Chapter 55: The Fourteenth Day
It was the sixth day since we drifted to the uninhabited island.
Life had basically stabilized. Because my physical ability was relatively strong, hunting and crafting tools had become a bit easier.
I used sharpened wooden sticks as spears to catch fish for meat, and thus, I hadn’t gone berserk. Especially after finding Xuan’er again, life on the island had become even more relaxed and pleasant. Xuan’er’s hunting ability was clearly on a different level than ours.
Principal had told me that Xuan’er once swore off eating humans and lived alone in the deep mountains and old forests, so it was no wonder she was skilled in these survival techniques.
Hunting, gathering food, and some chores were all left to Xuan’er. Cooking and collecting materials were left to Zi’ai. I was free to… Ah, of course, I wasn’t planning to be a lazy freeloader. There were other things that needed my completion.
Wait, don’t misinterpret! It’s not about procreation! I don’t have any intention of establishing a large family on this uninhabited island! That’s too perverted!
The other things I’m referring to are building a raft, a massive raft capable of sailing on the sea.
Since there were no rescue personnel coming for us, and no passing ships, we could only rely on our own strength to escape.
And right now, the raft I was building was basically complete. The materials were trimmed logs and vines. With non-stop labor, it only took a few days to reach this point. After that, we would erect a mast, and then Zi’ai would sew a sail from animal hides and attach it to the mast to complete it.
I looked up at the sun, hanging high directly overhead… It seemed like we could set sail today.
Actually, it could have been finished earlier, but…
“Juncheng, lunch is ready.”
“Oh, coming.”
As noon approached, Zi’ai called me for lunch.
Even with simple materials, she could make a decent meal. Lately, Zi’ai’s wild cooking skills had been improving. Hmph, as expected of me.
“Juncheng… Um, is something wrong?”
“Hmm? Ah, it’s a little inconvenient, but it’s nothing.”
After a moment’s thought, I immediately understood what Zi’ai was referring to. She seemed to have been very concerned about this matter.
I turned my head to look. My right shoulder was roughly bandaged with a torn cloth, but not for healing, but for fixation.
Because my right shoulder had almost completely disappeared.
Although I had gained some regenerative ability after drinking the Mysterious Potion given by Keling, this level of injury was beyond what self-healing could fix.
This was the main reason why my work efficiency had decreased. A large chunk of my shoulder area had been bitten off, and it had almost reached my carotid artery.
Of course, my right hand had also lost all sensation. The bones and nerves in that area had been bitten off. Although I couldn’t feel pain due to the Zombie Virus and could even move my fingers a little, it was basically useless, like being crippled.
Even if I could find Lin Bai later to use her ability to ‘replace’ it, this hand would probably still be unusable… After all, body parts restored through replacement are like prosthetics, completely lacking any actual function.
So, why did my shoulder become like this?
This was, of course, because…
“Juncheng~ Come quickly! I caught a goat today too! Roasted whole lamb!”
“Oh, coming!”
“This child… truly has no self-awareness.”
Zi’ai softly uttered this sentence, looking back at the energetic loli waving at us, her expression complicated.
I just shook my head, signaling Zi’ai not to say anything further.
Xuan’er’s hearing was very sharp, and I didn’t want her to hear and associate anything.
Because… my shoulder was gnawed off by her.
After encountering Xuan’er by the creek, she went berserk and bit off my shoulder. At that moment, I understood the seriousness of the situation and was prepared to suppress her with a death wish.
But I didn’t expect that after just one bite, Xuan’er fainted again.
After carrying the unconscious Xuan’er back to the cave, Zi’ai strongly insisted on tying up Xuan’er. But how could ordinary vines be useful? Moreover, I didn’t want to restrain her. Her originally black title had turned back to ordinary white, so I understood she had left that berserk state.
If she became like that again after waking up, then I could only resign myself to fate. Stuck on this uninhabited island, there was nowhere to go.
Fortunately, Xuan’er regained her sanity after waking up.
Moreover, Xuan’er had no memory of what she had done before after waking up, and didn’t know she gnawed off my shoulder. Of course, I couldn’t tell Xuan’er the whole story, so I lied to her, saying it was an attack by a wild beast in the forest…
As a result, Xuan’er vowed to get revenge for me, and some fierce beasts in the forest died miserably. The animal skins used to sew the sail were stripped from those beasts. I’m so sorry, all because of my single sentence… But your meat was delicious, please accept more.
For some reason, Xuan’er was in a particularly good mood after waking up, just like the Xuan’er I first met, a lively, cheerful, and occasionally mischievous long-straight-black-haired loli.
But there was one thing worth mentioning, and that was…
…She had completely returned to ‘the moment we first met’. Everything had returned to the beginning.
The first thing she asked after waking up was, “Who are you?” It wasn’t a joke; she genuinely didn’t remember who I was. And it wasn’t just ‘forgetting a name’; she had forgotten everything.
Of course, she hadn’t forgotten everything. After a conversation, what I understood was that Xuan’er had only forgotten
Everything ‘about me’.
She still remembered who she was, what she was, and her past experiences. She remembered others, like Xue Qing, Principal, Lily, and others, but only the parts about me were like a formatted hard drive, completely gone.
