Day Eighty-Five: Meeting (Part Two)

Three people emerged from the tree house. To be honest, I felt somewhat nervous, and my hands trembled involuntarily. It was like an instinct, manifesting itself uncontrollably at that moment.

Yet, I tried my best to maintain a casual expression so they wouldn't notice—or at least, so they wouldn't think I was weak. I also loosened my grip on the axe I had been clutching tightly.

"Ha ha ha, I never expected to run into another brother here! Looking at you, my friend, you must be from the same place as us, right?" One of the men stepped forward. He looked to be in his thirties or forties, of medium build, with a thick beard, a large nose, and a dark complexion. He looked me up and down while speaking loudly with a smile.

Could this man be the Brother Qian that Ye Qingchen mentioned? Just by looking at him, he didn't seem particularly strong, nor did he look like someone brimming with resourcefulness.

...

After some pleasantries, confirming that this man was indeed Brother Qian and that we truly came from the same place, I followed them to an open space in the yard and sat down. Many stones had been placed in this clearing, piled up to resemble stools, with a huge slab of rock in the middle serving as a table. And now, I was sitting on one of those stone stools...

"How did you guys end up here?" To prevent them from asking questions first, I blurted out the question as soon as I sat down.

"Brother Luo, look over there..." This Brother Qian pointed toward another corner of the yard!

Following his finger, I saw a small boat with a white hull and a red bottom. "What is this?" I asked, puzzled.

"This is a life raft. The cruise ship we were on sank. In the beginning, there were over a dozen people on our boat..." At this point, his tone became somewhat heavy. "We were terrified and only wanted to escape, so we kept driving this life raft forward. Eventually, after our fuel ran out, we drifted on the sea for a very long time and ended up here. We thought we could wait for rescue here, but we set up numerous distress signals, and we've even been lighting beacon fires for nearly three months, yet no one has come..."

"Then what about the others?" My heart skipped a beat. According to what he said, it was very likely we were from the same cruise ship. They were luckier, managing to get onto a life raft. As for me, I had merely managed to cling to a piece of driftwood by sheer luck...

"When we first arrived here, the food on the life raft had long since been eaten. When we were starving and dying of thirst, we split into several small groups to search for food and water sources." Brother Qian's eyes began to glaze over, staring straight ahead as he slowly continued: "Who would have thought this small island held so many dangers? On the very first day, we lost four companions... Within a month, a total of eight companions passed away one after another. Just last month, two more brothers left us, and one of them was Ye Qingchen's older brother, the very person who brought you here. Originally, we thought survival wouldn't be that difficult, but we never expected..." He sighed.

After recounting all this, Brother Qian still seemed immersed in grief. I immediately began to ponder: if what he said was true, we were definitely part of the same group of stranded tourists, but wasn't their death rate far too fast? Ten companions dying unnatural deaths? If they were scattered like I was, it would be somewhat believable, but if so many people stayed together and still suffered such a high mortality rate, didn't that suggest something was deeply wrong?

"Come, Brother Luo, I'll take you to see them!" Suddenly, Brother Qian interrupted my thoughts, stood up, and insisted on showing them to me.

Since these people had already passed away, the "seeing" he spoke of must be their graveyard.

Right behind the round house, in a clearing planted with small wildflowers, ten wooden stakes had been stuck into the ground. The names of each person were clearly visible on them: Mo Qiqi, Zhang Qing, Su Ranxue, Zhang Aoxi, Reinhard... Ye Shifan. Name after name was deeply carved into the wooden markers driven into the soil.

Suddenly, however, when a name appeared before my eyes, I froze in shock! Dong Fei! My heart gave a violent leap—could it really be him?

Unless it was a case of having the same name, this Dong Fei was very likely my colleague! In my memory, this kid was extremely fond of outdoor activities; he loved slingshots, fishing, and most outdoor pursuits. Logically speaking, his wilderness survival skills should have far surpassed mine. Even if he had to survive alone, it shouldn't have ended this quickly...

"Brother Luo, thank you." Brother Qian's voice came from the side.

Because of that voice, I broke out in a cold sweat. I had been far too careless. If they truly harbored malicious intentions, they could have subdued me without the slightest effort the moment I zoned out just now. Fortunately, they hadn't!

Brother Qian must have seen me suddenly fall deep into thought and assumed I was mourning the departed companions, which was why he uttered those words. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case at all. I had to find a way to confirm from him whether this Dong Fei was genuinely my colleague.

"Brother Luo, how did you get here? Are there any other brothers with you?" Brother Qian asked, looking at me. Although I couldn't be entirely sure whether these people were truly from the ship, I didn't hide anything this time—after all, only by telling them all this could I find out what they were really up to!

"I was also a passenger on that cruise ship three months ago, but I didn't have your good fortune. I grabbed a piece of wood and was washed ashore by the waves..."

"Ah, Brother Luo, you were on the cruise ship too? Does that mean you've also been here for over three months? How is that possible?"

"Yeah, out of so many of us, only this handful is left alive. How on earth did you survive...?"

"No way, right? Brother Qian told you the absolute truth, Brother Luo. You can't just pull our legs like that..."

...

Clearly, none of them believed it, and even Brother Qian looked skeptical. The others were even more incredulous, assuming I was simply making things up and weaving my own experience into the story after hearing theirs.

From their perspective, it was simply impossible for a single person to have survived until now. Sure enough, Brother Qian immediately asked, "Are there any other brothers over on your side? You can't possibly be the only one, right?"

"Yes, I'm the only one," I replied calmly, without offering excessive explanations.

As soon as those words left my mouth, I could tell that their initial warmth instantly faded significantly. "Alright, well, since Brother Luo has come all this way, it hasn't been easy. Brothers, go prepare some food," Brother Qian suddenly said.

However, I could hear the subtle change: perhaps because he thought I wasn't being honest, "brothers" in his mouth had suddenly been downgraded to "friend." Yet precisely because of this, I gained a brief understanding of his direct and simple personality. At least on the surface.

Therefore, as they turned around to leave and prepare food, I spoke up: "Is the Dong Fei here someone who wears jeans, a printed short-sleeve shirt, and has three moles on his face?"

"Huh?"

"What?"

Surprised face after face turned back around, staring at me in astonishment!