Chapter 4
"Wake up, wake up."
Lu Shiyu was shaken awake. After struggling to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was Yan Hong's face.
"Hmm? It's morning already..."
When Yan Hong saw Lu Shiyu woke up, she stood up and packed her bags with other team members. Lu Shiyu rubbed her sleepy eyes and crawled out of the sleeping bag. She found that everyone else had already gotten up, and she was the last one to get up.
Lu Shiyu looked up at the sky. It was almost dawn and the surroundings were still dim. According to the work and rest schedule in the base, it was too early to get up now. Even people who opened shops would not get up so early. However, the members of the Eagle Team seemed to have long been accustomed to getting up at this time. None of them looked uncomfortable.
Lu Shiyu put on his coat neatly and packed up his sleeping bags and tent. By the time they had finished packing, there was enough light to see the surroundings clearly.
"Have you packed everything? Check if you've left anything behind. If not, let's continue on our way."
Tang Zeyu finished speaking and was about to leave with his bag on his back when he suddenly heard Lu Shiyu say from behind:
"Please wait a moment."
When everyone looked back after walking a distance, they saw Lu Shiyu squatting beside the bonfire that had long been extinguished, stirring the ashes with the leftover firewood from last night.
"What is she doing? Playing with dust?" Shaoxing Yang couldn't understand what Lu Shiyu was trying to do.
Lu Shiyu fiddled with firewood for a while before he found the things. He picked them out one by one with the firewood, shook off the dust on the top, and walked towards the people with them.
"Here, one for each person is just right."
Yan Hong subconsciously took the thing that Lu Shiyu handed to her. After she got it, she saw clearly what it was, but she didn't know what it was.
"Charcoal?"
Chen Yunliang put on his glasses and his vision became clear. In his hand was a long stick-like object with a layer of ash on the surface. However, this thing was neither charcoal nor unburned firewood.
"This is the scorpion tail that we didn't eat yesterday."
Tang Zeyu remembered the scorpion tail that Lu Shiyu threw into the ash pit last night. After a night, it had become like this.
"Well, this can be used as breakfast today. Although the quantity is not too much, it can fill your stomach."
A few people looked at each other. For those of them who were used to eating one meal and skipping another, eating breakfast was a little unfamiliar to them.
"Thanks."
Tang Zeyu thanked him and peeled off the shell. Because it had been buried in the ashes all night, the shell had become very brittle and broke into pieces with a light pinch, revealing the tender white meat inside.
Yan Hong looked at the meat with faint steam coming out of it and was a little surprised: "It's still hot."
"It's still warm because it's been buried in the ashes," Shaoxing Yang said, taking a bite. "It tastes good."
The few of them ate meat as they walked, and had a rare morning without feeling too hungry.
From today on, the group officially entered the woods. After walking for an unknown amount of time, I looked back and found that I could no longer see the base like I did yesterday. It was completely blocked by trees.
Maybe it was because I walked a lot yesterday and I don’t exercise regularly, so now I feel my legs trembling when I walk. My legs feel sore and weak when I exert a little effort. My speed is even slower than yesterday, and I am falling further and further behind the group.
"Huh... Huh... Wait..."
Lu Shiyu really couldn't hold on any longer. He bent over, holding his knees and gasping for breath, with beads of sweat already on his forehead.
A few people stopped and looked at Lu Shiyu who was panting at the end of the team. They didn't know what to do, so they looked at Tang Zeyu, the team leader, and wanted him to make the decision.
"Let's take a break first."
After getting a clear answer from Tang Zeyu, Yu sat down on the ground, unfastened the buckle of his backpack, rolled up his trouser legs and started to beat his calf muscles.
It was indeed so hard, Lu Shiyu muttered to himself while hammering his legs. He didn't expect that the most troublesome thing on the road was not cooking or the deformed creatures, but traveling. Sometimes Lu Shiyu even felt that the muscles in his legs were about to dissolve.
"Here, replenish your salt intake."
Tang Zeyu handed over a cup of warm water. When she was cooking last night, she also boiled the water in her kettle, so it was still warm.
Lu Shiyu subconsciously took the cup: "Ah, thank you."
After taking a sip, it tasted salty, probably because of the salt. It also seemed a little sweet. Lu Shiyu licked his lips.
A butterfly happened to fly over at this moment and landed on the rim of the water cup.
"Wow, a butterfly..." Lu Shiyu suddenly stopped mid-sentence and said, "What the hell is this?"
When he saw the wings for the first time, Lu Shiyu subconsciously thought it was a butterfly, but when he looked closely, he found that the limbs of this insect were very long, completely exceeding the length of the legs of a normal butterfly. Not only did they have forks on them that looked like tree branches, but the wings were also different from those of normal butterflies, more like wings made up of several feathers.
It looks like a mosquito. Lu Shiyu complained in his heart and waved his hand to drive away the strange-looking "butterfly".
The butterfly flew unsteadily to Shao Xingyang. Shao Xingyang glanced at the butterfly and moved a little in the opposite direction. When the butterfly flew closer to him, Shao Xingyang moved further away.
For some unknown reason, the butterfly seemed to have set its sights on Shaoxing Yang and kept chasing him. In the end, Shaoxing Yang almost ran away to avoid him.
"Fuck! This is disgusting, don't come over here!"
Because the butterfly's flight path was difficult to predict, Shaoxing Yang could only twist in various postures to avoid it, while the others rested safely in place.
