Chapter 157: The Desolate Valley

It was indeed a wonderful place of verdant mountains and clear waters. All afternoon, Zhang Can and Su Xue wandered around this crater-like valley floor, though they didn't cover the whole area. To the west stood a forest of towering trees, while to the southeast ran a small stream. This stream was actually a hot spring; at its source, several gushing vents the size of bowls spewed steaming water. From quite a distance away, Su Xue could feel the intense heat. The water right at the source was certainly well over a hundred degrees, no different from boiling water. It only began to cool down gradually after flowing for a distance, eventually merging with the icy water of the pond a kilometer away, where the temperature settled into a pleasant twenty-six or seven degrees Celsius. Many fish in the pond swam up to the confluence with the hot spring, leaping repeatedly into the warm water as if they thoroughly enjoyed the temperature.

Those fish each weighed at least two or three catties, and neither Zhang Can nor Su Xue recognized the species. Both of them were overjoyed. With fish present—and seemingly numbering in the tens of thousands—the problem of food was solved. Furthermore, the water at the hot spring source was as hot as boiling water, which could be used to scald fish and meat until cooked, allowing them to eat warm food. Due to the scalding hot spring vents, and the extremely low elevation, the air temperature at the valley bottom was very comfortable, resembling the transition from spring to summer.

This was indeed an exceptionally suitable place to live, except that no one could possibly reach it. Looking at the cloud-piercing snow-capped cliffs on all sides, who would scale such precipices and then lower a thousand meters of rope down to this valley floor?

As for taking the alternative route like Zhang Can had, coming through the underground turbulent current, surely no one else would dare to attempt it; they would either drown or freeze to death. Presumably, that magical water-avoidance bead was one of a kind in this world, and there would never be a second. Even if another one were to appear, without Zhang Can's inherent透视 (vision-penetrating) spiritual energy to assist, it would be impossible to absorb the energy within the bead into one's body. The enhanced sensory detection abilities that Zhang Can later derived from the bead's energy were only acquired after absorbing that energy into his body. Merely holding the bead in one's mouth would certainly not grant such abilities. It could be said to be a sheer coincidence of fate, where every single condition was indispensable.

Yet, a problem arose all the same: no matter what, Zhang Can had no desire to spend the rest of his life in this place. If he could not find a way out, how could he not yearn for his parents, brothers, younger sister, and Liu Xiaoqin?

Su Xue, however, did not care about any of that in the least. She strolled about cheerfully, admiring the scenery of the valley floor, completely unlike Zhang Can and his gloomy, furrowed brow.

She didn't even mind that her clothes were wet because it wasn't cold, and the heavy fur coats were completely useless. Not only could they not be worn while wet, but even if they were dry, wearing them would make one sweat profusely—how could anyone endure that?

Zhang Can went to the area where the pond water and hot spring met and easily caught a fish. Holding it in his hand, it felt quite heavy, estimated to be no less than three catties. Originally, they had no tools whatsoever, but fortunately, Su Xue still had a dagger on her leg—standard military equipment from her unit, extremely sharp. Normally, she always carried at least one dagger and a pistol on her thigh, and she hadn't expected it to come in handy now.

Zhang Can used Su Xue's dagger to gut the fish and washed it by the edge of the pond. There was no salt, of course, but they couldn't be picky here.

The fish was exceptionally plump and tender, likely due to the lack of natural predators. Zhang Can then went to the edge of the woods and chopped two tree forks, impaled the fish on them, and scalded them in the boiling water at the hot spring source until they were six or seven parts cooked before pulling them out. He couldn't overcook them; after all, there was no pot. If cooked to the point of being completely done, the fish meat would fall apart and scatter into the boiling water, leaving them with nothing at all.

Although there was no salt, after eating beef powder soup for many days, suddenly having a meal of fish was truly delicious. Moreover, the fish had few fine bones, and the meat was tender, smooth, and full of flavor. The half-raw, half-cooked parts tasted best of all.

Perhaps because of the flavor, or perhaps because they were simply starved, the two of them ate the fish completely clean, leaving behind only the fish bones.

Su Xue praised, "This fish is so delicious!" She paused and added, "There are so many of them in that lake. The two of us could eat them for a lifetime and never finish them. We won't have to worry about running out of food!"

Zhang Can retorted irritably, "Try eating this for ten days or half a month!"

Without any seasonings, how wonderful could the flavor possibly be? It only tasted good because it was fresh, coupled with the fact that they had been eating tasteless beef soup for several days prior. If they really had to eat this for two or three months, they certainly wouldn't find it so appetizing anymore.

After eating the fish, Zhang Can placed the two heavy fur coats on the bank near the hot spring. The temperature in this area was very high, and the soaked fur coats dried in just over an hour, making them convenient to use as bedding on the ground for sleep at night.

In this place, there were neither caves nor houses. Clear days were fine, but if it started to rain, where would they hide?

Zhang Can had no heart to build a small wooden cabin or anything like that. When night fell, he laid the fur coats on the green grass by the lake and lay down on them to sleep. Su Xue quietly lay down beside him, snuggling close. Usually anything but quiet, Su Xue was unusually silent this night, simply cuddling up to Zhang Can without a word.

Zhang Can had no mood to chat or talk with her either, spending the entire night in utter frustration. The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, Zhang Can got up, caught another fish, gutted it, cooked it halfway, and took it out, eating half himself and leaving the other half for Su Xue.

Su Xue was still fast asleep. Seeing her seemingly carefree face, Zhang Can did not wake her. He picked a large tree leaf, wrapped the cooked fish in it, and placed it beside her.

