Chapter 3: Acquiring Supplies

Lin Feng paid her no mind and continued to strip the dress off the female corpse. It was an evening gown—though low-cut and backless, the skirt was voluminous, folded, made of abundant fabric, and incredibly useful. He couldn’t bear to leave it behind.

What surprised him was that beneath the dress, the corpse wore no safety shorts, only a thong, revealing almost everything. He quickly averted his gaze, tossed the dress and bag aside, then dug into the nearby sand to bury the corpse, allowing her to rest in peace as a way of thanking her for the supplies she had left behind.

Cheng Xiangyu saw that Lin Feng had only taken the dress and hadn’t touched her otherwise. Realizing she had misunderstood him, she breathed a sigh of relief. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have known whether to keep following him.

Lin Feng then examined the contents of the bag: a wallet, a cellphone, a nail clipper, and an unopened pack of sanitary pads. Aside from the money in the wallet, which was useless for now, the cellphone, nail clipper, and sanitary pads were all highly practical. They provided solutions for fire-making and fresh water.

“Not a bad haul,” he chuckled. “This trip wasn’t in vain.”

He washed everything several times at the shore, then dried them away from the coastline to avoid any viruses that might have clung to the corpse. After all this, he felt even more dehydrated and thirstier than before.

At the water’s edge, he took out a sanitary pad and filtered seawater through it. The water still had a faint salty taste but was no longer bitter or harsh—it was barely drinkable. Of course, this was only a physical filter, not chemical purification. It would suffice for quenching thirst in a pinch, but drinking too much could be dangerous.

At that moment, Cheng Xiangyu approached.

“My God!” she screamed aloud upon seeing what Lin Feng was doing. In her mind, he was a complete pervert for such behavior. That was a sanitary pad, after all—the kind of thing you’d never expect to see used like that, especially one possibly taken from the corpse.

Lin Feng was somewhat speechless but turned to her, saying, “What’s wrong? You scared me.”

She stepped back nervously and exclaimed, “What are you doing, you pervert?”

He replied, “You’re making a fuss. I’m just filtering seawater through the sanitary pad because seawater’s undrinkable.”

Still, he thought to himself that this water shouldn’t be consumed in excess.

With the island’s vast forest, fresh water and wild fruits surely existed. He asked, “Do you want to use one too?”

Only now did Cheng Xiangyu realize Lin Feng’s earlier query about sanitary pads wasn’t some twisted thought but a practical solution for obtaining drinkable water. Yet she could not accept it, especially considering the pads might have come from the corpse. She quickly waved her hand, “No, no!”

Lin Feng asked, “Are you sure? You look dehydrated and must be very thirsty.”

Hearing this and seeing Lin Feng drink, she suddenly felt parched but shook her head. “I’m fine, I can endure it.”

Lin Feng smiled wryly, thinking that at a time like this, who cared about such things?

He squeezed the water from the pad and laid it out on the sand to dry.

Cheng Xiangyu gasped again, “What are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re going to use this sanitary pad again?”

“Of course!” Lin Feng replied. Once used, the pad could still filter water or serve to create friction for fire-starting.

Right now, his only fire-making tool was the cellphone battery; he couldn’t afford to discard the pad.

Unaware of his thoughts, Cheng Xiangyu rolled her eyes and felt utterly speechless.

Lin Feng found a spot to sit and rest for a while.

Cheng Xiangyu looked at the drying dress and felt a chill down her spine, thinking of it as something belonging to the dead—eerily unsettling.

Then she noticed the corpse was gone and asked, “Where’s the body?”

She had turned away earlier, repelled by the stench, and hadn’t seen Lin Feng bury the corpse.

He said, “It’s already buried. If you want to keep following me, you’ll watch over the dress and sanitary pads here while I search the forest for shelter from wind and rain.”

Seeing the dress and pad laid out on the ground, Cheng Xiangyu was horrified. “You’re kidding, right? You want me to watch over dead people’s belongings alone? And the corpse is probably buried nearby?”

Noticing her fear, Lin Feng smiled inwardly and teased, “Yes, the body is buried nearby, right under your feet.”

“Ah!” Cheng Xiangyu screamed and jumped back, running away quickly.

By coincidence, she stopped exactly where Lin Feng had buried the corpse.

Suppressing a laugh, Lin Feng chuckled aloud.

Cheng Xiangyu scowled, “What are you laughing at?”

“I was just joking earlier. The real burial spot is where you’re standing now.”

Having been fooled once, Cheng Xiangyu hesitated but lightly scraped the sand with her foot.

To her horror, the shallow grave emitted a strong, foul stench. Then she saw a pale, dead face.

“Ah!” She screamed and fled far away, turning her back on the grave.

“Go bury the body properly,” Lin Feng said. Though reluctant, the smell was unbearable, so he gathered some sand and reburied the corpse more thoroughly.

Cheng Xiangyu, no longer smelling the stench but still fearful, asked, “Is it buried?”

“Done,” he replied.

“You’re not lying, are you?”

“Believe it or not,” he said.

After a while, Cheng Xiangyu turned back, saw the corpse was indeed buried again, and finally exhaled in relief.

Yet her hatred for Lin Feng deepened. Clenching her fists, she vowed silently that when she found a bodyguard, she would have him teach Lin Feng a harsh lesson.

What cemented her resolve was Lin Feng’s next words: “Cheng Xiangyu, if you want to follow me, you have to watch over the dress and sanitary pads here.”

She felt both angry and helpless but dared not refuse. “I’ll come with you to find shelter. You can leave these items here to dry.”

Lin Feng shook his head. “No, what if the wind blows them away?”

She said, “Then just carry them!”

He replied, “That works too, but you should carry them on your head. That way, the dress dries, and your skin won’t get sunburned.”

Cheng Xiangyu panicked and waved her hands, “I’m not touching dead people’s things!”

Lin Feng tilted his head. “What’s wrong with just carrying them? You know I was the one who took the dress off the corpse and buried her.”

She stubbornly refused, “I don’t care, I won’t carry them.”

He sighed, “Fine, you don’t have to carry them, but don’t use them when the time comes.”

“I promise, I won’t use dead people’s stuff.”

Lin Feng smiled, “Hopefully, you mean that.”

From his observations, the island’s temperature likely swung widely between day and night, with cold nights. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so eager to find shelter.