Chapter 22: Escaping Once More
Shu Jintian looked at the cavern hole, waiting for a few minutes. After ensuring that Shu Hanyu was already far away, he hastily began to pack up his things.
To make it easier to carry, Shu Jintian put on his black sports shoes that he hadn’t worn for a very long time. He tucked the dagger by his waist, while the night pearl and lighter were placed in the pockets of his jacket. Shu Jintian wanted to bring the shell along, but felt that it was too heavy after shifting it around a little, and begrudgingly had to give it up.
Shu Jintian estimated the route. With Shu Hanyu’s speed, he would probably return in less than an hour. In this hour, he had to flee as far as possible, to that safe place where the beastman the big snake was afraid of was.
And the beastman… Shu Jintian hesitated for a moment, unsure as to what sort of fellow that was. However, if he thought in another way, that beastman couldn’t be as frightening as the big snake ba. As such, he decided to head for the opposite bank. Even if he couldn’t find that beastman to ask for shelter, that place probably wouldn’t allow the big snake to so bravely find him.
Shu Jintian packed his things up, and afraid to dawdle, tossed his jacket out of the hole. Retreating a few steps back, he rushed towards the entrance.
Shu Jintian could already see the outside world, but he slid back down. Just a bit more; he didn’t use enough strength. Shu Jintian was eager to escape and sprinted again. Just as he was about to slide down, he simply threw himself onto the floor and climbed out.
His body weight caused Shu Jintian to begin sliding down, and Shu Jintian’s fingers firmly caught against tiny lumps of earth and forced himself to stop slipping down, and then slowly climbed up.
When Shu Jintian finally stood on the ground again, five minutes had already passed.
Shu Jintian’s heart couldn’t stop pounding violently. After being imprisoned for almost a month, now that he suddenly gained freedom, Shu Jintian barely felt that it was real.
Twenty meters away from the hole was the river. This river was relatively narrow, but still seven or eight meters wide, more than twice as narrow as the one near the seacoast.
Shu Jintian considered it, then took off his shoes and clothes to toss over at the opposite bank. After that, he also forcefully threw his jacket over. Then he did a simple warm-up, and efficiently leapt into the water. Shu Jintian didn’t raise his head either and directly swam ahead underwater. Less than ten seconds later, he reached the other side of the river.
He used the long-sleeved t-shirt that the big bird had clawed into ruins to casually wipe off the water on his body, and then he put on his pants and shoes. Picking up his things, he began to hurry ahead; his objective was the beach at the opposite bank of the river.
Shu Jintian had a change of mind when he was by the seacoast; perhaps that person was living by the sea.
Shu Jintian ran over to the seaside, following along the edges of the row of trees.
His heart rate was very quick, but that wasn’t entirely because of his vigorous running; it was more because of the big snake. He didn’t know how the big snake would rage when he discovered him gone. Imagining the big snake’s anger without him to vent on, Shu Jintian suddenly felt so refreshed.
Shu Jintian ran forward without a break, and he didn’t care if there was anyone whom he could ask for rescue up ahead. Just run over first.
Shu Jintian ran very hurriedly and passed by an area that was comparatively spacious and empty. In his rush, he spotted a pile of already extinguished firewood out of the corner of his eyes.
Shu Jintian was startled and stopped. His heart still violently pounding, he placed a hand against his chest and gasped large breaths, walking towards the ashes with a stunned expression.
There was a leaf on the floor that had been bent into a pot, and on the outside, a slender rattan was used to tie a few loops. Inside, there was still less than half a pot of fish soup left. Shu Jintian could even see that there was half a small fish inside. There was a pile of food that was used and trashed, as well as a few round leaves the size of a washbowl. There were still some oil stains in it, and Shu Jintian guessed that it was used to store food.
There was still a faint heat by the bonfire. Shu Jintian touched the fire ashes with his hand; it was still a little warm. It had probably been ignited in the morning.
Shu Jintian became excited. Were there people residing here? Shu Jintian looked around, but couldn’t see a single figure, nor did he see any man-made buildings.
If nothing else, they wouldn’t be more barbarous than the big snake. Quite reliable! He’ll try finding out if he could find his people. If he could, he could rely on them to help.