I had to tell her about myself myself. First, I told her my name, then that we were friends, and then I briefly recounted how we met and what had happened between us…
But Xuan’er showed no sign of recalling anything, as if she were listening to a story unrelated to herself. She kept exclaiming in surprise the whole time, which inexplicably cheered me up. She had truly forgotten me.
However, she didn’t doubt anything I said, accepting and believing it all.
Then, even more strangely…
“Today’s goat is huge! Hee hee~ Juncheng, you must eat more to recover from your injuries~”
Xuan’er held my hand, excitedly expressing the size of the goat with gestures, and even affectionately pressed her small face onto the connection between my elbow and upper arm (she was only that tall), showing great concern for my injury.
I raised an eyebrow and repeated the question I had asked several times in the past few days.
“Why are you so good to me?”
“Why do you ask this question again? Did you and Juncheng have a bad relationship before? Although I don’t remember you, I feel like you’re very kind~”
“Is that so…”
“Yes~ For some reason, I always want to be by your side~”
I gave a dry chuckle. Xuan’er indeed showed a sweet expression, rubbing against my arm and occasionally reaching out to lick my arm with her tongue. I could even feel her slightly protruding chest.
Zi’ai glanced at me with strange glints in her eyes, with ‘Scum’ written on her left cheek and ‘Lolicon’ on her right cheek, conveying the meaning without words.
After all, it was very strange for Xuan’er, who had forgotten me, to be so close to me.
So, it was like this. Xuan’er seemed to have forgotten me, but her attitude towards me was even more affectionate than before… Perhaps ‘affectionate’ wasn’t enough to describe it; if anything, it was like ‘intimacy’… No, it was more like ‘ardent’.
If I didn’t deliberately assign her some tasks, Xuan’er would probably be glued to my side constantly.
Yes, the second sentence she uttered after waking up was, “Well, no matter who you are, I like you~!” I was genuinely shocked.
My favorability towards her had inexplicably maxed out. If Miss Xuan’er and I were merely tacit friends before, then our current positioning had become bizarre.
She would stick to me as if trying to please me, sitting in my lap, sticking out her little tongue to lick… Don’t misunderstand, I’m talking about my face. And no matter what I said, she would comply, being super obedient. Her docile nature made me think that even if I asked her to take off her clothes and spread her legs, she would happily comply, with no reluctance whatsoever. Perhaps she would even be happy that I wanted her.
Wait, Juncheng An! Don’t get carried away. What perverted things are you thinking about now!
A guy who was a virgin until not long ago dares to get carried away like this, that’s why his shoulder was bitten off! Serves you right!
In short, the current Xuan’er has a natural affection for me, and this affection seems to have exploded.
According to Xuan’er herself, “This is love at first sight, I want to be by your side forever.”
But, is this really love at first sight?
She forgot everything about me, yet for some reason, developed an infatuated affection for me. What exactly happened to her?
And was this incident related to me?
I really wanted to find Hair Grandpa to ask clearly, but Hair Grandpa never appeared. Xuan’er also said she couldn’t feel Hair Grandpa anymore.
A mysterious situation…
“Juncheng? What’s wrong, no appetite?”
Zi’ai saw me stop and looked at me with concern.
She seemed a bit self-blaming, as if she couldn’t stop Xuan’er even though she was present. This really isn’t your fault, no one could have stopped Xuan’er in that state.
It’s rather fortunate that my neck wasn’t bitten off.
“Ah, no, I was just thinking about something.”
“The raft is finished, and the weather looks good. Let’s set sail this afternoon.”
“…Are we really leaving?”
“Yes, the Antidote is all gone. If we stay on the island any longer, I’ll have to be separated from you. With the medicine’s effect lasting for more than half a day, it’s better to set sail as soon as possible.”
“But…”
Zi’ai was still hesitant. She seemed to have some fear of drifting on the sea. The storm before must have given her psychological trauma.
“Don’t worry, Xuan’er can judge the direction.”
“Right! Leave it to me! I know the way!”
Xuan’er confidently patted her chest and chimed in.
She said she remembered where she drifted from. This seemed to be a unique homing instinct of Ghouls, like pigeons.
It was precisely because of this ‘living compass’ that I dared to build a raft and set sail. Getting lost at sea would be a terrifying matter…
Although Zi’ai still looked worried, I tried my best to comfort her, and only then did she agree.
After lunch, in the afternoon, we stored the collected food in wooden crates, took sufficient freshwater resources, and prepared to depart.
“Then… let’s set sail!”
I looked back at Zi’ai and Xuan’er, met their eyes, and nodded. I resolved to push the raft into the sea and then brought them onto the raft.
What awaits us ahead? The sea is fickle… Can this small raft really endure it?
With all sorts of anxieties, I used the crude wooden paddle to push off, signaling our departure from this uninhabited island.
No matter what we encounter—I must go back!
…Damn it, it’s so embarrassing…
As a result, a few hours later, I discovered that our worries were completely unnecessary.
Because… a few hours after leaving the uninhabited island, after drifting at sea for an afternoon, we returned to the original resort island before it got dark!
It was that close! What the hell!
