179 Wilderness Survival

◎She finally came out! (End of the Jungle Chapter)◎

A fire was finally lit not far away. Lin Duoyu, who was already barbecuing, noticed the two men finished their discussion and raised his voice, "We'll be able to enjoy the barbecue soon!"

When Ye Zhizhi heard this, he quickly ran to Lin Duoyu and looked at the fragrant barbecue on the fire with shining eyes.

Lin Yu's barbecue included not only a large roasted pheasant hanging over the fire, but also meat strips cut into slices and roasted on tree branches. This kind of meat cooks quickly and can be used to fill Ye Zhizhi's stomach first.

Lin Duoyu thought with concern that Ye Zi had not only eaten little during this period, but also simply, just gnawing on dried meat and fruits, and looking for wild fruits. He must be starving.

Not only was she unable to help, she was always holding things back. The only thing she could do now was to try her best to roast better-tasting meat for Ye Zi.

She couldn't offer any opinions on their discussion either. Lin Duoyu was completely unfamiliar with the jungle, so she just had to obey them, follow them wherever they went, and do whatever they asked her to do.

She felt useless along the way and was inevitably depressed, but now that it had worked, her spirits were lifted.

Ye Zhizhi happily accepted Lin Yuyue's feeding, and after eating her fill, she prepared to take a walk around the area.

This is actually an area where humans have relatively frequent activities. At least on average there are humans around every one or two years. If they are lucky, they will even meet someone.

This year is quite lively. In this border area, not only are Lin Duoyu and his group here to explore, but there is also a group of fugitives who have sneaked in at some point, and Qin Fei's team is on a mission.

But their luck was clearly not on their side, as the forest was deserted. The main reason was that the rainy season was about to arrive, and humans had gradually evacuated the jungle before then.

Ye Zhizhi didn't walk too far. She could use her sense of smell and hearing to capture the movements in the mountains and forests.

The air in the mountains was turbid and contained many mixed smells, and she had to distinguish the information she wanted from them.

After all three of them were fed, Lin Duoyu cleaned up the mess, put everything in order, and returned to the tree hole.

She was weak and couldn't even beat a cat, let alone the ferocious animals in the jungle. Lin Duoyu didn't want to cause trouble for the two of them. There was no need, so she just stayed in the tree hole. The not-so-wide tree hole gave her a great sense of security.

She didn't have to worry about a predator suddenly appearing from any direction and attacking her.

Along the way, Lin Duoyu was attacked many times. They picked on the weak and vulnerable, and among the three, she was the easiest target.

Qin Fei was guarding outside and observing the direction himself.

Ye Zhizhi walked away for a distance. She looked at the surrounding environment, climbed up a very tall ancient tree, and looked into the distance in all directions.

They didn't have much time, so Ye Zhizhi had to find the right direction quickly. She wanted to walk around here, but in order to prevent the two people from being attacked again, Ye Zhizhi also drove away the wild beasts around them.

After Ye Zhizhi was sure that they were unlikely to be in danger in the short term, he ran out quickly.

Without the two people slowing him down, Ye Zhizhi ran halfway up the hill in no time.

Ye Zhizhi's method of finding the direction was very simple. He would just sniff and determine which direction had the most turbid smell. Moreover, there were traces of humans left not long ago. Even though they had faded a lot, they were still very obvious in Ye Zhizhi's eyes.

Ye Zhizhi turned around and knew roughly which direction he was going, so he turned back.

Before she returned to her temporary residence, she smelled blood. Needless to say, they must have been attacked again.

Ye Zhizhi ran even faster, almost becoming a shadow, but when she returned, the winner had already been decided.

Qin Fei stabbed a predator that attacked them and drove it away.

Ye Zhizhi raised his head and let out a loud howl, and the mountains and forests were filled with the long howl of a wolf.

She sends an eviction signal to nearby predators, warning them to stay away from the area or face the consequences.

After Ye Zhizhi gave the warning, he came down from the tree, walked to Qin Fei, and looked him up and down.

There was some blood on Qin Fei's body, but it was all from animals, and he was not injured.

Ye Zhizhi did discover one thing. Unless the predators threatened his life, Qin Fei would hold back when fighting with predators. He had the attitude that he would not kill animals unless necessary.

When he was sure of his chance, he would prioritize driving them away.

Although Ye Zhizhi did not believe that injured animals could survive in the jungle, during his many attacks, he did not kill all the animals that were defeated and fled.

