Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Nianzhi’s anxious heart finally calmed down, and she smiled as the baby deer licked all the melted chocolate clean off her palm. She petted its head. “Go back. Your mom must be worried about you.” The baby deer walked away and keep turning back, but this time, it bounded into the woods and completely disappeared.
Gu Nianzhi turned around to wash her hands in the river, then checked her phone. It seemed to be dry from the sun now. She pressed hard on the power button, her heart thumping wildly. After some time, the familiar black and white Apple logo appeared on the screen. It was finally turning on! Gu Nianzhi sighed deeply and entered her passcode. To her surprise, no one had called or texted her. Then she looked at the phone signal. It was showing “No Service.” It was impossible to go online, but she still might be able to try calling. Gu Nianzhi called Smith again, and her call was again sent to voicemail. How could this be?
Gu Niaznhi frowned at her phone and thought about how even if she didn’t call or text Smith for help, shouldn’t they have noticed she was gone? It had been a full three days since she left the hotel. Also, she had been calling and leaving voicemails to all four of these people! What were the chances that all four of them would miss her voicemails?! That was definitely not statistically possible!
What Gu Nianzhi didn’t know was that on the second day after she had left the hotel, Smith and the other three lawyers had received a text from Gu Nianzhi’s number. It said she was seeing a friend and traveling for a few days. She would be back in ten days, so they didn’t need to worry. Gu Nianzhi was an adult with her own personal life, so Smith and the other lawyers didn’t think too much about it. Also, they were very busy, and the German branch of their American law firm was in the midst of preparations.
Not only that, but news came from the hospital that Seth had escaped. Smith was livid and was corresponding with the Munich Hospital and Munich Police. “What are you even good for?! Didn’t you say Seth was seriously injured? How could he have escaped?! Two cops couldn’t even keep an eye on a seriously injured patient? You’re all useless!” Smith threw a fit in the police station. He was so angry, the veins on his neck popped. Smith was busy going to the police station to urge them to arrest Seth and bring him to justice.
News of Seth’s escape quickly spread around the world, so even Hua Xia citizens knew about it. Because the case was very shocking in the Hua Xia Empire, news of Seth’s escape created a new wave of attention, and social media exploded. Ma Qiqi was so angry, she flipped the desk in her dorm when she read the news! She quickly texted Gu Nianzhi.
I Love Meng Qiqi: Nianzhi, Nianzhi! How could that scumbag escape?
I Love Meng Qiqi: Nianzhi Nianzhi! You need to give it your best! This scum bag! He must die to appease the angry citizens!
The messages were sent out two days ago, but Gu Nianzhi didn’t reply. Ma Qiqi assumed Gu Nianzhi must be feeling horrible and unwilling to talk, so she didn’t rush her or send any other messages. She believed that Gu Nianzhi would contact her once the case was handled.
…
Gu Nianzhi walked along the river for a whole day but didn’t find a path leading out of the mountains. The distance ahead seemed endless, and the Alps stretched out in long curves, making it impossible to see where the path leading out of the mountains was.
When it was nearly dark, Gu Nianzhi found a small cave. The entrance was tiny, and the cave itself was a round space that only had room for two people to sit inside. It appeared deep and curved, and was so dark that she couldn’t see the back of it. She didn’t think animals had stayed there, since it was very clean, and there were no traces of animals having passed through. However, it smelled faintly gamey, but she figured that should be dissipated by a bit of smoke.
Luckily, she had a roof over her head, so she planned to stay there that night. Thanks to the excellent quality Zippo lighter, she was not only able to start a fire but also tried her best to have a cooked meal every day. She had been eating lots of berries the last few days, and her teeth were aching from the acidity. Before she slept, she found some leaves and twigs to burn in front of the small cave. Not only did it dispel the odor, but also protected her from wild animals.
The deeper she had walked into the mountains, the more obvious traces of wild animals became. Since the afternoon, Gu Nianzhi had sensed something following her. Afterwards, she was drinking at the spring when she discovered it as a wolf. Gu Nianzhi was a bit frightened but also knew that being scared was useless. There was no one to help her, so she could only rely on herself. Therefore, it could be said that humans had unlimited potential. When they were forced to a certain point, they had no choice but to grow up. Gu Nianzhi kept sighing. She was so fussy before because she was indulged and doted upon. Now that she was alone in the wilderness, she was able to survive and feed herself and wasn’t that dainty at all.
Taking her newly made cane, she walked out of the cave to find some firewood. Although her leg didn’t hurt anymore, she still made herself a new cane as a walking stick to help find her way. The mountains were deep, the trees were dense, and there was wild grass growing so thickly, some areas were waist high. Using a stick to beat the path before her could scare away many beasts.
