Yu Yuan said, "First, let's make one thing clear: without ropes or similar gear, we can't reach the new camp. Right now, we have two options. The first is to relocate to Su-0 Forest and use the plant life to fend off the wolf pack. But will that actually work? Why aren't there any animals in Su-0 Forest? Can we really contend with the walking trees? Everything is an unknown."
Yu Yuan continued, "The second option is to hold our ground at this camp. We'll need food, firewood, and suitable stones from the stream bed to craft tools. We might face extreme weather, and we might be attacked by the wolves or other wild beasts."
Yu Yuan added, "If we choose the second option, we need to fell several thick trees this afternoon. First, we can use them to barricade the cave entrance for defense; second, if we're trapped inside and run low on fuel, we can chop up branches to burn. To fulfill Quest 2, we also need to gather enough stones suitable for toolmaking."
Xiao Long said, "Split into two groups: one fells trees, the other gathers stones. But what about food?" Up to this point in the day, everyone aside from the scouting team had only had a bit of pig liver soup. As for the scouts, Su Su had carried a bayberry branch, munching all the way, and Ding Shi hadn't held back either. Wang Meng had been the most reserved—after all, as a boss, eating meat was the true display of Strength. Had no one been watching, it wouldn't have mattered, but with Ding Shi right there, he'd only eaten a few bayberries.
Xiao Feng added, "We don't have enough firewood to last through the night. Someone needs to be assigned to handle that."
Hua Shi suggested, "As long as we don't chop down trees, we still have time."
Clearly, everyone leaned toward holding the camp.
Aunt Zhang asked Su Su, "Su Su, when you were scouting the new camp, did you find any other way to get there?"
Su Su answered with certainty, "Aside from rappelling down, there is no other way." The new campsite was completely cut off from the outside world, like an island in the sea.
Seeing the conversation drifting off track again, Yu Yuan clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. "Option one or two? Hands up for option two." Time was short; they couldn't afford to keep haggling.
The others exchanged glances for a moment, and every hand went up. Compared to venturing into a totally unfamiliar forest with bizarre ecology, holding their ground at the camp was clearly more viable.
Ding Shi raised his hand. "Can I go take a walk? See if I can catch some small game and check on predator movements nearby."
Yu Yuan asked, "Alone?"
Wang Meng raised his hand. "I'll go with him."
Ding Shi lowered his hand. "Then forget it. You go yourself."
Wang Meng put his hand down. "Then never mind." Knowing Ding Shi as he did, the guy was definitely sneaking off to hog something good for himself. Too bad his own brain wasn't as sharp as Ding Shi's; Wang Meng couldn't begin to guess what prize was out there. But since they'd gone out scouting as a three-person team, how could he possibly let Ding Shi reap the rewards all on his own?
Ding Shi raised his hand again. "I request scouting duty."
Wang Meng said, "I'll accompany him."
Ding Shi snapped, "Are you having fun with this?"
"Pretty fun, yeah," Wang Meng said.
Yu Yuan cut in, "Moving on to task assignments..."
Ding Shi was assigned to the branch-cutting team—not felling whole trees, just lopping off branches and dragging them to the cave entrance to build a barricade. Wang Meng was assigned to the fire team, tasked with finding ways to gather dry, burnable firewood. Though there were vents near the cave ceiling, burning whole green logs directly would produce enough smoke to choke everyone to death. Su Su was assigned to the foraging team, focusing primarily on bayberries and persimmons.
Seeing no one around, Ding Shi followed Su Su's markers and quickly reached Su-0 Forest. Guided next by the bayberry pits on the ground, he arrived after five minutes near the walking tree that had dragged him earlier.
Ding Shi walked over to a patch of level ground and swept aside the dead branches and rotting leaves, revealing a stone bearing signs of artificial carving. This was something he had discovered by chance while pinned by the walking tree.
A root shot up from the ground, wrapping around Ding Shi's left foot and dragging him away. Ding Shi didn't panic, letting the roots bind his limbs and pin him against the walking tree. With a snap of his fingers, a willow-leaf throwing knife appeared in his hand. A flick of his wrist severed the root, then sliced through the rest binding him, freeing him with ease.