Lin Yuyou held a small knife tightly in her hand, hiding in the tree hole and staring outside nervously. This was the weapon Qin Fei gave her for self-protection.

After seeing Ye Zhizhi appear, Lin Duoyu was sure that there was no danger and hurried out to see if the two were injured.

Ye Zhizhi let out a cry.

She decided to rest here for one night and set off early tomorrow morning.

Because this place is also a place where humans occasionally appear, although there are also wild beasts here, but in Ye Zhizhi's eyes, there is no threat at all. Compared with the predators in the deep jungle, the wild beasts here can be said to be docile.

No one objected to Ye Zhizhi's decision.

At dawn the next day, they set out again.

This time, Ye Zhizhi led the way again.

They didn't encounter any more attacks along the way, and they traveled very smoothly for five or six days.

When Qin Fei saw a very conspicuous sign, he immediately knew that they were not taking the wrong path.

As they walked further out, they noticed more human activities, and perhaps because humans were appearing more frequently, there were more ferocious predators.

In the deeper jungle, the more powerful animals will guard a piece of territory with clear territories, just like wolves. Although the original old territory is much smaller than the new territory, that area is the wolf pack's activity area. If other predators run in, it is considered a provocative invasion.

But in this area, animals are more likely to live together. In the same area, you may encounter tigers, leopards and lions.

The meat of the carnivores in these places doesn't smell very tasty and has a very turbid smell. They are nothing like the ferocious predators in the depths of the jungle. The stronger they are, the tastier their meat is. Ye Zhizhi doesn't like hunting animals here.

She later hunted only herbivores.

From Qin Fei's words, Ye Zhizhi figured out the reason. When she hunted a tiger but didn't allow it to be eaten, Qin Fei meant that these carnivorous animals in the jungle had basically eaten humans. Whether it was for psychological or physiological reasons, the meat of animals that had eaten humans was not tasty.

So Ye Zhizhi prepared to find a few rabbits for dinner.

As she sniffed the air for a rabbit's nest, she smelled a human scent instead?

Ye Zhizhi listened attentively, and amid the rustling whispers of the jungle, she caught the sound of human voices.

Ye Zhizhi's eyes rolled around, and he hid himself in the jungle, running quickly and silently towards the source of the sound.

Although she noticed the slight movement, it was actually very far away, almost halfway across the mountain.

The closer Ye Zhizhi got, the clearer the human voice became.

In the dim and dark forest, a young man carved a symbol on a conspicuous tree trunk with a dagger. On both sides of him stood tall and strong men with alert expressions.

They wore the same green jungle combat uniforms, always holding a long knife in their hands, and were armed from head to toe.

The young man in the middle finished carving the symbols and turned to his companions, his handsome face filled with worry. "The rainy season is coming soon. If we can't find the boss within five days, we'll have to leave."

Even with their most advanced technology, humans cannot determine the exact time when the jungle rainy season arrives. They can only find patterns from the annual records, but in fact there are no accurate patterns. They can only infer an approximate time range from the recorded time.

Within this time frame, any day could be possible.

Therefore, when humans are active in the jungle, they basically need to leave before the estimated time range, otherwise they may be trapped in the jungle during the rainy season and never be able to get out.

"Where on earth did the boss go? I wonder if it's..."

The tallest and strongest man said in a deep voice, "The boss is so cautious, he certainly won't fall into danger so easily. He's probably lost. If he sees our mark, he'll meet up with us."

"The boss isn't an impulsive person. The more dangerous the moment, the calmer he becomes. He won't easily get into a fight with a major criminal unless he's sure of his safety."

These three people are members of Qin Fei's mercenary team. During the protection mission, Qin Fei discovered the trace of a fugitive criminal, so he asked the team to escort the researchers away, and he chased after him alone.

After they safely sent the people out of the jungle, they hurried back to the jungle to pick them up.

But the round trip took too long, and they relied on their memory and the marks left along the way to go deeper, but they still couldn't find any trace of the boss.

The boss completely disappeared into the jungle.

They kept wandering around in the jungle, hoping that their next boss would emerge from somewhere.

While the three of them were making marks, they were also looking for any marks left by the boss. Unfortunately, they had not found anything until now.

Seeing that they had less and less time to search, the handsome man in the middle became a little impatient.

"It's not that I don't have confidence in our boss, it's mainly because this jungle is too dangerous. The boss is alone, and we don't know what will happen. It's inevitable that we are worried."

