Chapter 1: Struggling To Survive

The yellowish weed grew sparsely, maybe it was due to overgrazing by herbivores, or maybe it was because of the extremely dry weather that there were almost no visible grass. One could only see the hard and grayish yellow grass roots.Some vegetation and grass were gnawed on, leaving only the dried and deserted land.A gray-black rabbit hopped out from its sandy burrow and cautiously looked around its surrounding; seeing there were no threats, the rabbit jumped and gnawed through the exposed roots. It seems like winter is coming and all animals were attempting to store fat in this last moment in order to survive the winter hibernation.A tall figure in the distance grabbed a spear with a sharpened blade head. The man crawled like a wild leopard and quietly approached the fat rabbit."Shua!" The rabbit's paws trembled. It was not stabbed by the spear but its head was flattened by it.The figure came close. The rabbit had its head flattened but none of its furs were damaged at all. It was strung with a rope made of straw and hung on one of the barb near the spear.This person was about to leave, but then suddenly stopped and bent to look at the ground.As usual, he saw a trace of footprints on the slightly deserted grasslands. The prints came from the west and headed to the east; as if there was something like a stake that was dragged over.The person knelt and looked down on this set of dragging prints. They were long and continuously moved elsewhere.The tall, dark man rubbed his fingers, raised his hand and smelled it. He touched the blood on the ground and felt it was dry but there was still the smell of blood lingering in the air. The creature that left the blood, whether an animal or a person, should not have left for more than half a day.Still, it would depend; is the injured creature an animal or a human?The man licked his lips, a pair of narrow black eyebrows revealed a cruel and greedy face, a face with murdering gaze. The strange pattern on his skin made his face extremely fierce.A rabbit is too small to feed the family. He must find more food.Following down the traces all the way to the east; tree is a small grassy beach with a radius of three or four feet.There was a depression in the middle of the grassland that can only be a waterhole. There were cloudy yellow muddy things, and numerous wild grasses in the water. The only small hole in the vicinity is less than one foot deep. This depression is the only source of water that can be found within a twenty mile radius.At a time where water is scarce, there is no human beings who doesn't know how important it is to seek a water source.This person did not know whether there is another person here near the water source was a person fell unconscious ...maybe the person was exhausted or near death. It seemed as if the man climbed to the side where there were water leeches. A hand has been inserted near the water while the mouth did not touch the water.This human was naked except for the straw rope around the waist. Base on the the exposed skin, it could be concluded that this human was neither old nor tall. The whole body was thin and skinny; the only place where one could see some meat is the round buttocks.Flies were buzzing around him. In addition to flies, other insects that can't be named have turned the human, who fell near the waterside, into a big meal that would last for a few days. Each insects where looking for a place on the human body to start a buffet.Especially since the man had bugs on his right leg.The man has a rather large wound on his right leg. It looked like a beast chewed up his knee a bit, breaking the bones. The wound was given a simple treatment and the broken bone was secured by a straw. He did not know whether it was because the weather was too hot or because of the absence of therapeutic drugs; the skin around the wound began to deteriorate and to fester. Numerous large white worms were crawling up and down the wound.A black beetle bit the rotten meat on the leg and torn the flesh open with its huge horns. With a sharp and triangular skull, the beetle wanted to drill into the fresh flesh inside."Fxck..!"Yan Mo couldn't believe that he fainted. He crawled for nearly a day before he found the water source. He thought he could fall into the water and drink only to faint mid struggle.Yan Mo raised his body regardless of the throbbing pain from the wound on his right leg. He moved his head forward and submerged it in the water.The water isn't cold but cool enough for those who had been exposed to the sun for a day. It was cool enough to, at least, reduce the temperature of his head.Yan Mo didn't drink the water from the water hole. He just kept himself awake.Such a dirty water was not filtered, and with his current injuries and illness, it will be a huge problem if he ingested the water into his stomach.When Yan Mo crawled over, he already had scouted a little. He found the footprint