SDIWD - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
When on missions, Sentinels were often unable to eat properly, so they were equipped with high-calorie military rations. However, after becoming Hua Mu's personal Sentinel, Bai Zhen no longer undertook military assignments and thus wasn't carrying any.
She hadn't eaten a proper meal in two days, and her body was telling her she was ravenous. The seabird was about the size of a duck, weighing three or four jin. Without hot water to de-feather it, Bai Zhen had simply skinned it.
She had cleaned it reasonably well, but without any spices, the waterfowl meat was bound to have a fishy, gamey taste—especially since she had just wrapped it in a bundle and buried it in the embers to cook.
Hua Mu watched Bai Zhen unceremoniously tear off a wing and begin to eat. Suddenly, her own aversion to red meat seemed trivial—she was far more concerned for her Sentinel's senses of taste and smell.
"Bai Zhen…"
Bai Zhen ate quickly, though not exactly ravenously. The meat just seemed to vanish in an instant; it was almost magical.
"Miss, do you have an order for me?"
Eating was certainly not as urgent as the Young Lady's needs. Bai Zhen immediately set down the bone she was holding and sat at attention, awaiting Hua Mu's command.
Hua Mu covered her mouth and nose, her voice muffled. "Does it… taste all right?"
Of course, Bai Zhen could smell the pungent odor. But for her, under these circumstances, food that could fill her stomach was more than enough.
"D-Did the smell bother you…?"
Of course it bothered her! But she was only smelling it; Bai Zhen was actually eating it!
"I knew you weren't a picky eater, but this… this is the kind of thing that could give you an upset stomach, isn't it? Aren't you good at identifying plants? Couldn't you find some spices or something?"
"I-I'm not very good at recognizing those…"
Since Bai Zhen paid no mind to flavor, why would she have paid attention to such things? She could cook food, certainly, but when it came to actual cooking… she was even worse than Hua Mu.
Hua Mu felt she had regained the upper hand. She, on the other hand, could identify plenty of spices and herbs. The young ladies of the nobility had all sorts of ways to pass the time; reading salons and tea parties were the most common and uninspired. Lately, the most fashionable pastimes were perfume-making and fruit-wine brewing, and Hua Mu had attended her fair share of such gatherings.
"Hmph. If you really don't know how, I suppose I could teach you."
How could Bai Zhen dare to trouble her? She quickly refused. "There's no need, Miss. I'm fine."
Hua Mu's eyes widened in exasperation.
"Fine, then! Who wants to teach you anyway!"
Bai Zhen didn't know how she had managed to anger her again and was suddenly filled with anxiety.
Hua Mu felt deflated. She began to sulk and ignored Bai Zhen.
Not daring to ask what was wrong, Bai Zhen could only finish her meal in silence.
Mid-afternoon was the hottest part of the day. Even staying in the shade, Hua Mu found the heat oppressive. It would have been much more comfortable in the forest, but even she knew that staying away from the beach for too long meant risking missing a rescue ship.
Bai Zhen had spent a long time searching the shallows and had found a few useful items. They weren't the only things the currents had brought in yesterday; pieces of wreckage from their yacht had washed up as well. The yacht had been a birthday gift from the Grand Duke to his daughter. It combined a state-of-the-art power system with the classic look of a sailboat, featuring a sturdy hull, solar panels, and a freshwater recycling unit.
On a normal shipping route, no one would have doubted its ability to cross half the globe.
But not even a massive cruise liner could withstand the storms of the Shipwreck Anomaly Zone, and they had been no exception.
When Bai Zhen returned, shouldering a broken mast with its sailcloth still attached, Hua Mu nearly burst into tears.
She'd only had her beloved yacht, the "Whisperer," for a few months. It had cost half a year's allowance, and she hadn't even had a chance to show it off to her friends. Now, all that remained was a broken mast and a tattered sail.
"Miss, look what I found."
After fetching water and leaves, Bai Zhen had spent nearly the whole afternoon wading in the sea. It wasn't just the mast; earlier, she had hauled back a pile of scrap metal, presenting each piece to Hua Mu as if it were a precious treasure.
Although shipping lanes from all nations deliberately avoided the Shipwreck Anomaly Zone, the periphery of the region saw frequent human activity. Adventurers, independent media personalities, and social media influencers loved to come here to explore, hunt for curiosities, or film videos. There were also plenty of wealthy scions like Hua Mu who came to the area for vacation.
With human activity in the surrounding area, numerous past shipwrecks, and the effects of global ocean currents, the island might be deserted, but it was far from untouched by humanity—Bai Zhen had already collected four or five plastic bottles.
"It's just a broken mast, isn't it?" Hua Mu said dismissively.
It wasn't as useful as the broken slipper she'd found earlier. At least that meant one of her feet no longer had to be bare.
"Miss, it's the sailcloth! We can build an awning."
Bai Zhen was clearly thinking much further ahead than she was. Hua Mu froze for a moment, a sudden panic rising within her.
