Chapter 274 - 234: Part 2
Shen Baoying finally steeled herself to act. The dagger she carried had been a huge help on her journey.
She slit open the bristle rat’s belly, gutted it, and sliced off the meat bit by bit, eating it raw.
She wanted to start a fire, but the space was too small. If her down jacket accidentally caught a spark, she would lose her best hope of survival.
Once her hunger was slightly sated, she processed the rest of the bristle rat, stored it away, and leaned to one side to take a nap. Her only solace was that the Vulture down jacket and Megalodon Crocodile-hide boots kept the bone-chilling cold at bay.
When morning came, Shen Baoying pushed onward.
Walking alone through the valley, she felt as if she were the only person left in the world.
The thought terrified her, but she constantly ordered herself to grit her teeth and stay strong.
By afternoon, Shen Baoying had finally scrambled her way out of the valley. The terrain flattened out, and the view opened up considerably.
But the snow had grown deeper here. Every step was like wading through a marsh.
She also had to watch out for the bloodsucking vines hidden in the snow.
If one of those things wrapped around her and she was even a fraction too slow, it would drain every drop of blood from her body.
However, the roots of these things were an edible food source.
They were small and sweet, like miniature radishes, and actually quite tasty.
The bristle rats that managed to survive lived off the roots of these bloodsucking vines.
So, discovering a bloodsucking vine wasn’t necessarily something to fear; it could even be a welcome sight.
Shen Baoying used a stick to probe the path ahead. After a few steps—SWISH!—the stick was instantly ensnared by a bloodsucking vine.
Shen Baoying hacked the vine into several pieces. Once she was sure it was immobilized, she crouched down and carefully began to dig up its roots.
She unearthed five roots in a row. Shen Baoying ate one to satisfy her craving, then took a hook from her pack. She threaded one of the roots onto it, took a deep breath, and cast it out with all her might.
She wanted fresh bristle rat meat more than she wanted to eat miniature radishes.
Before long, the line began to twitch, jerking and struggling.
Shen Baoying yanked the line, and a bristle rat, its mouth snagged on the hook, appeared before her.
Without a thought for cruelty, Shen Baoying bludgeoned it with her stick and baited the hook again with another root to fish for more rats.
If she could catch a few more, she’d have enough to keep going on the road.
Within an hour, Shen Baoying had used the five bloodsucking vine roots to catch fifty bristle rats.
If she ate sparingly, this would be enough to last her for two days.
Shen Baoying was overjoyed. She quickly bundled the bristle rats in a scrap of cloth she had found and took them with her.
Along the way, she even encountered a snow fox.
The snow fox was extremely wary and fast. The moment Shen Baoying pulled out her gun, it vanished without a trace.
A flicker of regret crossed her face. She found a place to rest, gathered some firewood, and used a magnifying glass to focus the sunlight. Before long, the focused light ignited a tiny spark into flame.
Shen Baoying warmed herself by the fire while she processed the bristle rats, planning to smoke them so she could carry the meat with her.
She still had a little salt. It was one of the essential items Jiang Si had required everyone to carry in case they got separated.
It was thanks to these provisions that she had managed to escape danger time and time again.
Shen Baoying even used a teacup she’d found to brew herself a bowl of bristle rat soup. After downing the steaming hot meal, she felt completely rejuvenated and set off once more.
For the next two days, perhaps because she was on the outskirts of the forest, she encountered relatively little danger.
She even discovered a small, frozen river.
Miraculously, despite the frigid temperatures, schools of fish were still alive beneath the ice.
If she could catch all these fish, she would have enough to last for several more days.
Full of confidence, Shen Baoying found a large rock, hoisted it up, and repeatedly smashed it down on a single spot on the ice.
A crack split across the ice’s surface, but it was far from enough.
Shen Baoying kept smashing, shattering the ice, then clearing away the fragments. She repeated this process many times until, finally, a fishing hole appeared before her.
The fishing hole was small, only about the size of a basketball. The fish, long deprived of oxygen, began leaping out of the water without her even needing to use bait. PLOP! PLOP!
But the air temperature seemed even lower than that of the water. By the time Shen Baoying went to collect the fish that had jumped out, they were already frozen solid.
Shen Baoying gathered a large pile, unable to contain her joy.
She found a spot nearby, started a fire, and roasted some of the fish to eat.
With her protein levels replenished, a feeling of well-being spread through her entire body.
But soon, the smile was wiped from her face by the sound of strange, approaching footsteps.