SDIWD - Chapter 19
Chapter 19
One word from Hua Mu, and Bai Zhen was run off her feet. The stove was easy enough to build, but collecting distilled water was not as simple as she had imagined.
Fortunately, the one carrying out the task was the highly capable Bai Zhen, who managed to construct the distillation apparatus Hua Mu had envisioned in just half an afternoon.
Emmmmm…
Hua Mu stared at it for a long time, realizing the results were completely different from what she had expected.
Bai Zhen had set up wooden frames on either side of the fire, with two slanted iron plates resting against them. At the lower end of the plates, she had placed split bamboo stalks to catch the distilled water that trickled down after condensation.
Bai Zhen had wedged both sides of the iron plates into wooden stakes, making the setup quite stable, but the effectiveness was nothing to write home about.
Of course, this wasn't Bai Zhen's fault. Hua Mu came to the thorough realization that she had been far too optimistic.
Setting aside the fact that distillation itself is a relatively inefficient method of desalination, the loss caused by the device's inability to form a sealed space was enough to make Hua Mu despair. Moreover, the hotter the iron plates got, the less effective the condensation became. A large amount of steam escaped through the gaps, leaving very little fresh water to trickle down in the end.
While it wasn't completely ineffective, for the two of them, it was a drop in the bucket.
Bai Zhen, however, seemed to be in a good mood. Watching the fresh water slowly accumulate in the bamboo tube, she was amazed by Hua Mu's idea.
"Miss, there's really water!"
Hua Mu couldn't bear to watch anymore. She had been staring for ages and hadn't seen a single mouthful's worth collect.
"Of course there's water." It just wasn't enough to drink. Even with the coconut milk and other fruits they had today, the two of them had still consumed nearly two liters of fresh water. "You should go look for a water source tomorrow."
Aside from the first time they drank directly from the stream, Bai Zhen had boiled the water in a coconut shell every time she brought it back before pouring it into their water bottles. In the wild, the cleanliness of drinking water could sometimes be a matter of life and death.
But now, Hua Mu felt that even boiling water was a waste of resources. Who knew how much steam was lost in the process?
"Miss, what's wrong?"
Seeing that Hua Mu didn't look the least bit happy, Bai Zhen grew a little worried.
Hua Mu flopped onto the dry grass, turning her back to Bai Zhen. "It's nothing, I'm just tired. You can prepare dinner. I'm going to rest for a bit."
Bai Zhen hesitated for a moment before quietly leaving.
Although the southern coast wasn't as rich in resources as the eastern coast, Bai Zhen was more familiar with it. About a hundred meters from the shore began the shipwreck zone. Due to the currents, she couldn't explore any further out, but it was enough for her to recognize the terrifying nature of the area surrounding the island.
Although Hua Mu had seen her salvage many things, she had never personally witnessed the shipwrecks that spanned nearly every historical era. To this day, she still considered their predicament a mere accident.
If the Shipwreck Anomaly Zone was a circle of death, then this island was likely the island of death.
A faint worry stirred in Bai Zhen.
The empire's warships were naturally invincible, but how long could they have lasted against the storm the two of them had encountered?
But in their current situation, worrying was useless. Bai Zhen refocused her energy on figuring out how to lift Hua Mu's spirits.
The shortage of fresh water was indeed their most pressing problem at the moment. Hua Mu's proactive attitude in wanting to solve it together made Bai Zhen feel both touched and guilty.
If she weren't so useless, why would the Young Lady have to worry about such things?
Bai Zhen could ultimately tell that Hua Mu was dissatisfied with the device's results.
Hua Mu truly did feel tired today. After lying down for a while, she still felt uncomfortable all over. She rolled over and saw the beach was empty. For some reason, a sense of panic and irritation crept into her heart.
She should have been used to it by now. Why was she suddenly afraid of being alone again today?
It must be because she wasn't feeling well.
She hadn't walked much today, spending most of her time on Bai Zhen's back. So why did her back ache, her waist feel sore, and her stomach feel a little bloated…?
The Young Lady sat up abruptly.
She remembered something—something incredibly important that she had been deliberately forgetting.
"The fourteenth, the fifteenth, the sixteenth…"
They had been stranded on the island on April fourth. Today was the thirteenth day, which made it April sixteenth.
The more Hua Mu thought about it, the more her lower abdomen ached. She clutched her stomach, on the verge of tears. Of all days, it had to be today, and she had even eaten three sea urchins.
Hua Mu's periods had always been difficult to endure, no matter what remedies she tried. So, during this time of the month, she would hole up at home, moving as little as possible, armed with ginger tea, a hot water bottle, and painkillers.
But out here in the wilderness, forget painkillers—she didn't even have a sanitary pad.
"Bai Zhen…"
And on top of that, she was always emotionally fragile during her period!
Where the hell did that bastard Bai Zhen go?!
Bai Zhen swam west along the coastline for more than a nautical mile. This part of the coast was all steep cliffs, the sea below riddled with hidden reefs, and the number of shipwrecks was far greater than elsewhere. The waters near the beach where they were staying mostly contained fragments of ships, but here, there were relatively intact vessels, many of which were large ships with their hulls towering high above the sea.
