Chapter 87 When it rains, it pours...
Sweat clung tightly to Chen Mi's forehead, slowly gathering into droplets that trickled down, leaving a trail of water.
Chen Mi had no time to wipe it. She looked around repeatedly, seeing trees of similar height, terrain of similar elevation, and ambient sounds. All the similar scenes told her one thing: she had been here a dozen minutes ago.
Shen Mi's lips were a little dry. She tried licking them with her tongue and found a small, obvious crack on them.
Hmm, when did you bite it open?
Shen Mi had no recollection of it at all.
Forget it, now is not the time to worry about these little details; she's about to die of thirst.
She looked around again and noticed that the lush trees were all covered with "sleeves." This was not a strange sight, but a mark made by Shen Mi.
Wherever she went, she tied ribbons to even the lowest, most secluded branches, which she had torn from her clothes the night before. Unfortunately, it was no use; she wandered around in circles and ended up back here.
Shen Mi glanced down at her undershirt, which was about to become a sports vest, and sat down on the spot, deciding to surrender.
I'm not looking anymore, I'm not looking anymore, it's exhausting. She really can't get out of here on her own.
Even in the modern world, it's difficult for people to find their way out of a dense forest without navigation or a compass, let alone for her now...
Shen Mi sighed heavily, casually tossed the stone he had used to cut the cloth strips into the distance, found a patch of grass that looked comfortable, swept away the broken branches and pebbles with his foot, and then lay down on the spot, thinking, "I don't want to think about it anymore, what's the use of thinking so much?"
Let's just give up.
After saying this last sentence in her heart, she closed her eyes and enjoyed this rare moment of "peace".
Shen Mi put his hands behind his head and changed his position, moving himself to the base of a big tree. It wasn't for any other reason than that the sunlight was a bit too bright.
etc!
Sunlight?
Shen Mi suddenly sat up. She remembered that the artificial sun in Luofu was also simulated according to the principle of rising in the east and setting in the west, right? Then could she use that to determine the direction?
In order not to let his hopes be dashed, Chen Mi even carefully recalled the direction in which he had looked towards the sun in his memory.
She clapped her hands suddenly; her memory was correct! It was indeed the pattern of sunrise in the east and sunset in the west!
Shen Mi couldn't help but hum a little tune.
"Some casual remarks cleared up my doubts..."
Now the only thing to do is to see which direction the sun is in. There are just too many leaves where she is now, so the only way to see the sun is to climb up a tree.
Shen Mi ran to a short distance away, got into a running position, and used her hands and feet to climb onto a slightly lower branch. She gripped the branch tightly with her left hand, her palm barely holding onto half of it, her toes constantly searching for a foothold, and her right hand straining upwards, hooking her fingers onto a higher branch, and then carefully and slowly climbed upwards.
After finally climbing a little higher, she sat on a tree branch, patted the damp moss off her hands and the wood chips between her fingers, and rested for a moment.
Shen Mi looked up and saw the sun peeking out in an arc through the leaves.
No, it's still a bit too low.
She looked left and right again and found a tall tree standing out in the forest about three meters ahead. It looked much taller than the other trees. Shen Mi planned to jump onto the thick branch of the tall tree that was facing her.
Shen Mi looked down and estimated that it was about ten meters below. There were tree branches and stones on the ground, which made her heart tremble.
If someone were to fall down there, they'd be crippled even if they didn't die.
Shen Mi began to recall his standing long jump scores during his high school and college physical fitness tests.
It seems to be 204 centimeters, right? Thinking of the two words "excellent" printed on the report card, Chen Mi felt as if he had gained some hidden power.
Thank you, PE teacher, thank you, grade head, thank you for pushing me to improve my standing long jump. You're right, if you master sports, you can go anywhere in the world without fear.
If I have the chance to go back, I will sincerely advise my relatives of the appropriate age to study sports well, because you never know when you might need to.
"I should be able to jump over it if I try," Chen Mi thought, leaning against a tree to stand up and searching for a suitable starting point.
Reaching a suitable, dry spot, she jumped up and down, but the branch beneath her feet didn't budge. Good, very sturdy.
Just as he was about to jump, Shen Mi suddenly had a change of heart.
This isn't a physical fitness test, where you can try again. She asked herself, "This is a tree several meters high, unlike the flat, open ground. You could easily fall because of a slight miscalculation. Are you really prepared?"
Shen Mi lowered his hand, which was ready to jump, feeling uncertain.
what to do?
She seemed to be divided into two: one side strongly urged her to think things through, while the other encouraged her to take a gamble and see if she could turn her bicycle into a motorcycle.
The two versions of themselves were fighting, but in the end, they fought back and won.
Shen Mi rallied her spirits, a resolute determination burning within her that it was all or nothing. She stared at the towering tree in the distance, as if it were her only salvation.
She took a deep breath, bent her knees, and placed her hands naturally, her posture as perfect as if she were participating in a standing long jump competition. Her gaze was fixed on the branch that was most suitable for bearing weight.
The next instant, she leaped up!
The branches behind him swayed violently, and fallen leaves twirled in the air. Shen Mi instinctively raised his arms, trying to use this movement to jump further and more steadily. But fantasies are always beautiful… reality is far more cruel.
Her body plummeted rapidly, the branch she was aiming for almost touching; she could almost picture herself hooking onto it and landing safely. However, she overlooked a fatal detail: the branch was covered in slippery moss.
