Shekh cleared away the branches blocking his path: "This golden butterfly had better not change its course any further."

Shi Jinzhe: "I'm not afraid of it changing its route, I really don't want to spend another day in the water."

The soil in the rainforest is very moist, and it cannot retain water at all after a heavy rain. As soon as you walk, there is water everywhere.

There are all sorts of things in these waters. When he wades into a small puddle, the leeches in it can suck his blood through his clothes. When Shekh scares him, they bite him even harder in their nervousness.

Shekh walked ahead, brushing insects off the leaves, and said, "There's probably no way around it. We have to cross a lake, and you'll have to stay in the water."

Shi Jinzhe said, "Let's make a raft. I'd rather spend more time than be bothered by mosquitoes, frogs, and ants."

The pain was relieved by the self-healing mechanism. The leeches in the water were much larger than the species I saw yesterday; they were the size of my forearm before they started sucking my blood.

If you bite it, a piece of skin will fall off, and after you get it removed, your body will be numb for half a day.

Looking around at the surrounding environment, Shi Jinzhe began to look for suitable timber.

After walking for a long time, a tall tree with thick, oval leaves came into his view amidst the dense foliage. Judging by its appearance, it was at least ten stories high.

It is teak, which is moisture-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and highly stable. It is an excellent type of wood that will not warp or crack even when soaked in seawater or exposed to sunlight.

Shi Jinzhe stopped in his tracks: "I saw teak, let's use that."

Shekh followed his footsteps, turned around, and walked through the bushes.

She made two shallow, slanted cuts on the tree trunk from two different directions with the butterfly knife, then curled the tail to one side and, using the cuts, skillfully snapped the teak wood in two.

Shi Jin measured the length of the tree trunk and asked how big Lake Shehena was.

"Soak for a day."

"...It's good, concise and clear, it gives me a good idea."

One day, I'll just make it according to the size of the space ring. Anyway, there's a lot of water here, so if there's a place to put it, I'll take it with me; if not, I'll just throw it away.

Shi Jin marked the wood with scales to make it easier to cut later: "Shall we finish making the raft this afternoon, rest here tonight, and leave tomorrow?"

“Sure.” Shekh had no objections. “As long as the car is intact, a two-day delay can be made up for.”

The river here is two kilometers wide, and the lakes must be incredibly large as well.

She estimated that she would spend the whole day in a sunny, windless, and rainless weather; if it were windy and rainy, it would be hard to say.

If it rains when you drift to the middle of the lake in the middle of the night, you'll be stuck in a dilemma, so it's best to leave early tomorrow.

Shi Jinzhe was sawing wood on the side, and Shehe, having nothing else to do, simply kept watching him.

On sunny days, the rainforest is hot and humid, with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius. Even with shade, working in this weather will quickly make you sweat and soak your clothes.

One of her thin clothes was ruined, and she was now wearing clothes that had been randomly given to her.

A loose-fitting pirate shirt with a large collar; when you bend over, the collar will swing down wildly.

Even through the ribbon, that burning gaze was overwhelmingly present. Shi Jinzhe stopped what he was doing and stared directly at Shekh:

"You can wander around the area for a while and see if there are any edible fruits left, or take your car out and go inside to rest."

If she kept looking at him like that, he wouldn't want to work anymore.

"What do you want to eat?" Shekh rested his chin on his hand, sitting on the flat teakwood. Seeing Shi Jinzhe stand up straight, he reluctantly looked away.

She had to admit that humans had their advantages; a balance of breadth and narrowness was more appealing than a straight line.

"Anything is fine, whatever you have is fine."

"Then I'll pick it up."

Half an hour later, Sher found a few ice cream beans, two bunches of ripe bananas, and some wild wax apples.

Carrying the fruit back, she wiped the wax apples and placed them near Shi Jinzhe's mouth.

Although it doesn't taste very good, it's very juicy.

"It seems like I've been able to stay in human form for a longer time. It's been almost three hours since we started walking back, and I still don't show any signs of turning back."

"Perhaps they were unconsciously influenced by my skills."

Shi Jinzhe had thought about this problem before. Other animals were also interested in him, but his wounds would heal quickly and the blood would be cleaned up. The fact that those animals would risk coming from so far away was probably because they were attracted by his scent.

"The fragrance you mentioned before was probably all my overflowing energy. The reason I can maintain human form for longer is because I'm close to you and get the most of it. You stay with me day and night, so you naturally absorb the most."

"If I stay with you all the time, will I drain all your energy?"

