“The night gave me dark eyes, but I used my nostrils to seek the light.” – Liu Zhenhan said.
Liu Zhenhan felt as if his nose had been shattered.
He slowly opened his eyes, then quickly shut them again.
The soreness in his nose sent sharp sensations through his entire eye area, causing pain all over his body.
After regaining consciousness, Liu Zhenhan gradually felt his strength replenishing slowly.
The feeling of weakness had finally left.
Enduring the excruciating pain that tore through his whole body, Liu Zhenhan turned over and lay on the scorching sand.
It was sand, without a doubt.
Liu Zhenhan could tell from the sensation transmitted through his fingertips.
The strength in his body began to gather slowly.
Liu Zhenhan opened his eyes once again, only to see a large brownish crab casually passing by in front of his eyes.
Its tiny round eyes glanced at Liu Zhenhan with a hint of disdain.
Muttering a bunch of white foam in its mouth, it left a faint trace in the sand and disappeared into the gravel.
Liu Zhenhan became angry.
Liu Zhenhan felt that the crab looked at him as if he were a coconut.
He was completely provoked by this contempt and reached out his hand to grab the little creature from the pile of gravel.
With a few quick motions, he tore it apart and started chewing it furiously.
The taste of the crab was not bad, with a slightly salty flavor.
While chewing on the crab’s claws, Liu Zhenhan attempted to stand up. He found himself surrounded by unfamiliar surroundings—a golden beach stretching endlessly, the ebb and flow of the tide lapping at his ankles, and palm-like plants growing on the distant sandy beach.
The wind felt like the gentle kiss of a lover, mixed with a hint of the sea’s briny scent.
A crab claw silently slipped from Liu Zhenhan’s mouth, leaving him gaping like a startled hippopotamus.
Where am I?
Wasn’t I on the battlefield in Southern Xinjiang?
Bullets, yes, the sound of gunfire. Didn’t I get shot?
Fragmented memories flickered through Liu Zhenhan’s mind like a montage.
He lowered his head and looked at his body, but there wasn’t a piece of cloth to be found. His whole body was soaked and had turned slightly pale from the seawater.
Only one foot still had a sock on it, a gray polyester sock that had taken on a strange color from being soaked in seawater.
Liu Zhenhan touched his body all over and fortunately, his body, which he remembered being riddled with bullet holes, was intact and undamaged.
He roughly pulled at the chest hair, feeling the sting, confirming that this was not a dream.
Where am I?
Liu Zhenhan couldn’t make sense of it at all.
The pain in his nose brought him back to reality.
Although his actions just now weren’t significant, his nose was bleeding again.
Liu Zhenhan felt liquid flowing on his lips, and immediately a familiar, unmistakably salty, and bloody taste spread in his mouth.
Liu Zhenhan felt as if his nose had turned into an uncontrollable water tap.
He no longer cared about cleanliness.
Liu Zhenhan quickly took off the sock from his foot and tightly pressed it against his nose. This couldn’t go on. Liu Zhenhan turned around in place, stumbled a bit, and began to observe the surroundings.
This was a small island, that appeared very desolate. Even the sensation of the wind blowing against his body felt primitive. The sandy beach he stood on was the only slope on this small island.
Not far from the beach was the huge skeleton of a fish, resembling a whale. The skeleton had been bleached by the sun, turning it a pale color. Part of it was submerged in the water, covered in numerous seaweeds.
Liu Zhenhan looked down and saw several colorful clams stranded on the sandy beach, soaked by the blue seawater. His stomach couldn’t help but growl.
The crab from earlier had been discarded in his daze.
Liu Zhenhan’s reconnaissance instincts told him that these clams, including the crab, would cause diarrhea if eaten in excess. On this desolate and barren island without any supply support, any illness would be a deadly threat.
But he was too hungry.
After a struggle between reason and reality, Liu Zhenhan decisively chose reality.
These colorful clams indeed tasted delicious.
Although eaten raw, it didn’t affect their natural freshness and smooth texture. Combined with the slight saltiness of the seawater, it was even more appetizing.
Liu Zhenhan ate more than ten of them in a row, feeling a surge of energy coursing through his body.
The crucial self-restraint characteristic of a reconnaissance soldier manifested itself at a critical moment.
Although he wasn’t fully satisfied, Liu Zhenhan stopped his strong desire to continue eating. However, he didn’t dare to even look at the clams again.
He feared that his rationality couldn’t restrain his hunger.
Regardless, the foremost task was to survive on this deserted island.
With a firm determination, Liu Zhenhan staggered towards the skeleton lying on the beach.
The skeleton was intact and enormous, making Liu Zhenhan suddenly feel a sense of insignificance.
Carefully feeling the skeleton, which emitted a rock-like luster, Liu Zhenhan set his eyes on a rib among the row of ribs.
This rib had broken off at one end, with a sharp edge and a length of about 1.5 meters, while the other intact ribs were around two meters long.
Liu Zhenhan immediately took a liking to this particular rib. He was currently very weak, and who knew what kind of beasts roamed this deserted island?
This rib happened to have a broken end, making it a natural spear, perfect for self-defense.
Although Liu Zhenhan was renowned for his strength on the battlefield, he now felt as weak as a newborn baby.
He no longer had the confidence to be picky.
He searched the sandy beach three times, but there were many stones, and unfortunately, Liu Zhenhan could hardly lift them.
After searching for a while, he finally found a fist-sized stone, and Liu Zhenhan tried it out, realizing that although it was a bit difficult, he could still lift it.
With vigorous pounding on the skeleton, he lost count of how many times he hit it. Liu Zhenhan was almost exhausted before finally breaking the rib into a spear-like shape.
Due to excessive force, Liu Zhenhan leaned forward, and his whole body plunged into the skeleton.
The sharp broken end grazed his exposed belly, startling Liu Zhenhan.
Some sort of strength erupted from his body, and he managed to pull himself out of the skeleton.
Liu Zhenhan lay on the beach for a while to catch his breath before stumbling to his feet.
Looking at the gash below his navel where the broken end had scraped, Liu Zhenhan gasped and sat back down on the sand.
He carefully examined it and thankfully realized it hadn’t hit any vital organs, and the bleeding wasn’t severe.
When he looked up, he noticed a sparse strand of black curly hair hanging from the broken end of the skeleton.
Liu Zhenhan patted his chest, feeling compelled to praise the deities and Buddhas, despite never being superstitious.
