Chapter 79

After yesterday's heavy rain, today's weather has improved a bit.

Sunlight shone down from above the mountain gorge, gilding both cliffs with a layer of gold.

The temperature rose, the thick fog gradually receded, and Ning Jinli finally could see farther and higher around her.

The river at the bottom of Zhuiyingjian is about twenty to thirty meters wide, with shrubbery covering both banks and jagged stone mountain slopes; farther out lies dense forest, behind which sheer cliffs rise, estimated at least two to three hundred meters high, and a stone bridge can be faintly seen spanning above.

That is where they fell earlier.

Looking up from below now, that already narrow stone bridge appears almost as thin as a thread.

It is obvious that climbing out of Zhuiyingjian from here is absolutely impossible.

Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi came to the riverbank, she looked around while saying, "Little brother, you told me that the few experts we captured had Hook Claws on them, right?"

Xiao Qidi nodded, then immediately realized that what Ning Jinli was looking for was this thing.

Ning Jinli said: "When I just woke up that day, I was dazed; I clearly had grabbed a rope that pulled you ashore, but then I forgot; if I remember correctly, the rope wrapped around you was the Hook Claw."

Xiao Qidi also showed a sheepish expression: "That weapon is indeed very useful; I just didn't think of it, otherwise I could have searched for it earlier these past two days."

"It's fine, it's fine," Ning Jinli comforted, "we still have time to look for it now."

Having said that, the two began searching along the riverbank.

Ning Jinli originally planned to go to the place where she first picked wild fruits to take a look; there she had once encountered a dying Tian Shu Sect expert.

However, when she got near, she found that the area had already collapsed.

Probably yesterday's heavy rain caused a landslide, making it impossible to approach.

Fortunately, heaven does not betray those who strive.

Xiao Qidi found a Hook Claw in a clump of waterweeds by the bank.

Had it not been tangled in the waterweeds, we probably wouldn't know where the river had washed it to.

The Hook Claw is forged from wrought iron, with three curved hooks, sharp tips; the rope attached to it is several tens of meters long, thin but extremely tough and lightweight.

With this, skinning and butchering that big wild boar becomes very convenient.

Afterwards, Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi together pulled the wild boar out of the pit, tied it with rope, and dragged it all the way to the cave entrance.

By now it was already noon.

Sunlight could now shine straight down from directly above the mountain gorge; with the fog gone, the temperature rose further, finally feeling like a proper summer temperature.

At the bottom of the hunting pit Ning Jinli had set up, blood from the wild boar had accumulated.

As the temperature rose, waves of strong bloody smell drifted through the shrubbery.

Soon, a few wolves, smelling the scent, came over.

They looked around at the edge of the pit, then cautiously stepped inside, licking the bloodstains.

Suddenly, a scraping sound came from nearby.

Although the wolves noticed, they were reluctant to give up the food in their mouths; they lowered their bodies, staying alert for a quick escape while speeding up their licking of the blood.

Just then, a black shadow leapt over like lightning.

Even though the wolves had prepared to flee, they still couldn't get away.

They didn't even have time to make a sound before being devoured by the huge black shadow...

Back at the cave.

Taking advantage of the good weather and ample sunlight, Xiao Qidi hurried to process the wild boar.

Although he wasn't a butcher, using the Hook Claw as a knife made the job fairly easy, and he soon stripped the boar's hide.

"Huh? Strange..." Ning Jinli stared at the boar, puzzled, "It doesn't seem to have any wounds on its body, so why was it already bleeding so much and dead when I found it?"

Earlier, she had been too excited about catching the boar to think further.

Only now did she sense something was off.

Xiao Qidi naturally knew the reason, but he didn't want to tell her the truth, lest it dampen her enthusiasm.

But if he didn't give Ning Jinli a reasonable explanation, she might start to suspect.

After a moment's thought, he pried open the boar's mouth and told Ning Jinli, "The wound is inside the mouth."

Ning Jinli glanced and saw roughly a bloody cavity inside; before she could get closer, Xiao Qidi closed the boar's mouth and added lightly, "Don't stare too closely, lest it affect your appetite."

"What's that?" Ning Jinli casually replied, "I've even seen dismembered corpses."

"Oh, and also, thanks to you, I carried in the middle of the night four corpses whose heads you had chopped off; I'm now immune to gore." As she spoke, a hint of resentment appeared on her face.

But now is not the time to settle old scores.

She was more concerned about why this wild boar died from an injury inside its mouth.

According to her idea, when the boar was lured by bait toward the trap, and the material laid on top of the trap couldn't support its weight, the boar would fall.

Then it would be stabbed by the sharp branches she had inserted into the pit.

That way, the injured boar couldn't jump out of the pit.

Ning Jinli voiced her inner doubt to Xiao Qidi.

