Hua Mu woke up very early, having slept quite well. She was discovering that she was growing more and more accustomed to this sleeping environment, especially after she started using Bai Zhen as a pillow.

Bai Zhen had obviously woken up even earlier. She was looking up at the sky, her expression tinged with worry. The moment Hua Mu opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of the other woman’s sharp jawline, and her heart skipped a few beats.

Although she had grown accustomed to the Sentinel acting as her pillow, she had yet to get used to having the Sentinel’s beauty right before her eyes.

“Miss, are you awake?”

When Hua Mu saw that the other woman had noticed her, she hastily averted her gaze, feeling as guilty as a thief caught in the act.

“Mm… what time is it?”

“A little before seven.”

It was still very early, and with nothing pressing to do, Hua Mu had no motivation to get out of bed.

“Then let’s sleep a little longer.”

Bai Zhen’s voice was tinged with concern. “Miss, I think it’s very likely to rain today.”

Hua Mu glanced up at the sky. While it wasn’t exactly cloudless, it wasn’t overcast, either. But since Bai Zhen said it would rain, it was almost certainly going to rain.

“Hmm… should we build a temporary rain shelter first?”

Bai Zhen had a feeling this rain wouldn’t be light. After a moment’s hesitation, she suggested, “Perhaps we should head back south. I’m afraid it’s going to be a heavy downpour.”

“Oh…” Hua Mu hadn’t seen rain in a long time. “Didn’t we say yesterday that we’d scout this area again today?” she said lazily. “If the rain is really that heavy, it’ll be raining in the south too, won’t it? Wouldn’t it be more trouble if it started while we were halfway there? Since we’ve already decided to stay here, we might as well take this chance to build a shelter.”

If it were just rain, that would be one thing. But they were in the middle of the ocean, where sea winds prevailed. A makeshift shelter wouldn’t be enough to protect them from what was coming.

But Hua Mu had a point. This didn’t seem like a simple local shower; it would likely cover the entire island. If they tried to head back now, they would inevitably be caught in the downpour, which was hardly a wise choice.

“Miss, in that case, we should find a cave to shelter in.”

Hua Mu still didn’t take the Sentinel’s warning to heart. Lazing against her, she said nonchalantly, “Where would we find a cave? It doesn’t matter. We’re just getting out of the rain.”

“Then we should get up now. It’s best to be prepared before the rain starts.”

Hua Mu puffed out her cheeks and reluctantly sat up.

“There are hardly any clouds in the sky. Do we have to be in such a rush? We can just take our time. I’m still sleepy.”

Bai Zhen didn’t have much experience with maritime weather changes; she was mostly relying on intuition. She had a bad feeling but didn’t know how to convey it to Hua Mu. It was always better to be safe than sorry, so she had to prepare in advance.

“You can rest a little longer. I’ll go make the preparations.”

Without Bai Zhen sleeping with her… or rather, acting as her pillow, what was the point of resting alone!

“Never mind, I’m up too. What do you need to prepare? I’ll help.”

Bai Zhen’s biggest concern was their water source. It might sound absurd, but the rainforest floor was rich in humus. If the rainfall was too heavy, it could easily contaminate their water supply with runoff, making it turbid.

“I want to take a few bamboo stalks from the raft to store fresh water.”

Hua Mu couldn’t be of much help with that.

“Is that necessary? It’s about to rain.”

She said as much, but she didn’t stop Bai Zhen. When it came to wilderness survival, she trusted the other woman unconditionally.

Bai Zhen carried Hua Mu back to where the raft was moored and poled it directly to their water source. Then, she detached a bamboo stalk from each side of the raft. Using a pole with her dagger fastened to the tip, she punched through the internal nodes of the bamboo to create hollow containers, which she then sealed with wooden plugs.

It was not only physically demanding but also required precision. By the time Bai Zhen had filled the bamboo tubes with water, more than an hour had passed.

The clouds in the sky had grown visibly thicker. The sky had darkened, and the wind over the sea was becoming more and more violent.

Even Hua Mu could sense that something was wrong with the weather, and Bai Zhen began to move much more quickly.

“Bai Zhen, something’s not right with the weather, is it?”

Bai Zhen tossed the water-filled bamboo tubes onto the raft and secured them. While nimbly packing up their things, she said to Hua Mu, “Miss, we’ll take the water route. We need to hurry. A storm will hit within the hour, at most.”

The storm clouds were gathering faster than Bai Zhen had anticipated, reminiscent of the tempest they had encountered when they first arrived.

Hua Mu’s heart pounded as she listened. She retreated slightly under the banyan tree, a hint of apprehension in her posture.

“With the wind this strong, won’t it be dangerous to travel by water?”

Bai Zhen glanced at her slender frame, then simply crouched down and hoisted her onto her shoulder.

“I will protect you.”

Before Hua Mu even had a chance to struggle, Bai Zhen had carried her onto the raft.

“Miss, hold on tight.”

Hua Mu had never seen Bai Zhen in such a frantic hurry. Before she had even settled herself, the raft shot forward as if it had taken flight.

Hua Mu felt as if she weren’t on a raft at all, but something nearly as fast as a speedboat. Under the combined assault of the waves and wind, she was tossed about relentlessly.

Hua Mu was thrown about, all thoughts of composure gone as she clung desperately to the raft’s surface, cursing the Sentinel a thousand times over in her mind.