After some thought, Zhang Can took Su Xue's dagger and walked along the edge of the woods. It took him nearly four hours to make a full circuit around the valley floor. However, when he completed the circuit and returned to his starting point, his heart turned cold!

This valley floor was a dead end. Although the valley was vibrant with life, there was no path leading out. Zhang Can had certainly never expected an easy, obvious path out, having already seen clearly with his naked eye that sheer cliffs surrounded them on all sides with no way out. The main reason he walked the perimeter of the valley floor was to search for any caves that might connect to the outside, through which they could escape. But now, all hope was dashed!

Along the base of these surrounding cliffs, let alone caves, there wasn't even a slight recess. Completely dejected, Zhang Can returned to the spot where they had slept last night.

Su Xue had long since woken up and freshened herself. After eating the fish, seeing Zhang Can searching for a way out at the distant cliff base, she hadn't gone over to accompany him.

When Zhang Can returned dejectedly and sat in a daze for a while, Su Xue pointed at the sky and said, "Zhang Can, it looks like it's going to rain. Did you find any caves by the cliffs where we can shelter from the wind and rain?"

"No!" Zhang Can replied with annoyance, facing Su Xue's feigned ignorance. After brooding in silence for a while, realizing there was no other choice, and knowing that since they couldn't leave, they had to prepare for staying, he put on a grim face, picked up the dagger, and walked back toward the woods.

This time, Su Xue smilingly got up and followed him. Zhang Can went into the woods to cut tree branches to build a temporary thatched dwelling. If a storm really did blow in, they had to be prepared; otherwise, falling ill wouldn't be good. In an environment like this, if his spiritual energy failed him even once, it would spell big trouble. Human beings truly preferred a miserable existence over death; living was always better. Only by staying alive was there a chance of escaping eventually. If one died, even if an opportunity arose, it would be useless.

Zhang Can had been chopping firewood and doing manual labor in the mountains since childhood, so such tasks were no challenge for him. He worked with great proficiency. While Su Xue possessed better physical combat skills, she was clearly no match for Zhang Can when it came to this sort of work. As Zhang Can cut down the wood with his dagger, Su Xue helped gather the branches together. Then Zhang Can tied everything together with vines and carried it back to the pond side.

Lacking iron nails and other essentials, Zhang Can used vines as substitutes. He first built the framework, then dug holes to erect four larger logs as pillars. Horizontally and vertically, he covered the roof framework with numerous branches, finally layering tree leaves on top of the branches. Over the leaves, he placed more branches, tied them securely with vines, then layered more leaves and secured them with branches once more, repeating the process three times on each side.

Zhang Can inspected the inside of the shed and found that not a single beam of light penetrated, suggesting it should be able to withstand the rain. Once the roof was finished, the walls could be constructed gradually. It took four or five days in total before Zhang Can finally completed the simple thatched hut, which measured about ten square meters.

Half of the space inside the hut was used to make a wooden framed bed. Leaves could no longer be used for the bed, nor was there anything else available except the two large fur-lined cotton coats. Fortunately, the weather was not cold, so both heavy fur coats were used as bedding underneath.

Though not husband and wife, the two of them were living a life akin to a married couple. Zhang Can had been busy these past few days and had no mind to think of anything else. Only after the thatched hut was finished did he have the leisure to ponder other matters.

Su Xue had been glowing with health these past few days. Knowing that Zhang Can was distressed, she refrained from probing him. As a result of eating fish every day, Su Xue indeed grew somewhat weary of it, but there was no alternative; the valley floor offered no other food for them to enjoy. The woods held some birds, but the flying creatures could not be caught.

To keep track of time, every passing day Zhang Can used his dagger to carve a notch onto the tree trunk shaved bare at the head of the bed. When the notches finally formed five complete Chinese characters for "Zheng" (representing twenty-five days), Zhang Can nearly went mad!

Trapped in this valley bottom with no way out, the only possible exit might be the underground turbulent current in the pond, but Zhang Can dared not gamble on it a second time. If they failed to get out, they would truly die deep underground. Furthermore, returning through the underground river they had come from was virtually impossible: first, going back meant swimming against the current, which would be extremely difficult with Su Xue; second, even if they managed to return to that spot, so much time had passed that Wang Qian, Zheng Dabao, and the others would certainly no longer be waiting there, and they wouldn't be able to climb back up that cliff.

Perhaps they were truly doomed to grow old and die in this place!

There was snow on the mountains, and stars could occasionally be seen in the sky. Sitting on the grass and gazing up at the stars in the night sky, Zhang Can wondered how his younger sister and Liu Xiaoqin were doing back in Jinche. What would they do if they learned the news of his death or disappearance?

What about his parents and his elder brother and sister-in-law back home? Hearing such news would only bring them even greater sorrow. Gazing at the starry sky, a sudden wave of grief surged within Zhang Can, and he could not help but burst into tears!

How had he ever fallen to such a state?

A hand reached out from the side, gently wiping away Zhang Can's tears. Back when she used to bully Zhang Can while holding the absolute upper hand, she had never seen him display such a vulnerable side!

Su Xue's maternal tenderness made Zhang Can finally unable to hold back any longer, and he buried his face in her arms, sobbing bitterly.

Su Xue gently stroked Zhang Can's hair. Though she said nothing, her genuine emotions poured forth. She loved this man she had fallen for to the very depths of her soul. It was precisely because she had someone she loved that she felt so utterly fearless. Even in this place capable of driving people insane, she felt no fear at all—feeling only that as long as she was with Zhang Can, she would cherish it wherever they might be!