People always say dogs have a sharp sense of smell.
I originally thought about putting Zheng Yiyi down to see if, with its keen nose, it could lead the two of us back on the right path.
But looking at its trembling little body, I could only sigh, shake my head, and regret how careless I'd been to run into the mountains on my own in the first place.
I roughly calculated: not counting the time I spent running through the woods earlier, just drifting in the water alone had to be at least ten to twenty minutes.
That meant I'd been carried several kilometers downstream—maybe even ten or twenty.
I wasn't exactly sure; I could only guess by feel.
Looking at the dense forest in front of me, my scalp tingled.
Ten or twenty kilometers—what did that even mean here?
In a place like this, being able to cover a kilometer in an hour of walking would already be considered good.
Which meant even if I walked nonstop without resting, I'd still need more than ten hours.
Tilting my head back, I peered through the cracks in the canopy at the sun already sinking westward.
I let out a long sigh, twisted the water-soaked strands of my hair, tied them back again, and resigned myself to moving forward along the direction the current had carried me.
Step by step—that was all I could do.
Who knew, maybe my wild guess about the distance wasn't even accurate.
It had rained heavily a few days ago.
Near the edge of the forest I hadn't felt much, but now, deeper inside, the humid, suffocating air pressed down on me.
My wet clothes clung uncomfortably, and before long my whole body felt sticky.
Still, I was grateful it wasn't truly hot yet—otherwise, with the state I was in, the mountain's mosquitoes would have devoured me alive.
After pushing through the underbrush for a while, I finally let Yiyi out.
Keeping it stuffed in my pocket made crawling and crouching through the shrubs extremely inconvenient.
Besides, with the blocked sightlines and such a narrow field of vision here, its sense of smell and natural alertness could at least serve as a makeshift little lookout.
For the next several hours, I trudged through different stretches of forest and thickets.
At first, I still felt the exhaustion and the suffocating heat, but later, all that faded into a dull numbness that swallowed everything else.
Even after walking non-stop the whole afternoon, I didn't see the slightest familiar landmark.
At one point, I forced myself up a tree to survey the surroundings, only to find that beyond the endless spread of trees, there was nothing—no end in sight in either direction.
By now the sky had started to darken.
In less than an hour, night would fall completely.
I called Yiyi back to me, figuring that since I definitely couldn't get out today, I might as well find somewhere relatively safe to spend the night.
After circling around, I couldn't find any particularly suitable spot.
With no other choice, I held Yiyi tight and struggled up a tree that wasn't too tall.
It felt like all I'd done today was climb, climb, and climb some more.
Perched on a tree fork, clutching Yiyi close in my arms, I realized it was my only source of emotional support right now.
At least with it, I wasn't entirely alone.
Otherwise, if I had to spend the night by myself in this desolate forest, I'd probably wake up tomorrow more terrified and broken than Rongrong ever was.
After all the rushing around earlier, I hadn't really felt it, but now lying flat on the fork of the tree, with both body and mind finally quieting down, I noticed my stomach was long empty.
The hunger was gnawing at me.
My clothes were still damp, and though the weather wasn't freezing, the sun had already set.
The nighttime temperature in the forest was naturally low, and curled up in the tree, I could clearly feel the chill creeping in.
Night finally fell completely.
The forest was pitch-black everywhere.
The dense canopy above blocked out the moonlight so not a single ray could shine through.
At first, I tried widening my eyes to make out the surroundings, but before long, I gave up completely.
Cold and starving, I could only hold Yiyi tightly in my arms, feeling bitter to the core.
All I could do was curse this damned forest and pray that the people in the valley would soon realize I was missing and decide to come searching.
I had none of those superhuman survival skills like starting a fire with sticks, or eating bugs and claiming they taste like chicken.
If I couldn't get out tomorrow, I'd probably have no choice but to gnaw on tree bark with Yiyi just to fill my stomach.
Exhaustion from the day, combined with the cold and hunger, eventually made me doze off in the tree.
But because part of me worried about falling in my sleep, it was far from a deep rest.
Half-conscious, I kept thinking I heard movement below.
When my thoughts were yanked back from dreamland once more, I finally caught the noises clearly.
Still staring hazily at the canopy above, the chaotic sounds from below abruptly ended my drifting mind.
Yiyi, who had been lying on my stomach, was now baring his teeth and barking ferociously toward the ground, as if facing a mortal enemy.
I quickly hugged him close and sat up against the trunk.
Looking down, I froze instantly.
Beneath the tree, at least a dozen walkers were gathered, all craning their necks, clawing at the trunk, and letting out guttural roars at me.
