SDIWD - Chapter 42
Chapter 42
Bai Zhen, afraid of displeasing Hua Mu, quickly explained, "Miss, the hammock is only a temporary solution. It'll get uncomfortable if you sleep in it for too long, so I was thinking…"
She had a point. While it was nice for resting, sleeping in a hammock every night would definitely lead to a sore back.
"Fine, I'll let you off the hook for now."
Bai Zhen breathed a sigh of relief and continued to line the hammock with palm bark and banana leaves. At last, the hammock was complete.
Hua Mu inspected it from all angles, expressing her satisfaction.
"Not bad at all. You've got some skill."
The Sentinel broke into an honest, simple smile upon receiving the Young Lady's praise.
"By the way, how much do you weigh?"
Although Bai Zhen had assured her of the hammock's sturdiness, Hua Mu was still a little worried. After all, she usually slept alone, but now it had to hold two people.
And the other person was a tall, well-built Sentinel. She had no idea how much heavier Bai Zhen was.
"I'm around 60 kilograms. Is there something you need, Miss?"
Bai Zhen didn't know why Hua Mu was asking, but she stated her weight openly.
Sixty kilograms! That was one and a half of her! Together, they would be a hundred kilograms. Could this hammock handle that?
"Can this hammock of yours handle a hundred kilograms?"
"It could handle another hundred kilograms without a problem…" Halfway through her sentence, Bai Zhen suddenly understood Hua Mu's meaning and said in a fluster, "Miss, please don't worry. It's perfectly safe for you to sleep alone. I'll just sit up and keep watch."
Hua Mu's lips were already pouting, but she just said, "Hmph, suit yourself."
After they finished dinner, the sky gradually darkened. Hua Mu wasn't feeling well, so she lay down in the hammock to rest first, while Bai Zhen continued to clean up the mess.
The roof was rebuilt, and Bai Zhen even covered it with a waterproof tarp. The windbreak was also reinforced with wooden stakes, looking like it wouldn't be easily destroyed by wind and rain.
Bai Zhen worked late into the night before finally stopping. She gave herself a quick wipe-down and sat beside the hammock. They had been through a lot these past few days, and her energy was greatly depleted. To avoid a repeat of the shark incident, she took her sixth Little White Pill.
Hua Mu wasn't asleep, so she knew Bai Zhen had sat down beside her. Though she was sleepy and exhausted, she didn't want to sleep alone.
Bai Zhen hadn't been sitting for long when Hua Mu began to toss and turn.
Tossing and turning in a hammock made quite a bit of noise. Bai Zhen soon noticed she was having trouble sleeping and asked cautiously, "Miss, is the hammock uncomfortable?"
Having been ignored for so long, Hua Mu finally had Bai Zhen's attention and immediately started complaining.
"It's uncomfortable. The palm bark is poky, and it's chilly. There's no pillow, I'm so tired from sleeping, my body is sore and aching, my throat hurts, and my head hurts too."
Bai Zhen could understand Hua Mu's discomfort, but she didn't know how to fix it.
"Miss, I can make you a pillow…"
"A pillow won't solve the other problems! I'm going to die!" Hua Mu was exasperated by the Sentinel's denseness. Did she really have to spell it out for her?
"You're not going to die, you… Ah!" Bai Zhen suddenly recalled a similar scene, when the Young Lady had also said she was going to die. "Th-then, can I be… be your cushion?"
Hua Mu immediately sat up—almost tumbling out of the hammock—and patted the space beside her. "S-since you're being so kind, I have no reason to refuse… Now get over here!"
Bai Zhen had mustered all her courage to make the suggestion. She hadn't expected to guess correctly and was overjoyed.
"Okay, yes."
Bai Zhen had woven the hammock to be very large, more than enough for two people. Its load-bearing capacity was also clearly as she'd said, sufficient for both of them. When Bai Zhen lay down, the hammock only sank a little lower.
A human body was indeed much more comfortable. Hua Mu draped herself over Bai Zhen and sighed in satisfaction.
The pillow was so soft, the muscles were nice to touch, the skin was smooth, and she smelled good, too.
"M-Miss?"
Although she had grown somewhat accustomed to Hua Mu's wandering hands, the Sentinel's overly acute senses still left Bai Zhen feeling a bit helpless.
"Hmm… what is it?" Hua Mu couldn't be bothered to explain herself and decided to just be shameless.
She's my guard, so what's wrong with me touching her? It's not like she'll lose a piece of flesh.
"N-nothing…"
As long as the Young Lady is happy, I can endure it.
Satisfied, Hua Mu contentedly stroked the Sentinel's muscles as she drifted off to sleep. They might be going home in a few days, and once they were back at the Grand Duke's residence, Bai Zhen definitely wouldn't be sleeping with her anymore. If she didn't get her fill of touching now, she wouldn't have another chance.
The next few days passed rather leisurely. Because Hua Mu needed to recover, Bai Zhen didn't stray too far from her except to find food and materials. The shelter was repaired again, making it even sturdier than before. The island's second rain came, and aside from a small leak, there was no major damage.
Every day, Hua Mu would scan the sea for passing ships. Even though she knew Bai Zhen's eyesight was much better than hers and that the Sentinel would spot a rescue vessel long before she did, she continued her daily ritual.
