Su Huilan originally wanted to go too, but Mrs. Larry stopped her. She said, "Two grown men are enough for me. You're a professor too, so don't try to steal the credit!"
She took Su Huilan's hand and laughed, a relaxed laugh as if something wonderful awaited her on this trip. Only Petru knew that she didn't want other women to repeat the suffering she had endured.
Qingmu thought for a moment and said to Su Huilan, "You should stay here. Too many people won't be good. The Boss Coal and I will go with Madam. You and Hanran stay here and be ready to assist us."
Su Huilan nodded and said, "Then be careful."
The Crow complained, "Caw! We haven't even had breakfast yet, and you've already been fighting. Now you want to go negotiate some kind of deal? I'm starving!"
Boris was a little curious about the talking bird and said, "Why don't you go up into the tree and find some worms to eat?"
The Crow cawed, "You crow, you eat insects!"
Situ's scepter moved, and a savage walked over, holding a large leaf that looked like a banana leaf, with many cherry-like fruits wrapped inside.
"Have some of this, the wild fruits here taste good," Situ said.
The Crow tilted its head and looked at Ivan, saying, "Hey, Russia brother, I remember there was Guagua quite a bit of meat left over from last night! Don't be so stingy, bring it out! Yester Yester! Herashu Yeshe, Herashu Bi! Deruzhiziba, Nasiguta!"
Ivan's face remained expressionless, but Boris laughed heartily as if he had seen a long-lost relative, giving the Crow a thumbs-up as he laughed, "Herashueshu, Herashubi! Teruzba, Nashkuta!"
Everyone laughed.
Several more savages came, carrying different kinds of fruit. They treated Situ with great respect, and by extension, everyone else, as if they were honored guests.
After hastily eating some wild fruit to stave off hunger, Qingmu set off with Mrs. Larry, accompanied by Petru and the Boss Coal.
Since there was nowhere to hide in the central valley, anyone who went there would inevitably be discovered and would easily cause tension among the savages. The mountain path on the other side was occupied by the local savages, so they had to take a long detour to the lake and then go around along the lake shore.
There are no roads on the island, and many places are rugged and difficult to traverse, especially the lake shore, where one has to wade through water and occasionally climb rocks. Most of the time, Mrs. Larry was carried across by Petru.
The lake water was warm and clear, and there was no murky silt at the bottom.
Qingmu suddenly remembered something and asked Petru, "You said before that this was the island you first came to?"
"Although it was foggy at the time, I'm very good with the terrain and I wouldn't forget," Petru said.
To confirm his judgment, he stood by the water and looked at the opposite hilltop a few more times after he finished speaking. "Yes, this is it."
"I remember you mentioned hearing someone speaking Russian in the fog, right?"
"Yes. Now that I think about it, it must have been Ivan and Boris."
Do you remember when you first found this island?
"Oh, I really can't remember that clearly, but it was probably a little over a month before you found me?"
"Oh..." Qingmu hesitated for a moment, then asked Mrs. Larry, "Madam, did your research vessel encounter an accident around Christmas?"
Mrs. Larry said, "Yes, given the circumstances, we may indeed have traveled through some kind of special space, thus losing track of time. Anderson discovered that Boris and Ivan's watches showed Christmas Eve, and the day after that, we had our accident. However, Mr. Stone said that their time might not have been accurate either, because they also experienced some strange things."
Qingmu nodded. "Based on the wreckage found by the rescue team and the overall information, even if there's a problem with the timing, it shouldn't be too far off. The problem now is that none of the times match up, so something must have gone wrong."
You had your accident around Christmas, and we found Petru in early February, which is a little over a month apart. Petru had been to this island a month earlier and overheard Ivan and Boris talking. That means Ivan and the others were already on the island then. Stone said they had just come from another island, just like us, and today's battle seems to confirm his statement.
Who's lying? Petru... you? Or Mr. Stone?
Petru was startled and said, "I'm not lying! Besides, I'm not capable of lying to you!"
Qingmu knew that Petru was right; everything would be clear once he entered the dream and confronted the subconscious. He dared not and had no need to lie.
"Another point: after we found Petru, we immediately set off for Ghost Island. We searched at sea for about five or six days before landing on the island and meeting you. So, you should have lived on the island for more than a month, but Situ said several months had passed, while Alice felt that only a few days had gone by."
"I feel like only a few days have passed," Mrs. Larry said, her face pale, as if she were lost in a painful memory. "But my feeling might not be accurate; sometimes people selectively forget things. Forgive me for not being able to recall any more!"
Petru knew what she meant and comforted her, "Madam, forgetting is the best weapon God has given us to deal with suffering. You don't need to ask for anything more."
Mrs. Larry smiled at him and said gratefully, "Thank you, Petru!"
Although Qingmu hadn't witnessed it firsthand, based on Alice's account and subsequent analysis, he guessed what Mrs. Larry had gone through. Considering that she could speak the language of the savages, it was more likely that she had lived in the savage tribe for a month than two.
Mrs. Larry's situation can be explained by selective amnesia, but why does Alice also feel that only a few days have passed? Is that also selective amnesia? But if it's selective amnesia, why doesn't she forget what she witnessed —Pardik being eaten and Mrs. Larry being raped?
Qingmu suddenly thought of Anderson. It seemed no one had ever asked Anderson how he felt, how many days had passed in his memory, or how many things he remembered. This person had clearly been overlooked; neither he nor Su Huilan had thought to ask Anderson.
"Madam, are you acquainted with Anderson?" he asked.
Mrs. Larry shook her head and said, "He's the first mate of the Discovery, he likes fishing, and he seems to have feelings for Alice. Other than that, I don't know anything about him."
Qingmu realized that this person was highly suspicious. A ship had sank, the captain and most of the crew were likely to perish, but the first mate, who was second only to the captain, had escaped. This in itself was extremely abnormal.
Of course, Alice offered an explanation for this, but upon closer examination, her reasoning is not sufficient.
"And what about Alice? How much do you know about her?" Qingmu asked again.
" Alice?" Mrs. Larry didn't know why Qingmu asked that, but she answered honestly anyway, "She used to intern at Yeg Studio. She was my... husband's student. After my husband died, she stayed with me. She... is just a child!"