First, I ruled out all the melodramatic elements in novels. I don't have superpowers, a system, or even underwear.

At this moment, I still cling to a sliver of hope that as long as I can find traces of humans, I can return to human society.

Therefore, I plan to find a high place, or the tallest tree I can find. A higher vantage point will offer a wider view, and I think if I can find even a glimpse of human habitation, I'll be saved. If I can find a road, that would be even better.

But the most important thing right now is that I'm completely naked, and the sun is already high in the sky. Under the intense ultraviolet rays, my entire body will be sunburned in less than two hours.

I need to find some soft and resilient plant fibers to make myself a simple outfit to protect against strong ultraviolet rays.

I didn't know where I was, so I decided to sneak along the mountain path to the north.

I didn't walk this way on a whim; I discovered a clear, cool stream flowing from north to south through the area I was in.

So the direction of the flowing water tells me that the terrain here must be higher in the north than in the south. I just need to go upstream from south to north to find the highest point here without getting lost.

Another crucial point is that I have absolutely nothing. I have neither anything to shield myself from the sun nor any means to store water.

The supply of water is especially important during long journeys. When we were young, we always liked to follow the mountain streams when herding cattle, so that the cattle would not get thirsty no matter how far they went.

Throughout my journey, I kept an eye out for resilient plants along the stream that could be used for weaving.

There were quite a few tall grasses growing along the stream, but these grasses were hard and sharp, and using their serrated leaves as cover was not a good idea.

I'm looking for a type of palm tree, the kind whose leaves are used to hang meat from pigs slaughtered for the Lunar New Year. These leaves are not only very smooth and thornless, but also quite resilient and can be easily processed into a good weaving material.

This type of palm tree typically prefers to grow on shady, steep mountain slopes. Even today, many ethnic minorities in mountainous areas collect its leaves and process them into exquisite straw hats.

Although I haven't received formal weaving training, I often watched the elderly people in my village make baskets and other utensils using bamboo strips when I was a child. So, as long as I have suitable materials, I think it shouldn't be a big problem.

I walked for a long time, searching every shady embankment of the stream. The palm trees I had been longing for did not appear; all I could see were those sharp, waist-high thatch grasses, which made me somewhat disheartened.

It was nearly noon, and the temperature was high enough to fry an egg on a stone slab. I could feel a burning pain on my skin; if this continued, I would definitely get a severe sunburn.

After a two-hour trek, the high temperature had already made my brain feel drowsy. I knew this was a sign that I was about to suffer from heatstroke, so I didn't hesitate any longer and lay down in a waist-deep puddle in the stream.

The moment I entered the water, the coolness traveled directly from my skin to the depths of my brain. My brain, which had been burning from the sun, felt incredibly comfortable after being splashed with cool water, and the feeling of frustration in my heart dissipated considerably.

I've had my water supply replenished, but my stomach is still empty from the morning's journey. After such a long trek, I feel quite weak and need to eat something soon.

There were quite a few fish swimming in the water, not very big, but there were many of them. I tried to catch them a few times, but they were very cautious and would run away before I was even far away.

Having come from a rural background, I naturally have many ways to catch fish with my bare hands. For example, after dark, as long as I have a light source, I can catch several kilograms of these small fish with my bare hands.

Alternatively, they might build a funnel shape with stones downstream and then drag some branches to make fish nests. People would then strike the water's surface with sticks and stones from upstream, and the startled fish would instinctively burrow into the nests.

This is a simple version of a maze commonly used in rural areas.

However, I don't think these methods are practical right now. These methods can be considered when I have plenty of energy before I get hungry.

I'm already feeling physically exhausted. If I were to exert a lot of energy to do this kind of thing again, I couldn't guarantee success, and I might even waste my precious energy.

I am aware of my situation; I am all alone in this wilderness. It's not like those staged scenes on TV where I can design traps at will, disregarding my physical strength, and then casually eat a couple of worms that provide several times the protein of beef, restoring my stamina in the next second.

Kids who grew up in the countryside know that this is just his mother talking nonsense. Eating two worms is enough to fill you up. Why would people steal corn and sweet potatoes from cornfields to roast and eat when they are herding cattle?

I immediately abandoned my plan to fish and started turning over the stones in the stream.

There should be some mountain crabs here. These guys hide under the rocks during the day and only come out to forage after dark. Compared to the fish, these mountain crabs are relatively much easier to catch.

Before long, I found dozens of mountain crabs, each about the size of a teacup, under the rocks. I had no container to hold the crabs, so I could only pluck a vine from the water's edge and rub it repeatedly with my hands to soften its fibers.

Then, hold one loop in each hand and overlap them to form a sturdy double loop, which we call a fin knot.

Because he used to go fishing with his father when he was a child, he always liked to use this fish-locking technique that has been passed down for thousands of years.

He told me that before fish baskets and other such facilities existed, his grandparents used to lock fish in this way. To keep fish alive and fresh, locking the gills was the worst approach; the fish would struggle and die within a day.

The best way is to touch the spines on the live fish's dorsal fin and then use a fin knot to lock it in place. The more the fish struggles, the tighter the knot will become, but it won't harm the fish at all. It can be kept alive and kicking for months in natural waters by tying it with a rope.

But that's all in the future. The small fish here don't need fin knots at all; at most, they're strung together by their gills. Fin knots are only used to secure the crab's two large claws, and incidentally, they can be strung together on this vine for easy carrying.

It took me some time to find the crabs, and when there were more than twenty in the string, I stopped.

I'm not sure if I can get my hands on some fire right now. I could have eaten these crabs raw without hesitation before, but not now.

I wouldn't dare gamble with my health. Like I said, this isn't a documentary; even the slightest carelessness could lead to severe diarrhea or parasitic infections.

The first instinct for wilderness survival isn't food, water, or shelter. What you must always remember is that in the wilderness, you can go hungry, but never eat anything you don't know because of a moment of impulsiveness, because the biggest problem here is the lack of hospitals.