A bad feeling welled up inside me, and I carefully took the dagger and walked to the pile of stones we had piled up that day.

Upon seeing it, my panic intensified.

Those stones were piled up by the five of us for several days; I absolutely cannot forget it.

What I find most unacceptable is how could it have disappeared overnight?

"Sihai, come and eat!"

Wang Xiaoxiao shouted at me from halfway up the mountain. I felt a chill run through me and stiffly turned my head to look at her.

It took him a while to come to his senses, and he quickly returned to the cave.

"Eat quickly, we still need to collect tree branches today."

As he spoke, Xiao Qiang ladled out a bowl of seafood soup and handed it to me.

Liu Jiaojiao cut up the bear meat and handed it to me with a smile.

Looking at the women in front of me, my worries began to grow exponentially.

"The pile of stones we built on the beach to signal for help is gone."

I took the meat and looked at the group of girls, telling them what I had discovered in a calm voice.

Wang Xiaoxiao paused in her soup-serving motion, then turned to look at me.

"What did you say? How is that possible? So many stones, who would move them? And even if they were moved, what use would they be?"

At this moment, Xu Wei had already stood up and run towards the cave entrance.

Liu Jiaojiao followed closely behind, and the two of them suddenly let out a short, terrified scream as they stood in front of the cave.

"It's really gone... But how is that possible? It was still there yesterday!"

My throat was dry, and I put down the bowl, my heart pounding.

"I saw a figure last night, do you remember?"

Several people nodded stiffly after hearing what I said.

"I now suspect that there are other people on this island besides us, and they are watching us."

Liu Jiaojiao was so frightened that her eyes reddened, and she clung to Xu Wei, her face pale.

Wang Xiaoxiao bit her lip: "Then what should we do? Should we go find Bai Wei? After all, they outnumber us..."

Xiao Qiang shook her head: "Bai Wei and his bunch of cowards are completely useless. Besides, we just had a fight the day before yesterday. Do you think even if we find them, they'll agree to be with us?"

Silence fell over the cave; no one knew what to do next.

The boat was only half-built, and we hadn't even figured out the surrounding environment yet, and we'd already fallen out with Bai Wei and the others.

Now, besides having to go out every day to find food and fruit, we also have to worry about Bai Wei and his gang seeking revenge, and be wary of that thing hiding behind us, whose exact nature we don't know.

We didn't dare go down the mountain all day.

I didn't know what was hidden deep in the woods, and I dared not take a few women on such an adventure.

After eating a simple meal, they stayed in the cave.

The sun gradually set, and the wind howled as it blew in through the cave entrance.

Several women huddled together, each with a solemn expression on their face.

"You all go to sleep. Don't worry too much. Those things hiding in the shadows haven't come out yet, perhaps because they're afraid of something. I'll keep watch by myself. You all get some rest. We can't let everyone get worn out."

The women remained silent, yet none of them slept.

We sat quietly in the cave, listening to the howling wind outside.

I didn't sleep much all night, so I naturally wasn't feeling very energetic the next day.

Xiao Qiang poured me a cup of spring water using a ramen noodle cup, then sat down next to me and looked at me.

"Actually, when we were stranded on this deserted island, I thought we wouldn't survive. But who knew that you not only led us to survive, but now you're living such a prosperous life. Everyone's fate is predetermined. If those things hiding behind the scenes really want to kill us this time, then I don't think it's a big deal to die with you."

Xiao Qiang has become very sentimental lately, and I never expected her to say something like that.

After hearing Xiao Qiang's words, Wang Xiaoxiao and the other two gathered around me and nodded one by one.

"Yeah, I also think that if we could really die together with Brother Sihai, it wouldn't be a loss. Besides, we're not in any danger right now, are we? I think we should cheer up and focus on building the ship first. What if we escape before those things even have a chance to attack us?"

I was amused by Xu Wei's words.

Suddenly, I had a change of heart.

Yes, the situation is already this bad, so the worst that can happen is death.

Anyway, we're still alive, so we can't just hide in a cave and live like this every day.

If there are savages or cannibals here, we'll just fight them to the death.

Seeing me smile, the women also chuckled, and the cave, which had been silent all night, came alive again.

"Alright, in that case, let's cheer up and get the boat built quickly."

After we finished eating, we went down the mountain again and came to the grove of trees where the wood was hidden, and pulled out the wood.

Wang Xiaoxiao and Xiao Qiang acted as a stopgap, leading Liu Jiaojiao to pick up branches of uniform length on the beach.

I then began to use the dagger to chip away at that large piece of wood, bit by bit.

The logs had to be completely hollowed out, then nailed together side by side with wedges, and then secured firmly before they could be set sail.

The only thing we can be thankful for is that we have plenty of wood, enough to build rafts of any size. The problem is that we have too few tools, which makes progress very slow.

I spent the entire morning hollowing out another big tree.

Xiao Qiang and Wang Xiaoxiao's side is also making very rapid progress, with more than twenty pointed wedges neatly placed on the beach.

The sun was almost setting, and the food in our stomachs had long been digested. We carefully hid the hollowed-out wood again, then turned around, intending to go back to the cave to eat something and rest early.

Xu Wei insisted on picking some crabs from the cracks in the rocks, which she would then deep-fry in bear oil that evening.

Her suggestion made everyone's mouths water, so we immediately started catching crabs on the beach.

I'm thick-skinned and not afraid of getting pinched, so I'm the fastest at grabbing them. Xiao Qiang is acting like a spoiled young lady again, grabbing two and then complaining that her hands hurt, and running off to the side to slack off.

Xu Wei, on the other hand, was in high spirits and thoroughly enjoying herself.

Just as she was happily catching the rocks, Xiao Qiang, who was sitting on the rock, suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" and quickly ran towards the sea.

"Sihai, look, isn't that a ship?"

Xiao Qiang's voice was filled with surprise and uncertainty; perhaps she was too excited, as her voice trembled slightly.

Wang Xiaoxiao, Xu Wei, and the others immediately stopped what they were doing and stood up straight, looking in the direction Xiao Qiang was pointing.

I squinted and looked out into the sea, and sure enough, I saw a white boat drifting towards me on the waves...