Setting Out

The first thing Zhou Ye looked for was money. But everyone here was a pauper; after gathering it all together, he only found a little over two taels of loose silver, more than ten large coins, and over a hundred copper coins.

According to the original owner's memories, silver here had considerable purchasing power. An ordinary commoner could get through an entire year without spending several taels of silver.

One tael of silver could be exchanged for roughly a thousand copper coins. A large coin was worth ten copper coins and was used for convenience in trade. One copper coin was more or less equivalent to one yuan in his previous life.

Money was useless in the mountains, but the silver and coins were not very heavy, so he might as well take them with him.

He also searched the soldiers' wooden huts. He found a bottle of Golden Wound Ointment and seven packets of cold medicine. Those soldiers valued their lives well enough; they had brought some common medicines when entering the mountains.

Most importantly, he found a large bag of beast-repelling powder. It also had some effect against snakes and insects. Sprinkling it around a campsite in the wilderness could greatly improve safety.

From a huge pile of clothes, Zhou Ye first picked out a pair of soldiers' leather boots and replaced the ragged straw sandals on his feet.

From the two leather armors and one suit of Chainmail, he chose the relatively better leather armor and put it on, barely stacking another layer of armor onto himself. Finally, he put on an iron helmet.

Then came the equipment.

A foot bow and less than half a quiver of arrows. Zhou Ye counted them; only twenty-one arrows remained. There was also a saber and a round shield. These weapons were all standard military issue. He also found a sharp dagger and tucked it into the leather boot on his right leg.

However, what Zhou Ye held in his hand was a woodcutter's machete. In the mountains, it could chop, hack, hook, and serve as a weapon for self-defense, making it far more useful.

More importantly, he had always used this machete before, which had led to the appearance of Basic Chopping. Zhou Ye was afraid that if he switched to the saber, what if he stopped gaining experience afterward? Wouldn't that be enough to make him cry himself unconscious?

Lastly, there was a shoulder pole and a wicker basket.

The wicker basket was a tool the other laborers had made from materials in the forest whenever they had spare time after entering the mountains. Back when they transported charcoal, Zhou Ye and the others had needed to carry shoulder poles and baskets on their backs to haul the charcoal out of the mountains. There were still fifty or sixty wicker baskets and rattan hampers left in this camp.

Inside the basket, he placed a dismantled tent, a bundle each of thick and thin hemp rope, an axe, and a shovel.

The flatbread was wrapped up and placed in the basket as well. There were also the two pieces of salted meat, two fire strikers, and two full water skins...

Once everything was prepared, Zhou Ye checked the camp once more. He found that the remaining items had deliberately been made into a chaotic mess. Unless someone inspected carefully, they would never discover any traces of an escape.

He walked out of the camp and closed the gate in the fence behind him, preventing outside wild beasts from entering and causing damage.

Feeling the weight on his body, he realized it had already affected his Agility by about -1. Zhou Ye could not help but give a bitter laugh. Such a tiny amount of weight could actually affect him? This body of the original owner's was simply too weak.

Fortunately, after eating and resting, his Health had recovered to 65, barely allowing him to escape his weakened state.

After observing the directions, Zhou Ye avoided the direction from which the herd of wild boars had charged before. He neither headed out of the mountains nor deeper into them, instead beginning to move sideways along the outer edge of the forest...

Half a day later, Zhou Ye had already crossed two mountains.

It was nearly dusk by then. Summer nights always arrived late. Fortunately, the temperature was fairly high, so it would not affect camping outdoors.

Seeing that his Health had dropped to only 35, Zhou Ye decided not to travel any farther. He found an open patch of ground, cleared away the weeds, then set several simple traps around it. He did not expect the traps to accomplish anything; it was enough if they could serve as an alarm. Finally, he sprinkled a circle of beast-repelling powder around the area.

He gathered a pile of dead branches and fallen leaves from the nearby woods. Zhou Ye struck the fire striker, quickly igniting a campfire.

Fortunately, he had inherited the original owner's memories, so he could still skillfully use this ancient sort of fire striker.

By then, the sky had already dimmed. Zhou Ye roasted flatbread and salted meat over the campfire. It was still two pieces of flatbread, but this time, one had been replaced with coarse black flatbread.

Listening to the wind, rustling leaves, and insects all around him, enjoying this peace in the wild mountains, Zhou Ye could not help letting his thoughts wander.

If I'd known it would be like this, I should have brought a pot. Even if an iron pot was too heavy, I should at least have brought a few clay bowls, right?

Thinking of that, Zhou Ye could not help but laugh. He was still too greedy. There were more and more things he wanted to bring; how could that possibly work?

After hurriedly finishing dinner, Zhou Ye slept beside the campfire without taking off his clothes. Perhaps because he was exhausted in both body and mind, he slept deeply. When he woke up, the sky was already bright. He had passed the night without incident.

But saying there had been no surprises was not entirely accurate.

There were many insects and mosquitoes in the summer mountains, and strangely enough, there were even more at night than during the day. Zhou Ye was covered in mosquito bites.

People from his previous life might have yearned for the wilderness, but survival outdoors had always been miserable. He dearly missed the equipment from his previous life, whether mosquito nets, insect repellent spray, or other modern gear.

After wiping his face, Zhou Ye became much more awake. He discovered that the campfire had long since gone out, leaving only a little residual warmth.

After relighting the fire, Zhou Ye set the iron helmet over the flames. He added some water, cut up bits of salted meat, then broke the flatbread into pieces and tossed it in. He found several wild vegetables nearby and threw those into the helmet as well.

For this, he had to thank the original owner's memories. In rural life before, wild vegetables had been an important supplementary food source, and the original owner recognized quite a few varieties.

Once the salted meat, wild vegetable, and flatbread porridge was ready, Zhou Ye let it cool slightly, then wolfed it all down. After washing the iron helmet clean, he extinguished the campfire, put the helmet back on, and set off once more...

Perhaps he had rested well the previous night, because his Health had recovered to its full value of 80. Yet when he thought back on it, Zhou Ye broke out in a cold sweat. He had slept so deeply—what if he had encountered a wild beast? He still needed to remain vigilant. The forests of this other world were far more dangerous than the managed woods of his previous life.

Traveling during the day was safer, however. After walking all morning, Zhou Ye crossed another two mountains. But just after descending the second one, the sight before him startled him. A broad river blocked his path, its surging waters rushing toward the distant horizon.

Zhou Ye frowned slightly. After hesitating for a while, he finally decided to rest here and have lunch. Once he had recovered, he would decide what to do next.

Thus, about a li away from the river, Zhou Ye lit another fire and cooked. Perhaps because he had been hungry for so long, his appetite was surprisingly good. It was still two pieces of flatbread with salted meat, but he quickly devoured every last bite...