"Okay, instead of talking nonsense here, why not go look for it again? We've already walked through this area, let's go forward."

The three of them said nothing more, and continued to move forward while keeping a vigilant eye on their surroundings.

Ye Zhizhi watched from a distance that was neither too far nor too close. She listened to their conversation and observed their expressions and aura. They didn't look like bad people. Their temperament was somewhat similar to Qin Fei's.

I don’t know if the boss they are talking about is Qin Fei.

Ye Zhizhi speculated that she might have met someone Qin Fei knew, but she had no intention of showing up. Instead, she left quietly.

She discovered that the direction they were heading was their location, and as long as neither of them changed direction, they would meet sooner or later.

It doesn’t matter if it’s someone I don’t know. The fighting power of these three people is not as high as Qin Fei, so there is no need to be afraid.

Ye Zhizhi left quickly.

Shortly after Ye Zhizhi left, the handsome man walking in the middle suddenly raised his head and looked around.

Seeing this, the other two became alert at the same time.

After a moment, nothing happened.

The tall and strong man asked, "What's wrong?"

The handsome man shook his head and looked away. He was born with very sensitive sixth senses. Just now, his intuition told him that there was something nearby, but in just a moment, there was no trace of it.

Maybe it was an illusion? He thought uncertainly.

After Ye Zhizhi went back, Qin Fei and Lin Duoyu were still there. When they saw Ye Zhizhi coming back, they stood up and prepared to continue on their journey.

Ye Zhizhi basically left the small team from time to time. They were already used to it and had no intention of asking about it. He was just exploring the way ahead.

If possible, Qin Fei could also follow Ye Zhizhi and play his professional role, but unfortunately his greater role now is to protect Lin Duoyu at all times. When it comes to exploring the way, Ye Zhizhi is much better than him.

The three of them continued to move forward. Ye Zhizhi was at the front and could quickly catch sight of the movements of the three people.

However, not long after, Ye Zhizhi discovered that their breath was getting farther and farther away.

They actually changed direction!

Ye Zhizhi was quite speechless. If they were really looking for Qin Fei, they didn't know when they would meet him according to the way they were looking for him.

Ye Zhizhi had no choice but to take the two of them and turn in the same direction.

Qin Fei noticed it, but he didn't question it. Instead, they followed Ye Zhizhi wherever he went.

So the next afternoon, not only Ye Zhizhi, but Qin Fei also noticed some movement.

It is the sound of human activities.

Qin Fei suddenly became serious. He asked Ye Zhizhi and Lin Duoyu to stay where they were while he went to investigate.

In his heart, the fewer people knew about Ye Zhizhi's existence, the better. If they were strangers, they would secretly follow behind after confirming that the other party knew the way back, and try not to show up.

Once they reach a familiar area, he can take the two of them out by himself.

Qin Fei left for a while, and when he came back, he was followed by three people.

They were the three people Ye Zhizhi had met before. As expected, she was right. The boss they were talking about was Qin Fei.

Qin Fei introduced Ye Zhizhi: "These are my mercenary teammates, Pang Ying, Mao Xiaoming, and Gao Cong."

"This is a leaf, Xiaolin."

"Hello, Ye Zi, Hello, Xiao Lin. I heard from our boss that you saved him. The boss's benefactor is our benefactor. If you need anything in the future, just give me a call, and I, Old Eagle, will never say a word."

Pang Ying looked even stronger than Qin Fei and had a rather fierce look. He tried hard to force a friendly smile.

Lin Duoyu quietly moved to Ye Zhizhi's side, lowered his head, and said softly, "Hello."

Ye Zhizhi opened his mouth and said a concise word: "Okay."

Ye Zhizhi had spoken in front of Lin Duoyu, so he didn't pretend that he couldn't speak at all. He just deliberately pretended to learn how to speak in front of them, but he never uttered a complete sentence, only imitated word by word.

Qin Fei and Lin Duoyu also intended to talk more in front of Ye Zhizhi and take the initiative to teach him.

The handsome man, Mao Xiaoming, patted Pang Ying and said, "Don't scare the girl."

Pang Ying muttered, "I just look a little fierce, but I'm actually very kind at heart."

Mao Xiaoming grinned and tried to sound friendly. "What Eagle said is what we meant. Anyway, thank you for saving the boss. Don't worry, we will definitely escort you out of the jungle smoothly."

Gao Cong nodded: "Yes."

