novelraw Chapter 1055 - 1098: Persevering Through Hardship
Chapter 1055 - 1098: Persevering Through Hardship
Chapter 1055: Chapter 1098: Persevering Through HardshipAfter eating, the three prepared to set out. Li Yifei packed blankets and clothes into the backpack, but from the plane wreckage, he only kept a few small pieces, leaving the larger ones behind.
The three had eaten something in the morning and felt much more spirited, ready to depart. However, before setting off, Li Yifei carved a few words into one of the large pieces of wreckage: "Three survivors, Li Yifei, Xu Shanshan, Yanzi, heading north."
This was a signal left behind. If the rescue team were to come, they could follow this direction to find them. Moreover, it was also a message for their families, to ease their worries somewhat.
But now Li Yifei had to lead the two on their way. Food was momentarily solvable, but water was a critical issue. Staying here wouldn’t resolve it. He had managed to gather only seven bottles of mineral water. Normally, a person would need two bottles per day. In the past two days, even conserving as much as they could, they were down to three bottles. Staying any longer meant they’d soon run out of water, and if rescue didn’t arrive in time, they would die of thirst.
So he had to take both of them in
Li Yifei smiled faintly and said, "You’ve caught some without fail; that’s already quite good."
Today, when Li Yifei was processing the lizards, he was even more careful. Water was scarce, and he tried to give most of it to Xu Shanshan and the holy woman to drink. But if he didn’t replenish his own fluids, he simply couldn’t last much longer either. There was some blood in the lizards, which, despite the lizards being small and their blood even less, few drops squeezed out was still beneficial. Moreover, drinking blood was also necessary to replenish salts.
The holy woman saw this and immediately turned her head with her mouth twisted, but she understood why Li Yifei was doing this. Even though she couldn’t bear to watch, she didn’t speak up to stop him.
The day’s haul was a bit more than the day before, and there was also plenty of dry grass near the sand dune, so there was no problem in roasting the lizards and scorpions.
Xu Shanshan woke up smelling the aroma. Today, both she and the holy woman declined to let Li Yifei tear the meat. In harsh environments, people quickly adapt, or else there is only one path left—that of death.
After they had eaten, they neatly packed up the blankets and other things. Li Yifei left one piece of clothing behind and said to the holy woman, "Take off your shoes."
The holy woman was a bit puzzled but still sat down and slipped off her high heels, while Li Yifei had already torn the piece of clothing in two, saying, "Wrap the clothes around your feet to use as shoes."
The holy woman gave Li Yifei a sweet smile and said, "That’s a good idea."
Although it was already the fourth day in the desert, the holy woman still maintained an elegant demeanor. Although she had no water to wash her face, her face was still clean. On the other hand, Xu Shanshan looked somewhat disheveled, her face covered in dust. With sweat streaking through, it looked like a heavily painted face.
While these might not seem impressive skills, they could bring about an extra bit of hope for survival in such harsh conditions. If the holy woman had been left alone in this desert, she knew well that she would have already faced a dire situation, causing her to admire Li Yifei all the more.
The three of them set off again, with Li Yifei carrying Xu Shanshan and the holy woman carrying the backpack. They moved much faster now, walking for nearly three hours and covering roughly ten kilometers before they rested.
But looking out, all they could see was the endless yellow sand, as if they would never reach the end.
"Shanshan, are you thirsty? Have some water," Li Yifei said as he gently placed Xu Shanshan down and noticed her cracked lips, taking out the half-full bottle of water.
Xu Shanshan pursed her lips and shook her head, "I’m not thirsty. Brother-in-law, you’ve been carrying me for so long, you drink."
Li Yifei smiled faintly, patted Xu Shanshan’s head and said, "Brother-in-law isn’t thirsty. I drank some lizard blood this morning."
Xu Shanshan grinned but still shook her head, "Then I won’t drink either. This water is lifesaving for us now. To run out would mean we have no hope left."
The holy woman added, "That’s right, let’s endure as long as we can. If we had been more sparing with it the past two days, it would have been better."
Li Yifei also felt somewhat helpless, the water consumption had indeed been a bit too much the previous days, but now it was too late, they had to confront the issue.
After resting for half an hour, they continued on their way. This day they walked the furthest yet, covering more than thirty kilometers. Moreover, Li Yifei’s sense of direction was quite accurate, and they didn’t get lost.
They’d covered about fifty kilometers by now. Considering the Grand Desert’s total area of almost four hundred thousand square kilometers and a north-south depth of about four hundred kilometers, they had traveled about one-eighth of the way. If Li Yifei’s judgment was correct, under good conditions, they should reach the highway in three more days. However, whether they could endure these next three days was difficult to say.