Chapter 179 - The Isolated Island (23)

The dusk is low, and the forest is dim. The branches joined the pyre and made a crackling noise as tall shadows made their way through the dark forests of the south. 

After walking for a while, they noticed that the soil under their feet became wet and soft.

The rotting fallen leaves mixed with the  dark mud, and when one stepped on it, there was the crisp sound of dry leaves cracking and shoes dipping slightly into the muddy ooze.

Chao Bin walked in front, and accidentally stepped into the pathway of fallen leaves, and the sound of "Chi Chi" clearly entered his ears in the silent night. Hearing this sound, several people immediately stopped.

Tang Shun leaned over, broke a dead branch for him from a nearby tree, Chao Bin took it, lowered his body and used the branch to lift up the fallen leaves on the ground. Layers of rotten leaves was removed and, and he could clearly see the water seeping through the mud underneath.

"There's water." Tang Shun bent down, squeezed a handful of soil and sniffed.

Chao Bin looked forward and could see that the traces of water seeping out from the fallen leaves in front of him become more and more obvious. This island is not large, and it is unlikely that there will be rivers, but some depressions for water storage are naturally formed. When they found themselves stranded on this side of the island, the first suggestion was to find a path with a waterway. It's been two days of following the water trail and up until now, they still did not have a clear idea of where they were. This was obvious odd and coupled with the exhaustion of a few days living only bottled water, it seemed unlikely that they could continue on. 

He didn't know the exact situation of Chu Yi but he estimated that it couldn't be better than theirs. 

According to the prompt given by the system, what they are looking for should be in the east, but so far this forest seemed inescapble. They dared not eat the brightly colored fruits from the trees, who knows what strange things were birthed here and with the strange lack of danger, imminently put them in a strange state of tension and vigilance, like a arrow on a bow string.

"Let's walk forward, lets try to cover more grounds before nightfall."

A thin and scrawny man frowned once he heard his  words and stepped up a bit: "What's the use now, its best to find shelter, you've been dragging us around this damn forest for two days.  "

Chao Bin ignored him, and continued walking, the others followed "You-" Seeing that no one paid him heed, the man could only swallow his grievances. Chao Bin and Tang Shun walked at the forefront, one person holding a long branch in his hand, and from time to time he picked up the thick fallen leaves on the ground to see if he found anything.

After walking for a while, Chao Bin noticed that the soil on the ground seemed to have changed.

The soil on the previous ground, mixed with fallen leaves, was a brown-black humus formed after years of insect decomposition and fermentation. The color of the soil in front of him has changed a bit, showing a faint reddish brown. He guessed whether it was a light problem, or there was a visual deviation, but when he squatted down and took a closer look, it was indeed red.

Tang Shun raised his head, his cold-white complexion behind the silver glasses seemed to hide the moonlight peeking over the horizon, and the texture of his skin was almost transparent, lining the broad green leaves all over his body, like an oil painting painted with rich colors. Chao Bin who stared up at him, turned somewhat, coming close to the color of the soil.

At the place where the dirt changed color, there was a strange divide and compared to the luscious and green of the forest behind, the trees ahead only became increasing withered and desolate, gradually taking n a strange color, there was a faint smell of salt in the air.

Ying Wenlin came over and exclaimed slightly, "This dirt is red?"

"It couldn't be blood could it?" subconsciously thinking the worst, the faces of several people became strange and they stepped back simultaneously leaving only the three people standing there.

Ying Wenlin, his temples white,  squatted down with slight difficulty, squeezed a handful of soil and spread it in the palm of his hand, "This soil is good, naturally formed after years of precipitation, best for forming oil paints and clay." 

He looked up at the others as he spoke and stressed "naturally"

The few people walked a little further, and the color of the soil became more and more obvious.

Ying Wenlin couldn't help but stop, took out a small plastic bag from his pocket, and put some red clay in it.

Chao Bin saw that he did not care about the dirt, and put the soil into a plastic bag after digging with his hands, and asked, "Mr. Ying, what are you going to use this soil for?"

Ying Wenlin laughed and said, "To make paint. Maybe after I get out, I can exchange with the system for this soil and make some paintings of my wife. This kind of red soil, can be burned into several hues. There are many kinds of colors. I didn't expect that there are similar soils on this small island. It looks very good. "

The thin man spoke up sullenly, "Still thinking about painting at this time, who knows if we can even get out later, at any moment we can die. I'm not like you, an old man with one foot in the grave."

The atmosphere became inexplicably cold and only the sound of crackling underfoot echoed.

Ying Wenlin nodded: "It's good to be motivated"

After that, he buried his head to select the soil, stood up and continued on without a word. His hunched back was a little hunched in the dim light.

One person couldn't help but mutter "Look at Hou Yingfan's disgusting expression... I'm speechless, what's the matter with digging soil, he's the only one who's bee  complaining since the beginning"

Hou Yingfan's face turned green.

"Ok, don't say anymore, we still have to co-operate with him."

The person was shoved and simmered down, but the air did not get any better.

