The Height of Inedibility

Li Ziming slowly came to. "Damn, my head hurts. Could the booze those guys brought to my bar yesterday have been fake... No, I have to go check. If it was fake liquor, it'd be one thing if I drank it myself, but if customers drank it, I'd be screwed. I still want to keep my bar open..." But the sea breeze blowing into his face left Li Ziming stunned.

"Huh? Huhhh?" Li Ziming was thoroughly startled. "Could those bastards have realized they brought fake booze and taken me on a trip as an apology..." He scratched his head. "But why the seaside? You know I can't swim..."

Li Ziming wobbled to his feet, his hangover headache pounding without pause. He looked around and found no trace of anyone—not even footprints.

"Where did those guys dump me?" Li Ziming frowned. "If I catch those bastards, they can forget about ever drinking anything I mix again..." he grumbled. Then he casually splashed some seawater over his face by the shore. Before long, though, salt clung to his skin, making him feel even worse. Still, the sting of the seawater slightly eased his headache.

"Those guys..." Li Ziming wiped his face with his sleeve, rubbing away some of the salt, then looked around. "Nothing but ocean? Did those bastards dump me on a deserted island?" Rather than head into the seemingly dense jungle, Li Ziming began walking along the coast.

The farther Li Ziming walked along the shore, the uglier his expression became. After walking for quite some time, he still had not found a single sign of human habitation. Not homes, not anything man-made. Logically, there should at least have been some trash on a beach, but Li Ziming saw nothing except seaweed.

"Where the hell is this..." Hunger gradually rose in Li Ziming's stomach. He was beginning to feel that this was some unusual situation, probably not a prank from his drinking buddies. The sun overhead was blazing, and after all that walking, Li Ziming felt that finding water and food was his top priority.

But without any man-made objects around, it was difficult for Li Ziming to use any methods to obtain water. As for food, he had spotted some shellfish on the beach. They might cause diarrhea, but in a critical moment, they could absolutely save his life.

Though he had not circled the entire beach, Li Ziming decided not to keep wandering along it. If there was no sign of people on a flat stretch of sand, there would be even less chance around cliffs and crags. So Li Ziming decided to head into the dense forest. The jungle was far more dangerous than the beach, but it also offered far more opportunities.

Li Ziming tore several strips from the hem of his shirt and stuffed them into his pants. Then he used them to tightly bind his pant legs and cuffs, and buttoned up his collar as well. That would best prevent dangerous insects from getting in through the gaps in his clothes. He sniffed the shellfish. Their fishy odor was strong, and Li Ziming worried it might attract wild beasts, but that smell could also be used to make an excellent trap. Still, he made a decisive choice. He already reeked from gathering the shellfish earlier, so there was no point trying to hide it now. Carrying the shellfish, Li Ziming set off.

However, the jungle was clearly better—or worse—than Li Ziming had expected. The good part was that he encountered no danger at all after entering. The bad part was that, just like danger, he found no food either.

He casually pinched plants around him. If his skin showed no irritating reaction, he squeezed out a little juice and smeared it over exposed areas to prevent dehydration. But his increasingly dry lips were already warning him that his body was short on water.

Li Ziming stumbled and frowned helplessly. He could only take out one of the shellfish. There was no food anywhere nearby, not even traces of animal activity. Though a bout of diarrhea could very well kill him in this situation, that was only a possibility. If he did not eat now, Li Ziming estimated that he would soon have no strength left at all.

Gritty sand and fishy, astringent shellfish flesh went into his mouth. Li Ziming swallowed with a frown. "I used to think raw squid was the most disgusting thing in the world, but I found out I was wrong. This thing is the most damn disgusting..."

After eating a little, Li Ziming felt as if his body had recovered somewhat. He knew it was probably an illusion, but at least it gave him enough strength to keep walking.

Li Ziming continued onward, and the small amount of strength he had just gained was steadily drained away. He was now drenched in sweat, but it was not from the heat. He was dehydrated. If he did not replenish water soon, he would probably die before long.

Li Ziming did not even want to think a single word. His consciousness was gradually blurring, and he staggered with uneven steps, as though he might collapse at any moment. There was only one thought in his mind now: find something to replenish his water.

In his daze, Li Ziming seemed to hear some sound echoing around him. Something about it felt familiar, and without realizing it, he began moving in the direction of that sound.

As Li Ziming walked slowly onward, a gigantic tiger appeared ahead of him. It was over five meters long. If something like that existed on Earth, it would either be from the Jurassic or from a laboratory.

Yet strangely, the giant tiger seemed not to see Li Ziming at all. It allowed him to slowly leave its sight, apparently completely uninterested in such a small prey.

In that bizarre state, Li Ziming passed one enormous beast after another without being attacked. Soon, he reached the edge of a lake. By then, he had completely lost consciousness. He simply walked slowly into the water, his legs gave out, and he fell.

Fortunately, the lake was shallow, only reaching Li Ziming's knees. Even after falling, he did not drown. Instead, the cool water gradually restored his consciousness.

"I didn't die even after all that. I'm honestly impressed by my own luck..." Li Ziming simply took out the remaining shellfish, rinsed them in the lake, and wolfed them down.

"Even washed, they still taste just as awful..." He licked his lips. Though he had gotten some food into his stomach, it did nothing to ease his hunger.

"At least I don't have to worry about water now, but where am I supposed to find food..." Li Ziming carefully studied the lake. The water was clear, but there was no obvious current. It was probably slowly flowing in from somewhere, but with no visible stream, there were no fish in the lake at all—only small shrimp, crabs, and the like. Those definitely could not serve as a long-term food source. Besides, although Li Ziming had lost consciousness on the way here, he still retained the relevant memories. Everything in the forest told him this was not Earth, and that it was dangerous. He could not be sure this lake was not a watering hole for those beasts.

Li Ziming did not know why the beasts had not attacked him while he was unconscious, but he could not guarantee the same thing would happen again. So this lake was not safe either. He had better move somewhere else as soon as possible.

Just as Li Ziming was thinking, something floated over to his hand.

"What's this?" Li Ziming curiously picked up the object beside him. It looked a lot like a Hami melon, except it was covered in spiral patterns.

"A Hami melon?" Li Ziming had never seen this variety of Hami melon before. But then he thought that he might not even be on Earth anymore, so what existed in this world was no longer something he cared much about.

He casually pinched off a small piece and decided to taste it. Fruit was a good choice, whether as food to replenish water or as dry provisions—but only if the thing was edible. With just a tiny bit, he could spit it out immediately if it tasted wrong. If it was something that killed on contact with blood, then Li Ziming would just have to accept his fate.

But the instant that tiny piece entered his mouth, Li Ziming cried. He desperately wanted to apologize to the shellfish he had eaten earlier, because there really was something in this world even more disgusting than them. That taste like shit was something he felt he would never forget for the rest of his life...