Chapter 92

One serving.

*creak creak*

Dukgu, sprawled on the carriage, was groaning pitifully to his wife.

A large bump had appeared on the forehead of the white dog lying there, groaning.

"It seems Dukgu is in a lot of pain."

His wife, who was stroking his head while avoiding the bump, said worriedly.

Dukgu, who seemed determined to look pitiful, was trembling slightly, and even his eyes, which had not been visible, were slightly exposed.

After that, the process naturally progressed to receiving apologies from the Junchang Sect's disciples.

Baegun also said that since his disciples had committed a grave offense, he would repay us later, and as a parting gesture, suggested we have a meal together the next time we meet.

That's how we parted ways with Baegun, and after two days, we finally arrived at the entrance to Yunnan, Banzhua.

Banzhua, as a border city entering Yunnan, had quite a few soldiers visible, and tropical crops and fruits and vegetables were being sold at very cheap prices on the roadside stalls.

Although I wanted to rush over and buy them, we first decided to find lodging and discuss the next schedule.

"Tomorrow morning, we will leave for Yunnan, and the carriage and the two of you can return to the Tang Clan first."

"I understand, Master."

Except for the leader and the deputy leader, the carriage, the warriors, and Dukgu were to be sent back.

The decision was made because returning via the Yangtze River, which flows along the border between Yunnan and Sichuan, and then taking the main road from the eastern part of Sichuan would be much faster to return to the Tang Clan.

Thus, our Yunnan jungle survival began.

***

The Yunnan jungle, where peculiar birds, plants, and insects chirped.

Four people and a dog were making their way through the Yunnan jungle.

*swish swish*

At the front, the leader, wielding a large saber, was cutting through the jungle vines to clear a path, followed by Liu Qingyun, Zhuge Qing, and Tang Yingying.

However, from the very back of the group, a strange sound was emanating from the jungle.

*crunch crunch*

The bizarre sound, as if something was being crushed, was coming from Tang Yingying's mouth.

Tang Yingying had been chewing on a rice cake for four days while following the leader into the Yunnan jungle.

Even though she had visited Yunnan a few times with her grandfather, the summer heat of Yunnan was truly challenging for her.

Moreover, the heat of Yunnan seemed even more intense because she was wearing the Renmianpiju (a mask-like item) that she had secretly brought out without her grandfather's knowledge.

The sweat and heat she felt inside the Renmianpiju,

along with the hot weather, mosquitoes, and leeches,

made it impossible for her to sleep well, and she had to take a nap on a single sheet of leather.

Furthermore, her stomach was always growling from the constant movement of her legs in search of the Nanman Beast Palace.

Feeling a bit empty in her mouth and slightly hungry, she realized something was missing and noticed that all the rice cakes in her mouth had disappeared.

Tang Yingying quickly searched her clothes for the rice cakes.

But there were no more rice cakes in her clothes.

'Already?'

The problem arose when she was caught eating the rice cakes secretly on the second day, and they were divided among the four people.

On the fourth day, all the rice cakes allocated to Tang Yingying had disappeared into her mouth.

'What should I do?'

Her mouth was a bit empty, and her stomach was slightly hungry.

Since it was still a long time before dinner, she was deeply troubled.

Then, the leader's voice came from the front.

"Let's take a short break."

With his words, large cut leaves were spread on the ground, and the four of them began to sit and catch their breath.

*glug glug*

While drinking water from a water gourd attached to his waist and fanning himself, Liu Jia's and Qing's voices could be heard.

"Phew, I'm going to die. Where the hell is this Beast Palace?"

"Old Master, you must be very tired?"

"No, I'm fine. If you're a man, a forty-kilometer march is..."

"What?! Forty kilometers?"

"Ah, I meant a forty-li distance is easy. I must have misspoken because of the heat."

Looking around, Liu Jia and Qing were busy chatting, and the leader was checking the surroundings.

Tang Yingying quickly turned her back to Liu Jia, took out the bamboo box she had brought, and decided to check its contents.

There might still be some rice cakes left.

She started examining the bamboo box, turning her back to Liu Qingyun and Zhuge Qing.

When she lifted the cloth to check inside, something wrapped in paper was revealed.

She felt it with her hands to identify it.

Since the food was prepared by Liu Jia, who knew that food could easily spoil in the jungle, each serving was wrapped in paper, then in oiled paper, and finally in another layer of paper, making it necessary to feel it this way.

If it was dried rice, it would feel like sand at the tips of her fingers, but if it was a rice cake, it would feel hard.

With her sensitive fingers, which were used to throwing darts, she felt the contents of the box.

'Not this one. Not this one either. Really, none left?'

Thinking that at least one might have been left out during the distribution, she felt all the papers twice, but all she felt was the sandy texture of rice.

Just as Tang Yingying was feeling a great disappointment, the leader's voice came.

"Alright, let's get moving!"

The leader's words, urging us to continue after the break.

'Well... what can I do?'

Before being caught, Tang Yingying quickly put one of the food packets wrapped in paper into her clothes, slung the box over her shoulder, and quickly stood up.

As the group set off again, she followed behind, tearing a little bit of the paper and starting to chew on the dried rice.

*crunch crunch*

Although it was hard because it was already cooked and dried, the savory taste in her mouth was quite satisfying.

'This is surprisingly delicious?'

