Chapter 340 - Waterfall
TL: xDh20, LifeisaJourney
Liu Gan woke up briefly, but fainted again. The members quickly cleaned up their temporary quarters and left Liu Gan inside as they started doing other duties. They had to hurry while it wasn’t too dark yet, chopping firewood and gathering shrubs with thorns nearby.
The firewood was for piled up for a bonfire. The shrubs with thorns and the bush would be placed right by the cave entrance as a barrier. These thorns weren’t something to be ridiculed, even the wild animals would avoid them if possible.
As for whether the Variant Beasts would avoid these thorns, that was still too early to tell. Liu Gan left specific instructions to Han GuangMing, so they followed them to the dot. These th.o.r.n.y barricades and bonfire would eventually have their benefits. As long as the Advanced Malevolent Bear didn’t force its way back, the other variant beasts weren’t a threat once the members were in battle formation.
After they set up the preventive measures, it started raining again. By then, everyone was back in the safety of the cave. They had to avoid catching a cold from getting soaked. Han GuangMing arranged shifts for night guard duty, then he lay down to sleep.
There were Variant Beasts that approached the outside of the cave, but they only growled in anger and left. Occasionally, the Advanced Malevolent Bear’s roar could be heard. It was at most twenty meters away. The bear could see the bonfire by the cave entrance, it knew that the cave was still occupied, but could only walk resentfully away.
While Liu Gan lay unconscious within the cave, Han GuangMing didn’t allow anyone to leave the cave. Even during the daytime, the members were only allowed to hunt nearby for food. Before night, they had to return back to the cave to stand guard. They had to be careful of not getting surrounded by the Variant Beasts and continue with the bluff so that the Malevolent Bear wouldn’t return.
Even though Liu Gan was unconscious, his wounds were gradually improving. Understandably, a level 9 player’s regenerative ability was shocking. Even after excessive blood loss, infected wounds, numerous bone fractures, and many lacerations, he was still alive. An ordinary person would’ve died in two days.
Just like this, another three days and three nights went by. Finally, Liu Gan woke up. By the time he woke up, Han GuangMing and all others were in unpresentable conditions, with messy hair and dirty faces. They looked no different from their primitive ancestors.
Even though Liu Gan had just woken up and his wounds had almost finished healing, his body was weak. This time he learned from his mistake. He didn’t overrush things. He opted to remain inside the cave until all his wounds had recovered. After that was over, he would consider other issues.
Another two days pa.s.sed, and Liu Gan’s injuries had fully recovered. His body condition was operating at around eighty percent of his peak state. At least now, he had a chance of fighting against the Malevolent Bear. On the morning of the sixth day, he decided to depart. He had to find a way to leave this jungle and regroup with Yin He at the Biochemical Intelligence Research Center.
As for their route, it was naturally to follow the creek they had found earlier.
“Elder Liu, if we continued following the creek, how can you be so sure that it is the right direction? If it is the direction that flows toward the sea, then wouldn’t that mean we are going back from where we started?” Han GuangMing asked hesitantly.
He wasn’t questioning Liu Gan’s strategy, but he wanted to learn how to survive in the wilderness with his own ability. These few days proved that Elder Liu might not be there to give out directions, so he must learn to do it himself, or at least be able to make the right calls.
“I can’t guarantee that this creek will be able to lead us to where we need to go, but from the flow of the stream doesn’t seem to be heading toward the sea. It is flowing inland. This is all my a.s.sumption; as to whether it is true, I won’t know until we get there,” Liu Gan replied honestly.
“If we get lost in the wilderness, do we always follow the creek?” Han GuangMing continued to ask.
“Following the creek out of the jungle is a high possibility, but it might not be the safest nor the fastest route. At least it is a route; it’s not an easy route, but it will work better than you searching for yourself,” Liu Gan nodded.
“Ah, I understand now! Thank you Elder Liu!” Han GuangMing
“It was tough for you these few days, if it weren’t for you I wouldn’t have survived until now,” Liu Gan patted Han GuangMing on the shoulder.
“Elder Liu, you don’t need to say that…We were able to survive up until now because we followed you. You leveled us up so these few days I am just repaying my debt!” Han GuangMing grew red from embarra.s.sment.
“Squad Leader Han is really good. I thought he was only a high schooler, but he has the capabilities of a squad leader. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have known what else to do. His leadership skill helped us survive for this long,” Zhao Meng started complimenting Han GuangMing.
“But, it’s all Elder Liu’s effort, that we were able to survive countless numbers of days,” Han GuangMing pa.s.sed off the compliment.
As the group followed the stream for an hour and half, the noise from the stream changed to a thunderous boom. Liu Gan felt disturbed, so he rushed forward. Just as expected, the stream flowed into a waterfall. The waterfall was a steep drop from a precipice cliff.
The height of this cliff face was at least a hundred meters. There was no easy way down. If they had to search for an alternative route, it would take a day or two. There was no guarantee that they could find the way down.
Liu Gan was deciding whether they should rappel down or climb down. Climbing down had the higher degree of difficulty. The surfaces of the rock by the waterfall were very smooth, so it was impossible to find places to grip by rock climbing. So, the only feasible thing to do was to rappel down.
While looking at his surroundings, Liu Gan decided to gather the required materials. Liu Gan grew up playing in trees and with vines, so he knew it was the best material to turn into rope. Liu Gan climbed onto the largest tree and with his dagger, he sliced off many vines and left them on the ground. Then he advised the others to use a specific method of twisting to conjoin all of them. As long as the length of this vine rope was at least a hundred meters, everyone could rappel off the precipice safely.
Liu Gan tied one end of the vine rope to the nearest tree, and the rest of the rope he tossed over the side of cliff. Standing right above the cliff, he first confirmed that the rope reached the bottom. Then, he started rappelling down.
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