Chapter 134: Defending Dignity

Chen Cao called Hua Fo’s name softly several times. After waiting a few seconds and receiving no response, he aimed his rifle at the stairwell and began retreating step by step toward the deck. Whether Hua Fo was alive or dead, he would take no further risks. There were still people on the deck waiting for him to lead them out, and Meimei was still waiting for the money from the gemstones so she could be rescued. In his code of survival, the living would always matter more than the dead.

He withdrew much faster than he had advanced. Deep down, he still needed Hua Fo very badly. In terms of tactics and calm judgment, Hua Fo was hardly inferior to him, and, besides, Hua Fo knew the quickest way out. But now, it seemed, everything would have to begin again from scratch.

When Chen Cao backed onto the deck, he immediately drew everyone’s attention. Yet when they saw that he had returned alone, a trace of disappointment appeared in their eyes. Chen Cao seemed to understand what they meant. He glanced around, shook his head gently, then leaned against the wall and sat there in silence. Though he had already been exhausted, sleep was now impossible.

Karissa approached quietly, her face flushed. At that moment, her upper body was covered only by the camouflage jacket Chen Cao had used to rescue her. Though the loose garment concealed her embarrassment, her lower body remained completely exposed. She first sat down some distance away, then slowly shifted closer until she was leaning against Chen Cao.

Chen Cao felt the warmth against his arm. He turned and looked at Karissa, meeting her captivating blue eyes. There was tenderness in her gaze, and the natural fragrance of her hair drifted toward him. In the dark, damp air, his eyes grew hazy.

After days of fleeing for his life, bloody slaughter, the pleading look in Meimei’s eyes, and the despair of having found no clues about the mission, he was utterly worn down in body and spirit. At that moment, he desperately needed gentle comfort. He reached out and lightly clasped Karissa’s slender hand.

Her face reddened even more as she said softly, “Don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”

Chen Cao nodded gently. Neither of them made any improper movement. He simply stroked Karissa’s arm with quiet tenderness as they listened to the distant river flowing. Even the chains around them, swaying in the breeze, seemed to have taken on a pleasant melody.

Before long, he unconsciously slumped into Karissa’s arms. She gently caressed his short hair, and he fell asleep amid her warm, delicate fragrance.

“Gurgle, crunch, crunch!”

But the peaceful sound did not last long. It was soon shattered by loud swallowing.

Then Stanley shouted, “You bastard! You actually had food hidden away! Don’t you know we’re all starving? Hand it over!”

Lu Tianming stammered, “There’s no food. Where would I get food?”

A wet smacking sound followed. It came from Lucia.

Chen Cao suddenly broke free of Karissa’s embrace. When he saw the tenderness in her eyes, he became flustered and stammered, “I—I’m sorry. That was very rude of me.”

Then he picked up his rifle and stood.

Hearing his overly formal apology, the tenderness in Karissa’s eyes instantly turned to disappointment. Tears welled in her eyes, and for a moment she could not speak. Only the two lingering patches of color remained on her cheeks. Before she could say anything, Chen Cao had already hurried to the other end of the deck.

“Give it to me! I saw you tuck it into your clothes. After I went to the trouble of rescuing you from the raft, you still have the nerve to hide food!”

Stanley grabbed the thin, bony Lu Tianming and forcefully rummaged through his clothes. Uji anxiously tried to pull them apart while saying in alarm, “You’ll attract the sacred beast!”

But Stanley was too consumed by hunger to heed him. He refused to let go.

“I told you I have nothing! I absolutely did not hide anything!”

Lu Tianming clutched his chest with all his strength. But after suffering from prolonged hunger and malnutrition, how could he possibly overpower Stanley? Just as Stanley was about to pry his hands away, Chen Cao shouted, “Stanley, what are you doing? Stop!”

“Boss, he has food!” Stanley said, though he nevertheless withdrew his hand.

Lu Tianming protested, “I don’t! I really don’t!”

“I saw you put something into your mouth,” Stanley said, staring at him. “Then you rummaged around in your clothes and put something into your wife’s hand!”

“I…” Lu Tianming said nothing. He merely lowered his head, his hands still covering his chest as though he were guarding some sacred right that had been violated.

Chen Cao looked toward Lucia. Sitting in a corner of the deck, she swallowed and giggled foolishly. He shifted his gaze back to Lu Tianming’s chest and noticed several insect feelers protruding between his fingers.

He understood at once.

