Though Chen Mu had spoken boldly, he felt immense pressure. Protecting Duoduo on his own would be extremely difficult.
This was the Wilderness jungle, full of ferocious beasts and venomous creatures. Getting through last night safely could only be put down to good luck, but luck alone would not keep them alive for long.
Chen Mu noticed, however, that although the Heavenly God Cave was dark and terrifying, the venomous creatures living there all favored cool, damp places. With a proper cleanup, the cave would make a good hiding place.
Chen Mu got to work at once. First, he carried all the skeletons out from deep inside the cave and threw them outside, leaving venomous creatures nowhere to hide among them.
After more than an hour, Chen Mu had thrown out all the skeletons. Then he pulled up the weeds inside the cave, climbed out, and gathered some more dry firewood.
By the time he finished, it was almost noon. Chen Mu went deep into the cave and lit several blazing bonfires.
The fires swept away the cold dampness in the cave. Venomous creatures sensitive to moisture would find the place unpleasant, reducing the number that gathered there.
While carrying out the skeletons, Chen Mu had picked up some more rats and venomous snakes. He roasted some of them and shared a coarse wheat cake with Duoduo, and they dug in together.
After eating his fill, Chen Mu planned to go out.
There was one crucial problem he had to solve: a water source. The water in his waterskin would never last until tomorrow.
Water was not actually hard to find nearby, but in the Wilderness, water sources often meant danger. Hunting beasts frequently lay in wait around them.
Chen Mu had no choice, though. To survive, he had to face danger bravely.
Chen Mu prepared plenty of dry firewood and told Duoduo to watch the bonfires and not let them go out. The venomous creatures around here all feared fire, so as long as Duoduo stayed near the bonfires, she would be reasonably safe.
After climbing down from the cave, Chen Mu looked back at the lair he had prepared and felt quite satisfied.
With so many venomous creatures around, hardly any ferocious beasts would come here. As long as he was careful when coming and going, the place would be very safe.
Before leaving, Chen Mu carefully examined the ground nearby. He even picked up some soil and put it in his mouth for a taste.
After a while, he dug a hole in the ground and put some of the dark soil he had found on top of it. Then he poured in some water, stirred it a few times, and left.
After leaving the Heavenly God Cave, Chen Mu headed toward his village. He vaguely remembered seeing a small pool in the distance when he came up yesterday.
He had been in too much of a hurry at the time, and the light had been dim, so he had not gotten a clear look. Still, having a destination was much better than searching aimlessly.
Yesterday, he had run up the mountain like a madman, and it was luck that he had not run into danger. Now he dared not make himself such an obvious target. He advanced cautiously, going around any places that might be dangerous.
At midday, the sun was fierce and there was plenty of light, making it hard for predators to hide. This was the safest time for Chen Mu.
Chen Mu had grown up in the mountains in this life, after all, and with the education he had received in his previous life, his wilderness survival skills were better than those of most villagers.
An hour later, the early afternoon had begun, and Chen Mu finally drew close to the spot he remembered.
Chen Mu climbed a tree and smiled at the pool in the distance.
The pool lay beneath a cluster of barren rocks. Its bed was covered in green moss, and its water was clear to the bottom, beautiful as an emerald dropped into the mortal world.
The rocks around the pool were bare, with nowhere suitable for hiding. Chen Mu was glad to have found water so smoothly.
Just as he was about to jump down from the tree, he felt a movement at his chest. White Turtle had actually woken up.
"Chen Mu, don't move yet. There's a demonic beast's presence in the pool!"
Chen Mu was startled and did not dare move rashly.
White Turtle climbed onto Chen Mu's shoulder and gazed at the distant pool. "Judging by its habits, it should be a crocodilian demonic beast," he said gravely. "Chen Mu, I think you'd better find somewhere else to draw water!"
"Grandpa Turtle, how can you tell? Why can't I see anything at all?" Chen Mu's face was full of confusion.
"Hehe, though my Spiritual Power has been sealed, I still have my spiritual senses. They've been weakened too, but as long as it isn't too far away, I can still sense it."
Chen Mu nodded and thought for a moment. "It would be just as dangerous to look for another water source now. Since there's a demonic beast here, there won't be any other wild beasts. I'd like to watch a little longer before deciding."
White Turtle made no comment. He closed his eyes and said nothing more.
After a while, a tall wild deer ran to the edge of the pool and looked warily around. Once it was sure there was no danger, it lowered its head and began to drink.
With a splash, a brownish-green giant beast suddenly burst out of the pool.
The deer reacted quickly, retreating several steps in succession, but it was still too slow. The brownish-green beast pursued it relentlessly, opened its bloody maw, and clamped down on the front half of its body. Before long, the entire deer was in its stomach.
Chen Mu saw it clearly. It was a giant crocodile fully two zhang long. After eating the deer, it turned and crawled back into the pool. Its body sank beneath the water and blended in with the moss on the bottom, making it seem almost invisible.
Chen Mu had studied the habits of demonic beasts before. Though they were savage, hunting was in their nature. Once they had eaten their fill, they generally would not attack other creatures. Demonic beasts were quite intelligent, after all, and knew better than to drain the pond to catch all the fish.
So he wanted to wait until the demonic beast had eaten its fill before drawing water.
He waited for more than two hours, until the sun had begun to sink in the west.
During that time, the giant crocodile hunted several more prey animals. After that, however, it went still. Animals came to drink several more times, but it did not reappear.
Only then did Chen Mu summon his courage, jump down from the tree, and approach the pool trembling with fear.
Though his theory supported him, there was nothing he could do if the giant crocodile refused to play by the rules. He filled the waterskin he carried as fast as he could, then ran off.
By the time Chen Mu returned to the Heavenly God Cave, it was dusk.
The water in the hole Chen Mu had dug before leaving had already been dried up by the sun, and some white crystals had solidified on the surface of the black soil.
This was table salt in its most basic form. Chen Mu had learned this extraction method from the villagers.
The human body could not go without salt for long, so even though water was precious, he had to find a way to obtain some.
Chen Mu carefully scraped off the layer on the surface of the black soil and put it in the animal-skin pouch he carried.
Once everything was done, Chen Mu grabbed the vines and climbed back to his lair.