"Is he afraid of insects?" Lu Shiyu took another sip of salt water.
Tang Zeyu retracted his gaze and said, "On his first mission outside, he slipped and fell into a pit."
"Then what?"
"There was a tree growing at the entrance of the cave. When he fell, the vibration caused the bugs to fall off the book. He looked up at that moment, and all the bugs fell on his face. Some of them also fell into his collar."
Lu Shiyu looked at Shao Xingyang who was being "hunted" by the terrifying flying insects with a hint of pity: "How pitiful."
After a while, the butterfly no longer had the strength to continue chasing Shaoxingyang, so it landed on the grass to rest. Only then did Shaoxingyang escape.
After a short rest, we continued on our journey and did not stop until the sun set in the afternoon to decide where to rest for the night.
Shaoxing Yang was lying carefree on the grass, while Chen Yunliang beside him quietly moved away to avoid being smelled by his sweat. Just as Shaoxing Yang was relaxing, a butterfly landed on his cheek.
"Come back!"
Shaoxing Yang suddenly jumped up from the ground, and just as he went around the tree, he met another butterfly.
"Are there too many butterflies around here?"
Tang Zeyu replied as he set up his tent: "Maybe there are some flowers growing nearby that are more attractive to this kind of butterfly."
Lu Shiyu put down his backpack, looked left and right, and happened to see a butterfly flying out from a certain direction. Lu Shiyu followed the direction the butterfly came from, and after walking for a while he found several huge flowers.
Several purple flowers with long and twisted petals grew there. There were densely packed small dots on the petals, which looked a bit like octopus tentacles. Several strange-looking butterflies were lying on them, sucking something. Lu Shiyu got closer to observe and accidentally disturbed one of the butterflies. However, the butterfly was stuck to the petals just as it was about to take off, and the thing it was sucking just now turned into a cage that trapped it.
The butterfly flapped its wings continuously to try to break free, but the tentacle-like petals began to gradually shrink, curling up like real octopus tentacles, firmly grasping the greedy butterfly.
"Do you know that leaving the team without permission is very dangerous?"
Lu Shiyu was watching intently, and the sudden appearance of Yan Hong really scared her, and even scared away the other butterflies on the petals.
"Sorry, I'm just looking for some ingredients."
Yan Hong shook her head. "You have no special powers, no weapons, and no ability to protect yourself. Going out with us is already dangerous at any time. If no one finds you leaving the team without permission in time, you won't even be able to leave a complete body."
"I understand," Lu Shiyu lowered his head in shame.
Yan Hong glanced at her and said, "Next time you take action, remember to ask someone to follow you. Let's go."
Yan Hong turned around and pushed aside the bushes. She found that Lu Shiyu had not followed her. She frowned slightly and turned around impatiently: "What are you doing staying here..."
Lu Shiyu looked up and saw that his hands were already full of purple flowers. He was now reaching out to pick another one.
"What are you picking these flowers for?"
"Make dinner."
Yan Hong endured it and asked her to hurry up.
When the two returned to the team, the tent had been set up and Tang Zeyu had also built a bonfire.
Shao Xingyang looked at the two people who came back and asked, "Where have you been?"
Yan Hong casually pushed his head away: "None of your business."
Shao Xingyang, feeling frustrated, changed his sitting position and looked at Lu Shiyu who was following him. "Lu Shiyu, what are we having for dinner? I'm so hungry."
Seeing the flowers in Lu Shiyu's hand, Shao Xingyang raised an eyebrow: "So you're going to pick flowers? You're actually in that mood."
Lu Shiyu cupped the flowers in his hand and said, "I'm going to use this for dinner."
"Can this be eaten?" Shaoxing Yang propped himself up, picked up a flower, and sat down again: "I've never eaten flowers before."
Shaoxing Yang pinned the flower on his ear, turned around and asked Yanhong if it looked good. Yanhong didn't know what she saw, but suddenly burst out laughing.
"It looks really nice and suits you very well. Why don't you just wear it all the time?"
"Really?" Shao Xingyang blushed a little when Yan Hong praised him. "I know I'm incredibly charming."
Chen Yunliang, who heard the conversation, looked over, twitched his mouth twice, and continued to do his own thing without saying anything.
Lu Shiyu put the flowers on the ground. The petals, which had just been picked, were still twisting, as if dancing like bonito flowers placed on hot food.
Tang Zeyu asked, "Are we eating this tonight?"
Lu Shiyu estimated and shook his head: "These alone may not be enough. Let me see if there are any wild vegetables nearby."
This time, Lu Shiyu took Shaoxing Yang and Chen Yunliang to dig wild vegetables. Lu Shiyu found a kind of wild vegetable growing close to the ground nearby. He picked a piece and tasted it. After confirming that it was edible, he asked the other two to dig it up. They successfully dug up a small basket and also found a few radishes that looked like crystals, but they were not big, only the size of a finger.
Shaoxing Yang lowered his head to dig wild vegetables and radishes, and from time to time he would hold the flower on his ear. His efficiency in digging vegetables dropped sharply, and he was eventually kicked by Chen Yunliang, who couldn't stand watching.
"Don't be so conceited. It will be dark if you keep playing."
Shaoxing Yang muttered a few words, and then began to devote himself to the task of digging vegetables.
After hard work, they finally returned to the camp with a basket of vegetables. Yan Hong and Tang Zeyu helped remove the roots of the vegetables and wash off the remaining dirt on the vegetables. Now that everything was ready, they started to prepare dinner!
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