Shu Jintian followed along the grass that was trodden flat and headed deeper in, and saw a simple and crude thatched hut. It was made with dried tree branches and its height was no more than two meters, occupying about nine square meters. It was very narrow and small, and only allowed one person to sleep inside.
Aside from a bit of dried grass, there was nothing in the house. The floor was swept very cleanly; aside from half the place with dried grass, the remaining half did not have a single weed. It wasn’t hard to see that the owner was someone who loved cleanliness.
Shu Jintian was a little disappointed that there was nothing aside from dried grass in this house. Could it be that he had already moved home? Then where would he go ne?
“Shit! I came a step too late!” Shu Jintian angrily and resentfully beat the wall with his fist. The shoddily built thatched hut immediately let out crashing sounds.
The sounds of creaks and groans were heard from above.
What’s that sound? Shu Jintian raised his head, and the withered-yellow roof directly hit him on the face.
“Ah!”
For a time, dried plants flew about chaotically, muddying up the clean air in the forest. The simple and crude thatched hut was no more, and there was only a pile of wood and dried up branches in a disarray.
Ten seconds later, a hand reached out of the messy wooden pile, then out poked a head covered in hay and withered leaves.
“Ptu!” Shu Jintian spat out the grass in his mouth and crawled out of the ‘thatched hut’. “Really fucking unlucky! Fucking shoddy building! Laozi revoked my previous words, this person really is goddamn unreliable.”
Shu Jintian shook out the mess of plants on his body, resolving to return to the seashore to take a look. This person ate by the beach, which proved that he had moved about by the sea. Even if he couldn’t run into him, he could still find some clues.
Shu Jintian shook his head, and the two dried leaves at the top of his head fluttered down.
Time was extremely tight, and Shu Jintian quickly ran for the seaside and speedily swept his gaze around. Just now, he hadn’t noticed that there seemed to be a large hole at the beach. It was very easy to discover in an area of smooth sand.
Shu Jintian quickly strode over to examine. When he took a clear look of the bottom of the pit, his jaw dropped in astonishment.
The surrounding was dark, golden sand, but the bottom of this pit was a layer of pure white. Under the illumination of the scorching sun, the white was a little dazzling.
Salt? Did this person come over to extract salt?
Shu Jintian leapt down the hole, a finger swiping up a small bit of the white particles and he licked it. Sure enough, it was salt.
Shu Jintian was extremely surprised and pleased. He explored the depths with his hand; it was approximately about ten centimeters deep. The salt layer’s surface was bumpy. It was probably because the owner brought away some after extracting the salt.
That’s very good. He had originally been thinking about how he would obtain salt in the future, as he couldn’t just always make do with his current conditions. This readily available salt was then sent to his door.
Shu Jintian was thinking about how he should take away some salt when he heard a familiar susurration. His body abruptly stiffened and he anxiously turned his head over.
Shit, Shu Hanyu’s here! How could he be so fast?
“Ah!” Shu Jintian turned around and before he could see Shu Hanyu’s figure, he was thrown to the ground by Shu Hanyu.
Shu Jintian braced a hand on the floor, wanting to flip himself over. Shu Hanyu immediately caught the female’s hands messing around, his strength so great it practically was about to break his bones.
Shu Hanyu’s expression was extremely ugly, gloomy to the point it was like it had gathered a layer of ice frost.
Shu Jintian’s face whitened from the pain but he no longer flailed around.
“Big snake!” Shu Jintian probed him out, his voice carrying a faint tremble.
“Why are you here?” Shu Hanyu’s voice was no longer as tender as before. It was as icy as a sharp arrow, ruthlessly piercing Shu Jintian’s heart.
Shu Jintian knew that he was travelling on the verge of exploding in a rage, and that Shu Hanyu could erupt at any time. His body couldn’t suppress itself and began to tremble.
“I- I felt bored while waiting, so I came out to play. I would have gone back right away.”
Shu Hanyu did not respond to Shu Jintian. Shu Jintian was lying on his stomach against the floor and couldn’t see Shu Hanyu’s expression. He could only feel his back grow cold. Even though it was the scorching summertime, he was producing cold sweat all over his body; he was so cold his limbs and skeletons seemed to have frozen, so stiff it didn’t seem like his.
