Chapter 32

He stayed crouched in the same spot for two full days. After not seeing the four giant birds for a while, he dared to slowly move his stiff body and carefully sneak back. It wasn’t just those four giant birds that coveted the dinosaur-like exotic beast’s carcass.

Fortunately, he had stayed put for so long. The animals didn’t have the patience to remain in the same spot for such a long time, and with the weather getting colder, many creatures, including exotic beasts, had already entered hibernation. Seeing the situation, they returned to their dormant state, so he was able to safely return to his cave.

As he surveyed the cave entrance, perched halfway up the cliff, Qin Fei began to think that he should create another entry at the bottom of the cliff. After all, if he had returned that night—when his mental energy had been exhausted and he couldn’t levitate—how would he have reached the cave entrance over 200 meters up? If he couldn’t get back in, he would have been in danger.

Mental energy above level five allows a soldier zerg to levitate, and since he was only at level five, he couldn’t fly directly to the cave entrance. He would have to use a protruding stone halfway up to give him a boost.

He moved the large stone blocking the entrance, went inside, and placed it back in position. This way, the entrance would be nearly invisible from the outside unless someone looked very carefully, making it more concealed.

Inside, he first checked on Xi Yuan, who was still lying on the bed, unchanged. His face was pale, so Qin Fei quickly took out a nutrition supplement and fed it to him. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief. While female zergs didn’t need to eat every day, Xi Yuan was in a severely injured state.

He then began sorting through his spoils.

The majority of the dinosaur-like exotic beast’s body had already been consumed by the victor, leaving mostly limbs, the neck, and back, which had relatively less meat. Even so, the meat he managed to salvage from these parts weighed over a thousand pounds! And the massive bones, after he had cleaned them, would be perfect for making broth, enough to last them for a long time.

Conservatively estimating, with their current pace of eating once every half month, the meat would last them for several years. Even if they didn’t encounter such a windfall again, they wouldn’t need to worry about meat in the short term.

After sorting everything out, it was already late into the day. He spent quite a bit of effort organizing his storage space as well, since some of the wood and miscellaneous items he had originally cleared out were still piled at the base of the mountain. Firewood could wait, but the clothes and daily necessities were things they couldn’t get right now and couldn’t be left outside for the animals to take.

—

Crack! Rip!

The firewood in the stove was burning merrily. Qin Fei kept an eye on it, occasionally adding more logs. He hadn’t expected the winter to arrive so suddenly—only a short time had passed, and the outside air was already cold enough to form frost from breath. In another day or two, it wouldn’t surprise him if the river froze over. Given that many of the ferocious exotic beasts were already finding places to hibernate, he couldn’t help but worry if his preparations for the winter were still insufficient.

With these concerns in mind, every time the sun came out over the past two days, he immediately went down to cast his nets for fish, then went outside to chop more trees. He worked on filling up the remaining space in his storage, then returned to collect his nets, stacking firewood in the shed. He figured the more prepared he was, the better. In the evenings, he worked on expanding the interior of the mountain and hadn’t yet opened up the other passage to the cave, which was another task he needed to complete.

The next day, as soon as he moved the giant stone blocking the cave entrance, he felt the cold weather hit him. Despite wearing quite a bit of clothing, including temperature-regulating garments, he still shivered. Outside, the world was covered in ice and snow. The river below the cliff was reflecting the light, and it had already frozen. In just one night, it seemed that his fishing activities would have to come to an end.

He went to chop firewood again, but when his knife struck the tree trunk covered with a layer of ice, he felt a strong rebound, the trunk was rigid and hard. After a long time, he finally managed to chop down a tree. Of course, he believed it would be easier if he used a lightsaber, but the crystal cores he had were limited, and there was no way to replenish them here. He decided to save the lightsaber for when it was absolutely necessary.

After a whole day of effort, the harvest was less than one-tenth of what he had originally expected. The next day, the harvest was even smaller, as the trees had turned into ice sculptures, and removing the ice from them took a lot of effort.

Eventually, he gave up and focused on staying inside the cave. Even though his harvest was minimal, the weather outside was truly maddening. His clothes were warm enough to handle temperatures of minus 50 degrees, but here, even though the temperature hadn’t dropped to extreme lows, the wind that blew through made him feel like his clothes were useless, freezing him to the point where his lips turned purple.

Inside the cave, he couldn’t feel the biting cold wind, and with the firewood burning, it was much warmer. Qin Fei continued with his work, occasionally glancing at the still form of Xi Yuan on the bed. “Xi Yuan, how long do you want to sleep? When will you wake up?”

It had been over three months since they landed here, and Xi Yuan still hadn’t woken up. Wasn’t it said that female zergs had strong vitality? Prove it to me, please.

After cleaning the more-than-a-meter-long fish, Qin Fei steamed the body and made a thick white fish soup from the head and tail. After the soup cooled, he served it and walked over to Xi Yuan’s bedside. He lifted Xi Yuan’s head, took a spoonful of soup, and fed it to him mouth-to-mouth. Then, Qin Fei’s eyes widened as he saw Xi Yuan’s throat move, swallowing the soup on his own!

“Xi Yuan! Xi Yuan! Can you hear me?”

Xi Yuan’s tightly closed eyelids twitched, but he still didn’t open his eyes. However, Qin Fei was overjoyed. Xi Yuan’s consciousness had returned, and he had responded to his words. It seemed that Xi Yuan would wake up soon!

“Xi Yuan, your eyelids are moving. You can hear me, right? Wake up quickly. We’re on a planet we don’t even know where it is. The trees, animals, and exotic beasts here are all gigantic, and the beasts we’ve encountered are very strong. But it’s relatively safe here. I’ve created this cave, and now it’s winter. I’ve stored plenty of food and firewood, so we should have enough to get through the winter…”

Xi Yuan had indeed regained consciousness. He could hear his male master’s voice muttering beside him, and he had a general understanding of the current situation. He kept urging himself to wake up quickly. How could he allow his male master, who had never suffered or worked a day in his life, to go hunting and provide for them? The outside world was an unknown, and there could be dangers lurking. What’s more, Qin Fei had even risked himself to snatch food right under the eyes of top-tier exotic beasts! If he turned around and wreaked havoc in that area, how could Qin Fei possibly survive?

While his heart ached for his male master, there was also an undeniable sense of pride. Qin Fei had just turned eighteen, his mental power and abilities were still low. But after they had landed here, every decision they made had been the right one. He had been able to lead them safely out of a perilous forest, find a secure place to settle before winter, and collect enough food and firewood. Now he was even opening different exits in the cave. He had done an amazing job. Though some things weren’t perfect, for a beginner, it was beyond expectations.

Xi Yuan had regained consciousness some time ago, but his body had been completely unresponsive. Today, he finally managed to control his eyelids to twitch slightly. Then, he heard his male master joyfully murmuring for a long time in his ear. Xi Yuan listened patiently. Right now, he couldn’t move anything other than his eyelids and his basic instincts, not even his embarrassing physical needs, which he still had to rely on Qin Fei for. Listening to Qin Fei describe the current situation was the only thing he could do. Meanwhile, Xi Yuan was also thinking about what he would do once he fully woke up. They couldn’t access the star network or send any messages. This was a primitive, wild planet with rich resources and dangerous top-tier exotic beasts. There was no technology, no spaceships—but they still had to figure out a way to return.