of the animal at the edge of the water. With his many years of experience as a medical practitioner, he knew that the water quality was not good though it was unlikely to be poisonous. Before he passed out, he wanted to scoop a little amount of water and allow the sediments to settle down. Later, he will look at the water before considering how to drink it.Now he finds that he is likely to have a fever again due to wound infection, and he can't wait for the water to settle. Let's take a cool drink until he couldn't help himself.Yan Mo extended his head from the water. Thanks to the hot weather and the desert climate, there was no aquatic life in the water hole except for weeds.There are bound to be disadvantages. He also wanted to find two leeches to help him suck the blood around the wound. The squid can be dried and ground into powder. It can also treat bruises. The powder will have a certain effect on the treatment of fractures. Nowadays, there is no such thing as squid around the desert land.Yan Mo propped his upper body and pulled away his injured leg. He looked down and saw that the black beetle had already plunged half of its body into his wound.Instead of pulling it directly with his fingers, he broke off a hard grass root and used it as a knife tip. He carefully opened his own skin and flesh then stabbed the beetle that has drilled half into his flesh.When the blood came out, Yan Mo reached into the water and bent his wrist. He cupped his hands to scoop into the bottom of the water and pulled a little cloudy fluid under the yellow sand and splashed it on the wound.This is the most rudimentary and compelling method of stopping the bleeding.All the little bugs that ate away on his wound were washed off leaving only the white aphids that ate the dead cells. Most of the insects around him turned around and fled. Those that remained were managed temporarily. Yan Mo's mouth twitched revealing a ridiculous smile.While dragging his leg, he once again picked up a puddle of water. The water contained a lot of sediments. He wanted to wait for it to settle, at least another tool should be used to let the water settle for a day.This kind of water with high salinity should not be used to relieve thirst because after a while, it will make him more thirsty; however, he can't help it. Is it better to be thirsty no or be thirsty in the future? Is it okay to be thirsty to death, or one should be careful to drink water that isn't clean?Yan Mo found a place that looked decently clean. He rubbed the dust, which was visible to the naked eyes, from the surface of the water, and simply filtered it through his fingers. He licked his lips and drank.A little bit of strange water flowed on his mouth and down his throat. It felt like his whole body was being moisturized. Even if the water was difficult to swallow, he still takes a sip with his mouth; not only did it temporarily relieves thirst but also fills his stomach.After drinking the water, he sat on the place to rest for a while. The pain on his leg was ignored. He didn't have a better treatment for it anyway.Looking up at the water, his reflection kept shaking, but he can still see his appearance.A mess of straw, half a length hair with itchy scalp; Yan Mo didn't know how many lice were in his hair.Touching the face that was still smooth, the chin no longer has a beard, the age should be estimated to be younger; looking at the skin, one can touch the bones beneath it; Yan Mo estimated the age of the body to be around 12 and 16. The gap will be big, first, because he can't see the face clearly. The second is because this place is a special environment. He only looked at the skin and cannot determine this new body's age. The people in the desert have always reached puberty earlier so he cannot judge his age correctly.It would be nice to have a knife and would be better to have a lighter.Yan Mo forbade himself from worrying. If you want something, you will only want it more. And he now he has nothing but straw rope around his waist and a pocket made of grass that acts like an underwear to cover and protector his family jewels.(scrotum)

That straw rope and grass pocket as makeshift crotch covering underwear-ish was necessary because he had to crawl on the deserted grass, and he was afraid of hurting the private parts, but this temporary makeshift crotch wear is not comfortable. Although there is no direct contact with the ground, but the burns and hardness of the weeds also scratches and bruises him.Yan Mo guessed that he was probably abandoned because he was unable to walk due to injury, plus the infection meant the person who left him thought he won't survive. The absence of clothing also probably meant they discarded him. They thought that since this person is going to die then there is no need for him to possess those things.If his guesses were true, when the healthy people don't even give clothes to the dying people, one can see how pitiful