It was only their second day. After getting past the initial mortifying hurdles, she had started to feel less awful. A part of her still clung to the belief that they would be rescued soon, so she hadn't even considered the possibility of rain.
But if they truly had to prepare for a stay measured in months, as Bai Zhen had suggested, how could they possibly avoid rain?
In fact, a month without rain would be a far worse disaster.
"Oh… then set it up. Don't go back in the water; it's getting dark." Hua Mu realized her mindset was all wrong. She knew her situation, knew she should be planning for the long term, but some emotion was holding her back from thinking too deeply.
Under these circumstances, preparing for the worst was only logical, yet she had to force herself to push away the negative thoughts.
She wouldn't think about how her father might not have even realized she was missing. She wouldn't think about how long she might be stuck on this island. And she wouldn't think about the possibility of Bai Zhen betraying her.
She couldn't let her mind break before her body did.
Bai Zhen buried the end of the broken mast in the earth near the rock face, then quickly stretched the sailcloth between the cliff, a coconut tree, and the mast. The yacht had been a multi-sail design, and the piece Bai Zhen had dragged back was one of the smaller ones, covering less than two square meters. Still, the small shelter gave Hua Mu a sense of security. At least things would be a little better when it rained.
That afternoon, Bai Zhen built the temporary shelter, made a simple bed of dry grass for Hua Mu, filled four coconut shells and five plastic bottles with fresh water, and brought back the leaves Hua Mu had requested, all washed clean.
As for Hua Mu, aside from napping, feeling sorry for herself, and once again struggling through the ordeal of using the "toilet," she spent the rest of her time meticulously cleaning the plastic bottles.
Soon, their second night on the deserted island descended.
Dinner was once again fish, shellfish, and a bit of coconut. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't delicious either. Hua Mu knew that a little salt would make it much more palatable, but she couldn't bring herself to make the effort.
Though she had scorned Bai Zhen's crude cooking at noon, when she thought about it, was she any different? She couldn't use seawater directly, of course, but she knew the basic process for extracting salt. A few attempts might even yield success.
Yet she did nothing, choosing instead to endure the bland food. She refused to admit, even to herself, that they might be here for a while. She kept telling herself they would be rescued tomorrow, so any long-term effort would be wasted. A little temporary discomfort was acceptable.
Hua Mu felt like she had done nothing all day, yet by nightfall, she was even more exhausted than the day before. She lay again on Bai Zhen's jacket, which was now cushioned by a layer of dry grass, making it much more comfortable than the previous night. The fire crackled just outside their canvas shelter, casting their flickering shadows onto the rock face. The wind was picking up, making their silhouettes dance and sway.
Bai Zhen sat by the fire with her back to Hua Mu, shielding her from the wind. Gazing at her silhouette, with the sound of the wind and waves as a lullaby, Hua Mu drifted into sleep.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Hua Mu had almost grown accustomed to the bland food, the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements, and her new method of personal hygiene. With their freshwater supply dwindling, she had even learned to bathe using the smallest amount of water possible.
There was still no sign of a rescue ship. Not a single suspicious object had appeared on the horizon.
Bai Zhen had scouted the area between the beach and the stream but had ventured no further inland. For now, her every action was focused on two things: survival, and maintaining their distress signals to ensure they could be spotted as soon as rescuers arrived.
In addition to building a signal fire and laying out a large SOS in the sand, she had also tied strips of red cloth to several high points. The cloth was cut from another piece of sail she had found, and the idea to dye it with flower petals had been Hua Mu's.
But what awaited them was not rescue, but a dangerously dwindling supply of fresh water.
It hadn't rained for a week, and the stream they had discovered was shrinking. Now, Bai Zhen had to travel farther upstream to its source just to collect water.
With thirteen coconut shells and the various bottles Bai Zhen had scavenged, they had a decent number of water containers. Even if the stream dried up completely, they could hold out for a while. Still, the situation was grim and weighed heavily on them.
Hua Mu was on the verge of a breakdown.
On the tenth day, Bai Zhen came back without water. She knew she had to search for another source, or else they could only pray for rain.
She had to discuss this with Hua Mu. Bai Zhen hurried back to the beach, and before she even saw the Young Lady, she heard her shouting in what sounded like a celebratory frenzy.
In public, the Young Lady was always poised and elegant, a perfect embodiment of royal dignity and breeding. This was the first time Bai Zhen had ever heard her sound so utterly overjoyed.
"Miss!"
Bai Zhen had been extremely worried about Hua Mu's mental state lately but had been powerless to help. Her first thought was that the Young Lady had finally snapped under the strain and lost her mind.
She quickened her pace, and when she reached the beach, she saw Hua Mu, waist-deep in the ocean, waving her arms and screaming at something in the distance.
"We're here! We're here! Hey! Look at us! We're on this island!"
Bai Zhen's eyesight was second to none, even among Sentinels, so she quickly understood what was happening.
Far out on the water was a small black dot that looked very much like a ship.
But she knew it was only an orca.
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