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墨書 Inktalez
Lijie and Roxy walked out wearing matching outfits, and Xin Yi was immediately struck by their stunning appearance. These two girls were so talented; they somehow each managed to find a strapless top that wrapped around their prominent curves. Wow, it was simply irresistible!
While Xin Yi was lost in thought, gazing at the two beauties, Lijie giggled and said, "Hey! What are you staring at? Your eyes are about to pop out!"
"Huh? Where?" Xin Yi quickly touched his eyes, realizing Lijie was just teasing him. His eyes were perfectly fine in their sockets, but he had accidentally let some drool escape. Embarrassed, he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and awkwardly chuckled, "Hehe, um, Lijie, did you bring something delicious? I must be drooling over it."
"I do have food, but first you need to rate our outfits," Lijie said as she twirled around with Roxy. "If your review is good, you get to eat; if not, no food for you."
There was no need for Lijie to remind him; Xin Yi's eyes had been glued to the two girls the entire time, practically glowing with admiration. Looking at their lower halves, Lijie wore a pair of ultra-short denim shorts that barely reached her thighs, drawing attention to her legs. Roxy wore a black knee-length skirt cinched at the waist with a bow. These girls clearly weren't lacking in clothing; they were putting on a fashion show! Such surreal fashion design deserved some kind of world award.
"Beautiful! Hehe, really beautiful!" Xin Yi exclaimed sincerely. Of course, if they could save a bit more fabric, it would look even better—and be more eco-friendly too.
The two girls burst into a fit of tinkling laughter. Lijie continued to tease, "So what's prettier, the clothes or us?"
"Um, both are beautiful! The clothes are pretty and so are you! If only there were a bit less fabric..." Xin Yi blurted out his honest thoughts but immediately sensed danger approaching as both girls shot him looks that suggested they might retaliate. He felt them closing in on him and quickly thought of an excuse. He touched the scar on his calf and frowned, saying, "This wound... it hurts again."
"Huh? Xin Yi, you're hurt? How bad is it? Is it serious?" Lijie suddenly noticed the wound on his calf and hurriedly crouched beside him to examine it closely while murmuring, "This is a penetrating wound; a bullet passed through the muscle in your calf and created a hole. Luckily it didn't hit any bones; otherwise, your leg would be useless. No wonder you're pale; it must be from blood loss combined with malnutrition. By the way, how have you survived here for so many days without food? And I haven't seen any water source in this cave—how did you manage?"
This was a question Lijie had wanted to ask since she met Xin Yi and the others but never had the chance until now. Everyone knows that without food one can last several days, but without water one can only survive for two or three days at most. How had they endured for over ten days without food or water?
"Thanks to Bat Sage," Xin Yi replied. "We owe our lives entirely to Bat Sage's protection..." He then recounted the events of that night after they jumped off the cliff to Lijie. As they told their story, they also helped themselves to the food and water Lijie had brought along. Originally prepared for three days' worth of supplies for herself, by the time they finished recounting their tale, all that remained was a thin piece of scallion-flavored cracker. Roxy shyly pinched it between her fingers and offered it to Lijie, saying softly, "Sister Lijie, you eat this."
It turned out that after they held hands (which they didn't dare admit to Lijie) and jumped off the cliff that night, the strong winds howled around them while upward drafts from below mitigated their fall speed somewhat. This was key to their survival. After falling for a while, they suddenly realized they had landed on a tree. Although the impact was significant, landing on the crown of the tree cushioned their fall thanks to its branches absorbing some of the shock. They didn't get injured because they hadn't landed directly in the center of the crown; instead, they fell near the edges while still holding hands tightly.
They struggled up onto the trunk of a large Pine Tree. Unable to see clearly in the dark surroundings due to nightfall, they secured themselves with belts around the trunk to prevent being blown off by strong winds or slipping due to exhaustion. They spent an entire night clinging to that cliff against howling winds; all their blood seemed frozen by then—even Xin Yi's bleeding leg wound had begun to clot as well.
The next day, after dawn, the wind had calmed down significantly. The two began to assess their situation, but despair quickly set in. Although they were temporarily safe on the large Pine Tree on the cliff, there were no places nearby to climb up or down. While they had not fallen to their deaths, being trapped in the Pine Tree meant they could only starve or die of thirst. They spent an entire day in despair on the Pine Tree until suddenly, in the evening of the second day, they noticed a large swarm of bats flying out from the cliff about three to four meters below them. The bats dove into the twilight, likely heading down to hunt near the ground.
The presence of so many bats indicated that there must be a cave on the cliff where they could take refuge. So, they jumped from the Pine Tree to a ledge below and indeed discovered a cave. They had found a temporary shelter, but there was still no food or water. In desperation, Xin Yi decided to target the numerous Bat Sages in the cave for food. Fortunately, he still had some throwing knives left, which he used to kill, gut, skin, and prepare the bats; otherwise, they would have been forced back to a primitive existence. Xin Yi could tolerate eating raw animal flesh because during his training with Xin Shengtian, he had tried all sorts of things. He had eaten not just bats but also rats, venomous snakes, and various insects. Thus, bat meat was not too bad; it even contained some moisture—though minimal—enough to keep them alive if consumed regularly.
At first, Roxy would rather starve than eat such ugly meat. By the third day, however, she was on the verge of collapse. Xin Yi cut the bat meat into thin strips and forced her to swallow it without chewing. At that moment, Roxy realized that it wasn't as hard to swallow as she thought; if she didn't chew and just swallowed it like a pill, it was manageable. With the help of Bat Sage meat, they managed to survive. During this time, there was a heavy rainstorm that allowed them to drink plenty of rainwater and enjoy a natural shower on the ledge outside (whether they took turns is unclear; at least that's what they told Lijie). They initially thought they would spend their lives in this cave on the cliff living off raw meat and blood until Lijie found them unexpectedly. The two trapped individuals felt as if they had seen a deity; if not for fear of losing face, Xin Yi would have hugged Lijie and called her a goddess.
After discussing their situation and realizing their food and water supplies were depleted, their primary task became finding a way to leave this place; otherwise, they would have to resort to eating Bat Sage again. Lijie didn't want to experience that exotic primitive lifestyle either. So Xin Yi retrieved the rope they had made from clothing from the cave and used it to climb back up to the large Pine Tree, securing Lijie with it.
The three agreed unanimously that they should descend along the cliff. Although they did not know how high the cliff was, Lijie's prepared rope should suffice. Moreover, none of them had enough strength left to climb back up to the top. After tidying up a bit, they prepared to act. Concerned that the rope might not support all three of their weights at once, they decided to go down one by one. Naturally, Xin Yi wanted to go first to scout ahead because aside from facing unpredictable risks during descent, he might encounter difficulties if there was no path below.
However, this suggestion was met with unanimous opposition from both women; neither wanted Xin Yi to take risks and both insisted on going first while arguing with each other.
Xin Yi grew tired of their bickering and grabbed hold of the rope before sliding down with a whoosh. It was only then that both women realized what had happened and shouted in unison: "Xin Yi! Come back!"
"Take your time discussing it; I'll go down first to scout ahead. If you don't hear me calling you within half an hour after I descend and if the rope loosens up, then find another way out," Xin Yi replied while looking up at both women.
"You! No! Hurry back up! Let me go first!" both women shouted simultaneously again. But Xin Yi had already slid far down; all they could do was watch him disappear into the mist from their ledge...
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