Chapter 75: Lost Food
Su Yu glanced at him without saying a word, he knew that what Li Dong said was a reality and in the earlier battle, if it was not for luck, he would have died here and the group would have perished as well.
In this forest, one could not always rely on luck, luck would run out sooner or later.
“Then what do you propose? Could it be that you’re asking us to head back to the school? Hiding there and relying on this food which will last for about twenty days? Thereafter we shall all wait for death?” Zhang Zhong Mou shouted at Li Dong.
Li Dong suddenly had a strange smile on his face as he replied: “This idea isn’t too bad, at least we will live for an additional twenty over days. I can find a girl to accompany me and engage in carnal pleasures, we could still live a carefree lifestyle for a short period of time, isn’t that right? Wouldn’t that be much better than constantly travelling in this endless forest where we could lose our lives at any time?”
Li Dong was very forthright, Lei Rui and the other girls were blushing and Ma Zi Ye coldly snapped: “Useless, such a weak man.”
“Weak your a**, this fellow does not wish to die before having enjoyed life, could it be that you don’t feel that way? Why are you pretending? Is my suggestion really that bad? Everyone can go back to the school and be together with the one they like. I don’t wish to die before tasting a lady’s charms. Ma Zi Ye, could it be that you don’t wish to taste what a man is like?”
“Shut up!” Ma Zi Ye was so angry that her face had turned red, however, she still looked towards Su Yu in her agitation. She suddenly had a thought, compared to continuing to look for the remote possibility of life within this terrifying forest, why not just give up and return to school. If she could really be together with Su Yu……
Suddenly, her face became red and after she shouted ‘Shut up!’ she actually kept quiet.
Li Dong, you believe that the monsters we’re encountering are getting stronger and stronger and have lost confidence, however, have you thought of this before? Our strengths are also progressively increasing, how could you lose confidence so quickly? Even if we head back to the school, it wouldn’t be of much use. Do you feel that there wouldn’t be stronger monsters at the school? I believe that you guys should remember that when we left the school, there were only Lesser Goblins nearby. However, when we returned, there were Gnomes and even the more powerful Gnome Riders……”
“Even if we head back now, I feel that monsters that aren’t any inferior could be present in the school. We no longer have any way back, no matter where we go within this forest, it will always be dangerous and frightening…… however……”
As Su Yu said this, he slowly got up and looked towards the sky as he earnestly continued: “I’ve been thinking that since we have appeared here, there must be a reason. As long as we persevere, we will definitely find an exit. No matter what, this world simply cannot be just an endless forest. As long as we persevere, we will definitely walk out of this forest.”
Li Dong hollered back: “The problem is that we could be dead even before we find the exit.”
Su Yu looked to him and responded: “Compared the the myriad of students who died on the first day, we’ve already lived for six more days than them. We’ve already gained so much on them, what are you unsatisfied about? If you want to continue believing that returning to the school is safe, then go ahead and head back. However, you will be going alone. I believe that you would die even before reaching the school.”
This was the first time that Su Yu had spoken such sharp and unkind words, he had been forced to do so. This Li Dong was simply inciting unrest and swaying the confidence of the group, if he did not do this, he was afraid that an even bigger mess would be created.
Having been glared at intently by Su Yu as he said this, Li Dong was rigid and as he thought of being alone in this terrifying forest, his entire body trembled as his legs grew weak causing him to fall to the ground, his face looked dispirited and it was an ashen grey colour.
Although Su Yu had just rebuked Li Dong, Li Dong’s words made him think of the students of the school and Lin Shi, he wondered if they had chosen to remain at the school or venture into the depths of the forest, looking for an exit and hope.
As long as they steeled their hearts and ate the flesh from the monsters together with the vegetation in the forest, although the process would be frightening, they would not starve to death. If they went deep into the forest they would suffer heavy casualties and if they chose to defend at the school, as long as the monsters attacking the school were not too fearsome they would have a chance to continue living.
The students they had abandoned at the school were a gnawing pain in their hearts, these few days they had not dared to think or face this reality.
Everyone hoped that Lin Shi would be able to help the people from the school persevere, if they did manage to find the exit, they would still have the hope of coming back and bringing them out. Because of this mentality, after walking a certain distance they would always leave an obvious marking, preparing for the situation where they would require to return to the school.
The reason why they had left the school and entered the forest, food was part of the reason but another part was that the group firmly believed that this forest was not endless and if one continued walking in a certain direction, they would surely be able to walk out of this forest. Also, one could not possibly just stay forever at the school to defend it, they wanted to leave this forest and return to their familiar world, they missed their parents, relatives and friends…….
Although the group were suspicious if the forest before them belonged to their original world, until the final moment their hearts would hold on to that last hope and yearning.
Humans, they require hope at times to continue living on.
“Su……. Yu is correct……..” Suddenly, a weak voice could be heard from the other side.
The group looked over in the direction of the voice and Yuan Ni Ping excitedly shouted: “Jia Gui, you’re woken up?”
Qin Jia Gui gently lifted his head, although the injuries he had suffered were quite severe, the strange energy within him was robust and he had finally gotten past the crucial line between life and death, swiftly coming to his senses.
“We…… no longer have any way back……. We can only continue forward……. There may be a sliver of hope……. If we don’t persevere to the end, how would we know……. That there isn’t a chance? These food……. Is sufficient to last us for close to a month…… staying in this forest……. Only death would await us……”
Qin Jia Gui had just spoken when Lei Rui suddenly cried shrilly as she stood up.
The group was shocked and they looked unhappily at her.
“What’s wrong?” Su Yu questioned.
Lei Rui pointed at the bags filled with food on the ground and shouted: “It’s wrong, the numbers are wrong. I remember secretly counting before, there should be thirty two big bags. Now…… now there are only twenty six remaining, we’ve lost six of them.”
The group were dazed, no one had counted the exact amount of bags and it was only with the reminder from Lei Rui that they noticed that it did seem like there were fewer bags of food.
“Really?” Zhao Shi Chang immediately stood up with an expression of shock as he looked at Lei Rui.
Lei Rui nodded as she said with certainty: “I won’t mess up on the numbers, how could there suddenly be lesser bags? Could they have been taken by other monsters? All the monsters we’ve met along the way don’t seem to be interested in the food we eat.”
Hearing Lei Rui’s a.n.a.lysis, Su Yu suddenly shouted: “Could there be other people?”
“Other people?” The group felt shivers in their heart as they exchanged glances.
“That’s right, it could be possible that when we entered the dense forest, other people walked by this area. Their numbers must be quite small, possibly only one or two of them such that they could only take away six bags of food. It’s already night……. Who would dare to haphazardly run in the forest?” Hearing Su Yu’s idea, Lei Rui immediately a.n.a.lysed the possibilities.