Shu Hamyu tightened his grasp on the female’s hand, his eyes staring at the female unbendingly as he firmly squashed down the impulse to harm the female.
His wrists were hurting a lot. Shu Jintian frowned tightly but didn’t struggle, explaining after taking a deep breath, “Can’t you see that I didn’t walk far? I didn’t want to escape, really!”
In no way would he admit it, otherwise Shu Hanyu would definitely kill him.
However, the big snake’s speed was just too goddamn quick. Even if he didn’t tarry over places this time, he couldn’t walk very far. Now that he was caught here, he hoped he could deceive him.
Shu Hanyu lightened his strength, suspiciously saying, “Really?”
Shu Jintian was delighted, and rapidly nodded. Afraid that Shu Hanyu couldn’t see it, he anxiously said, “Mhm, really, I wouldn’t run.”
Shu Hanyu’s expression eased somewhat when he suddenly spotted the jacket at the side and became suspicious again.
“Why did you bring clothes?”
Shu Jintian twisted his head to look. That jacket of his with thick material was right by his side. The weather was scorching; even wearing a singlet would feel hot. Naturally, him bringing such an article of thick clothing would arouse suspicion.
Shu Jintian summoned up his courage as he lied through his teeth. “Because I’m cold. Maybe because I got a cold from being in the sea yesterday ba! I’ll say again, I won’t run. You’re so amazing, how could I escape?”
Shu Hanyu was pleased at first, dispelling his suspicions. However, when he heard the female’s latter words, his breathing became stifled.
Even if the female didn’t run, was it because he was scared of him?
“Let’s go!” Shu Hanyu picked up the jacket on the floor and helped Shu Jintian put it on, then crawled out of the salt pit. Placing Shu Jintian under his armpit, he left.
Shu Jintian sighed in relief, knowing that this calamity could be considered as mostly having passed. Before he could rejoice, his entire body was carried under Shu Hanyu’s arm by the waist.
Shu Jintian struggled. “You’re binding my stomach; let me down.”
Shu Hanyu’s arm clasping the female tightened and his free hand heavily smacked him on the butt with a ‘Pa’.
“Don’t move!”
“Ah!” Shu Jintian felt the sting and no longer struggled. His head was hanging down and had a bit of blood congestion. Shu Jintian hugged one of Shu Hanyu’s legs, raising his head with much difficulty. What he saw was the salt pit that was gradually getting further away from him.
“That, Hanyu, could- Ah!” Before Shu Jintian finished speaking, his butt received another slap. Shu Hanyu was strong and Shu Jintian felt like his butt was about to be slapped flat. The words of asking to bring back salt were swallowed down without any results.
Shu Jintian accepted his misfortune and dropped his head, releasing his hand that was holding Shu Hanyu’s thigh. Relaxing his strength and hanging like this was like being a dead fish.
Passing through the river, Shu Hanyu put Shu Jintian down. Shu Jintian hastily took off his clothes, balling them up and throwing them over, fearing that he would push him down with a slap again and wet his clothes.
Shu Hanyu waited until the female was done before he leapt into the ocean while carrying him. When he climbed ashore, he didn’t wait for him to put his clothes on and directly picked up the jacket to wrap Shu Jintian up, then left with him under his arm.
“In any case, you should still let me put on clothes first ah- Hey! Ow!” Shu Jintian’s voice had barely fallen when another swat landed on his butt. Without the barrier of his pants, Shu Hanyu’s palm let out a crisp and loud sound when smacking his butt. When Shu Jintian heard it, he was so angry he blushed.
Shu Jintian dared to be angry but didn’t dare to verbalise it. He mournfully sighed and turned limp. His stark naked body moved to and fro along with Shu Hanyu’s walking, like a descaled dead fish.
The instant he was tossed into the hole, Shu Jintian’s heart was filled with unlimited dismay.
Motherfucker, I worked myself to death and still returned to the snake nest again.
Baobao Notes
Peepo everyone my sense of schedule is horrible recently…. sorry for the late updates, I usually forget what day it is and stuff :((( thanks for reading tho