BXBX NOVEL Chapter 30: Hope of Rescue
Bi Fang lifted his sore left arm, supporting the backpack while swimming across the river with his right hand, and quickly reached the opposite bank.
Just as he climbed ashore, the electronic voice rang out.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the task, you have received a Skill Advancement Ticket*i]
[The System prompts the host that if the novice task is completed, a reward upgrade opportunity can be obtained. Would you like to claim your side quest reward now?]
A task completed? Reward upgrade?
Bi Fang was startled by the two prompts. He could understand completing the task—crossing the river must have eliminated his scent, temporarily evading the black bear’s pursuit, and thus completing “Snatching Food from a Bear’s Mouth”.
But what was a reward upgrade?
To this, the System replied: a reward upgrade is a unique reward for novice tasks, and upon consolidated upgrade, makes the original reward better.
For a moment, Bi Fang hesitated. If he claimed it now, he would undoubtedly be able to upgrade his blue “Wilderness Survivalist” skill to purple, making the upcoming adventures much more manageable. However, this would certainly mean losing some benefits.
A gust of cold wind blew past, making him shiver involuntarily, and he eventually decided not to claim it.
It’s tougher, so be it. Having come this far, he didn’t care for these small benefits and preferred to save for a better reward.
Snapping back to reality, Bi Fang immediately began to move his body, starting a set of push-ups on the ground to raise his body temperature.
“This stream is very cold, I estimate its temperature to be only around seven or eight degrees, which has caused my body to stiffen up. So, I must warm up quickly to avoid catching a cold.”
“You have to know, hypothermia in the wild is extremely dangerous. The well- known Devil’s Three Formula states—die of hypoxia in three minutes, die of hypothermia in three hours,
die of dehydration in three days,
and die of starvation in three weeks.”
“These illustrate just how vital it is to maintain your body heat!”
[Drenched Benefit!]
[Old Fang is handsome no matter what he’s up to! ]
[Old Ling! Look at him, then look at yourself! Your belly is hanging out!]
Ling Xuefeng, who was named unexpectedly, felt aggrieved. Was this really his fault?
After taking a few deep breaths and feeling sufficiently warmed up, Bi Fang began to sweat and then took out clothes from his backpack to put on.
The backpack was waterproof, the clothes inside naturally still dry, a System product, reliable!
Having dressed, Bi Fang continued along the riverbank.
Just following a small stream would not be enough to find a way out, but Bi Fang wanted to try and see if he could follow it to a lake or a larger river, which would truly be places likely to attract people.
Meanwhile, Ling Xuefeng watched Bi Fang travel for a while, then returned to his room, after all, he was there to check rooms, not really to watch the live broadcast.
Even so, he left behind several thousand fans who were unwilling to leave, choosing to stay and continue watching Bi Fang’s live streaming.
This newbie is fierce.
Seeing the lost viewers, Ling Xuefeng had to admit the host was indeed impressive, even he was captivated. Unfortunately, he hadn’t completed his own monthly live streaming tasks, which were part of a signed contract.
He gritted his teeth and finally decided he could continue watching tomorrow morning!
Alas, it was tough being a game broadcaster.
Now it was the third day, with four days left in the System’s seven-day task timeline. Bi Fang was slightly anxious. Although there was still a good amount of time left, he wanted to see what would happen if he left the Qinling early, and whether there would be extra rewards?
It’s not surprising that Bi Fang had such thoughts. With time travel and a system already in hand, what’s so odd about an extra reward?
Soon, the sun had gradually risen overhead. The continuous journey and exposure to the sun made Bi Fang feel somewhat hot and stuffy, so he went to the stream again to wash his face.
He immediately felt reinvigorated.
He hadn’t had a proper rest since early morning, and the progress made throughout the morning had also depleted much of his strength.
Therefore, Bi Fang took off his backpack, and from it, he took out smoked rabbit meat, unwrapped the reed leaves, and started to eat directly.
[This is the ration snatched back from the mouth of a black bear!]
[So much trouble, just for you.]
[True ‘Snatching Food from a Bear’s Mouth’!]
[You can’t say that, though. This was originally caught by Old Fang…]
Among the barrages of comments, Bi Fang quickly finished half of the rabbit, then wrapped it up again and tucked it back into his backpack—resources were scarce, so it was better to save what he had.
In this way, Bi Fang pressed on for several more hours until finally, in the evening, he heard an even louder sound of rushing water!
“Hey! Do you hear that? It seems my gamble paid off; this stream really does feed into a main river!”
Bi Fang was extremely joyful and quickened his pace. After a few hundred meters, he indeed saw a cliff ahead. The cliff wasn’t high, only six or seven meters, and below it was a raging river.
The setting sun surged into his field of view, like a tidal wave. The massive sun was already touching the earth, and the wind brushed across tens of thousands of hectares of forest. From afar, the evening woodland looked like a sea—a crimson ocean with myriad treetops swaying in the wind, forming layer upon layer of waves.
The stream that had been flowing alongside him transformed into a small waterfall here, plunging into a spray of white foam, with the noise it stirred like a continuous thunder.
[So beautiful. Is this what a real primeval forest looks like?]
[It’s so pretty. Even if the host only filmed these, a lot of people would watch, right?]
[I want to go too…]
[I want to go +1]
[Can Master Fang bring people next time? I’m willing to pay! ]
[Bring people? With the kind of thing Master Fang is doing, not to mention whether you can keep up, can you endure the hardship?]
“Do you see that? This forest is very beautiful and dense but without much variation in terrain, which indicates that we have left the mountainous area! And this part is very likely a conservation area. If it’s a conservation area, then there must be human activity! Our chances of being rescued are quite high!”
Bi Fang was glowing with vitality and was extremely excited. He hadn’t expected to find a way out in just three days!
For a time, the live stream room was flooded with gifts again. Countless shark fins, planes, and fishballs came pouring in to celebrate Bi Fang’s newfound hope for survival.
Bi Fang approached the edge of the cliff, peered at the river’s surface, and said, “The river’s current is very strong. It would be too dangerous to jump in rashly. Let’s look for another route.”
Next, Bi Fang searched for a suitable path along the cliff. Before long, he found a wall filled with protruding rocks.
To call it a wall was not accurate; it was more like a steep slope of rock. With a bit of care, one could easily descend.
With little trouble, Bi Fang successfully reached the riverbank.
He dusted off his clothes and, seeing that it was getting late, started to look for materials to build a shelter, planning to rest for the night and search for a way out the next day.
After lighting a fire, Bi Fang heated the smoked rabbit meat to solve the dinner issue and then took out the two rabbit hides, preparing to tan them.
“The brain can prevent the fibers from reagglomerating to form rawhide, so we just apply it directly. However, for the hide to fully absorb it, we can mix it with water and then heat it up.”
Bi Fang dismantled the reed used to wrap the rabbit meat, skillfully shaping the reed leaves into a funnel that, unexpectedly, did not leak a drop of water!