Black Forest

Upon approaching, Zhou Xu quickly realized that these strange, oddly-shaped trees were not quite what he had imagined.

He had initially thought these trees, which looked as if they had been scorched, would all be dry and dead. However, that was not the case.

The branches and bark of these trees were quite firm and clearly not lacking in moisture. For some unknown reason, they were just oddly shaped and pitch black.

[In an environment like this Desolate Land, if trees can grow like this, there must be a water source nearby!]

Just as Zhou Xu was thinking this, a sudden shout erupted from within the crowd.

He followed the sound and saw an animal, resembling a rat, dart out from the Black Forest. One of the tribe members tried to rush forward and catch it, but the rat was incredibly fast and he missed completely.

The tribe member sat on the ground with a look of annoyance, his gaze still sweeping the surroundings. It seemed he wasn't ready to give up.

At the same time, quite a few other tribe members were catching insects on the trees.

At first, Zhou Xu's mind couldn't quite process what they were doing until one tribe member couldn't resist and directly popped a freshly caught insect into his mouth.

"..."

Seeing this scene, Zhou Xu couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

As for how uncomfortable this scene made him, it wasn't to the point of being unbearable. After all, in his original world, he had eaten things like fried silkworm pupae, fried cicadas, and ant fried rice.

However, as a modern person, he still felt a bit of psychological resistance towards the act of stuffing a freshly caught bug into one's mouth without a second thought.

But Zhou Xu quickly realized that applying his modern-day thoughts to these tribe members was a bit too naive.

These tribe members weren't eating insects because they tasted good, but for survival!

Looking at the surrounding environment, they had no other choice if they wanted to fill their stomachs and survive.

This was also a problem he would have to face soon.

If he couldn't find suitable food, he would soon have to join the ranks of those eating insects and gnawing on tree bark.

Thinking this, and watching the tribe members continuously catching insects, even stuffing them into their mouths, Zhou Xu quickly reminded them...

"Everyone, before you eat those insects, make sure to pinch off their heads and remove their insides. But it's best not to eat them yet; let's process them all together later."

Zhou Xu had absolutely no experience with eating insects in the wild. After all, what normal person would go out of their way to find insects to eat in the wild, let alone research them?

However, having watched some survival shows in his free time, he did know that the heads and insides of such creatures should be removed.

In Zhou Xu's opinion, it would be even safer to cook them first.

But he wasn't sure if these tribe members would cooperate. He could tell that food was a very strong temptation for them.

Unlike when he had asked them to follow him earlier, this time, many of the tribe members showed clear hesitation.

After all, in this era, their lives were about finding food, and finding food was about staying alive, forming a terrifying vicious cycle.

They simply didn't have the extra time or energy to consider other things; constantly finding food to survive was their everything.

Even just pinching off the heads felt like a waste to them.

It was in this situation that Dashan took the initiative.

"Listen to the chief! Don't eat them yet! The most important thing right now is to determine the location of the camp!"

Among this group of primitive people, Dashan seemed to hold a not insignificant position. Those who had been hesitant stopped their actions.

Zhou Xu seized the opportunity and quickly stated...

"Everyone, search around the perimeter of this Black Forest. There should be a water source nearby. After you find it, don't rush to drink. Wait for me to come and confirm."

Humans could survive for a short time without food, but they couldn't live for more than three days without water.

Although these tribe members didn't know this, they knew thirst. Their lips were already cracked from dryness.

Without finding a water source, they could only obtain tiny amounts of moisture from the body fluids of insects or by gnawing on fresh tree bark.

Now, hearing Zhou Xu say there was a water source nearby, even if they were half-skeptical, they still followed orders and searched diligently.

During this process, a series of small events gave Zhou Xu a new understanding of his status here.

[As a 'Chosen One' summoned here, although these primitive people feel reverence towards me and obey my commands to a certain extent, they hesitate once my orders conflict with 'survival'.]

[Simply put, I'm new here and haven't accumulated enough prestige.]

Outside the Black Forest, Zhou Xu thought as he surveyed the area.

[It's probably getting late. If we can find a water source nearby, this area would be the best place to set up camp. These primitive people don't have much food, and taking them around aimlessly isn't a wise decision.]

Following his train of thought, Zhou Xu had already begun contemplating survival issues here.

The trees in this Black Forest were strangely shaped and bare, and they weren't densely packed.

He looked around, and besides the insects and the rat he had seen earlier, he truly saw no other living creatures in this area.

[Damn it! Am I going to have to live by eating rats, insects, and gnawing on tree bark and roots?]

As this thought arose, Zhou Xu couldn't help but feel a sense of 'I wish I hadn't transmigrated'. He'd rather have died in the car accident than transmigrate and suffer like this!

Just as he was lamenting this, Fei Que came running over from a distance.

"We found water, Chief! We found water! There's really water over there!"

Finding a water source was certainly good news, but at this moment, Zhou Xu was more concerned about Fei Que.

From the moment he proactively accepted the scouting mission, this kid's performance had consistently surprised him.

Take this instance of finding water, for example. Through observation, Zhou Xu had guessed that there was a high probability of water nearby. But to find it in such a short time and then rush back to report it was, in itself, a demonstration of high efficiency.

Moreover, Fei Que seemed to hold him in even greater reverence...

With this thought, Zhou Xu immediately reached out and patted Fei Que's shoulder.

"Well done. Lead the way."

Zhou Xu's praise made Fei Que grin. After following him for a short distance, his gaze passed through a section of the bare Black Forest, and a lake soon came into view for Zhou Xu.

At the same time, around this lake, many tribe members had already gathered before him, their expressions looking very excited.

Now, seeing Zhou Xu approach, all eyes fell upon him.

Compared to before, the reverence in their gazes was clearly stronger than at the beginning.

The presence of water nearby was a conclusion Zhou Xu had reached through logical deduction.

But these tribe members didn't understand that.

In their eyes, their chief knew there was water nearby without even looking – it was practically prescience!