The terrain in front dropped suddenly, and a large concave was found, a little water accumulated in the center, and the soil along the sides was wet. It can be seen that around this natural depression, there are blocks of red-brown sandstone exposed to the ground after being eroded by water. However on the sandstones, clusters of white protruding mushrooms covered both sides. 

Ying Wenlin's eyes lit up: "These mushrooms aren't brightly colored, they shouldn't be poisonous."

"Can it be eaten?" One person pursed his lips anxiously, after two days of no food, he was starting to feel the effects. Tang Shun picked up his glasses with his middle finger, "It should be." 

Seeing that they had finally reached this stage, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that you've found it, just dig it out.

The old man was in good health, but the slope was steep. With a glance, Chao Bin said, "Mr. Ying don't go down. I'll knock a piece for you and bring it up. Stay here and watch."

Before he could react, Chao Bin rushed narrowly down the slope. Hou Yingfan and the others also followed. Hou Yingfan inserted a branch into the soil to stabilize his body, and went down carefully. When he pulled out the branch, a few small rocks loosed and rolled down, falling into the center of the concave.

The exposed reddish-brown sandstone in the depression is not hard, running it with his hands, a soft touch came to mind. Chao Bin walked over and knocked on the sandstone with a branch. A cluster of mushrooms fell off immediately, and Chao Bin broke it off and stuffed it into his backpack. The only girl in the team was relatively quiet, a strange piece of rock attracted her attention and as if bewitched, she ignored the mushroom's on the side, picked it up and placed it in her bag.

By the time, they were finished collecting, the night had fallen. In the corner of his eyes, he seemed to see a silver flash but when he looked back, there was nothing only a faint gust of wind. 

Passing through the sparser and sparser trees, they came to a clearing and after discussing it wasn't strange to set up camp here.

A fire was set up in the center of the clearing, and the mushrooms were roasting on it. Several people sat around and added dry branches. The unappetizing mushrooms, became fragrant under  Ying Wenlin's barbecue, and their attractive color was mouth-watering.

Chao Bin swallowed, staring intently at the mushrooms strung in the old man's hands.

Seeing his greedy look, Ying Wenlin handed the roasted mushrooms to Chao Bin, and continued to flip the ones in his hands.

Chao Bin stretched out his hands to take it, and whispered, "Thank you, teacher."

The movement of Ying Wenlin's hands paused but he quickly recovered as if nothing had happened. He handed the other six strings to the rest and sat back down on the forest floor.

"Hurry up and eat." Tang Shun, didn't intend to delay time. Striking a fire is a very dangerous thing. The light of fire is especially easy to attract people in the dark.

A short exclamation from the side, attracted their attention and everyone picked up heads vigilantly. 

Yin Yi held a piece of stone in her hand and looked around a bit embarrassingly, "Sorry, I was just a bit surprised." Now that she could hide it, she held up the rock and showed it to everyone, a  picture of dots and lines drawn on the stone.

"What do the lines drawn on it mean? Tang Shun do you understand?" Chao Bin stared at the crab shell for a long time, puzzled.

Ying Wenlin stared at the pattern on the crab shell, vaguely feeling that he had seen it somewhere, but he couldn't remember it for a while, and he couldn't help frowning.

The pattern on the stone has been washed by rain for a long time, and it has become a little blurred and incomplete. Tang Shun took a closer look and said with certainty: "This seems to be a river map." 

"He map? What river map?" Chao Bin asked in confusion.

Tang Shun took the stone, identified it with the light, and confirmed his thoughts: "This is a river map." He felt around the smooth edges of the stone, it wasn't the same as others.  This wasn't a naturally formed stone but a piece that had fallen from another structure and placed here.

More like, the edges of a large statue.

The old scholar glanced at it and gave Tang Shun a thumbs up: "Indeed It is a river map."

The river map is a mysterious pattern handed down from ancient times. It can be said that it is the origin of the Yin and Yang and five elements of Chinese culture, and it contains profound mathematical knowledge. It was originally a number array with black and white dots, representing ten different numbers. No black and white dots can be drawn on this stone, so they are represented by hollow and solid dots.

"Does this have anything to do with our current situation?" Hou Yingfan pursed his lips and spoke unfriendly,

Chao Bin spoke up: " We haven't left the forest yet, there must be reason. There should be clues on the stone."

Hou Yingfan sneered, "Then do you even know how to interpret it?"

Chao Bin rolled his eyes and confronted him silently, "Then tell me, what do you plan to do?"

The other man opened his mouth to argue but at this moment, Tang Shun's eyes behind the glasses sharpened, "Quiet!-- Something's wrong!"

The fire flickered faintly, casting cold shadows on the tall trees, a silver light once again flashed in in the darkness and it was only then did they realize, that unbeknownst to them, a thick black fog had slowly blocked the path behind them.

On the other side, some of the crew member were directed out, tentatively knocked on the door of Granny Li and called out anxiously, "Elder! We need your help--"

"People have been stranded in the sea!"