Pang Ying and the other two actually didn't know the origins of the two girls. Qin Fei didn't explain it very clearly, but simply said that he was rescued by two little girls who were lost in the jungle. He also briefly talked about the situation of the hideout he had investigated.

Pang Ying and the others did not ask any further questions. They had already formed a preconceived idea and thought that the two little girls were probably rescued from the bandit's lair by the boss. The boss was injured, so the girls rescued him and the boss took them away with him.

As for why the little girl named Ye Zi was wearing snakeskin clothes, they just glanced at her without looking at her any further or asking any questions.

Qin Fei said: "Okay, stop talking nonsense, give me my backpack."

Pang Ying handed him a huge backpack and asked, "Boss, are you injured?"

When Qin Fei went to track the criminals, he did not carry his backpack with him to avoid being a burden, but asked his companion to carry it first. Originally, he had planned to retreat after finding the criminals' hideout and reunite with his companions, but plans could not keep up with changes.

When Pang Ying and the others returned to look for Qin Fei, they were worried that Qin Fei might be in danger, so they took the package with them.

Qin Fei was not looking for medicine, but to find a set of vacuum-compressed clothes. He tore open the transparent outer packaging, and the clothes inside suddenly expanded, and then handed it to Ye Zhizhi.

Since they want to conceal their activities, they have to pay attention to details. Even if it is a base in their own country, no one can guarantee that there will be no spies from other countries.

The snakeskin clothes Ye Zhizhi was wearing were too conspicuous and easily revealed flaws.

In other words, Lin Duoyu did not have any extra clothes. She originally had a set of spare clothes, but when she was in the tent, she took it out and hung it outside. Later, it was crawled over and trampled by insects and animals, and the clothes were damaged.

She only wore one set of clothes and never changed them.

Ye Zhizhi looked at the green clothes in front of her. She had a good impression of jungle-colored clothes, and it was the same style as what they were wearing, which looked very cool.

She looked at it curiously and looked up at Qin Fei. Is it for me?

Qin Fei nodded. He thought that Ye Zi might not be able to wear it, so he handed it to Lin Duoyu and said, "Thank you for your help, Xiaolin."

Lin Duoyu felt obliged to do so. After she brought the dress over, she excitedly said to Ye Zhizhi, "This dress will definitely look great on you!"

Lin Duoyu pulled Ye Zhizhi behind the roots of a huge ancient tree, obviously wanting to help her change her clothes.

Ye Zhizhi wanted to say that she knew how to wear clothes, but when she thought about her role, she thought that since she had never worn clothes before, she probably didn't know how to wear clothes, so she didn't refuse.

She was actually very happy, human clothes! When she was a child, she wore clothes that she made herself, which had a very primitive jungle style. This was the first time she had truly worn proper human clothes.

Ye Zhizhi is looking forward to it.

After the two walked away, Mao Xiaoming asked curiously: "Boss, this Ye Zi..."

Qin Fei glanced at him and said, "Don't ask about things you shouldn't know. From now on, no matter what it is about Ye Zi, keep your mouth shut."

Mao Xiaoming immediately closed his mouth. After the boss said that, there was something wrong with the origin of the leaves, and it involved some things, so he carefully closed his mouth and stopped discussing it.

Not long after, Ye Zhizhi and Lin Duoyu walked out from behind the ancient tree.

Ye Zhizhi walked out awkwardly, controlling the strength in his hands and constantly pulling at his sleeves.

Why aren't human clothes as comfortable to wear as I imagined? They feel uncomfortable everywhere, very uneasy and awkward.

And this was Qin Fei's clothes. Although he had never worn them, they were his size. When Ye Zhizhi wore them, they were loose, and the sleeves and trouser legs were too long. He looked like a child wearing adult clothes.

Since he didn't have jungle boots to tie up his trouser legs, Lin Duoyu rolled them up and also rolled up his sleeves to his wrists.

"puff!"

Pang Ying couldn't help laughing out loud.

Ye Zhizhi immediately looked up and glared. How dare you laugh at her?

Qin Fei pushed Pang Ying away, gave him a warning look, then stood in front of Ye Zhizhi and said soothingly, "The conditions in the jungle are limited, so make do with it. I'll buy you some clothes that fit you when we get out."

Ye Zhizhi felt a little annoyed. Wearing this outfit, he felt like he was sealed, which was even more uncomfortable than wearing an animal skin suit.

Ye Zhizhi thought she would be very happy that she could finally wear clothes, but she didn't expect it to be so uncomfortable.