Xiao Qidi, while cutting the boar's meat with the Hook Claw, casually explained, "Isn't this simple? It must have run onto the trap preparing to eat the bait, slipped and fell unexpectedly, just happened to have its mouth open, and struck headfirst against the branches you placed; the branch pierced its weak throat, damaging the brain, causing massive bleeding and death."

"Really? That coincidental?" Ning Jinli said half-believing, half-doubting.

Xiao Qidi lightly replied, "In the vast world, nothing is strange; besides, this isn't all that miraculous. Otherwise, the branches you set wouldn't be able to pierce its hide, and you wouldn't have caught it."

This explanation was reasonable enough to pass.

Ning Jinli stopped dwelling on it, after all there were far more important things to think about and do.

She took the stripped boar hides to the riverside, carefully scraping off the inner subcutaneous tissue with a stone, washing away the outer thick bristles, then hung them on branches to dry.

By the time she finished, Xiao Qidi had already nearly finished boning the boar meat.

The meat chunks were piled in one heap, the organs in another, with a bone frame placed in between.

"You've worked hard, take a break." Ning Jinli wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I'll first roast a few pieces of meat to eat and fill our stomachs."

"You've worked hard too." Xiao Qidi's eyes held a hint of tenderness as he also reached out to wipe the sweat from her face.

Their eyes met, and in that moment, it seemed both of their hearts skipped a beat.

"Cough..." Xiao Qidi gave a dry cough, "Then I'll go rest."

Ning Jinli also nervously looked away, "Um... go on, go on."

After Xiao Qidi entered the cave, Ning Jinli rubbed her flushed face, muttering, "What time is it now? Life and death are at stake, survival is crucial—stay calm… absolutely stay calm, don't think wildly, don't think wildly…"

To dispel the vague, random thoughts that suddenly sprang up, Ning Jinli hurried to keep herself busy.

She picked two fattier pieces of wild boar meat, skewered them on a branch like before when roasting fish, slanted them beside the fire for Xiao Qidi to watch, then took the Hook Claw and went nearby to cut a bamboo stalk and bring it back.

Next, she spent considerable effort making several bamboo tubes.

She used the bamboo tubes to draw water from the riverbank, then placed them in the fire, and also cut some wild boar meat and wild fruit, putting them into two of the bamboo tubes.

"All done! Mission accomplished!" Ning Jinli plopped down, her face full of fighting spirit, "Now we have roasted meat to eat, stewed meat to eat, and hot water to drink."

"Although the conditions are harsh, still, compared to the past two days this is already a breakthrough improvement—we'll definitely be able to leave here!"

Upon hearing that, Xiao Qidi fell into silence.

Ning Jinli lightly bumped his arm with her shoulder, "What's up, little brother, you don't believe me?"

Xiao Qidi shook his head, "It's not that I don't believe, I just……"

"Just what?" Ning Jinli looked at him.

A flicker of complex emotion crossed Xiao Qidi's eyes.

Over these past few days, he uncontrollably developed the thought of spending his life with Ning Jinli in this secluded place, far from everyone and undisturbed.

He knew this thought was absurd.

It was so absurd that it even startled himself.

After all, he once vowed to someday unify the world; hiding away and shunning society does not fit his belief.

Moreover, due to his mother's influence, he had once avoided women as much as possible, convinced he could never fall in love in this lifetime.

But now, he……

He couldn't understand how he had suddenly become like this.

"Just what?" Ning Jinli urged when she saw he had only spoken half of it.

Xiao Qidi came to his senses, "Just suddenly thought of some things."

"What things?" Ning Jinli asked curiously.

Xiao Qidi pressed his lips, "Things…… unrelated to you."

Ning Jinli wrinkled her nose, "Forget it if you won't say, humph."

The water in the bamboo tubes boiled, bubbling with steam.

Ning Jinli hurriedly used a branch to clamp the boiling-water bamboo tube out, placing it aside to cool.

The other two bamboo tubes containing wild boar meat still needed to keep cooking, and the air already carried a stewed meat scent with a hint of gamey musk.

The meat skewers roasting beside the fire began to sizzle and release oil, and the aroma of roasted meat spread out.

Xiao Qidi couldn't help swallowing, his throat moving.

Ning Jinli fanned the air twice with her hand, smelled the scent, and her mouth kept salivating; if this had been before, she couldn't have eaten such food—just smelling it would make her nauseous.

Wild boar meat isn't exactly a delicacy.

Especially an adult large wild boar.

Not only is the meat coarse, it also has a strong musky odor.

Unless you use a series of methods to remove the musk and add seasoning for fragrance, it's hard to eat.

What's more, now it's just plain boiled in water—removing the musk is out of the question, there's no seasoning, only she on a whim added some wild fruit, and she doesn't know what it will taste like when cooked.