When he had been caught earlier, a question had nagged at him: they had walked through the forest of walking trees for five minutes and had come into close contact with them before, so why had he been attacked? And why only that once? Setting aside his handsome looks, brilliance, and other internal and external virtues, Ding Shi could think of only one explanation: there was something special about the spot where he had been standing.
To keep Wang Meng from noticing anything unusual about the location, Ding Shi hadn't freed himself back then, choosing instead to wait for Su Su and Wang Meng to rescue him so he could draw them away from the suspicious ground.
Ding Shi brushed away the fallen leaves and soil from the stone, only to find "??" carved upon it. He nearly coughed up blood in frustration.
In his anger, inspiration struck. Ding Shi reached out to feel it with his fingers, and his heart leaped when he traced the shapes of two characters. Feeling them carefully, he recognized the word: "Illiterate."
Ding Shi collapsed onto his rear. He wanted to rail against the injustice of Yita, the cruelty of fate, the wear of the years, and the pitch-black future ahead.
Ding Shi shouted, "Wang Meng, come out."
Wang Meng stepped out from behind a tree a dozen meters away. "When did you spot me?"
Ding Shi answered, "A long time ago."
Wang Meng asked, "Then why did you still come here?"
"It's not like I'm afraid of you," Ding Shi said. The subtext: at worst, I kill you. If they fought to the death, Wang Meng had nine chances in ten of dying, and Ding Shi one. Still, even if he did finish Wang Meng off, Ding Shi wouldn't walk away unscathed—he'd be lucky not to break a few bones.
Wang Meng walked over, glanced at the stone, and his brows knotted together. "What is this?"
Ding Shi asked, puzzled, "You can't read it?"
Wang Meng gave Ding Shi a suspicious look. "You can?"
Ding Shi kept his face impassive. "Do primitive characters look different to everyone? What do you see?"
Not having as many schemes as Ding Shi, Wang Meng described, "The first character is a circle with the character for 'eight' underneath. The second is a circle with the character 'er' below it. The third is a half-circle with 'er' below it."
Ding Shi asked, "What does that mean?"
Wang Meng shook his head, looking at the stone from another angle. "If I knew what it meant, I wouldn't be telling you." At first glance, Wang Meng knew he couldn't crack this cipher. That being the case, he might as well let Ding Shi solve it, then decide whether he could grab a piece of the meat or just settle for the broth.
Ding Shi asked, "Are the three characters together or separate?"
Wang Meng replied, "Separate. Wait—you're Illiterate. These are pictures, not words. Can an illiterate person not understand pictures?"
Ding Shi's pupils shrank abruptly. They were pictures, not words! Feigning indifference, he said, "An illiterate can't even read playing cards."
Wang Meng eyed Ding Shi's expression suspiciously. "Then let's go."
Ding Shi said, "I want to make a trip to Su-1 Forest on my own."
Wang Meng grinned. "Number Two, you know I can't rest easy letting you wander around alone. Why don't we cooperate so we both win?"
Ding Shi said, "The last guy who partnered with you for 'mutual benefit' smuggling arms is still lying at the bottom of the Atlantic. Don't play dumb with me." Wang Meng didn't have the wits to crack the cipher on the slab, but his experience and savvy told him exactly how to handle the situation.
Wang Meng asked, "So what do we do now?"
"Back to camp," Ding Shi said.
No sooner said than done. Ding Shi walked out of the walking-tree grove, with Wang Meng trailing behind him. Then, both of them caught a low growl—like the guttural warning a dog makes over its food or a cat on guard.
Ding Shi, in the lead, leaped up, grabbed a branch, hauled himself into a tree, and scrambled rapidly upward. Before Wang Meng could pinpoint the origin of the low growl, an adult saber-toothed tiger charged to the base of the tree, dug its claws into the bark, and scrambled up in hot pursuit of Ding Shi.
At that moment, Wang Meng's feelings were complicated.
The good news: Ding Shi was a dead man, because there was no way a human could climb a tree better than a tiger.
The bad news: once Ding Shi was dead, he would almost certainly bite the dust next.
Chapter 78