No matter how comfortable the mat was, Hua Mu still had to get up. After a simple breakfast, Bai Zhen dragged the bamboo raft over. Once the sun had risen a little higher, the two of them officially began their sea crossing.

Hua Mu briefly inventoried their supplies, leaving behind anything they didn’t immediately need. Their most important resource was still fresh water, which she checked every day—today, they had six liters left.

Besides water, they also brought two coconut shells for containers, some medicinal herbs, and spices for seasoning—all packed in newly made bamboo tube pouches. The only other useful items were the ones Bai Zhen had on her person.

The sea beyond the mangrove forest was deeper than any area Bai Zhen had previously explored. To be safe, she had made not only a pole but also two bamboo paddles.

Hua Mu eagerly declared she wanted to try, but gave up after the raft was pushed back to shore by the waves for the third time.

The great and arduous task of poling the raft was best left to the hardworking Sentinel.

The waters around the island appeared calm, but only Bai Zhen, who had actually been in the sea, knew how strong the currents were. Even a Sentinel with her formidable physique couldn’t swim very far.

Poling a raft naturally required some skill.

Bai Zhen had Hua Mu sit in the middle of the raft and pushed it into the sea for the fourth time. She pushed it for a distance, swimming, before getting on the raft and using the pole to steer.

Hua Mu was a little scared at first, but seeing how steadily Bai Zhen poled, her heart gradually settled.

Because of the previous day’s experience, Bai Zhen was particularly cautious today, constantly monitoring the sea and not daring to let the raft stray too far from the shore.

The mangrove forest along the coast was only about two kilometers long, but Bai Zhen had poled for five kilometers before finding a suitable place to land. After the mangroves, there was a stretch of gravelly cliffs with no suitable path inland.

Hua Mu sat in front of her, pretending to admire the scenery, but in reality, she had been terribly worried at the start. Setting aside the shipwreck from over half a month ago, the thrilling and dangerous scene from yesterday was still fresh in her mind. There was no way she could enter the sea as calmly as the Sentinel.

She had mentally prepared herself for some hardship early on, but the journey was surprisingly smooth, making her worry seem excessive. As her mood gradually relaxed, her attention slowly shifted elsewhere—the Sentinel looked much better poling the raft than she did in her dream.

The line from her upper arm to her chest, those flat, firm abs, those long, powerful legs—she looked incredibly reliable. And her serious expression was much more pleasing to the eye than the radiant smile in the dream.

Of course, how could such a frivolous expression appear on Bai Zhen? As a guard and a Sentinel, being calm, composed, alert, and agile, with a touch of ruthlessness towards enemies and tenderness towards a lover, was perfect.

Hua Mu unconsciously recalled a novel she had secretly borrowed from Catherine, and her heart couldn’t help but flutter.

What was the title again? My Cool and Handsome Sentinel? The Domineering Guard Fell in Love with Me? Or… Hua Mu found she could only remember a few of the more colorful scenes.

While the Young Lady’s imagination was running wild, Bai Zhen had already found a suitable place to dock. She had poled quickly and steadily, crossing the area in just over half an hour.

The northeast side of the island didn’t seem particularly special. If anything, the beaches here were wider, and the coastline was longer than on the east side.

As Bai Zhen slowly brought the raft to shore, she said to Hua Mu, who seemed captivated by the beautiful scenery, “Miss, let’s travel by land from here.”

Hua Mu only felt a slight jolt from the raft. When she turned her head, she realized they had somehow reached the shore.

“We’re here… so quickly?”

Bai Zhen hadn’t chosen to land earlier because she wanted Hua Mu to rest a bit longer, but the further north they went, the stronger the currents became, forcing her to come ashore.

“Yes.”

Bai Zhen jumped directly into the water and pushed the raft onto the shore. Hua Mu hurriedly tried to jump onto the sand to lighten the load.

“Miss, don’t move. The wound from yesterday will sting if it gets in the seawater.”

Bai Zhen was afraid she would hurt herself without realizing it, while Hua Mu secretly glanced at her shoulder.

When changing the dressing that morning, she had seen that the wound was healing well. Her only worry was that strenuous exercise might cause it to tear open again.

Fortunately, no blood was seeping out. She let out a soft sigh of relief and jumped from the raft onto the sand.

“I’m not an idiot.”

She felt that Bai Zhen was the one who was worse at taking care of herself.

Seeing that she wasn’t trying to be overly brave, the Sentinel relaxed. She dragged the raft ashore, tied it up, then returned to Hua Mu and crouched down to carry her on her back. They had never explored the northern part of the island, so in Bai Zhen’s mind, the danger level had skyrocketed. The safest way she could think of was to have Hua Mu on her back.

The Young Lady had been exhausted yesterday and knew what Bai Zhen was worried about, so she didn’t dare to be stubborn and obediently climbed onto her back.

The further north they went, the more they could feel the difference from the south. The temperature and humidity gradually increased, and the vegetation became denser. Bai Zhen’s guess was correct; the reason it hadn’t rained in the south for so long was due to the mountain in the middle acting as a barrier, creating a leeward slope.

