Chapter 290 - 290 147

Words : 1479 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

290: 147. Night falls 290: 147. Night falls “` Overwhelmed by fatigue and the insecurity around him, even the warmth of the shelter at Windbreak Point could not grant Lu Li a peaceful night’s sleep. He would involuntarily wake up periodically, only to fall back into a deep slumber. This made it difficult to get enough rest or good sleep, but there were apparent benefits. Lu Li didn’t have to worry about the fire going out due to neglect, or the collected water overflowing from the container and going to waste. Less than two hours later, Lu Li woke up for the fifth time. The time was nearing morning, and under the gloomy skies, the ocean appeared profound and ominous, as if brewing something dreadful. Lu Li paused his rest for a moment, briefly left Windbreak Point, and returned with his hands full of water in a container, which he placed on the rocks to heat. He picked up the canned pork next to him, ate the remaining half, took the empty can, pursed his lips, and emerged from the shelter, heading towards the beach. Let me say it again, it was incredibly salty. After eating, the desire to drink water peaked, but the staving off of hunger was effective. At least Lu Li felt no hunger to this point. As he squatted down to clean the can, Lu Li observed his surroundings. Newly arrived seashells and conches were brought onto the beach by the waves and then swept back out again. The first branch Lu Li had placed at the edge of the beach was completely submerged, and the second branch was mostly submerged, visible only when the waves receded. The sea level had risen significantly compared to two hours ago. A new wave swept in, covering the soles of Lu Li’s feet. It left a scallop behind at his feet before withdrawing. Lu Li reached out to pick it up, used a stone piece to pry open the scallop, and found it empty except for a piece of snow-white flesh, the size of a fingernail, clinging to the inside. Tossing the scallop back into the sea, Lu Li took the can and walked back to Windbreak Point, resumed collecting the groundwater, returned outside the shelter, and brought stacks of firewood back inside. The water on the rocks was just warm; Lu Li added some branches to the fire to increase the temperature and lay down to rest. Gurgling... A strange figure approached, murmuring indistinctly. Lu Li opened his eyes to find the water in the pot beside the fire boiling noisily. He sat up, used a stick to lift the pot from the fire, placed it in a pre-dug depression at the side, covered it with a clean stone to prevent sand from falling into it, added another piece of firewood, and went back to sleep. The pattern was still to wake up every few dozen minutes; upon the first awakening, Lu Li drank some water, during the second, he drank more, and on the third, he finished the water in the container and switched it for the half-full one at the water collection point. During this time, Lu Li felt cold, but the sensation disappeared after he added a substantial amount of wood to the fire. He fell back into a deep sleep to the sound of the howling wind outside. As time passed, it steadily approached evening. At one point, Lu Li awoke feeling groggy, finding it harder to fall back asleep. After drinking the hot water from the can, Lu Li went to Windbreak Point to switch out the can that was now full. It was difficult to keep track of exact time on the island, so Lu Li could only estimate that roughly 5–6 hours had passed by counting the number of times he had collected water. The current time might have been close to 5 p.m., and it wouldn’t be long before darkness fell. Having added firewood to the flames, Lu Li emerged from Windbreak Point. The coastline on the beach was receding, with the tide at its highest at noon before ebbing away in the afternoon. “` Lu Li followed the coastline to the pool, where the tide had receded, leaving behind five or six small fish the size of fingers. The catch was small; together, they didn’t even compare to the size of the silvery fish Lu Li had put into the pool. To attract more fish, he needed to use more appealing bait, such as rotting flesh. Lu Li rolled up his pant legs and waded into the pool, chasing the small fish that were disturbed by the muddy water. After struggling for a few minutes, Lu Li barely managed to catch four of them. The remaining one was difficult to spot in the murky water, so he didn’t waste more time. He smashed the four small fish to death and then continued forward, wading through the seawater toward the beach where the fin prints had been found. With the high tide from a few hours ago, most of the fin prints on the beach had disappeared, including Lu Li’s own footprints. After confirming that there were still only twelve tracks and no new fin prints had been added, Lu Li retreated back to the pool and then back to Windbreak Point. The footprints here were chaotic and entangled; it was impossible to conceal them, so Lu Li gave up on the plan. He looked up at the sky, which had grown somewhat darker than when he had first awakened—it was almost night. Taking advantage of the last light before darkness, Lu Li placed Xiao Yu next to the fire pit on a rock and went into the forest to look for something to block the entrance at Windbreak Point. He inevitably approached the only cottage on the clifftop, where humans had once lived, but as he walked up the path and neared the clifftop cottage, he suddenly furrowed his brow. The uneasy feeling that had briefly surfaced upon entering the wooden hut was intensifying as he got closer. It was as if Lu Li was not approaching a cottage but rather some foreboding presence with ill intent. Less than ten meters away from the cottage, Lu Li stopped. He felt that if he got any closer, that presence would latch onto him. Lu Li couldn’t sense the other through the Spirit-Calling Gun; its sensing was mutual. If Lu Li could feel the other, the other could also sense Lu Li, and this was not a good idea. With a tinge of regret, he glanced over at the lounge chair on the other side of the cottage and then backed away to the start of the small path. After searching around for half a circle, as the evening approached and distant objects became harder to see, Lu Li, having found nothing, returned to Windbreak Point. Surprisingly, a familiar silhouette lay under the cliff, about ten meters away from Windbreak Point—a place Lu Li had just decided to give up on minutes before. It was a lounge chair. “...?” Lu Li looked up at the top of the cliff. Although the clifftop was windy, and it was possible for the neglected lounge chair to have been blown down—this scene was too coincidental. Suppressing the urge to draw his gun and sense his surroundings, Lu Li silently accepted this gift. He dragged the lounge chair to Windbreak Point, disassembled it outside, and used the side with fabric, like a stretcher, to barricade the entrance. Windbreak Point was now completely concealed on both sides, with about twenty centimeters left open at the top, which would allow the smoke from the fire pit to drift out. The size was just right, and if anything moved it, the noise would alert Lu Li faster than his own senses. It was as if he had completely forgotten there was another person on the island. Lu Li gazed into the distance, where only the dark silhouette of the sea remained, a dim red hue on the clouds to the west was gradually fading away, and the light and warmth seemed to be drawn out of this world, leaving only the bright and heartwarming fire within Windbreak Point. Holding enough firewood to burn until tomorrow, he tucked it inside Windbreak Point and then crawled inside. He pulled the lounge chair shut behind him. The sound of the waves and the wooing of the sea breeze seemed quieter behind the barrier of the lounge chair, and with the addition of a makeshift “door” to the nook, there emerged a tentative sense of security. He flipped the slightly charred small fish, leaned against the warm stone wall, and faced the outside world. The last traces of light from the outside world disappeared. Night had fallen.

Chapter 290 - 290 147

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