Finally Arrived at the Destination

After experiencing separation of life and death, meeting again felt completely different.

Lu Zhe looked at the time, it was already after 5pm, and it started raining again at this moment. He decisively suggested, "It's unrealistic to keep moving forward, we need to urgently save the bonfire, collect fresh water, and get through this night first."

Before nightfall, another shelter was built, and the six of them sat in the two shelters, surrounding the bonfire in the middle, boiling rations in their helmets, and chatted late into the night.

July 21, the 42nd day stranded on the deserted island.

Lu Zhe woke up at 5am, at this time the rain had stopped and it was another refreshing morning.

He and Shen Bing spent four hours building another raft from bamboo, continuing to carry heavy objects, then broke camp and moved forward.

This day the six of them walked nearly 10 km, arriving at the top of the "C" shaped mountain ridge, which was at the foot of the volcano.

The temperature here was lower, with abundant bamboo forests, deciduous trees, and even coniferous vegetation.

Lu Zhe examined the environment: "A branch of the cold current from the Kuril Islands flows through here, bringing the chill. There must be other bears on the island that come out here."

Ning Shu was a little worried: "Won't we encounter black bears again!"

Shen Bing thought for a moment: "Last time we were attacked by the bear because we didn't get the fire lit in time. Now that we have fire we don't need to be afraid."

Tang Xiaoguo nodded: "Bears don't want the raging fires that burn bears to become raging fires that burn bears."

"That's right!"

Lu Zhe calculated the time, after setting up camp here for one more day, tomorrow morning they could get around the northeast cape and arrive at the interior of the volcanic island.

"Let's set up camp here today. Before it gets dark, I'll go scout the vicinity again to find some food."

"What if you run into a bear?"

"Bringing a torch will be fine."

Lu Zhe nodded: "Wild animals are afraid of fire and will retreat when they see the light. Four people stay at the camp to get some seafood, who wants to come with me?"

Tang Xiaoguo was the first to eagerly raise her hand: "I want to go, I want to go!"

Seeing her enthusiasm, the others didn't say anything.

Shen Bing could only urge: "Okay, be careful!"

The two left into the woods with their weapons.

If crossing over the cliff was tropical jungle, this was more like temperate forest.

The trees were tall and dense.

Lu Zhe thought the trunks here were more suitable for building houses and boats.

When the two passed through a bamboo grove, they did indeed spot the figure of a bear, which at that moment was looking for something in the bamboo grove.

The bear was not big, about one meter tall. It was rummaging around something in the bamboo grove.

Lu Zhe judged it to be a subspecies of the black bear.

He lit a torch, and the bear immediately noticed Lu Zhe and Tang Xiaoguo. It stood up to look at them, then saw the dazzling firelight.

It immediately put down what was in its arms and scurried away.

Tang Xiaoguo nodded: "Haha, we scared Bear No. 2 away!"

Lu Zhe explained: "Actually, wild bears are much more timid than we imagine. They mainly eat vegetables, and insects make up the highest proportion in their carnivorous diet, followed by fish, shrimp, birds, and rodents. They won't take the risk to attack humans unless starving and going crazy."

"I heard that if you run into a bear, playing dead can get you through it."

"Don't believe that. Bears eat carrion too. Playing dead can easily turn into real death."

"Let's go see what it was doing!"

The two cautiously walked over, only to see a pile of bamboo shoots on the ground, roughly thirty or so.

They looked quite fresh!

Lu Zhe picked up a bamboo shoot. He couldn't help but sigh: "Look, even bears know to work hard and stock up food. What excuse do we have to be lazy and negligent?"

Saying so, he put all the bamboo shoots into his backpack, stuffing the excess into plastic bags.

It took great effort to finally fit thirty shoots in.

The backpack was full, along with four fully stuffed plastic bags.

Tang Xiaoguo said: "Brother Zhe, can we eat so much?"

Lu Zhe thought about it: "In a ventilated and cool place, bamboo shoots can keep for a month. We can eat one a day and finish them just in time after a month. So don't worry."

Tang Xiaoguo frowned: "When the bear comes back and sees its food is gone, won't it be very sad?!"

"What do you think we should do?"

Tang Xiaoguo thought for a bit: "Hmm... I've got it!"

She then used a stick to write a line in the ground: "Dear Bear, sorry for taking your shoots! I hope you can be happy and joyful, and be happy every day." She drew a big smiling face at the end.

Finally, she nonchalantly threw down the stick and nodded satisfied:

"Well, that should do it!"

Lu Zhe nodded: "If that bear sees this line, it will definitely be moved to tears. It may even give us a few more shoots."

"Really?"

It was unknown whether the bear was moved to tears that night, but the entire night, the woods echoed with a certain bear's wailing like it lost its child.

After enduring the night, it was July 22, the 43rd day stranded on the deserted island.

The six set off at around 6 in the morning, arriving at the northeast cape at 10am.

The coastline here was a large rocky area, also a good fishing spot.

But now they had no time to fish. Climbing the rocks with difficulty, they finally crossed the rocky coast at 10am and stepped onto the beach again.

Arriving here, a warmth swept over them. The view ahead suddenly opened up, a picturesque and stunningly beautiful scene.

A crescent shaped bay, as if shaped by the moon.

Snow white beach, shimmering waves, small fish of various colors swimming freely in the shallows.

They were not afraid of humans at all, even going to rub against people's calves and ankles from time to time, scaring Xiaoguo and Qian Qian onto the beach.

This beach was nearly five km long, 200-300 meters wide. Behind the beach was a large area of grassland and wetlands, with low bushes and grass where rodents could be seen drinking from puddles.

Standing at high ground and looking further, there was lush primitive jungle.

Beyond the primitive jungle was the insurmountable semi-circular mountain range.

Lu Zhe climbed up high ground, then up a tree on the hillside.

Near the high ground, there were many coconut trees and banana trees, providing enough carbs for half a year!

Looking back, the mountain range behind blocked the northern cold current.

The volcano was to their right rear, about 500 meters away from their current position!

A stream flowed down from the mountain, emptying into a mirror-like lake. The lake overflowed into a stream that flowed all the way to the wetlands. Forming a series of shallows.

Lu Zhe was excited, his heart thumping rapidly!

Freshwater lake!

Definitely a freshwater lake!

Only water flowing out of a freshwater lake would make animals drink without hesitation!

More importantly, although this bay was beautiful, it also was strewn with a lot of garbage from life. If utilized, it would greatly improve their living standards!

Lu Zhe realized from this point on, they really didn't need to worry about survival anymore. Finally they could wholeheartedly pursue quality of life!