Qin Fei saw Ye Zhizhi pulling harder and harder at the clothes, and the clothes were about to be ruined. His eyes twitched and he grabbed her hand, "You may not be used to it at first, but you will get used to it after wearing it for a while."

Lin Duoyu was also trying to persuade them.

Ye Zhizhi puffed up his cheeks unconsciously, Xiaohua's snakeskin jacket was still more comfortable.

If you want it to fit better, you can use some belts and rattan to tie it up, but after Ye Zhizhi put on this layer of "skin", she felt uncomfortable all over. If she was tied up again, it would be even more uncomfortable, so she refused to do it.

If she hadn't known that she would have to get used to it sooner or later, she would have wanted to take it off right away.

With three more people, their journey back was faster. The three of them took turns carrying Lin Duoyu, and the marks they made along the way had not disappeared, so they just needed to follow the marks to go out.

Even at night, Ye Zhizhi didn't need to keep watch. Qin Fei and the other three worked in shifts of two, and the night passed quickly.

Ye Zhizhi still felt that she was being looked down upon and was about to express her anger, but Qin Fei's reason was -

"Children need more sleep to grow taller and should not stay up late."

"Before, I didn't have the conditions, so I had to do it. Now that I have the conditions, I just sleep more."

Qin Fei was obviously treating Ye Zhizhi like a child. In his eyes, Ye Zhizhi was indeed still a child. He always thought that she was just a little girl who was no more than fifteen years old.

Ye Zhizhi's anger immediately subsided, and she fell into deep thought. Could it be that the reason why Duoduo, who was sixteen years old but not yet eighteen, grew tall was because he stayed up too late?

She still has a chance to grow taller.

So I didn't refuse.

They walked together for ten days. The closer they got to the edge of the jungle, the more obvious the changes in vegetation and forests became. There were more human activities here, and they also saw other humans.

Two days later, a wide river appeared in front of them in the distance. Lin Duoyu, Pang Ying and others were visibly excited.

“Finally out!”

"This damn place, I don't want to come here a second time!"

"Will you come again next time?"

"……Come!"

Lin Duoyu couldn't help but clench his fist, "It's out!"

Although Lin Duoyu had thought of staying in the jungle forever, he was very excited when he saw the boundary between the jungle and the outside world.

Ye Zhizhi opened his eyes wide and looked at everything in front of him, listening to the excited voices of the people around him, which seemed a little unreal.

It’s out now?

Is she really coming out?

She's out of the jungle?!

Sixteen years...

She finally came out!

Ye Zhizhi suddenly rushed towards the river bank, but as she ran, her pace slowed down.

It was clearly what she had been thinking about the most, and returning to human society was clearly what she had been thinking about from the very beginning. But when it was about to come true, she hesitated and retreated. Did she really want to go out?

Ye Zhizhi hesitated.

Lin Duoyu and Qin Fei saw Ye Zhizhi running forward, so they followed and caught up with him.

Lin Duoyu's face turned red with excitement. She was about to speak when Ye Zhizhi turned his head and looked towards the jungle.

Her footsteps were heavy as a thousand pounds, pinning her to the spot.

Is she really leaving?

Ye Zhizhi was torn between her conscience and her desires, with two emotions pulling at her.

Qin Fei, who had been paying attention to Ye Zhizhi's reaction, picked her up with lightning speed.

Ye Zhizhi's perspective suddenly changed, and he subconsciously raised his hand to chop at Qin Fei.

But suddenly, it was held by a pair of weak hands.

She raised her eyes and saw Lin Yuyou holding her hands tightly. She seemed a little nervous, but her eyes were more determined. She wanted Ye Zi to see the outside world. If she really couldn't get used to it, she could accompany Ye Zi back.

Ye Zhizhi had always known that Lin Yu was very fragile. If she exerted even a little force, her hands would be broken. Just as she hesitated, Ye Zhizhi was carried by Qin Fei and continued to jog towards the river bank.

A wooden boat was docked leisurely on the river bank.

From beginning to end, Lin Duoyu held her hand tightly and never let go.

The two little men were fighting against each other, but under the influence of external forces, one end of the scale tilted to the other side, and the winner was finally decided.

【Author’s words】

I found the voting channel of the app! In Discovery-Activity-Growth Counterattack-Work Voting-Leaping into the Dragon Gate-Vote, that's it! Currently, there is one more chapter, the time is uncertain, no need to wait, it will drop suddenly