"The black night has given me black eyes, yet I use my nostrils to seek the light." ---------------------------- Liu Zhenhan said.
*********************************************************************************
Liu Zhenhan felt as if his nose had been smashed.
Barely opening his eyes, Liu Zhenhan quickly closed them again. The sour pain in his nose stimulated the nerves of his entire eye region, every bit of his body was in pain. After regaining consciousness, Liu Zhenhan gradually felt his strength slowly returning, and the feeling of weakness finally left him.
Enduring the excruciating pain all over his body, Liu Zhenhan flipped over. His injuries were in contact with the burning sand. Sand, indeed, Liu Zhenhan felt from his fingers that it was sand.
Gathering strength slowly, Liu Zhenhan opened his eyes once again. An enormous brown crab strolled casually in front of his eyes, its tiny round eyes glanced at Liu Zhenhan as if with disdain, mumbling a stream of white foam from its mouth. It quickly disappeared into the sand, leaving a faint trace behind.
Liu Zhenhan was enraged.
Liu Zhenhan felt that crab was looking at him as though he was a coconut. He was completely infuriated by this kind of contempt. He reached into the sand, grabbed the offending creature, then tore it into pieces, and stuffed it into his mouth.
The crab tasted pretty good, somewhat salty. As he gnawed on the crab claw, Liu Zhenhan struggle to stand up. Around him was a strange scene – a golden beach, endless sea, foot-soaking tide crushing around him. Tropical, palm-like trees dotted the distant sandy shore. The wind was like a tender lover's kiss, mixed with the salty smell of the sea.
A crab claw quietly slipped from Liu Zhenhan's mouth, his mouth hanging open like a hippopotamus.
Where am I? Wasn't I on the battlefield? Bullets, right, gunshots, I was hit, wasn't I?
Snippets of memory flashed across Liu Zhenhan's mind.
He lowered his head to glance at his body, not a single piece of clothing could be found. His body was slightly blanched from being soaked in seawater, except for a sock on one foot. The gray polyester sock had turned a strange color from being soaked in seawater.
Liu Zhenhan inspected his body, thankfully, his body, which was riddled with bullet holes in his memory, was intact. Liu Zhenhan pinched himself hard. The pain was a warning – he wasn't dreaming.
Where am I? Liu Zhenhan was utterly lost.
The pain in his nose brought him back to reality. Although his movements were minimal, his nose had obviously started to bleed again. Liu Zhenhan could feel the liquid dripping onto his lips, followed by a familiar salty, bloody taste.
Liu Zhenhan's nose was now like an uncontrollable faucet dripping blood.
Hectically, Liu Zhenhan took off the sock from his foot and pressed it tightly against his nose. This was unsustainable. Liu Zhenhan did a quick turn on the spot, staggered, and began to survey his surroundings.
This was a small island, it looked very desolate, even the wind felt primitive. Not far from the beach, there was a huge fish skeleton that looked like a whale. It was arrayed in white under the scorching sun, and an algae-covered submerged part was visible in the sea.
Liu Zhenhan glanced down at his feet. Many brightly colored clams had been stranded by the blue sea waves on the shore. Liu Zhenhan's stomach roared involuntarily. The crab he had earlier lost in a daze. Liu Zhenhan's basic knowledge warned him that eating too much of these clams, including the crab earlier, would likely cause diarrhea. And on such a desolate and abandoned island with no support, any disease could be potentially fatal.
But Liu Zhenhan was starving. After wrestling between rationality and reality, Liu Zhenhan chose reality without any hesitation.
The colorful, fresh clams tasted delicious, despite being raw. The natural freshness and smoothness did not get affected and the light salty taste of the sea made it taste even better. After eating more than ten, Liu Zhenhan felt quite reinvigorated.
His particular self-control did show in this critical situation. Although he was not yet full, Liu Zhenhan stopped thinking about continuing to eat. But he dared not look at those clams again, even with a corner of his eye. He was afraid that rationality wouldn't be able to suppress his hunger.
No matter what, the top priority was survival. Holding this belief, Liu Zhenhan stumbled towards the skeletal remains on the beach. The whale skeleton was very intact and colossal. Liu Zhenhan suddenly felt very small.
After a thorough examination of the glossy, rock-solid skeleton, Liu Zhenhan chose one rib that was broken off, the break was sharp and about five feet long. Most of the normal ribs were roughly six feet long, and he spotted this broken rib instantly. Liu Zhenhan was feeling very weak at the moment, and who knew what kind of wild beasts lived on this island. Thus, this natural, made-to-order spear would be the best thing for self-defense.