After resting for a while, our clothes were almost dry. Only Luo Yaqin's complexion was still a little pale, as if she hadn't recovered yet.
Most of our food had sunk with the ship, so finding new food was the top priority. Otherwise, within a few days, we would be in a dire situation with no supplies.
I asked Xia Liuli to stay in the cave to take care of Lu Yaqi, while the rest of us followed me into the forest to try our luck and see what we could find to eat.
The forest was covered in snow, making the journey very difficult. We were too many people, and the sled we made earlier couldn't carry all of us. So, we had to trek arduously through the woods.
I realized that if we all stayed together, it would be a huge waste of time. So, I divided everyone into pairs to search in the vicinity.
Perhaps it was true that after a great disaster comes great fortune. Guan Hai'er and I hadn't walked far before we found a pile of mushrooms under a tree!
I was slightly surprised. People say mushrooms grow after rain, so how could there be mushrooms here after a blizzard?
However, it was a food we desperately needed. The mushrooms were grayish-brown and didn't look poisonous, so I confidently pulled them out.
Just as we finished collecting the mushrooms, we suddenly heard an urgent shout from Su Yunran's direction!
"Lu Ziye, hurry over here! There's someone here!"
Hearing Su Yunran's words, I quickly rushed over with Guan Hai'er.
Under a large tree, a man wearing gold-rimmed glasses lay half-dead on a piece of animal hide.
Su Yunran and Shangguan Yao stood a little fearfully to the side.
His chest was bare, and his body was covered in bruises and wounds. Some had already scabbed over, while others were still bleeding.
His lower leg was severely deformed, as if it had been smashed with a club, revealing bone fragments.
I was shocked! The wounds looked very much like... they were inflicted by a person?! My heart sank. Could there be another group of survivors nearby, and they enjoyed torturing people?
I walked up to the man, squatted down, and reached out to feel for his breath. Although it was very weak, he was still breathing. It was good that he was alive. I felt that I would be able to get some information we didn't know from this man.
I stood up and beckoned to Guan Hai'er, intending to take the man back to the cave to treat him. Unexpectedly, the man seemed to have woken up and weakly grabbed my pant leg.
"Escape, you guys hurry and escape..."
Seeing that the man had woken up, I quickly squatted down and leaned closer to his face. I asked urgently, "How did you get like this? Don't worry, we'll take you back to the cave and treat your wounds first."
The man weakly shook his head and, gasping for breath, said, "I can't go anywhere now. You guys hurry and leave, don't mind me!"
My heart grew tight. Why was this man urging us to leave so urgently? What had happened?
Under the man's intermittent narration, I learned that not far from the cave where we were staying, there was a tribe of savages! That tribe was still very primitive, but their behavior was exceptionally brutal! Many survivors from our cruise ship, after being found by them, were tied up with ropes and treated as slaves, enduring their beatings and torment daily, forced to do heavy labor. Many had died at the hands of those savages. This man had also been tortured for over a month and had found an opportunity to escape from the tribe.
At this point, the man's eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
After hearing the man's account, a sense of urgency surged through me. In our group, besides me, only Guan Hai'er had some fighting ability. If we encountered savages in the wilderness, we might not be able to defeat them.
"Lu Ziye, what do we do now?" Su Yunran, having never faced such a situation, could only ask me helplessly.
"We can't stay here anymore. We need to leave quickly." In my haste, I decided to abandon the search for food. Guan Hai'er and I carefully lifted the man, and with the others following behind, we headed towards the cave.
As soon as we entered the cave, Xia Liuli was startled to see us bringing in a strange man. She nervously stepped forward and said, "Brother Ye, who is he?"
I didn't have time to answer, and Guan Hai'er and I gently placed the man by the fire. Luo Yaqin had recovered considerably by now, and her complexion was much better. Seeing the man covered in wounds, she quickly stepped forward to examine him.
Only then did I have time to explain the man's origin to Xia Liuli.
After we returned to the cave, the man's condition was very poor, and he began to develop a fever that night. I asked Luo Yaqin if he could be saved, but she shook her head helplessly and said, "In his condition, it all depends on his willpower."
This man possessed a lot of information that we didn't know. If he died now, it would be something I would not want to see, both for public and private reasons. However, there was nothing to be done now; everything depended on his own fate.
It was late at night. While unconscious, the man mumbled something in his sleep. I leaned closer and found that it was a string of names, and among them, there was someone I was very familiar with!