Chapter 12: Rest Assured

“Mm, mm, all right, Brother Wen!”

Evidently, this Brother Wen possessed enough authority to convince others. The girl dressed in culottes, holding a wooden-handled iron spike over four feet long, didn’t ask further questions. She, along with the woman with the backpack and the red quick-dry jacket-wearing Xiaomin, supported each other and followed the path that the pockmarked man and Old Ge had taken, disappearing into the rainforest.

I gave Lan Fang a couple of sips of water. Though she seemed eager for more, I didn’t offer any. It wasn’t that I feared the water might run out, but I knew too well that for someone in extreme thirst, gulping water all at once would do more harm than good.

Watching her, much like Qu Xiang, clearly shaken by Brother Wen and the others’ recent conversation, her mouth slightly parted but unwilling to drink more. In fact, Lan Fang grasped my arm tightly, her complexion paling—whether from fever or the shock of the exchange, I couldn’t tell.

“You... you all... Brother Wen...”

At that moment, I truly didn’t know how to form the words, nor did I dare to directly ask Brother Wen about what had just transpired in front of Qu Xiang and Lan Fang. Yet, if I didn’t get clarity, I would remain deeply unsettled.

After all, if surviving meant resorting to eating the flesh of one’s companions, this was a cruelty that troubled not only Qu Xiang and Lan Fang but someone like me, who held few taboos. Such an act was beyond brutal.

Perhaps because I hadn’t faced it firsthand, a sliver of hope lingered. Brother Wen clearly had leadership qualities. But what I found hard to believe was that, after knowing we were not murderers, he so generously shared water with us—that suggested a man capable of great compassion.

If what they said earlier was true, it would be utterly unbelievable and deeply shocking. Such degradation went beyond mere morality. I dared not think further, let alone Qu Xiang or Lan Fang. Yet Brother Wen staying behind alone clearly meant something—I understood that much.

Of course, having never been trapped in such desperate straits, I couldn’t truly grasp the instinctual drive to survive at any cost. But I immediately recognized this was no bustling city where we eked out a living. Though only three days had passed, I already comprehended the harshness of survival, let alone the brink of starvation.

Here, food and even potable water were extraordinarily scarce. When one is starving to death, forget about worms or raw wild meat—if consuming excrement could save a life, it would surely be swallowed without hesitation.

I recalled news stories about shipwrecked survivors adrift at sea, where the last man alive survived by drinking his own urine and consuming the flesh of fallen comrades.

So, as far as I saw, such acts might be excusable only under extreme desperation. But we had yet to reach that cruel extremity. Still, gazing at the river and remembering the trekking pole submerged beneath the water—with its own secrets—I felt a sudden chill.

After all, these past days had yielded no food, and though I clung to that pole, what next? The rainforest teemed with unknown dangers—not just ferocious beasts, but venomous snakes and deadly plants enough to kill.

No matter Brother Wen’s good impression on me, I might subconsciously excuse his darker deeds. But if such a dire scenario really arose, with my mindset and upbringing, what would I do?

“Curious and surprised, aren’t you?” Brother Wen, who had stayed behind, suddenly spoke, his voice unusually solemn by the riverbank.

Hearing him, Lan Fang and Qu Xiang tensed and instinctively clasped each other’s hands. Though uneasy myself, I remained silent, fixing my gaze on Brother Wen, intent on discerning his meaning and eager to hear what he would say.

“You all should know the terrors of the tropical rainforest. Every source of food here—including ourselves and even our companions—is a gift from heaven when desperation and survival collide,” he said slowly. His deep tone sent shivers through us.

“Ah!” Though there was no horror or visible threat, Lan Fang trembled for the first time, as if recalling something. She unconsciously leaned toward me, then suddenly pushed me away and clung tightly to Qu Xiang.

Brother Wen’s words caused my brow to knit. I paid no mind to Lan Fang’s reaction, but seeing how the two girls responded stirred a complex mix of emotions within me.

After all, they were just two ordinary, defenseless girls. Lan Fang was injured, and although Qu Xiang seemed fine, I knew women were different from men—especially when weak and utterly exhausted, as we were after three days of hunger.

If anyone attacked us, our reactions would be the same as before: despite feeling capable of coping, I would have no real strength to resist. The suddenness and unpredictability of such situations could shatter my resolve in an instant.

“If someone intended to attack you and treat you as food, do you think you’d have any chance to fight back?” Brother Wen glanced at Qu Xiang and Lan Fang, clearly reading their thoughts. He scoffed disdainfully and said, “But to kill one’s own companion for survival? That’s something I would never do!”

In civilized society or crowded cities, uttering such words would mean being labeled either insane or profoundly disturbed. Yet, seeing Brother Wen’s calm demeanor, I found myself silently admiring his resolve.

“Of course, I firmly believe that if someone unfortunate dies—whether by human hand or wild beasts—then they would willingly offer their body to save their companions. That is the mindset of normal people,” he said with an unchanged expression, almost as casually as if discussing vegetables.

Seeing our silence, Brother Wen’s tone turned somewhat cold: “You can listen or not believe me. But as long as no one provokes me, I will never provoke others. That is my principle.”

I couldn’t help but nod, for in this environment, I fully understood the predicament Brother Wen described and the situation we faced.

He fixed his gaze on me. After a moment’s thought, I cautiously asked, “Were you also swept downstream by the river during these past days?”