Because the currents were more turbulent here, Bai Zhen hadn't explored it thoroughly before, but this time she decided to take a risk.
Far from the island, there was a medium-sized passenger ship that, judging by its design, was likely from the last decade or so. The ship was about forty meters long and had broken in the middle. Its bow and stern were deeply embedded in the seabed, while the fractured midsection rose high above the water. The hull was covered in barnacles and other marine life, and one could only faintly make out red painted letters on its side.
Bai Zhen swam a circle around the ship but found no opening large enough for her to pass through. In the end, she chose to climb up from the top. The attached marine organisms made the climb easier but also increased the risk of injury. Fortunately, Bai Zhen was well-trained and agile, and she reached the ship's fracture point without incident.
The entire hull was tilted at an angle greater than sixty degrees. The different decks of the ship were no longer distinct; looking down from above, one could see the clear seawater below.
Bai Zhen took out her multi-function military knife and attached a climbing line made of bio-steel. Then, she drove the grappling hook at the end of the knife deep into the ship's iron plating. The other end of the line was connected to an automatic retractor on her dagger's hilt. After securing the dagger to her belt, Bai Zhen took a deep breath and jumped into the ship's interior.
Since it was shielded from direct sunlight, the water inside the hull was colder than outside, and the light was dim. As a precaution, Bai Zhen had taken one of her Little White Pills beforehand. Then, she began to search cabin by cabin for the ship's supply hold.
While worrying about her impending period, Hua Mu waited for Bai Zhen to return. She waited and waited, but there was no sign of her. Panic and anxiety gave way to a simmering anger. The pain in her stomach was now definitely not just psychological, but she didn't have the courage to check for herself.
If her period really had started, what was she going to do?
But in this world, aside from death, the one thing a woman—a non-Sentinel woman—could not escape was her period.
Hua Mu felt incredibly wronged. Why did this have to happen to her, of all people? She held herself in one position, afraid to move, cursing Bai Zhen a thousand times over in her mind.
It wasn't until the sky began to turn a dusky gray that Hua Mu finally saw a figure slowly emerge from the sea. Bai Zhen seemed to be dragging something heavy, her steps much heavier than usual.
Hua Mu knelt up, so angry she wanted to scream at her. But before the words could leave her mouth, the other woman seemed to sense something. She casually dropped what she was carrying on the sand and charged toward her like a leopard.
"Miss!"
Hua Mu hadn't even had a chance to unleash her temper before she was startled by Bai Zhen's panicked expression.
"Wh-what is it?!"
Hua Mu didn't know if Bai Zhen was naturally deadpan or if Sentinel training had worn away her expressions, but in the five years she had been her guard, she had rarely seen her smile. As for anxiety or worry, those emotions appeared occasionally, but you could never really tell from her face.
And the reasons she gave always frustrated Hua Mu—it was always either fear of her father's reprimand or concern for the Queen.
However, since arriving on the island, Bai Zhen had become a bit more emotionally expressive. Her panic right now, for instance, was perfectly clear.
Bai Zhen's face was pale. She grabbed Hua Mu's arm, seemingly wanting to inspect her body.
"Miss, where are you hurt?"
Hua Mu was baffled.
"I'm not hurt! Where- where on earth have you been? It took you so long to get back!"
Bai Zhen thought she was trying not to worry her. "Miss, don't lie to me," she said anxiously. "I can smell blood. What happened? Did the seabirds attack you again? Or- or did you go gathering mussels again?"
Damn Sentinel!
Hua Mu's face flushed crimson.
She had cursed the keen senses of Sentinels more than once, but this had to be the most vehement time yet.
Damn Sentinel!
Her period really had started!
"Miss?"
Seeing Hua Mu's face flushed red as she stared at her without a word, Bai Zhen disregarded propriety and leaned in to smell her, trying to find the source of the injury.
Hua Mu raised a small fist and punched her squarely in the face.
"M-Miss?"
Bai Zhen looked at Hua Mu in alarm. Seeing her start to cry again, her heart ached with a sour pang.
"Are you in a lot of pain?"
Hua Mu was in agony! But the tears were more from feeling wronged and humiliated! Why did this have to happen to her?
"…My stomach hurts."
The first thing Bai Zhen thought of was that Hua Mu had eaten something bad.
"Was it something you ate today? Could it be the sea urchins…"
There was no point in beating around the bush with this blockhead. Hua Mu gave up and said it plainly, "I'm on my period, understand? A girl's period, the one that comes every month."
Stated so bluntly, even a male Sentinel should have understood!
When not on a mission, her own period arrived on schedule. But a Sentinel's body was made for missions; during an assignment, they could use their spirit animal to regulate their physiological responses.
This was similar to how animals choose their mating seasons based on environmental and climatic changes, only it relied on the spirit animal influencing the body's hormone release. As a result, a Sentinel's fatigue level would increase at a much faster rate.
In other words, Bai Zhen had paused her own menstrual cycle at the cost of consuming her Little White Pills more quickly.
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