For now, she didn’t have the energy to battle the intellect and strength of wild beasts, but she also didn’t have the heart to kill innocent and simple deer to feed her stomach. In the end, she could only go back to the river each day to fish… She nearly threw up from eating unseasoned fish every day.
Gu Nianzhi sighed and continued walking with a sense of defeat. There were berries in the forest, and she was sure to pick them. Although she was already sick of berries, she still needed to eat them to replenish vitamin C and boost immunity to prevent colds. The nights were getting colder and colder, so she didn’t want to get sick again.
Holding the walking stick, she entered the forest and carefully looked around for a while before discovering there weren’t many berries there. It wasn’t as though they didn’t grow in abundance, but they appeared to have been picked or destroyed. Many berries had fallen and were flattened on the ground, and the berry bushes were knocked around in strange positions. She didn’t know who had been so violent. Why didn’t they just pick the berries? Why destroy the bushes’ life-giving roots? Gu Nianzhi satisfied herself with trying to guess what happened as she walked into the depths of the forest.
Underneath a tall, straight beech were some huge berry bushes. The plump and vibrant fruit dotted the bushes like little lights. Gu Niaznhi was enticed, even though she had mostly eaten only berries for the past few days. She couldn’t help swallowing hard and quickly strode over. Just as she approached the bottom of the tree, it began to shake fiercely, and cries from near the top of the tree could be heard.
Looking up curiously, Gu Nianzhi suddenly froze. Between the tall branches of the beech was a small, round, black animal stuck up there. It cried pitifully and looked down at Gu Nianzhi under the tree. It raised its tiny paws and kept slapping the trunk. The beech continued to shake as many leaves fell.
Gu Nianzhi was speechless. There was actually a baby black bear stuck in the tree! It looked to be a newborn because it was about the size of a koala but was much darker. This was a real black bear. Gu Nianzhi shut her eyes and didn’t want to trouble herself, but the baby black bear kept wailing over her head and sounded like a newly weaned kitten. It struck Gu Nianzhi’s heart, and she couldn’t bear it. She couldn’t take it anymore and had a handful of freshly picked berries before hugging the beech trunk and quickly climbing up. The black bear saw Gu Nianzhi get up tree quickly and climb close to the branches nearby. It immediately stretched its tiny paws at her like it wanted to be carried.
Gu Nianzhi was again speechless. Is this bear a fairy? Didn’t it know that animals can’t turn into fairies after the founding of the People’s Republic of China? Gu Nianzhi pointed her finger at the baby black bear and spoke in Chinese. Its black eyes appeared like marbles as it stared unblinkingly at her with no idea what she was saying. Gu Nianzhi mumbled to herself for a bit but was amused, too. This black bear wasn’t from the Hua Xia Empire, so it could turn into a fairy, right?
She giggled from the idea and slowly shifted over the branches to see where the bear was. It turned out that one of its short, chubby legs was tangled in a vine. The vine was not only thick but very flexible. The baby black bear didn’t know any better, so it tried to force its leg out, but the harder it struggled, the tighter the vine wrapped around its leg. Gu Nianzhi stroked the baby black bear’s head and whispered, “Stop moving. I’ll get the vine off you, and you’ll be free.”
The baby black bear’s dark marble like eyes kept staring at her. She had no idea if it understood or not, but regardless, it kept looking at her without moving until she removed the vine. Of course, Gu Nianzhi didn’t have the strength to untangle it, but she took out her Swiss Army knife and used a small, sharp blade to cut at the thinnest part of the vine. After cutting for about a minute, the vine finally broke apart. The baby black bear’s little leg quickly retracted. It was saved! It cried out again, and this time sounded very happy. Gu Nianzhi laughed. As soon as his leg was released from the tangled vine, the baby black bear fell head first from the top of the tree. Although it appeared chubby and small, he climbed down the tree trunk like it was flat ground and quickly made his way to the ground.
Gu Nianzhi also climbed down the tree. She carefully supported herself on the branches to lower herself, so she was much slower than the baby black bear. By the time she got to the ground, the baby black bear was already long gone. She smiled with a shake of her head and continued her important task of picking berries.
She hadn’t picked many before she sensed something was amiss. The forest was silent, then the hairs on the back of her neck raised. Quickly turning around, she nearly passed out! She saw an adult black bear glaring at her and striding across the woods. Gu Nianzhi’s entire body shook, and without hesitation, she threw away the berries in her hand and quickly climbed up the beech tree again! She didn’t know why she chose the same tree to climb. It was probably because she had just climbed it and had some practice now. This time, she performed even better and climbed up faster than before.
