Thirsty!

Lie Mo wakes up because of his thirst. He’s not only thirsty he is cold and this clothes are moist and dirty.

After a few moments all the memories came back.

Everyone died.

He ran away like a coward.

He didn’t even put up a fight.

He just let them slaughter his family and friends.

And all he did was freeze up and run away.

He is so pathetic.

…

After a while Lie Mo stands up and starts searching for a water source. No matter how bad the situation, survival comes first.

There is no water in sight. No stream, no river, no pond and no useful plant.

The piece of forest around is full of dry old trees. They are barely two or three men high. The ground is littered with sharp white stones and a lot of fallen leaves.

Water always flows downstream. Lie Mo starts walking downhill.

Flexible Bamboo trained him in an efficient walking stile. Quick, silent and energy efficient. Lie Mo uses every shadow and every indent to stick out as little as possible. But he doesn’t see any animal around. At least no dangerous ones. Small geckos, birds and insects are everywhere.

But water is more important than food.

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Cultivators can go a long time without food or water. But they will burn it more quickly when they are at peak performance. And he was running several hours at peak performance.

Without water, food, fire and shelter he will die.

Yes, he is repeating himself. But thinking about survival distracts from the mental torment of loosing everyone.

After a while of running the ground changes as well as the tree. The dirt is more nutrias and the trees are taller. The sharp white stones are disappearing.

And then he finally finds a pond. A brown pond. This pond is so muddy that he wouldn’t drink the water even if it is filtered and boiled.

With the blunt side of his spear he digs into the ground a few steps away the pond.

After about a hand deep he hits rock. The same happens at several locations.

Because of that he leaves again to search another water source.

The forest goes on and on. But it barely changes.

There is no evidence of big animals. Like tracks, scratch marks on the trees, poo, holes in the ground.

And even better, there are no beasts out here. Lie Mo can defeat a wild boar or a wolf pack. But beasts are on a different level.

At the moment he would welcome a big animal. They have a drinkable red liquid in them. Not enough for long time survival, but enough to walk for another day.

Slowly the sky get’s darker. He walked for an entire day. All of his energy reserves are dangerously low. Forcing the body to walk further is possible. But it starts hurting the body.

After the sky went dark he sees a indent in the lowest part of the valley. It’s a dried up stream.

Lie Mo follows that stream downhill.

After another half an hour the ground sounds a bit different when he walks on it. Less dry.

During the entire day the terrain was mostly flat. But suddenly the terrain makes falls down a few meters.

At the lower end of the hill he starts digging. This time the soil is almost wet. After a while the hole is knee deep. And then it slowly starts filling up with water.

Up streams are no dangerous soils or rotten animals. The water is clear and doesn’t smell poisoned. He takes out his water filter and the cup. Filtering water is slow, but important. Not boiled water contains parasites. And getting sick is dangerous in the wilds.

The water tastes harmless. A bit sour, but harmless. It’s probably okay to drink.

One cup after another is filled and emptied again. First for drinking and then for washing. Animals smell sweat.

After Lie Mo quenched his thirst he climes a tree. Trees are uncomfortable beds, but they are one of the safer options.

This night is way worse than the last one. Uncomfortable, hungry, barely any sleep, and nightmares when he sleeps. But sleep is just as important as food and water. Bad sleep means bad chances of survival. So he tries to sleep as much as possible.