*crunch crunch*

The dried rice was gradually disappearing into Tang Yingying's mouth.

***

About two hours had passed since the last break.

Sticky sweat flowed from her forehead into her eyes.

The stinging eyes and the maddening humidity and heat.

The Yunnan jungle was worse than expected.

"Phew, I'm going to die."

Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she followed the leader, who was walking ahead, into the endless jungle.

The same scene had been repeating since morning.

She was worried if they were even heading in the right direction.

We had been in Yunnan for four days, and it was the second day since we entered the jungle where the Nanman Beast Palace was last confirmed.

The group consisted of five in total: four people and one dog.

Originally, the plan was for four people, but an unexpected addition was the dog.

Before entering Yunnan from Banzhua, we had tried to send Dukgu back with the carriage and the warriors, but Dukgu managed to escape from the carriage and followed us here.

Therefore, we needed to find the location of the Beast Palace as soon as possible.

We also had to take care of Dukgu's meals, which were not part of the plan, so the food consumption was faster than I had anticipated.

Of course, the main reason for the accelerated food consumption was not just Dukgu.

The deputy leader, who seemed to have a similar obsession with rice cakes, had also been caught stealing and eating them as soon as we entered the jungle.

When we checked later, almost half of the rice cakes were gone.

Despite scolding him harshly for his selfish behavior in a survival situation, the deputy leader remained silent.

In the end, we decided to divide the remaining rice cakes for each meal.

'Just wait until they're all gone!'

The leader, who was at the front, was cutting through the jungle vines with his large saber and leading the way.

While moving forward, he suddenly turned back and called out brightly.

"I can hear the sound of water!"

"Water?!"

Hearing the sound of water, I turned to look at my wife, and her face, which had been looking at me, brightened up.

Since entering the jungle, we hadn't found a water source yesterday and hadn't bathed for two days.

It was a very welcome relief.

The water gourd was almost empty, so I called out to the leader.

"Let's go quickly!"

With the leader leading the way, we hurried toward the sound of water. Soon, the dense jungle thinned out, revealing a shallow stream flowing down from a distant mountain.

The shallow stream, just enough to wet our ankles, flowed down from the mountain, bringing a refreshing sound.

"Wow!"

The four of us rushed to the stream and started drinking the water.

The icy-cold water from the stream, refreshing as it went down our throats.

*gulp gulp*

"Ah... refreshing."

"Hmm... I'm a bit tired, but it's fortunate."

Even the leader, who was skilled in martial arts, seemed tired after drinking the water and let out a sigh.

The refreshing water washed away the heat for a moment. Looking to the side, my wife was wetting a cloth with water and wiping her face, then smiled at me.

"Old Master, the water is very refreshing."

"Yes, it really is."

After washing away the heat with the refreshing stream water and soaking our feet in it, I thought about something essential for human survival: water.

I immediately suggested to the leader.

"Leader, let's follow the waterway for a while."

"The waterway?"

"Yes, people can't survive without water, no matter what else they have."

The leader, after a moment of thought, nodded, agreeing that it was a good idea.

"Hmm... It's a good idea. Since the sun will set soon, let's walk a bit more and camp around here tonight."

After walking along the stream for about an hour, the deputy leader's voice suddenly came from behind.

"Um, um..."

Despite scolding him earlier, he seemed to be trying to keep his mouth shut.

'Wait a minute?'

The crunching sound that had been absent.

'Could he have already eaten them all?'

The deputy leader, who seemed to be evolving from keeping his mouth shut to taking a bite, was met with a sharp glance.

He was sitting on the ground, holding something in one hand, looking anxious and restless.

'What is it? Is he hurt somewhere?'

Seeing what he was holding, it was a piece of paper.

'Ah! He needs to go to the bathroom.'

"Go over there if you need to go to the bathroom. We'll wait for you."

I told him to go to the bushes, but he seemed hesitant and started trembling.

Thinking he might cause a smell, I took a step back, but then heard his voice.

"No, it's not that... Um, um... I mean... My body..."

His voice was tense.

Feeling something was wrong, I approached the deputy leader, and suddenly he collapsed on the spot.

"Deputy Leader!"

"Deputy Leader!"

"Girl... No, Deputy Leader!"

Rushing over, my wife and I supported her. She had a pained expression, clutching her chest, and threw off her hat, as if tearing something off her face.

The face that emerged from inside was Tang Yingying, drenched in sweat.

"Yingying?! Why are you here?!"

"Sister?!"

My wife, who had been supporting the deputy leader, looked at Tang Yingying in surprise and then back at me.

At the same time, a bewildered voice came from Yingying.

"Please, please save me..."

"What is this?"

Suddenly, Yingying's body started convulsing, as if a cat was about to vomit a hairball.

"What's happening?! Tang Yingying!"

'Is she sick?'

As I asked what was happening, my wife also looked confused.

Checking Yingying's condition and actions, I noticed the paper she had been holding and trembling.

I forcibly took it from her hand and unfolded it.

"This, this is?!"

What Yingying was holding was the oiled paper I had used to wrap the rice cakes.

"Where did the four servings go?!"

At that moment, as if to reveal where the missing rice cakes were, a loud sound came from Tang Yingying's mouth, and one of the four servings, a complete meal, appeared in front of us.

"Kweeeek!"

"Kweeeek!"

"Sister!"

Dukgu, excited, was running toward us.