“I’m so thirsty...”
“Is there any water?”
“Little Black Fatty, get some water... Bring some water!”
In his hazy consciousness, Du ke could only think of one thing. He opened his eyes a little and saw a glimmer of starlight filtering through the bare branches above.
“Where am I?”
Du ke slowly opened his eyes, trying to see where he was.
A fierce, cold wind blew through the woods, passing over Du ke and making him gasp instinctively.
“Awooo!”
Just as Du ke was confused, a dog's face forcefully entered his field of vision.
“Silly Dog?”
Seeing Shi San, Du ke was even more bewildered.
“How did you end up with me? Where is the girl?”
Du ke tried to stand up, but as soon as he moved, pain shot through his whole body.
He couldn't help crying out. Looking in the direction of the pain, Du ke saw a ghastly wound on the left side of his body.
The fur was completely gone, and the skin had also disappeared without a trace, leaving only a layer of scabbed flesh exposed.
“Oh right!”
Seeing the wound on his body reminded Du ke of what had happened before he lost consciousness.
He had gotten up on the carriage roof to get the annoying dog out of the way, but he had barely laid down when he heard the sound of flames coming at him.
Before he could react, a fireball of unknown origin had struck the carriage.
The carriage was engulfed in flames, and he was blown off by the blast of fire.
It seemed that his injuries must have happened at that time.
"Did you save me?"
Du ke turned his gaze to the dog. Shi San, whose fur was covered in dust and debris, barked once and wagged his tail excitedly.
“Awoo!”
After the silly dog barked, Du ke also felt a warmth in his heart. Although the silly dog often annoyed the girl, he could be relied on at critical moments.
"It looks like I got separated from the girl and the others. I don't know what happened on their end."
Du ke tried to stand up again, but to no avail.
Seeing this, Du ke lay down again with a sigh.
The injuries were too severe. The slightest movement would aggravate the wound and cause pain throughout his body.
He didn't have any medicine to heal injuries on him, only pills for cultivation. Not only that, he was also out of food and water...
Wait!
Du ke searched his dark cauldron space and found a pill exuding a glistening aura of water.
This was a water pill that he had accidentally created when he first used the dark cauldron by touching flowing water.
He couldn't remember exactly how much water it had absorbed, but for him now, it would have some effect.
With a thought, Du ke took out the water pill from the cauldron space and held it in his mouth without swallowing it right away.
Just making contact with his tongue, the water pill immediately produced thick water vapor that flowed into Du ke's throat and turned into a trickle, temporarily relieving his thirst caused by dehydration.
After drinking some water, Du ke's spirits were refreshed. Beside him, Shi San saw Du ke holding something in his mouth and came over begging for food.
"I'll let you drink some too."
Du ke took the water pill out of his mouth and held it in his paw for Shi San to lick.
Why hold it instead of letting the silly dog swallow it?
If he let this silly dog swallow the whole water pill, it would probably make him explode.
Just like an overfilled water balloon popping from being overstretched.
It would leave nothing but a pile of dog meat.
Shi San stuck out his tongue to lick it. Each lick produced rich water vapor from the pill to replenish the dog's fluids.
Listening to the licking sounds, Du ke also began organizing his thoughts.
Although the silly dog had saved him, all he had now were pills for cultivation and books.
These things couldn't substitute for food or help with his current predicament.
Not only that, but with such severe injuries, just recovering completely would take at least a month.
Now it was the cold winter month, and everything was dead and silent. He was seriously injured and could barely move.
Without food or medicine, only water.
And he was heavily injured. The situation could not get any worse.
So the big problem facing Du ke now was how to deal with the issue of food and safety for him and the silly dog.
As for finding Su Qi Luo and the others, that was another matter.
At least he had to wait until he recovered before thinking about that.
"You have to eat a meal one bite at a time, and walk a road one step at a time. First think of a way to find a safe place to stay," Du ke thought.
"My body is too weak, and it's so cold in the mountains. I need to find a shelter first."
Thinking this, Du ke also looked at Shi San.
The only one he could rely on now was this silly dog. Seeing Du ke look at him, Shi San immediately met his gaze.
Before Du ke could say anything, Shi San started licking him all over.
Unable to move, Du ke could only grit his teeth and endure it.
After a moment, Du ke, with a face full of dog slobber, put away the water pill from his paw. The compressed water vapor contained in the pill was enough for his and Shi San's drinking needs.
"Meow!"
Du ke let out a soft meow, and Shi San responded with an "Awoo!" But the silly dog had no intention of listening to Du ke at all.
Du ke clicked his tongue. This silly dog really was useless now...
Wait!
Du ke suddenly realized something - how did Shi San bring him here in the first place!
The dog didn't have hands. If he had carried Du ke here in his mouth, Du ke's neck would have been in agony, and his wounds scabbing over meant he'd been brought here some time ago.
That meant the silly dog had his own way of transporting him.
It was by that method that he had brought Du ke here.
Thinking of this, hope rose in Du ke's heart. He called to Shi San a couple times, then moved his limbs to indicate that he wanted to move.
Seeing Du ke's actions, Shi San immediately crouched down and bit the back of Du ke's neck, flipping him onto his back.
Being flung onto the dog's back so abruptly, Du ke's eyes widened. The silly dog was so smart!
Hmm, it seemed his previous views of him were biased.
Lying on Shi San's back, Du ke gritted his teeth and shifted position, lying prone on the dog's back.
Enduring the intense pain of moving, Du ke got himself lying on Shi San's back. Now he and the silly dog were stacked on top of each other like acrobats.
"Meow!"
Du ke yowled to signal Shi San to move forward.
"Awoo!"
Shi San immediately howled in response and started walking into the depths of the woods with Du ke on his back.
Lying on Shi San's back, Du ke felt the jolting motions and a nameless exhaustion welled up in him.
Injured as he was, he needed rest, but now he could not sleep.
Absolutely could not sleep. If he did, without his direction the silly dog would take him who knows where.
Maybe when he woke up he'd find himself in a wolf's den.
The silly dog was on good terms with the wolf pack, and he himself would be the silly dog's introduction letter.
Thinking this, Du ke clenched his teeth to keep from falling asleep. At the same time, he also used his ability to see in the dark to help Shi San navigate the path ahead.
At first, Shi San didn't quite understand what Du ke meant.
But the intelligence of Huskies was indeed high - after a few attempts, he understood how to listen to Du ke.
Nudge left to go left, right for right.
Bite to slow down when going too fast.
After traveling deep into the mountains for some time, a faint bloody smell suddenly entered Du ke's nose.
Du ke blinked and looked towards the source of the smell, signaling Shi San with his left paw to head in that direction.
Something was injured!
Or something had just died.
But either way, this might be an opportunity for him and Shi San!
They needed food now, a warm den, everything they needed to survive this most difficult early period.