Chapter 510 - 344: Early Morning Seaside Hunt

Chapter 510: Chapter 344: Early Morning Seaside Hunt

’Of course, this didn’t mean he had fallen in love with Erica. It was simply out of a sense of... responsibility?’

’After all, he and Erica had met first. They’d even had some intimate moments and set a one-month time limit.’

’If he got too close to another woman during this time, with too much unnecessary physical contact, it would clearly hurt Erica.’

’As a man, he definitely couldn’t do that.’

’Another point was that Erica had actively confessed to him, so he was very clear about her feelings.’

’But Jin Meiyan hadn’t. She had just acted cute with him and called him "oppa" a few dozen times.’

’For a Da Xia person like him, who had never experienced this kind of treatment, it was certainly a shock. But for Koreans, it might just be a perfectly normal part of daily communication.’

’Of course, the fact that she called him "oppa" meant her impression of him was at least moderately positive.’

’But he couldn’t determine her feelings based on that alone. He didn’t think a beauty blogger who was used to seeing handsome men would fall in love at first sight with an ordinary, plain-looking guy like him.’

’All things considered, it was crucial to maintain some distance. He couldn’t let his international friend get the impression that Da Xia men were as frivolous as Korean men!’

The problem now was that he knew nothing about the girl’s swimming ability, so he couldn’t make a very detailed plan.

Judging by variety shows, Koreans always liked to talk big and brag, but those were just shows. You couldn’t apply that to reality.

’I’ve got it!’

He suddenly had a flash of inspiration, sitting up and slapping his thigh.

’Why not just prepare two plans!’

’Plan A: Assume her swimming is terrible and she can’t move freely in the sea. In that case, he’d teach her how to swim first, then they’d stay and play in the shallows. The main focus would be foraging along the shore, while he went a little farther out to gather more abalone, sea urchins, Lobster, and so on.’

’Plan B: Assume her swimming is actually pretty good. In that case, he’d first teach her how to overcome the mental block of opening her eyes underwater, then demonstrate how to dive.’

’If it was the latter, things would be very simple. He would only need to demonstrate, with no physical contact required at all.’

’If it was the former... at most, he’d just have to support her hands or hold her abdomen to help her balance. In the eyes of Westerners, that level of physical contact should be considered pretty normal.’

’Besides that, he also had to consider what to feed the little Coyote pup tomorrow. A paste made from root vegetables was probably best, with some minced fish and shrimp, or fish broth, to add protein and fat for comprehensive nutrition.’

"There’s another strange thing. Coyotes are solitary creatures that only meet to mate during breeding season. The male should have stayed near the female while she was giving birth, but there’s been no trace of him."

"There were no signs of major bleeding near the den. And since the pup’s eyes are open, the birth must have gone smoothly. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have survived this long."

"But what did the mother die from, and where did the male go?"

He thought it over and over but couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation. If the male Coyote existed, it would have definitely left tracks near the den, but there was nothing.

Suddenly, a bold idea popped into his head.

’Could it be... the mother Coyote swam across the sea?’

’For a wild animal, such shallow waters weren’t much of a threat. Wolves can doggy-paddle, and they’re quite fast.’

’If she swam over, it could mean she was being hunted and forced to the shore, where she had no choice but to risk crossing the water. She might have even been injured at that point. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain the male Coyote’s disappearance.’

’In early April, the only creature in the forest that could hunt two Coyotes would be a bear, right?’

At this thought, he turned his head and looked through the gaps in the spruce needles toward the distant shore across the sea.

’He could probably find some new clues over there.’

If that were the case, they would face a new problem.

March and April are when nature awakens and the weather warms up—the same time that Black Bears and brown bears emerge from hibernation.

During this period, bears have nearly depleted the fat reserves they stored for winter. It’s when they are at their thinnest and most hungry all year.

In the wild, hunger means high aggression.

If he took Jin Meiyan across the sea, and his guess was correct, there was a high probability they would enter a bear’s territory.

A single felling axe couldn’t protect two people. If they ran into a Black Bear, they might have a fighting chance. But if it was a brown bear, both of them would likely meet their end right there.

’In other words, the safest method is not to cross the sea, but to survive on this island for three days and then go home.’

’But there was hardly anything to eat on this island. Even the leeward side was like this; the chances on the windward side were even slimmer.’

’Or maybe... while Jin Meiyan was still asleep, he could go scout out the other side first?’

He glanced at the time. It was just past seven in the evening, with five hours until midnight.

There was more than enough time.

’I’ve decided. I’ll make a trip first!’

This trip wouldn’t just confirm many unstable factors; he could even scout out the seabed in advance. It was much more than just killing two birds with one stone.

