An Ling sat at the edge of the bed, taking out food from her backpack and beginning to solve her hunger problem.
She had only one remaining bag of whole wheat bread, plus a bag of cream bread.
She also tore off a few strips of beef jerky and ate them with relish.
Fortunately, her backpack had been reinforced, so carrying these supplies added almost no weight; therefore, she had brought enough fresh water as well.
After finishing her dinner, An Ling burned the food packaging waste in a bag while adding more firewood to ensure the fire would last long enough.
At this moment, the black night had swallowed the entire forest, and the surroundings had fallen into eerie silence—so quiet it was terrifying, without a single chirp of insects or bird call.
An Ling stepped outside the wooden cabin, wanting to see if there were any other fires lit on the island to ascertain how many survivors there were and their locations.
After all, the person she encountered this afternoon had been too abnormal; she even began to doubt whether there was anyone else on the island besides herself.
But soon she was disappointed. This location was deep in the forest, with dense vegetation and leaves covering the sky. Even if other fires were burning elsewhere, she wouldn’t be able to see them.
Besides, whether others had firelight at all was another matter.
Just as An Ling was about to give up and return to the cabin, the moment she turned around, her hair stood on end, and her entire heart jumped up to her throat.
Because not far behind her came a faint light of fire!
Though weak, in this pitch-black night it was like a bright lamp.
She could not be mistaken.
She clearly remembered the path she had taken to arrive here; there should have been nothing at all.
Could it be that someone had come back?
An Ling immediately returned to the cabin, extinguished the flames, and tightly gripped her handgun.
She held her breath, focusing intently, observing the surrounding sounds without daring to make a sound.
It was absolutely impossible to be the same middle-aged man from before—someone had been following her all along!
A long time passed.
An Ling felt as if she had suffered for an entire hour, but in reality, only a few minutes had passed.
There was still no movement around her, and her heartbeat gradually slowed, calming her down—though she still felt a strong sense of unease.
She looked through the small window of the dilapidated cabin toward the direction she had come from.
All was pitch black; there was no sign of firelight anywhere!
The other person had extinguished their flame as well; they had discovered her?!
Without hesitation, An Ling decided to leave the cabin and continue deeper into the forest.
But just as she took a step, she suddenly froze.
In this pitch-dark forest where one could not see their own hand, moving forward at night was almost impossible and could easily cause her to lose direction.
She absolutely could not leave the cabin now. But if she didn’t leave, what if the person behind caught up to her?
Should she risk everything and confront them head-on?
An Ling sat back down, curling up in the corner of the wooden bed.
Her gaze fixed tightly on the door and window.
At this moment, she even imagined a head might suddenly appear silently at the window.
She could not leave the cabin.
Staying here meant she had to remain fully alert, unable to relax in the slightest.
Tonight, she must not sleep!
Time passed—how long, she did not know.
This aimless waiting was the most exhausting for the mind.
Luckily, An Ling still had her pendant to keep track of time.
【Remaining time: 0 hours 0 minutes 32 seconds】
Watching the seconds tick down, she knew midnight was about to strike.
The unknown danger kept her wide awake; she just wanted to get through the night as soon as possible.
When the timer reached zero, An Ling immediately spun the pendant.
She couldn’t see the new pattern clearly but could only read the pop-up prompt.
【Blessing Pendant Bonus Acquired: Perfect Accuracy. All fishing, throwing, and ranged attacks will definitely hit.】
【Remaining time: 23 hours 59 minutes 54 seconds】
Perfect accuracy.
An Ling let out a relieved breath, though this blessing wasn’t her optimal choice at the moment, it gave her considerable confidence.
At least now, she would never fire an empty shot.
Compared to Perfect Accuracy and Indomitable Will, she wanted Good Fortune the most, but luck was a passive skill without direct enhancement, so it couldn’t give her a stronger sense of security.
Time: 2:00
An Ling relaxed her vigilance slightly; perhaps the other person, like her, did not dare to advance rashly at night.
She planned to endure until dawn to investigate further.
Time: 4:00
An Ling was already drowsy.
After a long day’s trek, she was utterly exhausted, and staying up all night was pushing her body to its limit.
She wondered if it had just been a coincidence—that she was overthinking, and in fact, there was no real danger.
Time: 6:00
An Ling had unknowingly curled up and fallen asleep in the corner.
Her breathing was light, and she hadn’t entered deep sleep.
The sky was already bright, but at some point, thick fog had settled over the forest, making it hard to discern direction.
Crack!
The sound of a snapping twig jolted An Ling awake.
She raised her handgun, aiming cautiously at the surroundings.
At the door, a spotted deer pushed open the wooden door, lowering its head to sniff something.
Seeing An Ling awake, it was startled and hurriedly fled.
But An Ling noticed something—this spotted deer had a huge, irregular scar on the side of its belly, exactly like the one she had dissected yesterday!
She hurried out of the cabin, only to find the forest now shrouded in dense fog, and the deer had long vanished into the mist.
An Ling stopped, estimating the fog’s visibility at less than fifteen meters.
If she left the cabin now, she would likely get completely lost in this forest.
She returned to the cabin.
After staying up almost all night yesterday, she was ravenous and needed to replenish her strength.
As for the fog, she could only hope it would dissipate once the sun was fully risen.
She took out two European-style breads and a sausage from her backpack and quickly finished them.
Then she drank a few sips of mineral water, quietly waiting inside the cabin.
Nearly another hour passed, and the fog in the forest had clearly thinned.
An Ling glanced at her pendant to check the time.
It was already past seven in the morning.
She decided not to waste any more time.
The visibility outside had improved to about fifty meters, and the place where the fire had been the previous day was no more than two hundred meters away.
She had left marks along the way to know how to return.
At the same time, she suspected the other person was tracking her based on these marks.
An Ling slung her backpack over her shoulders.
As long as the other party wasn’t some demon or monster, she was determined to find out the truth.
Often, hidden and unknown dangers were the most terrifying.