ve eaten since transmigrating here.”
The high protein and calories quickly nourished her body and lifted her spirits.
Using the oily hot stone as a griddle, she tucked a handful of wild greens into an empty corner. With a sizzling sound, white smoke rose into the air.
Wrapping the vegetables around the meat and eating them together was an entirely different experience.
Though there weren’t nearly as many seasonings as at a barbecue restaurant, to Ye Qing, it was an exceptionally rare delicacy.
After eating and drinking her fill, she leaned against the warm rock wall, patted her round stomach, and sighed contentedly.
“No matter how big the world is, eating comes first.”
For the next few days, Ye Qing treated the pond as her base camp.
She found several sturdy branches, wedged them between the rock walls on either side of the hollow, and then layered a large number of dead branches on top.
Before long, she had built a crude but sturdy sunshade that completely covered the depression.
The scorching sun was blocked outside, and the area beneath the shelter instantly became much cooler.
Dusting off her hands, Ye Qing admired her handiwork with satisfaction.
“With this shelter, whether I’m drying meat or resting these next few days, I won’t have to suffer under the blazing sun anymore.”
Every morning, she packed enough food and water and ventured into the forest to explore.
Drawing on fragments of the original owner’s memories, she pulled vines and clumsily set up several simple traps.
After a whole day of work, by evening she had already caught several mountain rats and wild rabbits that had come out in search of water.
Little by little, she learned the ways of the forest and accumulated valuable survival experience.
Under the shelter, the fire beside her never went out.
One clay jar of water after another was left to settle, poured into another container, and boiled, eventually becoming clean, warm water stored in her space.
Then she processed her catches, skinning them, cutting the meat into strips, and smoking them on the stone slab into jerky.
“Even if I run into refugees later, I can secretly take some out to eat without anyone noticing.”
With meat to sustain her, she no longer had to go hungry, and her strength increased by leaps and bounds.
Her once emaciated body, little more than skin and bones, was still thin, but faint, firm lines of muscle had begun to appear on her arms and legs.
She also began practicing the fighting techniques from her previous life.
No punching bag?
She cut a large bundle of dead grass and tied it into a heavy straw target.
No sparring partner?
She trained against the empty air, practicing her footwork, punches, kicks, and evasive movements over and over again.
At first, it was incredibly frustrating.
In her mind, every move was crystal clear.
But this body felt like a rusty lump of iron—stiff, sluggish, and awkward. Her breathing and power generation were completely out of sync, making her grit her teeth in irritation.
But who was Ye Qing?
She was someone who had been struck by lightning and still managed to survive in another world.
If one try didn’t work, she’d do it ten times.
If ten times didn’t work, she’d do it a hundred times.
She calmed herself and started from the very basics: stance, fist position, and breathing.
Bit by bit, she refined every detail.
She broke down the vicious, lethal techniques that had once become second nature to her, learned them again from the beginning, and practiced until they became muscle memory.
The next time she encountered someone with ill intentions…
She hoped to kill with a single strike.