Shi Jinzhe shook his head: "It's not that bad. You haven't drunk blood in a long time. Do you still have a need to drink blood during this period?"

Upon hearing this, Shekh also realized that he hadn't drunk blood in a long time: "There was some, but not very strong, you wouldn't remember if you didn't mention it."

"That's it, they've just changed the way they replenish energy."

They've been very close these days, but it's definitely different from before.

"Like a power bank." Shekh offered a simpler explanation, but then another question popped into his head. "What happens when you run out of power?"

“Accepting what others give, just like with that sheep before,” Shi Jinzhe reassured Shehe. “I won’t let myself run out of energy.”

Shekh glanced at the midday sun and said, "Why don't you take a break?"

"Let me finish this first." Shi Jinzhe peeled off the bark from the tree trunk, stacked the sawn pieces of wood together, and placed them in a shady spot.

"Then you do it, it's too hot, I need to go back to the car first."

We can watch it from inside the car too; it's too sunny outside, so Sherlock won't stay.

She found a good viewpoint, opened the carriage, and found that the temperature inside was still around 20 degrees Celsius, which was quite cool.

Shech turned on the air conditioner and changed his clothes.

She pulled back the curtain inside the carriage, watched for a while as the branches withered, and then gazed at the drooping branches outside, lost in thought.

Ten minutes later, he slumped over and fell asleep.

In the afternoon, Shi Jinzhe finished his work in one go and placed the cut pieces of wood side by side.

Having passed the height of the sun, he sat on a tree trunk and drank a whole bottle of water, deciding to finish building the raft.

First, a square frame is built with wood, then ropes and vines are used to tie it to the fixed points, and then other pieces of wood are placed on top.

Thanks to his skill's ability to absorb life force, Shi Jinzhe now possesses considerable strength and can accomplish these tasks on his own.

Once the simple raft was in place, he found four relatively thinner branches, trimmed off the twigs, and fixed them to both ends of the raft. He then tied them tightly with rope and vines to ensure stability.

After working until sunset, Shi Jinzhe took out the front of the car and flipped out a piece of plastic film from the back of the driver's seat, intending to put it on before going into the water the next day.

He put the raft into his ring, making sure it wouldn't be destroyed that night before he set off.

His clothes were so wet they could be wrung out. When he got back to the car, the first thing Shi Jinzhe did was to check on Sheh.

She was still sleeping, hugging her pillow. As a snake, Shekh had a clear preference for temperature; she would become drowsy if it was too hot or too cold.

Seeing that she was resting, Shi Jinzhe felt relieved and turned to wash up. As soon as he finished showering and sat down on the edge of the bed, Sher hugged him from behind.

"Are you awake? Or did I wake you up?"

"You woke me up with your fragrance."

"Just smell the fragrance," Shi Jinzhe said, pressing down on the hand that had slipped under his clothes. "You can't smell the fragrance with your hand."

"I don't."

At noon, Shi Jinzhe was sweaty, which Sheh disliked, but now that he was clean, he needed to hurry up.

A few movable fingers rested on his waist, his thumb sliding down from his V-line, only to get stuck at his hip bone. Touching the edge of his waistband, Shekh said, "This is really in the way."

"If it doesn't cause any trouble, then it becomes indecent behavior."

Shi Jinzhe was often surprised by her unusual words.

The words "reserved" and "shy" are completely foreign to Shekh. She always states her desires and thoughts in a straightforward manner, as casually as eating and drinking.

“Not surprising.” Shekh pulled his hand away and turned to the side from behind him. “Before I met you, I didn’t know there were so many fun things to do. Sleeping and eating are the things I’m most familiar with; it’s instinct.”

"After you got to know me?" Shi Jinzhe braced himself with his arms at his sides, leaning back to make room for her to press against him.

"After meeting you, my instincts told me that eating and sleeping with you is what I need most."

"Together" is a good word, and Shi Jinzhe likes it very much. He continued to ask, "What do you mean by 'need'? Why not 'like'?"

"Because survival is a priority, but now you're a priority, I really want you."

Shi Jinzhe's throat tightened, which was truly unbearable.

Why did this round of the game take so long?

He said to Sheikh, "I wish you weren't a prop."

It's not an item, it won't drop, so there's no need to worry about it disappearing. Without these worries, Shi Jinzhe would definitely just kill himself and leave the game right now.

Shekh pressed his body against hers, and he was a little stunned when she leaned in and kissed him so hard that her heart clenched.

The half-open clothes were really convenient. At first, it was just simple touching, but later she opened her mouth and added other movements.

The warm, wet kisses began to travel down from his heart, not as a deliberate seduction, but because he was the only one feeling nervous.