The instant her hands and feet touched the tree branch, Chen Mi's heart tightened, and fear flashed through her mind like lightning.
"I--"
Before the word "go" could even be uttered, the slippery moss in front of him seemed to be grinning smugly. The next moment, his out-of-control body slid down, brushing past the target branch, and he was like a boulder being pushed off, falling rapidly with his face pressed against the tree wall.
The immense impact sent shivers down her spine, and to make matters worse, the tree wall was also wet and covered in moss, offering almost no foothold. The brief fall terrified her, and cold sweat instantly soaked her back.
Fortunately, reason pulled her back to her senses at the last second. Shen Mi suddenly opened her palms, her fingertips digging tightly into the rough bark like bird claws, finally stopping her fall.
But the price was excruciating pain in all ten fingers. The pain shot straight to his heart, and tears welled up in his eyes. Shen Mi couldn't help but think of the scenes from the period dramas he watched as a child, the torture of forcing confessions with fingernails, and the interrogation in war dramas where needles were stuck into fingernails.
The pain was so intense that she couldn't help but cry out in pain to vent her frustration.
"It hurts so much—!"
The tearing pain in her fingers made Shen Mi's vision blur, and her arms trembled as if they might slip at any moment. The rough, uneven bark mercilessly cut her fingertips, and blood seeped from between her fingers, trickling down the bark.
Shen Mi clenched his teeth tightly and did not let go.
No... I can't fall like this! I'll definitely be smashed to pieces if I fall like this!
His knuckles turned white from the strain, and almost all of his weight was supported by his ten fingers. Sweat slid down his forehead, mixing with his eyes and blurring his vision. Chen Mi's breathing became more and more rapid, as if a drum was pounding desperately in his chest, and the thought of survival took over his mind.
She looked up at the tree branch that was her target; it was already five or six meters above her, while she was still more than ten meters above the ground.
Unwilling to give up, she tried to curl up her knees to find a foothold, but the slippery tree wall gave her no chance. Every effort resulted in her slipping mercilessly and adding more burden to her fingers.
My strength was rapidly fading; my arms felt like they were filled with lead, so heavy I couldn't lift them, and my fingertips were gradually going numb from supporting them for so long.
"Your father..." she managed to squeeze out a hoarse sound, her eyes instantly welling up with tears of resentment.
She knew she couldn't possibly hold on; she didn't have the resolve to sacrifice her fingers.
After her last attempt failed, Shen Mi closed her eyes, bit her lower lip hard, released her stiff fingers, and let her body slowly slide down the tree wall.
Slippery moss brushed against her arms and cheeks, and the smell of dirt and moisture hit her face. She tried to control her posture, like a koala, to avoid falling on her back. Although it was a mess, it was the only way she could think of to land safely.
The moment she landed heavily on the ground, her legs buckled, and she half-knelt to support herself on the ground, panting heavily, her mouth full of blood she had bitten out.
Chen Mi knelt on the ground, her hands braced against the mud, a tearing pain shooting through them. Only when she managed to lift her hands did she truly see the terrible state they were in.
The skin on my fingertips and palms had long been worn raw by the rough bark, mixed with wood chips and dirt. My fingernails were like leftover clams from the market, half-open and teetering on the verge of falling off. From the fingertips to the pads, the skin was torn and mangled, a shockingly red mess, making even simple bending impossible.
Even the inside of my arms had a lot of abrasions, but fortunately the clothes cushioned the damage, so it wasn't too bad.
Despite the pain, Chen Mi used his clothes to clean the foreign object off his fingers.
She was cleaning while breathing heavily, her hands trembling uncontrollably. The excruciating pain made it impossible for her to utter a complete sentence, and she curled up beside the tree roots.
...
"Seriously... if you don't court death, you won't die..."
After recovering, Shen Mi smiled bitterly to herself, even managing a self-deprecating laugh. She secretly retracted her boastful words, "If you master sports, you can go anywhere in the world without fear."
There are limits to the human body, especially for someone like her who hasn't received much training.
Just then, a cool drop landed on her cheek. Looking up, she saw that the gray sky looked as if it had been torn open, and raindrops immediately began to pelt down.
"...It really is a case of misfortunes never coming singly." Chen Mi gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand up. Now she not only needed to find a place to take shelter from the rain, but also to find running water to clean the residue off her hands.
She stumbled through the woods, her eyes scanning the surroundings, trying to find even the slightest shelter from the wind and rain. The rain intensified, splashing mud and water soaking her clothes and filling her shoes with a chill.
Fortunately, perseverance pays off. She soon discovered a narrow crevice in the rock wall ahead, seemingly leading to a hidden space. Chen Mi gritted her teeth and squeezed in. The slippery rock wall scraped against her arms, and once inside, she collapsed into the gap between the boulder and the ground.
Though narrow, the space was just enough for one person, and the rocks overhead shielded her from most of the rain. Outside, the rain pounded like drums, and she could finally catch her breath, leaning against the cool stone wall, her heartbeat mingling with the sound of the rain.
She lowered her head, looked at her battered hands, took a deep breath, and tried to comfort herself, trying to think positively—at least she wouldn't get soaked to death.
Let's wait until the rain subsides a bit before looking for a water source.
Shen Mi leaned against the stone wall and drifted off to sleep.
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Author's Note: ①: Ancient finger clips
[Crying][Crying][Crying] I forgot to update yesterday!!! I'm making up for it today!!! I'm late!!! Sorry!!!
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