The northern part of the island clearly had a much larger area, and the lushness of the tropical rainforest was incomparable to the south. Bai Zhen didn’t dare to venture in rashly, continuing north along the edge for several more kilometers.

Hua Mu was about to die from the heat.

“Bai Zhen, when are we going to find water?”

Hanging on the Sentinel’s back without doing anything, she was already drenched in sweat. The two of them were sticky and clinging together, which was incredibly uncomfortable for her. Due to the rising temperature, she had already drunk more than two bottles of water, yet there was still no sign of a water source.

All she could see was white sand, the sea, and the dense rainforest.

The rainforest in the south at least had places to stand, but this one was truly daunting. The soft, muddy soil looked like it could swallow a person whole, and the narrow gaps were filled with either dense vines or poisonous snakes and insects.

Seeing Bai Zhen turn back and retreat from the rainforest several times, Hua Mu couldn’t help but feel a little desperate.

“Miss, I can smell a river. We should find something if we keep going forward.”

Bai Zhen could distinguish the difference in smell between clean water and stagnant water, and could even sense that it had likely rained in the north within the last few days.

The humidity in the air was high, there were many newly grown fungi on the ground, and most importantly, she could hear the sound of flowing water.

After Bai Zhen had called that small stream that didn’t even last ten days “a lot of water,” Hua Mu didn’t trust her judgment much anymore. So when Bai Zhen said “river,” she just assumed it was another small stream like the last one.

But even a small stream was better than nothing. She hadn’t had a proper bath in over ten days! In this environment, without bathing, she suspected she must stink, and had only gotten used to it so she couldn’t smell it herself.

Realizing this, the Young Lady suddenly remembered Bai Zhen’s status as a Sentinel, whose sense of smell was countless times better than her own, and she instantly grew nervous.

“Bai Zhen.”

“What is it, Miss?”

“Did you… did you smell water again?”

“Yes, it should be close. It’ll be easier if we find its mouth and follow it upstream.”

Hua Mu was completely oblivious to the fact that this river might flow into the sea—if the Sentinel could even smell water, how could she not smell her?

This dog nose had even smelled the scent of blood on her!

Hua Mu pushed against Bai Zhen’s shoulders to put some distance between them, her expression growing more and more conflicted.

“Miss,” Bai Zhen noticed her movement and asked in confusion, “what’s wrong?”

Although the Sentinel had never mentioned smelling any strange odors, nor had she ever shown any sign of disgust, Hua Mu felt a sense of shame and annoyance for some reason.

“So much sweat. I don’t like it.”

Hua Mu’s reply was a bit stiff, tinged with obvious displeasure.

Bai Zhen thought it was her own sweat that was disgusting the Young Lady and was momentarily flustered.

“I-I’m sorry, Miss. Once we find a water source, I’ll wash up properly.”

Hua Mu was about to snap “pervert,” but then she realized the other person was talking about washing herself, and she immediately swallowed the words.

“I-I wasn’t just talking about you. Me too. I’ve sweated so much, I must stink.”

Bai Zhen heard the reassurance in her tone and let her heart settle back into her chest for the time being.

“It’s my fault for not being more attentive to this. But you smell very nice, Miss. There’s no bad smell.”

Oh my god, this Sentinel was actually smelling her, and even said she smelled nice—she really did have ulterior motives, didn’t she!

“Really… I don’t stink?”

Bai Zhen said matter-of-factly, “How could you possibly stink, Miss? It’s my smell that’s bad.”

Exactly, how could she not smell good? She used to bathe in flower petals every day!

However, Bai Zhen didn’t smell bad either. If she had to say, it was surprisingly… a little pleasant. How strange. With so little fresh water, and the amount set aside for her to wash being so scarce, how did Bai Zhen manage to stay clean?

She knew the other woman took sea baths, but wouldn’t that just leave her covered in salt?

“Ahem, I didn’t say that… but it does seem like you’ve never… uh, never used much fresh water to wash yourself.”

Hua Mu was purely curious at first, but after asking, she felt it was a bit inappropriate. Bai Zhen was a girl, after all, and saying she wasn’t mindful of her hygiene seemed a bit rude. She mulled over her words for a while before expressing her meaning.

Bai Zhen also seemed a little embarrassed. “Because there isn’t enough fresh water… but don’t worry, I always wipe myself down. I’ll wash after you’re done.”

Right, she was a girl after all… wait, something about what she said sounded off!

Hua Mu straightened her upper body, moving even further away from Bai Zhen.

“What-what do you use to wipe yourself?”

This time, Bai Zhen answered quite frankly, “I use the water you’ve used.”

This pervert!

Hua Mu finally remembered the title of the novel she had borrowed from Catherine: The Gentleman Sentinel’s Adoration!

She turned as red as a shrimp, a million curses swirling in her mind, but Bai Zhen’s next words completely derailed her train of thought.

“Miss, I see the river!”