Shi Jinzhe stopped her in time, "Come up."

A hand, woven into her long black hair, supported the back of her neck, as if she had drunk too much alcohol, making her senses go numb.

The sun sets and night falls.

Shi Jin leaned back on the pillow and rubbed his neck with his fingers.

Being in a relationship can make you lazy.

He was very hungry, but he didn't want to move at all.

"What are we having for dinner?" Shekh leaned against the wall, stretched out his leg and poked it with his finger, watching the flesh of his leg sink in and bounce back.

"What do you want to eat?" Shi Jinzhe followed the movement of her hand and looked at Shehe's legs.

For four hours, not counting sleep time, she could use her human form most of the time.

"Whatever, it's just a little food, you can eat whatever you want."

"Then I'll take care of it."

After ending their daily, repetitive, and pointless conversation, the two ate the same dinner as the day before.

After finishing their meal, they walked a little further and picked up some wild wax apples to take with them, so they could quench their thirst on the road and save on drinking water. Then they went to bed promptly at 10 p.m.

Day nine of the game.

Six o'clock in the morning.

The two returned to the original riverbank, carefully secured the plastic sheeting, found two bamboo poles to use as oars, and pushed the raft into the water.

The buoyancy is excellent; even when a person stands on it, the wood only sinks by a little over half.

Before setting off, he caught a glimpse of banana leaves on the shore, chopped off some, and took them with him.

When the time was up, they turned and rowed the raft back to the river they had come from.

Shekh wagged its tail below, holding up a banana leaf to shield itself from the sun. "Heading south, the river channels in that rainforest on the map are W-shaped, parallel channels, it's quite obvious."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on it."

As afternoon approached, the weather became somewhat overcast, with low-hanging clouds obscuring the sun, and some birds darting across the water.

A huge black shadow swam by beneath the surface of the water, and after a moment's reflection, it became clear that it was an Arapaima.

In the original world, this type of fish could easily break a person's ribs and send them to the hospital.

In the game world, this creature underwater is almost as big as a whale; bumping into it would definitely send someone to the morgue.

However, the fish did not attack anyone; after overtaking, it sank to the bottom of the water and disappeared from sight.

Sheh also saw the arapaima, but she didn't pay much attention to it. Instead, she reminded Shi Jinzhe, "We need to hurry, this butterfly is flashing again."

The flickering frequency wasn't as high as it was on the grassland that day, so there was still some room for maneuver.

"How far are we from that grove of trees?"

"As long as it doesn't rain, it should be around evening."

Shi Jinzhe nodded without saying anything, indicating that he understood.

As long as he doesn't say the word "rain," it probably won't rain.

As he wished, no matter how turbulent the clouds overhead were, it didn't rain, and the wind was also favorable, pushing them forward all the way.

After eating two pieces of fruit to quench his thirst, Shi Jinzhe saw a familiar "love rival" underwater.

The anaconda circled around Shekh's tail once, then swam away, its purpose unclear.

At 4:30 pm, the shadow of land appeared in Shi Jinzhe's sight.

There were many crocodiles lying on the bank of this rainforest. Their round eyes looked over, stared at the raft for two seconds, then sank to the bottom of the water and ran away.

Shi Jinzhe sighed, "Having you with me is more useful than anything else."

Shekh was swishing his tail underwater, and some piranhas were leaping out of the water. "Not just because of me."

She looked back, and the rainforest they had come from was nowhere to be seen, but Shekh had a premonition that if they were still there, they would be in an extremely dangerous situation.

"You mean like those running wildebeest?"

"Hmm, something is threatening them."

Shekh didn't exude much of a dangerous aura, and the crocodiles were quite large, so they wouldn't turn and run away at the sight of her.

Unfortunately, they were too far away, and they didn't know what was happening there.

Under the same sky, the first rainforest.

Black mist spread through the jungle, and the moisture in the air evaporated rapidly, causing green leaves to curl up, turn yellow, and eventually wither.

The lush rainforest was transformed in an instant into a withered forest shrouded in black mist. Animals that couldn't be moved in time turned into skeletons, fish belly up, and carcasses littered the ground.

When night falls, it becomes like a forbidden zone for the living, where even breathing becomes sticky, and only the atmosphere of death pervades.

The fog eventually stopped at an open space on the shore.

Here are a few tender green shoots that cannot be corroded, the only remaining signs of life.

The expansion ceased, Shekh sat on the shore, closed the wooden box, the golden butterfly stopped flashing, the warning stopped, and the crisis was temporarily averted.