But the days passed, one by one. The thirty-first day, the thirty-second, the thirty-third… all the way to the fortieth day, and still there was no sign of rescue.
Every day, Hua Mu would console herself, telling herself that the search must take time, that rescue would surely come tomorrow. But as time went on, these consolations gradually lost their effect.
She went from being full of hope to being full of disappointment, but she could no longer bring herself to have another hysterical outburst like before.
"Miss, aren't you going to look today?"
Bai Zhen checked the signal fire every day and often went to a high point to gaze out at the sea. It wasn't just Hua Mu; she too was worried about their current situation. Launching a large-scale naval search wasn't easy; even a proposal from the Queen would have to be approved by Parliament. And a small-scale search and rescue mission would be almost useless in the Shipwreck Anomaly Zone.
Bai Zhen was terrified that if too much time passed, the empire would give up on rescuing them.
"I'm not going. There's nothing to see anyway."
Hua Mu lay listlessly in the hammock, her reply weak. Because she had thought they would be going home soon, she had rejected Bai Zhen's suggestion to build a bed. For the past several days, they had been sleeping in the hammock.
But the hammock offered almost no support, and sleeping in it for so long made one's back ache. Bai Zhen didn't feel it much, but Hua Mu was starting to find it unbearable.
If rescue never came, was she supposed to sleep in this hammock forever?
No, no, rescue would definitely come. But before that, she needed a comfortable bed. No, rather, she needed many, many things.
"Bai Zhen, let's build a bed, shall we?"
It had rained intermittently over the past few days. Compared to the month-long drought when they first arrived, this was more characteristic of a tropical island. Water was no longer their biggest problem; having nowhere to sleep when it rained was.
"Okay, okay, I'll go get ready right now."
Bai Zhen had been worried about Hua Mu's state for a while. Watching her be disappointed time and again, she was afraid Hua Mu would break down like last time.
But the Young Lady was asking her to build a bed, which meant she still had desires. And as long as one had a goal, one had the motivation to live!
Bai Zhen was a woman of action. Less than two hours after Hua Mu said the word, she had already hauled all the necessary materials back from the jungle.
It was less a bed and more an elevated platform, and for building such a platform, there was no better material than light, sturdy bamboo.
This time, Bai Zhen chose clumping bamboo, which had a certain degree of flexibility and would be slightly more comfortable to sleep on.
Not wanting to be useless, Hua Mu found a task for herself. She used the knot-tying method she had learned last time to connect vines, preparing ropes for Bai Zhen.
With something to do, time seemed to pass more quickly. It took the two of them two days to finally finish a bamboo bed that was two meters long and nearly 1.8 meters wide. The bed's legs were made of thick, mature Moso bamboo, which Bai Zhen buried deep in the ground. The bed was about half a meter off the ground, which would effectively keep out the dampness from the earth. Between the bed frame and the ground, Bai Zhen also built an extra shelf that could be used to store firewood or other miscellaneous items.
The moment the bamboo bed was completed, Hua Mu felt a huge sense of satisfaction. This was the second item she had helped build, after the raft. And unlike last time, where she had only done a little, this time she had genuinely helped a lot.
Bai Zhen carefully sanded the cut surfaces of the bamboo smooth. After repeatedly checking to make sure there were no splinters, she layered palm bark, dry grass, and canvas on top. Aside from the piece of canvas used for the roof, half of what remained was used as a bedsheet.
The canvas was thick and coarse, naturally no match for the fabrics Hua Mu was used to sleeping on, but it was a significant improvement over dry grass and banana leaves.
Hua Mu couldn't wait to lie down on it. Feeling her body sink into the surface and the slight springiness of the bed, she let out a satisfied sigh. This was a proper sleeping environment. How on earth had she endured it before?
"Miss, do you think it's okay?"
Bai Zhen waited nervously for Hua Mu's verdict, but Hua Mu just beckoned to her.
The Sentinel bent down, not understanding. The Young Lady grabbed her arm and pulled—but couldn't move her.
"Why don't you lie down and find out for yourself!"
Hua Mu was so annoyed. She couldn't even manage a surprise!
"Ah? Oh, oh, oh!"
Bai Zhen kicked off her shoes and scrambled onto the bed, but then hesitated before lying down. Hua Mu couldn't stand to watch anymore and rolled over, flopping on top of her.
"What are you hesitating for!"
Their combined weight made the bamboo bed creak slightly, but it was very sturdy and didn't wobble in the slightest.
Pinned beneath Hua Mu, Bai Zhen lay perfectly still.
"So? It's pretty comfortable, right?"
Hua Mu was very proud. When they got back, she was going to take this bed with them.
"Yes, it's very comfortable."
In truth, Bai Zhen wasn't really paying attention to how the bed felt. As long as Hua Mu was on top of her, she couldn't focus on anything else.
Hua Mu lingered on top of her, her hands starting to unconsciously stroke the Sentinel's smooth skin again.
"I-it is very comfortable, but you're still my cushion, you know. Don't even think about escaping that duty."
Knowing how the Sentinel's brain worked, Hua Mu had no doubt she would offer to sleep in the hammock herself!
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