That woke me up completely.
My hands clutched the trunk tightly, terrified of slipping.
Was this not the very definition of "misfortunes never come singly"?
When bad luck hits, even drinking cold water can drown you!
Damn it, I really should have brought an almanac before setting out.
Ever since I stepped into this mountain yesterday, not a single thing had gone smoothly!
Looking at the twisted faces of those dozen walkers below, a surge of nameless rage burned through me.
This was just too much! Not even giving me a single breath of respite!
"Damn it!" I kicked the trunk hard, biting down on my lip.
Anger aside, I had no choice but to face reality.
There was no way I could take on that many walkers.
Even with a weapon, it would've been near impossible.
And now, I was hungry, exhausted, and barehanded.
The walkers below kept growling meaninglessly.
I didn't even bother wondering where they came from anymore.
The valley only had so many people, but out here, there were dozens of mountains.
Even if people wanted to clean them out, it was far beyond their ability.
After all, walkers now covered the land like a plague.
With how densely populated our country had been, it wasn't impossible for them to spill into the mountains.
And there was no way to sweep them all out completely.
I sat there in the tree for a long while, trying to come up with a plan.
At first, I thought about jumping to another tree like in the TV shows.
But looking at the distance between the trunks, and considering my own reflexes, I quickly dropped the idea.
More likely, I'd break my leg from a bad landing.
In the end, with no solution, I could only slump back against the tree, staring blankly at the canopy overhead.
All I could do now was wait for someone from the valley to rescue me.
But then another thought hit me: no, that wouldn't work either.
They didn't know my exact location.
The mountains stretched vast and endless—who knew how many days it would take for them to find me?
By then, I'd probably already have starved to death up here.
My thoughts kept getting shot down again and again, and I couldn't help but grow restless.
Just then, the bundle in my arms—Zheng Yiyi—suddenly moved.
I glanced down at him, and an unreliable yet completely feasible idea gradually took shape in my mind.
Yiyi was nimble.
In this forest, his speed darting about would definitely outmatch the walkers.
If I let him down, he might lure some of them away.
That way, I could seize the chance to climb down and escape.
And even if I couldn't get away, with him darting through the forest, maybe someone searching for me would stumble across him—and that meant rescue.
As soon as the thought formed, I immediately started sizing up the situation below.
The walkers under the tree all had their necks craned up, crowding around the trunk.
So, all I had to do was get Yiyi to the ground behind them!
No sooner thought than done.
I first broke off a long branch above my head, tested how sturdy it was, then tried to place Yiyi onto it, wanting him to balance there for a moment.
That way, I could lower him down behind the walkers into the clearing.
The branch wasn't quite long enough, but at least it would cut down the fall a bit.
But accidents always come too suddenly.
Just as I was coaxing Yiyi to hold onto the branch, he flailed once, my grip slipped, and the next second he dropped straight down.
I was so startled I let out a sharp scream—only to remember that it would draw more walkers from elsewhere.
I had no choice but to swallow it back down hard, covering my mouth and staring wide-eyed at the ground, my mind already conjuring the gruesome image of Yiyi's insides being ripped out.
But once again, I had underestimated Yiyi's quick reflexes and survival instinct.
In that instant of falling, he happened to land right on a walker's shoulder.
Before the rest even reacted, he twisted and rolled upright, then clawed his way down its body at lightning speed.
The next moment he was weaving through the horde, darting this way and that—and somehow, he broke free.
Right before vanishing into the bushes, he turned back and barked twice up at me.
I couldn't understand what he meant, but from that bark—so different from when he faced the walkers—I could tell he was trying to reassure me.
That mutt's luck really wasn't ordinary.
And sure enough, Yiyi's commotion drew a few walkers after him.
But still, a handful of them stayed firmly under the tree, unwilling to give up their much larger meal—me.
Feeling defeated, I slumped back against the trunk.
A few had left, but the rest were still too many for me to handle.
The branch I'd broken earlier was still in my hand.
I stared at it for a moment, then glanced down at the walkers.
I don't even know what I was thinking—but I tightened my grip and jabbed at one of them.
The branch was long enough to reach, but it wasn't sharp, and I barely had any strength left.
My jabs didn't even make it stumble.
Focused entirely on poking at that walker, I completely forgot about the others around it.
When I prodded at its face, before I could pull back, another walker suddenly grabbed the branch.
With a vicious yank, it pulled hard.
I wasn't prepared at all—my body lurched forward, balance gone.
All I managed was half a scream before I toppled straight down from the tree.
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