Chapter 147: THIS CHAPTER CANNOT BE TRANSLATED
Chapter 148: Life
Sakura found it even harder to sleep now.
Lin hands were very proper—too proper, in fact. Even though he was already asleep, his hand just rested on her back. But his breath was falling directly on her face. She didn't hate it, but... there was an indescribable feeling...
And with Sakura enhanced sense of smell, she detected a very strange... fragrance?
It was a scent she had never smelled before—not floral. The moment she caught it, she knew it was a body fragrance emanating from Lin. It was so alluring that she couldn't stop her body from feeling restless, leading to her insomnia.
She carefully opened her eyes a crack. Confirming Lin was indeed asleep, she quietly leaned in a bit closer.
A little closer... should be okay, right? This is to preserve body heat... this is to preserve body heat...
Sakura gave herself plenty of mental suggestions, but as she saw Lin face getting closer and smelled that deepening fragrance, she almost couldn't help herself...
"..."
Sakura suddenly pulled back from Lin face, covering her mouth and nose as she breathed heavily.
Cl-Close... how strange... why would I be like this...
And so, amidst Sakura self-restraint and mysterious inner turmoil, the next day arrived.
...
"Did you not rest well last night?"
Lin took his dried clothes down and put them on, noticing Sakura somewhat lethargic spirit. "Sorry... because I..."
"It wasn't because of you." Sakura shook her head with a bitter smile. "It's my own problem." She looked down at her right hand and sighed. "I'm... so pathetic."
"..."
After leaving a firebrand in case they returned, Lin and Sakura began heading inland. Following the direction Lin had roughly confirmed the previous night, they followed the stream forward.
"The species of biological life here are a bit strange." Lin knelt by a medium-sized footprint and observed the nearby droppings. "These are the types of beasts that should only be found in tropical rainforests near the equator."
"Can't they exist elsewhere?"
"They can, but animals don't exist in isolation. Usually, there's a complete food chain. For these animals to be here, either the entire food chain exists, or they were brought here by human hands."
Lin shook his head; he wasn't sure where they were exactly, but one thing was certain: what they were encountering was by no means a normal phenomenon.
"Furthermore, since a Honkai Beast has appeared here, the ecology should be destroyed and remodeled by Honkai energy. But the wild animals we've seen so far are normal, with no traces of erosion."
In other words, the appearance of that Honkai Beast was also very abnormal. Originally just a common shipwreck, Lin now had to reconsider the reason for their "accident."
"I laid out an SOS pattern with stones on the beach. If Fire Moth starts a rescue, they should arrive soon." As they walked, Lin picked some small purple berries from a nearby bush. He examined their shape and asked Sakura, "What color are these?"
"Purple."
"Purple ones are an edible type. Pick them whenever you see them."
It had to be said that Lin was incredibly reliable. Just following him, watching him identify various plants and fungi and find edible food, made Sakura feel that his knowledge was no less than that of a professional survivalist.
"What about this kind? The red ones."
Sakura picked a red berry that looked somewhat like a certain fruit and showed it to Lin. He glanced at it and frowned. "These... are edible, but don't eat too many. They tend to cause 'internal heat'."
Internal heat? A somewhat unfamiliar term, sounding like Shenzhou vocabulary. But since they were edible, Sakura picked them all and put them into the vine bag Lin had temporarily woven.
A large portion of the day was spent traveling. When evening arrived, Lin looked at the sky and said, "Let's rest here. I'll fish."
The fishing rod he made the previous night now came in handy. He found some small insects in the soil, rolled them into bait using the damp earth by the stream, and began fishing.
Sakura tried to replicate Lin fire-making from the day before, attempting the bow drill. She thought she could start a fire by following his example, but in practice...
She stared silently at the broken branch; there wasn't even a trace of smoke. It was so strange—why could Lin start a fire with a few movements while she had snapped the branch without even producing smoke?
After setting up the rod, Lin saw Sakura holding the broken branch in confusion. He immediately knew what she was trying to do and walked over.
"Let me teach you."
"Okay."
Sakura found two more dry branches, poked a hole, and put bark inside.
"Starting a fire isn't just simple friction, and more force doesn't make it easier. There are specific requirements for the posture and the direction of the force."
Lin hands covered the backs of Sakura. She shivered, but Lin didn't notice. He slowly applied pressure, adjusting Sakura posture and force until it was correct, then let go.
"Okay... I see..."
Sakura kept her head down so Lin wouldn't notice the slight flush on her face—though she was overthinking, as Lin couldn't see color anyway.
Then Lin began the great enterprise of fishing. He was exceptionally skilled at this too; in an hour, he had caught six fish. However, four of them were just fingerlings, so he released them.
After rubbing the branches for over an hour, Sakura finally produced a spark. She called out happily, "Lin!"
She cupped the smoking wood in her hands and showed it to Lin. While holding the rod, Lin turned his head, saw her smile, and nodded. Sakura hurriedly added some flammable bark and puffed out her cheeks to blow on it.
Sssss...
Through her persistent efforts, a bright cluster of flames finally rose from the wood. Sakura was very happy. She rarely felt such a sense of achievement, as if she had accomplished something major. Then she built a stone hearth, added wood, and eventually produced a campfire that looked almost identical to Lin.
Lin had caught six large fish by now. He put away the rod, used a sharpened stone knife to gut and clean them, rubbed them with some sea salt he had made in his spare time the previous night, and used juice from crushed berries to marinate the meat and remove the fishy smell.
Sakura used sharpened branches to skewer the fish and roasted them over the stone hearth. The fragrance of sizzling fat soon filled the air. As Sakura happily watched this hard-won feast, she saw Lin calmly flipping the fish nearby and a thought suddenly occurred to her.
Are they now... living together?