Chapter 179: Chapter 178: Sorry to Disturb

After nearly two hours of continuous trekking, even though Ling Chengyan was physically fit, she was starting to feel a bit tired.

She went to the creek to wash her hands and face, moved a few steps upstream, took the water flask from her waist, scooped half a flask of water, and tasted it. It was very sweet, genuine mountain spring water, and very clean.

However, she dared not drink the raw water.

She found a large, smooth stone beside the water, with a shallow depression in the middle. She piled up some dried branches she had collected along the way, used a handful of soft, dry grass to start a fire, and slowly got it going. Ling Chengyan hung her tea flask above the fire.

Inside the flask was more than half filled with water, into which she added a few spoons of pork fat fried flour, along with a small handful of wild vegetables and wild garlic she had gathered on the way.

The water quickly boiled. Ling Chengyan took out some dried donkey meat from her pouch, tore it up, and threw it into the soup. The water in the flask boiled and quickly cooked a pot of donkey meat fried mush.

With meat and vegetables, it was hot. Not particularly delicious, but in a survival environment, it was quite good.

Ling Chengyan didn’t devour it, instead, she ate with restraint, taking small bites until the mush was finished. She cleaned the flask thoroughly, refilled it with water to boil again, then stood up to look for the location marked on the map.

She searched around the creek and forest, even carefully inspecting the distant cliffs, but found nothing. Could her judgment have been wrong? Was the black dot insignificant?

The thought flashed by, but Ling Chengyan became even more convinced of her judgment—it couldn’t be wrong.

Her gaze slowly swept over the rocks and vegetation, finally settling on a pool of jade-green water. Beneath a cliff, there was a small pond with jagged rocks. The pond wasn’t particularly scenic.

But it was a perfect place to hide something!

Ling Chengyan took off her backpack and cautiously stepped into the water, placing the backpack on a protruding rock in the pond.

The pond wasn’t big, but it was deep.

Outside the big rock, the water was a translucent blue, but beyond that, it turned a jade-like deep green while still clear enough to see the bottom.

Seeing the box at the bottom, Ling Chengyan smirked and dove in…

“Is anyone there?” someone suddenly called out.

Clutching the box, Ling Chengyan paddled in the water, hiding behind the large rock with only her eyes visible. She saw a young man with similar gear standing by her fire, calling out a couple of times. When he got no response, he casually took out his own rations and started cooking them over her fire.

Glancing at the water momentarily, Ling Chengyan emerged gracefully onto the shore, holding four or five foot-long fish in her hand.

“Ha ha, so it’s Captain Ling! I was just wondering who had the same idea as me!” Recognizing him as Geng Wei, a lean yet youthful-faced guy with a childlike appearance and a small dimple on his left cheek, memorable once you’ve seen it. Ling Chengyan knew him as the deputy captain of the Coastal Defense Unit.

Geng Wei seemed not to question whether Ling Chengyan had fished legally. Delighted by the fish in her hand, he quickly offered the stone he was sitting on, moved another one next to the fire, and said, “Come roast, don’t mind that it’s summer, the water in the mountains is cold, you’ll catch a cold…”

Ling Chengyan didn’t go over immediately. Instead, she turned around, wrung out her clothes, took off her shoes to let them drip dry, tidied up, then went over with the fish, handing them directly to Geng Wei, asking, “Can you roast them?”

Geng Wei grinned broadly and took the fish without hesitation. Walking toward the bushes, he said, “You’ve found the right person. I can’t vouch for many things, but for roasting fish, leave it to me, and you can rest assured!”

Ling Chengyan emptied the near-boiling water, cleaned up, and refilled the flask with clean water to boil.

Geng Wei was quick, and within a few minutes, the fish were cleaned, opened, and propped on sticks, one by one, back to the fire to roast.

“It’s a pity I didn’t bring any chili powder…” Geng Wei murmured, then stood up, “I saw some wild garlic earlier, let me grab some.”

Saying this, he took off his backpack, running lightly off to find some wild garlic.

Ling Chengyan stretched her arms and feet by the fire to dry her damp clothes.

Five or six minutes later, Geng Wei returned from the woods, but found no one by the fire. He circled over to the pond and saw the backpack on the rock was also gone.

The bright smile on his face disappeared, replaced by an inscrutable expression: chosen for a reason, indeed exceptional.

Minutes later, Geng Wei extinguished the fire and resumed his journey. Among the steaming ashes lay a few washed and gutted fish.

Ling Chengyan hurried onward, leaving that supply point. She chose not to search for a second one, heading directly toward her goal.

Only when the sky was about to turn completely dark did she finally find a small spring, placing her tea flask beneath the dripping rocks to fill it, and eating dinner with a thermos and fried flour.

Originally planning to rest under a big tree, she didn’t expect bad weather—a downpour ensued.

She had to find a small rocky nook and curl up inside, just enough to stay out of the rain.

The rain fell half the night. Ling Chengyan took out a few slices of dried ginger, tossed them into the flask, boiled them, and drank the hot ginger tea, which drove away the night’s chill and dampness.

As the eastern sky lightened, she pulled out a piece of hardtack, ate it, then consumed a can of meat. Without waiting for the sun to fully rise, she set out on her journey again.

Circumnavigating the points marked on the map, she didn’t encounter anyone all morning.

The supplies she found the previous day were enough to sustain her for three days, so she tried to avoid meeting others, aiming to reach the finish line quickly.

Rules: Elimination is not mandatory; only the top three finishers count.

She didn’t stop for lunch, aiming to avoid encounters and conflicts, but fate had other plans. With a packet of unfinished hardtack in hand, she ran head-on into two people—Zhou Lixin, deputy captain of the Reconnaissance Company, and Geng Wei, whom she had seen the day before.

Even more coincidentally, these two were eyeing the same supply point. When Ling Chengyan saw them, neither side was yielding, tensions high.

“Pardon the interruption. Carry on.” Ling Chengyan didn’t waste a word. The weapon she had slung in front was already in hand. Speaking as she slowly retreated, she turned and left, clean and decisive, without a hint of hesitation.

Watching her slender figure quickly disappear into the mountains, Zhou Lixin and Geng Wei exchanged looks, “How about half and half?”

Geng Wei didn’t hesitate long and quickly nodded his agreement.

After moving some distance away, Ling Chengyan checked the map again: she had purposely avoided the supply point, so how did she still end up with two others fighting over supplies? Could it be there were more hidden random points besides the ones marked on the map?

Ha, with so many supplies, what’s the point of a survival competition?

Until the second night’s evening, Ling Chengyan managed relatively smoothly. She reached the transit station in the afternoon, obtained a pass, then set off on the return journey.

There were no signs of others at the transit station, whether they hadn’t arrived yet or had been eliminated was unknown. But with the final moments drawing nearer, competition was intensifying. At this point, encountering opponents meant there would be no room for negotiations or conditions.

As darkness fell, Ling Chengyan judged by the map that she’d covered a third of the return journey. If everything went smoothly, she’d reach the finishing point by noon the next day.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep