After that intense bitterness faded, there was actually a unique kind of freshness.
Cheng Feng tried her best to reassure herself as she gathered all the edible wild grass nearby, rolled it into a bundle, closed her eyes, and stuffed it into her mouth.
She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but as soon as the pungent taste entered her mouth, it jolted her muddled mind awake. Most of her attention shifted to her mouth, which slightly relieved the discomfort of the sweltering heat.
However, Cheng Feng couldn’t control her physical reaction. After using these wild plants to raise her hunger level to 60%, small, glistening tears welled up in her eyes.
The camera focused on Cheng Feng’s face – her expression caught between a faint twitch and complete blankness. As netizens watched this scene, though it was a silent image, it felt as if a thousand words were being conveyed. It was as though countless bullet comments were flashing across the bulging veins on her forehead.
“I’ll say it for you: it’s disgusting. Every year when I watch the survival tests in the unhabitable zone, I have such mixed feelings.”
“What kind of grass is this? Jiang Linxia from the other feed is eating it too, and he looks like he’s about to cry. But he’s afraid of wasting water, so he’s forcing himself to hold the tears back – it’s hilarious.”
“I think San Yao did this on purpose. There should be plenty of edible things in a dense forest like this, but most of the edible organisms the students have detected have some kind of tormenting quality to them.”
“You could do what that other team did and dig up earthworms to eat. They’re high in protein, can fill you up, and give a solid boost to your hunger level – they’re a staple survival food in the wild.”
Among military university students, female cadets were already a minority. Cheng Feng was among the faster-progressing ones, and since she was in the same team as Xiang Yunjian, she had attracted considerable attention.
The stream was gaining more and more popularity, and the clip of her eating had unknowingly climbed to the top of the related topic recommendations, drawing in a wave of unfamiliar faces.
“I don’t think Cheng Feng needs to push herself this hard. She doesn’t seriously want to complete the mission of reaching the camp, does she? It’s not like this is our specialty. If she encounters some large predator, she won’t even have a chance for close-quarters combat. Why waste the time?”
“Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Cheng Feng engage in close-quarters combat. She’s good at piloting mechas, so at least she should know a little, right?”
“That’s ridiculous. Just because you’re good at a game doesn’t mean you can dominate in martial arts in real life.”
“She did the hospital dungeon once. The camera didn’t catch much of her, but she should be decent. Stop talking nonsense. I suspect you’re just mindlessly bashing mecha pilots and commanders.”
“Why isn’t this girl making any sound? Couldn’t she at least interact with the audience a bit? Did Jiang Linxia teach her anything?”
There wasn’t much wild grass in this area. Taking the opportunity to eat as her rest, Cheng Feng didn’t dare linger too long. She hefted her backpack and continued deeper into the jungle. This time, she hadn’t gone far while searching for edible plants on both sides when she noticed traces of grass blades trampled and crushed.
Nearby, on the muddy ground, there were clear footprints of some kind of wild beast. The broken stems of the plants still looked fresh, indicating that the animal had passed by not long ago.
The netizens watching this all sucked in a breath, cursing the people who had just been discussing this topic earlier – what a deadly jinx.
Cheng Feng used her hand to measure the length of the footprints, guessing the creature was probably quite large. She immediately changed course, detouring in the opposite direction from the animal.
Worried that she had stayed in this spot too long and that her scent might have already caught the beast’s attention, she dared not let her guard down and once again quickened her pace.
Her footsteps landed heavily on the rugged forest ground, stirring the dense weeds into a rustling noise.
The mask and hat obscured Cheng Feng’s face, but her rapidly depleting stamina bar and the increasingly labored breathing in the background both betrayed her exhaustion from the escape.
Yet this stretch of dense forest was like an inescapable net. Though Cheng Feng had been running nonstop for over an hour, her surroundings remained entirely unfamiliar yet maddeningly similar.
She stopped again.
Cheng Feng pulled out her notebook and, following the route she had just taken, redrew her map.
The deviation wasn’t significant – she could still correct her course in time. However, the negative effects of her physical condition on her body were impossible to ignore. Her hands and feet trembled slightly, and she could clearly feel her vitality draining away.
She urgently needed to eat.
The most primal human desire was written across every one of her cells.
Cheng Feng took out her second bottle of water and, without hesitation, tipped her head back and drank it all in one go.
She had to maintain adequate hydration; otherwise, once dehydration set in, she wouldn’t even have a chance to survive.
She stuffed the empty bottle back into the side pocket of her backpack and, ignoring whether she might be pursued, began searching the area for anything edible.
In truth, Cheng Feng had encountered small wild animals along the way. From a distance, their size and fur resembled rabbits, but she simply couldn’t catch them.
Wild animals were all quite alert. Before she could even get close, the surrounding sounds had already warned them to make a swift retreat. Rather than spending energy chasing after them, it was more reliable to find something high in protein.