...

"Wake up~"

"Wake up~~"

He nudged her shoulder twice, but the sleeping girl showed no signs of waking, her small mouth slightly agape as she slept soundly.

He glanced at the Hat Lamp in his hand and hesitated for a moment. Deciding against his ultimate method for now, he leaned down close to her ear and barked in a serious, low tone.

"Hey! Jin Meiyan!"

The instant she heard her full name, the girl’s body shuddered violently. Before her eyes were even open, she shot upright with a SWOOSH.

"Yeh!!!"

After letting out that cry, she groggily opened her eyes and looked around in a daze, her gaze meeting a pair of eyes that seemed to be smiling, yet not smiling.

She blinked a few times, patting her chest with some lingering fear as her mind slowly cleared. Annoyed, she raised a small fist and lightly thumped Lin Chen’s arm.

"Hey~! Oppa, you can’t scare people like that! What if I have a nightmare?"

"Haha, I just called you by your full name. What’s there to be afraid of?"

"You don’t get it! The senior-junior culture in South Korea is really strict. I know you’re a nice person and not pretentious, Oppa, but you’re still older than me, so I instinctively respect you."

"We agreed to go hunting tonight, right? I was worried I’d oversleep and make you wait too long, causing you unnecessary trouble. So when I heard you call my full name, I subconsciously thought I’d overslept and was so scared I thought I was about to get hit."

"Get hit?"

Lin Chen’s expression changed. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, you can’t just say things like that. I’m not the type of person who would hit a girl."

"Huh?" Jin Meiyan froze for a second, then waved her hands frantically once she understood. "No, no, that’s not what I meant! I meant before... ah, how do I put this..."

"Was it... at school in the past?"

As if realizing something, he asked tentatively. Seeing her expression turn a little grim, he quickly changed the subject.

"Ahem, well, your experience is quite similar to Erica’s. You two might become good friends. Anyway, it’s about time. We can head to the beach now."

’Similar to Erica’s experience?’

Jin Meiyan scratched her head, finding it a little hard to believe that Erica would have gone through something similar.

’But on second thought, it made sense. She was American, after all. Even if she hadn’t gone to school in the United States, she knew what was what. In that respect, it was practically the same as South Korea.’

’Looks like I’ll have to chat more with Erica when we get back. We really might become good friends.’

It was only after she crawled out of the grass shelter that she noticed, by the faint moonlight, that Lin Chen was soaking wet. He looked as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

’There’s only one way he could be this wet—he already went into the sea.’

’Was he afraid I might run into danger, so he scouted the path for me ahead of time?’

At this thought, she secretly glanced at Lin Chen’s side profile, and dimples quietly appeared at the corners of her mouth.

’Oppa really is a very gentle and considerate person!!’

’If he were active in South Korea, he’d definitely make a whole legion of girls swoon over him, wouldn’t he?’

Lin Chen walked in front, the Hat Lamp in his hand now switched on, illuminating the path he had just walked to prevent Jin Meiyan from slipping.

Their shelter was located on a seaside cliff. To get down to the beach, they had to take a detour around the sides, which passed by a relatively steep downhill section on the rock face. Going down this way would save about ten minutes.

The only drawback was that it was quite slippery and easy to fall on.

He didn’t even need the light, expertly sliding down along the cracks and grooves to the bottom. Then, he put on the Hat Lamp, aimed it at his location, and reached a hand up toward Jin Meiyan.

"Sit down first and slide down bit by bit. Don’t try to brake, that’s actually more dangerous. Just slide down on the soles of your shoes like you’re skating. I’ll catch you."

Jin Meiyan nodded. She glanced at the nearly seventy-degree slope, secretly swallowed in the darkness, and carefully sat down on the grass before inching her feet over the edge of the incline.

The slope wasn’t high, only about two meters, but when she sat at the edge and looked down, the height felt more like two and a half meters—like looking down from a second-story platform.

Just one glance made her legs feel a little weak, and she couldn’t muster any strength.

But seeing Lin Chen’s encouraging gaze, she took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and pushed off with her feet to stand up.

The moment she stood, her own weight sent her sliding rapidly down the slippery cliff face.

The sudden loss of balance scared her into a loud scream. Feeling as though she could fall at any moment, she instinctively kicked off the ground and leaped.

"???"

Lin Chen’s expression changed. He never would have expected her to suddenly jump, and he hurriedly opened his arms to catch her.

His left foot had just taken half a step forward when a warm, soft body crashed heavily into his arms.

Even he had trouble bracing against the nearly fifty-kilogram weight. He staggered back several steps—THUMP, THUMP, THUMP—and ended up falling, landing right on his butt.