they are.Of course, he also had another thought about it. For example, his body was kidnapped. The kidnappers found that he couldn't be use for whatever purpose they intended and simply discarded him. In order to not let the police find more clues, even the clothes were taken away.If this guess is true, then at least he has the chance to return to modern society.But...Looking at his tanned skin; although it is not naturally dark (African) but it can still be seen as brown (Hispanic) or yellow (Asian).Looking at the rough ankles and palms; at first glance, it seems like someone who hasn't done a lot of manual work. There wasn't any sign of an old man look but also the skin isn't rough. This body looks like a rich boy who was kidnapped..?Therefore, he must have come to a place that is particularly poor and has a special folk custom. How can someone leave a dying child? Maybe the people here don't even understand the legal system, or there are a group of extremely sinister criminal in concentration camps.No matter which one, it is terrible."Ah!" Yan Mo screamed and slammed his head into the water again. This time he didn't cool down but washed his hair.His scalp was itching, and he could clearly feel the blood-sucking black bugs transversing through his scalp.If he has a knife in his hand, he will shave his head.Yan Mo pulled his head out of the waterhole again, and finally his scalp was no longer itchy.Now he can start to mull over on how to live.First of all, he needed to carefully scrutinize this small grassland, and maybe find an herb that can stop bleeding and help reduce inflammation. It would be better if he could find some hard shrubs that could replace the weed crotch pants so that he can re-wrap and fix the broken bones.Secondly, he still needs a weapon to defend himself. It is almost evening. Not only will nocturnal things come out, but also wild animals will soon gather here to drink. If he can't leave here before dark, and since he has no weapons or fire to defend himself, then he can only wait to be eaten by a wild animal.Still, he should leave as soon as possible. Although there is a water source, it is too dangerous to stick around.Yan Mo glanced through the grassy beach and didn't see any shrub-like plant, only weeds.Focusing on the well-rooted weeds, Yan Mo laid and used his arms to crawl forward, hoping to find some useful herbs.Suddenly, a black spear struck the earth in front of him!Yan Mo was paralyzed, then became excited. Someone is here!The man standing behind Yan Mo blocked his way with a spear, and his eyes swept over the teenager's bare back, focusing on the slightly round buttocks.The man hid his crotch with his empty hand, like he was considering whether he would first come up with an idea, or directly rope the person and take him back.The kid is wounded like this, looks like he has 80% chance of dying. If he is does not die or cruelly eaten by an animal, then bringing him back would also be a waste of food.Yan Mo tried to prop up his upper body. He wanted to look back at the human standing behind him.Yan Mo saw the appearance of the man behind him.The man also saw the appearance of Yan Mo.The little face was washed cleanly, and the wounded person looked really handsome for a boy.Yan Mo snorted. This man is definitely not a good person. When Yan Mo was looking at his eyes, the man looked like he was watching a piece of meat.And is this a savage land?No matter how good-looking he is, the man can't hide the savage and bloodthirsty temperament of his body, not to mention that he only has a tattoo on his face but also a piece of animal skin around his waist.He had to admit, who amongst the modern people will wear this type of clothes?Yan Mo felt a killing intent. The other side wants to kill him!At almost the same time the man was about to kill him, Yan Mo squeezed out one of his most sultry and coquettish smiles.The man reached out for Yan Mo's neck but stopped. He wanted to snap the boy's neck for the latter's own merciful death. Although he wanted to come here before and leave right away, but the sun was about to set and he still had to rush back to the tribe. This grassy land is not safe at night."Brother, give me some food, and I will be a cow(work) for you... is that okay?"The man couldn't understand what Yan Mo was saying, but when he looked at the little cute face with a thick smile, he suddenly felt very fond of it....Or bring it back home and take care of it. If the boy end up disabled, he can use it for other purposes. If he has a use for it then it will be fine. It is just like when you reserve food in the winter."Brother, I don't have a family. As long as you are willing to save me, I will definitely repay you."The voice sounds good too. It will be very exciting to listen to him when he is crying (moaning-ish)

"Brother..." Yan Mo didn't have time to say the third sentence. He was chopped on the neck by the man's spear and fainted straight away.