But when a person is hungry enough, even food that was previously hard to swallow becomes tempting.

Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi just sat there by the fire, eyes fixed on the roasting and stewing meat.

The wait for the meat to cook seemed to become especially long.

After much effort, she finally estimated it should be done; Ning Jinli made chopsticks from a broken bamboo piece, picked up a piece of meat from the bamboo tube, blew on it, and brought it to Xiao Qidi's lips, "Come… try it first."

Xiao Qidi put the meat piece in his mouth, chewed, his eyes lit up, his face showed delight, and he exclaimed, "Delicious!"

"Isn't that a bit exaggerated? You've eaten modern food before." Ning Jinli eyed it skeptically, picked up a piece, and slowly put it in her own mouth.

A rich, heavy meat fragrance and heat instantly filled her mouth.

And that musky odor of the wild boar, after mixing with the sour fragrance of an unknown wild fruit, actually turned into a unique fresh and delicious flavor.

Aside from the meat being a bit coarse and lacking saltiness, the overall taste was surprisingly good.

This is definitely not an illusion caused by extreme hunger.

Ning Jinli's eyes gradually widened, her pupils trembling, "Huh? It's actually really delicious!"

Being able to get an unexpected delicacy in such a miserable environment almost made her tear up with excitement.

"Come, try the roasted wild boar meat too." Ning Jinli quickly took down the meat skewer and handed it to Xiao Qidi.

This meat skewer had a mix of fat and lean, its exterior already a sheet of golden yellow shining with oil.

Xiao Qidi didn't bother about the heat, took a big bite, blowing air as he chewed.

Ning Jinli swallowed her saliva, laughing, "Slow down… don't burn yourself."

Xiao Qidi chewed a few bites, frowned slightly, forced it down, and said, "The flavor…… is a bit strong."

Ning Jinli also tried a bite; sure enough, the stewed meat grew more fragrant the more she chewed, while the roasted meat started out fine but after a few chews a heavy musky odor surged up, rushing straight to her head.

Ning Jinli struggled to swallow that mouthful, then thought, picked up the nearby wild fruit, squeezed out its juice, and drizzled it onto the meat skewer.

The stewed wild boar meat became delicious because of this wild fruit; so adding it to the roasted meat is surely correct.

As expected.

The roasted wild boar meat drizzled with wild fruit juice also produced a wonderful composite flavor.

That hard-to-swallow taste just now was completely replaced by deliciousness.

Ning Jinli now dug in, speaking unclearly while eating: "Mmm… If I get the chance, I won't just figure out how to set up a fishing project here; I'll also… I'll also develop this wild fruit into a seasoning."

"By then selling fish will make money, selling wild fruit seasoning will also make money…"

"But transportation is a problem, ah; it's already hard for us to get out…"

She had been in charge of the factory for a while, and unconsciously she gradually began to develop a business mindset.

Saying this, she suddenly had a brainwave: "Little brother, based on past experience, maybe a spacetime portal could appear in this place! Then my plan could be realized!"

Xiao Qidi said: "But we haven't detected any appearance here."

Ning Jinli said while thinking: "It should be that I'm at the warehouse over there and you're over here, then triggering some necessary condition we haven't figured out yet will open a new portal entrance."

Xiao Qidi nodded, agreeing with this speculation.

"Ah, what a pity…" Ning Jinli said helplessly: "If I had known, I wouldn't have stayed at your camp a few days ago; then the Tian Shu Sect people would only have caught you, and only you would have fallen down here, and then…"

As she spoke, she noticed Xiao Qidi's face tighten, and the gloomy expression that hadn't been seen in days reappeared between his brows.

Ning Jinli chuckled: "I was just saying it casually; don't take it like that."

Xiao Qidi wanted to speak but held back.

Really speaking, if it weren't for her staying in his camp, he wouldn't have been so distracted as to be knocked out by the person who sneaked into the camp using bewildering smoke.

Although those few Tian Shu Sect experts' martial arts were indeed formidable.

But in fact he had already sensed something when they approached the camp; however, just as he went out to prepare reconnaissance, he ran into Ning Jinli, so…

Sigh…

Xiao Qidi silently let out a long sigh in his heart, then relaxed his brows with relief.

It's all a mix of misfortune and chance; there's no one to blame.

"I'm full! You eat slowly, I'll go cut that pile of meat into small pieces so it's easy to roast dry for our reserve rations." Ning Jinli wiped her mouth and left most of the roasted and stewed meat for Xiao Qidi.

Without waiting for Xiao Qidi to say anything, she sprinted toward the cave mouth.

Outside the cave, beside the pile of wild boar entrails, a dark, sinister shadow slowly appeared…