Using the detector, Cheng Feng found some more edible wild grass and also caught two small, moving creatures. The quantity wasn’t much.
Fighting back the nausea rising from her stomach, she ate as she walked. After covering some distance, she suddenly sensed something unusual about her surroundings.
Several small animals began to flee. The occasional rustling and noises they made added a touch of liveliness to the otherwise serene and deep mountain forest.
Yet in this perilous unhabitable zone, such liveliness felt more like the prelude to a death knell.
Sensing something, Cheng Feng looked up and saw a bird circling overhead, its sharp, piercing cries cutting through the air.
Cheng Feng stared fixedly for two seconds, her throat unconsciously bobbing with a hard swallow and her heart pounding wildly. Yet she kept her composure, slipping her backpack off her shoulders.
She pulled a dagger from it, gripping it firmly in her hand. She also took out a coil of rope, looped it around herself, and quickly moved behind a tree.
By the time the giant bird let out its fourth screech, Cheng Feng felt a tremor running through the ground.
She tied one end of the rope to the tree trunk, keeping one eye on the bird circling overhead while peering in the direction of the vibrations.
Danger was closing in fast.
But just as it was about to reach her, the beast halted. It was clever – it realized Cheng Feng had already detected its presence. It paced back and forth in front of her, hidden behind a tangle of thick undergrowth. After two laps, it suddenly charged out.
A flash of striking yellow sliced through the underbrush, appearing in Cheng Feng’s field of vision.
This was a beast not commonly seen in either the Alliance or the post-war planets, so Cheng Feng didn’t recognize it. It had long, slender limbs, a robust physique, and smooth, flowing muscles. At first glance, it resembled a tiger but also had features of a leopard. Its eyes were sharp and narrow, with green-tinged pupils.
What was hideous was its bald head.
The moment it came into view, it bared its fangs and lunged precisely at Cheng Feng.
The camera didn’t have time to adjust, capturing a shot of its gaping maw, dark as an abyss.
Judging by its explosive power, the beast’s attack speed was astonishingly fast.
Cheng Feng threw her rope, attempting to lasso the beast, but failed. Amidst the chorus of screams in the bullet comments, Cheng Feng had already jumped while gripping the tree trunk with one hand, spinning around and narrowly dodging the creature’s attack.
But the beast had flexible limbs and reacted faster than Cheng Feng had anticipated. It halted its charge with its front legs and twisted its head to pounce again. Its aim was clear – Cheng Feng’s neck.
The stench of the beast’s foul breath blew toward Cheng Feng’s face with the wind. Despite her muscles having been tense all day, at this critical moment of life and death, they remained remarkably agile.
When it came to sensing danger, few military university students could rival Cheng Feng, who had grown up in the warzone. Acting on pure instinct, she gathered strength in one leg and shot sideways like lightning.
As she rolled on the ground, Cheng Feng felt the tremor running through her heart, her veins, and her muscles all at once.
A piercing roar erupted behind her. With two attacks evaded, the beast was visibly enraged.
Cheng Feng didn’t look back – there was no time. She spun around and thrust her knife.
After trekking all morning, her stamina had not yet recovered. Her strike was too slow; the beast lunged from the side and knocked her down.
The world spun around her. The light above was blocked by the creature’s massive frame, its reeking fangs grazing her skin. In the blink of an eye, Cheng Feng’s dagger plunged into the beast’s hide first, jerking its head to the side so that its jaws only caught the dirt beside her ear.
One stab was not enough to incapacitate the beast completely.
Cheng Feng was on the verge of forgetting to breathe; her lungs swelled as if about to burst. She blinked, her brain no longer able to match the scene before her with coherent information. Yet her next move was unmistakably clear – so much so that it conjured an almost hallucinatory clarity, compelling her to swiftly mount the beast’s back, raise her dagger, and drive it down heavily into its eye.
The beast writhed in agony, thrashing wildly to throw her off.
But Cheng Feng’s left arm was locked tight around its neck. Even as her body slammed heavily against the ground, she endured the searing pain and struck twice more. Not until the beast lay still.
Seeing its “companion” dead, the messenger bird circled for a moment before ultimately turning away.
For those dozen or so seconds, Cheng Feng’s consciousness wavered briefly. The little stamina she had left was utterly depleted in the fight.
Sunlight filtering through the shifting canopy flickered across her pupils. The piercing light made her shut her eyes – and also snapped her back, jolting her into a sharp inhale. When she tried to release her grip, she realized her left arm had nearly gone numb. She tore off her mask, opened her mouth, and spat out a mouthful of bloody, sour fluid tinged with the taste of iron.
She rolled over and knelt on the ground, still trying to collect herself, when her stomach began to spasm. She retched violently onto the forest floor, the force of it forcing tears from her eyes.
But it didn’t last long. Cheng Feng wiped her mouth and stood up. She drew her dagger again and hurried to process the beast’s carcass.
Time would grant her no reprieve.
