I've probably been tormented by the vampires in the jungle these past few days, plus I just lost a lot of blood after being bitten on the arm by a sand monster.
I used to be able to carry more than 30 kilograms without any problem, but now I feel dizzy and lightheaded, as if I might faint at any moment.
Top fared slightly better than me. It also had several bleeding wounds, but its thick fur protected it from most of the damage. These minor injuries are commonplace in monkey fights.
Top didn't climb any more trees the whole time, but walked on my side.
At this moment, Top was more worried about me. It would look back at me every now and then to see if I was keeping up.
It only continued walking forward after I approached it and it looked around cautiously, and when it found no danger, it continued walking forward.
We continued walking for a while and came to a promontory.
The promontory is flanked by mountains on both sides, making it a good sheltered spot from the wind. A clear stream meanders up the western side of the promontory along the foothills, and some fish can be seen swimming in the stream; although they are not large, there are quite a few.
I think this location is quite good. If we can find a suitable campsite near the headland, our chances of surviving here will greatly increase.
Typically, this type of promontory forms eroded rock walls at the base of the two mountains. These recessed rock walls, sheltered by rock ledges, are protected from rainwater erosion and thus become habitats for small and medium-sized animals.
However, considering that a stream runs through the headland and there may be flash floods when the rainforest is wet, the accommodation I want to find cannot be on the eroded rock face at the foot of the mountain, but preferably on the mountainside more than ten meters above the ground.
In places halfway up a mountain, there are indeed such recessed rock formations, but the depth of the recesses may be much shallower than the bottom.
Because the bottom is mostly formed by water erosion, while water generally cannot reach the middle of the mountain, the depressions in the rock walls at the middle of the mountain are generally wind-eroded landforms, and their depth is naturally much shallower than that of the bottom rock walls.
However, there are exceptions. When we were kids herding cattle in the mountains, we often found horizontally eroded rock crevices that were deep enough to accommodate a flock of twenty or more sheep. If we were lucky, we could even find some caves.
I feel there's a high chance of finding it here. Even if there's no cave, finding some rock crevices to take shelter shouldn't be a problem.
The rocky crevices halfway up the mountain are suitable locations, even dry and comfortable like treehouses, making them good places to simply lay out some thatch and make a bed to sleep in.
Using my spear as a walking stick, I followed the stream uphill, searching the area halfway up the western side of the promontory. As I expected, I eventually found a natural crevice at the end of a steep cliff.
This natural rock crevice is located about 20 meters away at the foot of the mountain, and there is only one narrow path leading to the rock face.
The rock fissure is about six or seven meters long, and the height decreases as you go further in, making it a typical wind-eroded rock landform.
The entire crevice looks like a knife cut into a cliff face, with a rock wall behind and a precipice in front, making it a perfect place where one man can hold off ten thousand.
I felt that as long as I guarded that path with my spear, even if more sand monsters attacked, it would be useless. The cliffs ahead could limit their combat power to the greatest extent.
However, given my current physical condition, things are not looking good. I can only try to block this narrow path first.
As long as this path is blocked, they will never be able to reach my vicinity unless they can fly.
I am very satisfied with this landscape. The only drawback is that there is no suitable water source nearby. If I want to fetch water, I would probably have to go to a stream about 20 meters away.
On second thought, this is a rainforest anyway. It rains most of the year. So I decided to lay some water channels made of banana leaves nearby, and we could store enough water in a few days.
While my physical functions are still relatively normal, I need to arrange the important things at hand first.
I found a lot of tiger thorns by the roadside on my way here. These low shrubs are covered in hard thorns, and they would be a great material to cut down and use as barricades to block my entrance path.
In addition, tiger thorn is also a medicinal material. Its fruit is soft and fluffy, and its skin, roots, stems and leaves can all be used as medicine. It has the effects of clearing heat and promoting diuresis, promoting blood circulation and detoxifying.
I cut some vines nearby, coiled them into a circle, and put it around my neck. I needed some binding material to make a barricade, and these vines were good materials.
After filling all my water bottles by the stream, I planned to head straight back to the rock crevice campsite.
Just then, I smelled a rotten, foul odor. The smell was strong, but it didn't seem to be the usual smell of a decaying corpse; it was an indescribable odor.
It's like putting rotten fruit and stinky fish entrails together to ferment, with the smell of a few dead rats mixed in.
I felt something was strange. I've encountered rotten and smelly things before, but the smell in front of me was clearly unusual.
So I followed the scent to a grove of trees, where the aroma became even stronger.
I couldn't help but cover my mouth and nose to prevent the foul odor from entering, and I also determined the source and direction of the smell.
Soon I came to a giant, trumpet-shaped flower. I estimated that the flower was almost a meter tall, and the unique stench was coming from it.
Just as I had vaguely guessed, the plant releasing this unique scent was a tropical plant called the Rafflesia, also known as the man-eating flower.
Calling it the man-eating flower is actually a misnomer and an injustice to this plant.
Because of the stench it emits, which is like the smell of rotting animal carcasses, coupled with the flower's enormous size, one can't help but wonder if the flower has eaten a person, which is why it emits this foul odor.
In fact, these large flowers are not harmful to people at all. On the contrary, they are a kind of medicinal material that can promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and have a good effect on bruises and sprains. Right now, this is exactly the kind of medicinal material I need.
There were three such flowers nearby, and I didn't hold back, cutting them all down and putting them in my basket.
The path I was walking on was still a bit slippery because it had just rained. To prevent myself from falling on the way up and down the mountain, I spent some time laying down dry grass and gravel along the way to prevent slipping.
Back at the new camp, I placed the Rafflesia and water I had collected next to the Sand Beast meat.
After resting for a while, I felt my knees hurt even more, and a stinging sensation kept coming from my left arm.
Now there was one last thing to do, so I gritted my teeth and made my way to the stream. Just like my old home, it was overgrown with thatch. I reached out and chopped some grass, putting it into my empty basket.
On the way back, I cut down three tiger thorn bushes by the roadside and dragged them back to my residence.
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