Her stomach churned violently, but she didn’t even have time to be sick. In just half an hour, they reached the spot where they had picked breadfruit the previous day.

Hua Mu’s face was pale green, and her head was spinning. The moment the raft came to a complete stop, she leaned over the side and retched into the sea.

So much for her image!

Bai Zhen, however, acted as if she hadn’t noticed, dragging the raft—and Hua Mu with it—onto the shore.

“B-Bai Zhen!”

How rough! What had gotten into this Sentinel all of a sudden?

Of course, Bai Zhen had seen Hua Mu’s predicament; she just didn’t have time to explain. The clouds were growing thicker by the second, and the tide had risen considerably. This storm was most likely caused by a tropical cyclone.

The Sheng Chao Empire was indeed located near the equator, but the Shipwreck Anomaly Zone was far more expansive. They had traveled by speedboat for the better part of a day, and after the storm, there was no telling how far they had drifted. The island was likely located at a latitude of 3° south or more, so it was hardly surprising that a tropical cyclone would pass through.

“Miss, it’s going to be a severe storm. I’m going to find a suitable cave.”

Even for a storm, did she have to be in such a rush?

Hua Mu had spent most of her life in the capital. She had rarely encountered typhoons and had never truly witnessed the terror of a torrential downpour—after all, she never had any reason to venture outside in such weather.

“Y-You go on ahead…”

I’ll deal with you later.

The cliff face was covered in all sorts of epiphytic and parasitic plants, their dense foliage concealing numerous caves of varying sizes. Bai Zhen selected one far from the coast. Its entrance was rather narrow and obscured by maidenhair ferns clinging to the rock face, and it was also sheltered by the canopy of a large banyan tree.

The cave’s interior was reasonably spacious. A narrow fissure in the side wall allowed for air circulation, and the ceiling reached a height of nearly two meters at its peak. For now, it was an ideal shelter from the rain.

Most importantly, it wasn’t inhabited by bats, which made it relatively easy to clean.

Bai Zhen first cleared away the most obstructive plants from the entrance, then broke off a bundle of branches and slipped inside the cave.

Hua Mu climbed off the raft and squatted, dry-heaving for a good while before she finally recovered.

The sky was thick with dark clouds that hung low over the mountaintops. A gale raged across the sea, and monstrous waves crashed against the rocks, their roar like that of a great beast.

Even though Bai Zhen had dragged the raft far from the water’s edge, Hua Mu still sensed danger.

“Bai Zhen!” she called out, holding down the hem of her dress as it whipped about in the wind. She backed up against the base of the cliff, growing uneasy when she couldn’t see the Sentinel.

Bai Zhen leaned out from the cave entrance. Seeing Hua Mu’s slender form swaying in the wind, she leaped down and landed beside her in a few bounds.

“Miss, please go inside first.”

Hua Mu’s long, platinum-blonde hair whipped across her face, and she hadn’t even seen where Bai Zhen had come from.

“Inside where?” she had to shout to be heard over the wind.

Bai Zhen pointed to a cave five or six meters off the ground. “We’ll shelter in there until the storm passes.”

Hua Mu stared, dumbfounded. There was no way she could get up there.

“I’ll carry you up.”

Although Hua Mu had grown accustomed to Bai Zhen carrying her, that was only on level ground.

“W-wait, wait, wait! We’re not going to fall, are we?”

Hua Mu didn’t consider herself to have a fear of heights. While she wouldn’t dare skydive or bungee jump, she had no problem looking down from the top of the empire’s tallest skyscraper. She didn’t have acrophobia; at most, you could call it a fear of falling. And right now, she felt like she was very, very likely to fall!

“You won’t, Miss. Trust me. I will protect you!”

The Sentinel certainly looked reliable; her powerful arms and earnest expression were both worthy of trust. But as Hua Mu looked at the plants on the cliff face being battered by the wind, her legs began to feel weak.

“C-couldn’t you have picked a lower cave?”

“That one is the most suitable.”

On this matter, it was definitely best to trust Bai Zhen.

“A-alright, then…”

Hua Mu squeezed her eyes shut and clung to Bai Zhen’s back like a martyr facing her execution.

“Miss, I won’t have my hands free, so please hold on tight.”

Bai Zhen didn’t need to remind her. Hua Mu used both her arms and legs to cling tightly to the Sentinel’s body, her posture rivaling that of an octopus. At that moment, the Young Lady had forgotten every ounce of her noble elegance and composure.

“Stop wasting time, just go—whoa-ahhh!!!”

The feeling of being airborne made Hua Mu shriek. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense the incredible speed at which the Sentinel was moving.

It was too thrilling, too insane!

“Bai Zhen, ah, slow down! It’s-it’s too fast!!!”

The Sentinel’s agile form darted and weaved up the cliff face like a mountain gazelle, her movements broad yet unfailingly precise.

“It’s alright, Miss.”

It was not alright! Hua Mu could already see her life flashing before her eyes!

She was only eighteen! She had so much youth left to squander! She’d never been in love, never experienced its ABCs, and she still hadn’t deleted the fanfiction on her computer!!!

She didn’t want to die!

She was going to be sick again!

“Bai Zhen…”

W-when she got back, she had to tell Manman and Catherine about her heroic feat, performed without any safety equipment! Skydiving and bungee jumping were nothing compared to this…

She was going to die, she was going to die! She was going to fall to her death!