Chapter 1118: Where Did She Go?
“That’s not good. I will waste time if it’s too steep. The path beside the stream is a little far but I can make up for the time by walking faster.”
Ye Jian planned her route for the second day and started drawing the terrains she saw. This was part of her training. She mustn’t forget it.
To replenish some protein so that her hunger wouldn’t affect her movements, she caught a non-poisonous snake that was in oestrus as her breakfast.
The stench of mud filled up her entire mouth. Raw meat tasted bad but as long as it was able to replenish some protein and help her gain some stamina as well as stop her from feeling hungry, Ye Jian would swallow it within a few bites.
As for parasites, it wasn’t part of her consideration.
You would only have the mind to think about these if you were safe and sound. In a life or death situation, there was only one thing you would consider: How to fill up your stomach!
It was Spring so the snakes had already woken up. The end of April and the start of May was the oestrus period of snakes. In the morning, Ye Jian saw male snakes giving off clear and loud tapping sounds as though they were hitting a rock. She looked up and saw snakes entangled around each other on the trees. When she lowered her head, she saw snakes in the cracks of the rocks too.
Ye Jian glanced past these frightening snakes. Then, her gaze landed on a branch that was broken unnaturally.
The break seemed fresh and there was still thick white liquid on the broken part of the branch. Ye Jian broke another branch to observe the speed of the liquid flowing out.
Five minutes later, no liquid came out.
Ye Jian raised her head and looked at the south. Someone walked past this place yesterday night… And seeing from the direction, it was the same path she chose.
It was normal that there were people in the mountains. Some people came to hunt secretly and some villagers would go to the highest main peak of Mount Dalang to pick herbs… These were all possible.
However, they wouldn’t wipe their traces away purposely. They would just leave it as it was.
Experienced hunters would wipe their traces to cover their tracks but there weren’t any precious animals on Mount Dalang. There were only wild chickens, rabbits, and other small animals. No one would take the risk to come here and hunt in the middle of the night.
If it wasn’t a villager looking for herbs or a hunter looking for prey, eliminating the non-dangerous people… What was left were the dangerous people.
Ye Jian’s gaze turned sharp. She placed her military dagger in her hand and continued walking towards the south of the stream.
“Maybe she didn’t take this path? There are no traces along the way. She didn’t bring any food or water so she will have to leave marks behind if she wants to look for food.” Approximately five kilometers away from Ye Jian, a few soldiers wearing jungle camouflage uniforms were crossing the mountain. They stepped on the moss to confirm their location.
“Report. Captain Xiao, we didn’t discover anything here!”
“Captain Xiao, could she have gone the wrong direction? Maybe she got lost in the mountain.”
The location Team B was at was one of the destinations Ye Jian needed to go to. However, they didn’t find any traces of her here so they got suspicious.
Captain Xiao was frustrated. By right, she should have left some traces behind. He turned and said to his comrades, “Go to the stream to take a look.”
If the female soldier lost her way, they needed to find her. However, he was afraid that the female soldier didn’t lose her way. They were the ones who couldn’t find her.
“Yes!” A few voices sounded in unison. Then, the soldiers spread out and looked around the stream.
Around ten minutes later, Captain Xiao contacted the military unit of the southern province and reported, “Commander, we found no traces of her at the location she rested at yesterday night. Do you think she didn’t use this route?”