Back when he had been imprisoned by the natives in that underground cavern, he had eaten such things without the slightest shame, considering them a source of protein. But now he was among civilized people, and his sense of shame had returned all at once. He knew that eating insects this way would only invite everyone’s ridicule.

“All right.” Chen Cao waved at Stanley. “I can guarantee that Lu Tianming has no food on him. But I’m hungry too. Stanley, go over there first. We’ll take the raft out onto the river and find something to eat.”

Stanley glared fiercely at Lu Tianming, then walked resentfully to the other end of the deck and climbed down onto the raft.

“Uji, you’re good at fishing. You go too, but be careful,” Chen Cao continued.

Uji nodded. After walking a few steps, he turned around and said, “But keep your voice down. Otherwise, you’ll definitely disturb the jungle god!”

Chen Cao nodded solemnly. Only then did Uji release a long breath, as though he had just accomplished something of immense importance, and followed Stanley down onto the raft.

Take Good Care of Your Wife

“You’re weak. Go take care of your wife first.”

Chen Cao looked at Lu Tianming, whose eyes had begun to spill dirty tears from humiliation.

Lu Tianming watched Uji and Stanley descend from the deck to fish nearby. Hearing Chen Cao’s words of comfort, he crouched down and gathered his deranged wife into his arms. Then he opened the hand he had been pressing against his chest. Several six-legged insects lay in his palm.

Sobbing, he said, “Thank you. I never imagined that someone so young could understand such profound principles. You not only saved my life—you restored my dignity.”

“Hee-hee, hee-hee. Delicious, delicious. I want more!” Lucia suddenly clapped her hands and giggled.

Her thoughtless remark struck directly at Lu Tianming’s deepest pain. He could no longer hold back and burst into tears while clutching his wife.

Chen Cao did not go over to comfort him. He straightened and said, “You must understand that dignity is something you earn for yourself. If you want people to respect you, you have to show them what you can do. Don’t let adversity destroy your courage and confidence. Even a single screw has its purpose.”

He then walked past Lu Tianming, who was gazing at him through tear-filled eyes.

At that moment, Chen Cao suddenly remembered the person he had been several years earlier—someone who had given up on himself. Though born into a wealthy family, he had always carried a deep sense of inferiority. In the end, it was the army that changed him. Chen Diwen’s death had changed him.

He did not know whether this was the life he wanted. But through Chen Diwen’s death, he had come to understand that a soldier’s honor could never be extinguished. Once a mission had been accepted, one had to do everything possible to complete it—even if only a final breath remained.

Karissa watched Chen Cao walk past her without even looking at her. The tenderness he had shown her moments earlier seemed like a dream glimpsed through a yellow curtain—so close, yet impossibly distant. By the time she came back to herself, Chen Cao had already bent down and begun receiving the fish that Uji and Stanley were throwing up from the raft.

Uji was young, but he had grown up surviving within the jungle’s food chain, so fishing was naturally no challenge for him. The dozen or so tilapia spread across the deck were proof enough of his wilderness skills.

By then, Chen Cao and Uji had climbed down into the raft. At the nearest point, they used daggers to cut branches and gather firewood that was neither completely wet nor fully dry. They now had both food and fuel, and starting a fire was effortless for Chen Cao and Uji.

Uji spread some dry licorice grass over a large piece of wood and rubbed a small stick back and forth against it. Before long, white smoke began to rise, followed quickly by flames.

Stanley, Karissa, Lu Tianming, and the others worked together to gut the dozen tilapia with their knives, then threaded them onto wooden sticks. Chen Cao kept watch around them.

The smell of the burning wood filled the air. To people who had gone so long without cooked food, it was the finest fragrance in the world.

Crackle, sizzle.

Stanley, Uji, and the others gazed delightedly at the fish in their hands as the fat hissed and dripped into the fire. Even Stanley forgot his resentment toward Lu Tianming for refusing to give him his “food.” He repeatedly licked the saliva gathering at the corners of his mouth.

The fish soon turned tender and golden. Without wasting words, everyone respectfully called to Chen Cao, who was patrolling on watch, then began to eat.

For a while, the only sound was the loud gulping of hungry people. Even Lucia stopped giggling. Frowning with concentration, she swallowed the fish that Lu Tianming carefully placed against her lips—fish that was thousands of times more delicious than insects.

The fish had no seasoning, yet it tasted astonishingly fresh and delicious, with a flavor all its own. Before long, fish bones were scattered across the deck.

By then it was deep into the night. After their long journey and their heavy meal, everyone finally succumbed to exhaustion and drifted into sleep.