Chapter Five: To Charge or Not to Charge?

Jiang Li’s gaze involuntarily shifted toward Qiu Yue.

That girl...

From the original owner’s memories, Qiu Yue was now eighteen, with a pleasing face and figure.

If it weren’t for the original owner lacking the inclination, Qiu Yue would have long since become a chamber maid.

“Oh no, I can’t do that! Qiu Yue is so devoted to me, it would be utterly heartless to take advantage of her,” Jiang Li said, shaking his head with a conflicted expression.

If the task reward were ordinary, he might have given up. But this time, it was the Medical Encyclopedia!

This was different from the modern world; learning medicine here was no simple matter. First and foremost, one had to be familiar with all kinds of herbs, able to distinguish which were poisonous and which could be used as medicine.

This knowledge was crucial given their current situation.

Here, in this godforsaken place, eating the wrong thing and dying without knowing why was a real danger.

The benefit to their situation was incomparable to the previous tasks involving mere potatoes and sweet potatoes.

But...

“Let’s put it aside for now,” Jiang Li sighed.

“Master, he has a dagger and a fire striker!” Chu Chunqiu exclaimed excitedly.

Jiang Li immediately perked up.

Damn! Last time, when trying to make fire by rubbing sticks, his palms were blistered. Having a fire striker would at least sustain them for a while.

“Alright, gather everything up,” Jiang Li said, actively collecting the remaining crabs.

After a long while, Jiang Li lazily lifted his head to survey the surroundings.

They were all humans who had come to the island together, and though the dozen or so of them were split into multiple camps, their bases were not far apart—there was safety in numbers.

Because of the commotion when he killed Wang Fei, seven or eight people now stood at a distance watching.

“You don’t have to look at me like that. Wang Fei stole food from our camp first. It was perfectly reasonable for me to act against him,” Jiang Li said, unwilling to waste words.

With that, he left the words hanging and turned to walk toward the ship’s cabin with Qiu Yue.

Although the ship had been battered by storms and supplies lost, finding some commonly used items was not difficult.

A moment later, the three of them emerged carrying several vases, teacups, and other objects.

“Let’s go. We’ll use these vases to collect water,” Jiang Li said cheerfully.

After two days of effort, their small team of three could barely manage some preserved fruit.

Seven potatoes, five pounds of sweet potatoes, a few crabs, and the gray wolf that Chu Chunqiu had killed — they still had dozens of pounds of meat.

At least enough to last a week or so.

Besides, Jiang Li had a crossbow, so as long as they didn’t act recklessly, survival was barely possible.

Not long after the trio left, Qin Lang and three others arrived at the camp that Jiang Li had abandoned.

“Who did this?” Qin Lang looked around fiercely.

Several guards who hadn’t gone far immediately shrank back, ready to leave.

On the deserted island, there were three factions: Jiang Li and his two companions, Qin Lang’s group, and a third neutral party no one wanted to offend—best to avoid trouble wherever possible.

Qin Lang waved his hand at two men behind him. “Lu Ren!”

Lu Ren understood and stepped aside to block a guard.

“Zhao Hua, just tell me, it won’t affect you. Don’t make trouble for yourself.”

“It was Young Master Jiang. None of us are involved. Everyone saw it,” Zhao Hua revealed without hesitation.

“Jiang Li?” Qin Lang was clearly surprised.

This pampered brat, though Jiang Tian held the military power, Jiang Li himself never reached out to anyone. Did he really dare kill someone?

Who would believe that?

“It’s true,” Zhao Hua quickly affirmed.

“Let go of Zhao Hua. That’s exactly what happened.”

“We all saw it. Da Shachun and Qiu Yue were right behind Young Master Jiang.”

Several guards familiar with Zhao Hua spoke up.

Qin Lang nodded in sudden understanding. “Da Shachun is still following Jiang Li. If he made the move, then it’s no surprise.”

“Should we go find them now?” a guard asked quietly.

“Are you stupid?” Qin Lang glared at him, then smiled at the others.

“Everyone, Jiang Li killed one of our comrades. I’m issuing a manhunt order here.”

“Whoever brings me the heads of Jiang Li or Da Shachun will get half a sheep and three water bags!”

“If you encounter Qiu Yue, capture her alive and bring her to me. The reward is the same.”

With that, Qin Lang waved for Zhao Hua and the others to leave.

“Big Brother, let them go after them. What are we supposed to do? Killing one person is only worth half a sheep, and we don’t have much food anyway!” Lu Ren looked at Qin Lang in confusion.

Qin Lang shook his head. “How many times have I told you to use your brain?”

“In a place like this, if we fight Da Shachun to the death, even if we kill him, how many of us will die? What if we get hurt? What if our food gets stolen?”

“Now, we offer a small incentive to make them risk their lives for us. When Jiang Li’s group is on the verge of collapse, we swoop in. Simple.”

“Qin Bro is awesome!”

“No wonder only Qin Bro can lead us to survive.”

Amid the flattery, Qin Lang proudly led his men away.

Meanwhile, Jiang Li and the other two had returned to the spring and began setting up a new camp.

They cleared the surrounding grass to prevent poisonous snakes or scorpions from sneaking in.

Also, since the spring was too small—only dripping two drops of water every half day—they had to collect it carefully to sustain the three of them.

Qiu Yue’s main task was to squat by the spring with a tea bowl, collecting the trickling water and storing it in the vases.

After finishing their chores, Jiang Li took out three potatoes again and, along with the morning’s crabs, prepared a meal.

“Let’s go check the surroundings,” Jiang Li said, dagger at his waist and holding a wooden stick.

Chu Chunqiu silently hoisted the gray wolf they had killed. To avoid attracting wild beasts with the smell of blood while skinning it, Jiang Li decided to take it out for processing.

The three explored deeper into the island, walking two or three miles.

Apart from occasionally spotting rabbits and other small wildlife, they found nothing else.

“Where exactly is that small town?” Jiang Li frowned.

Since Qiongzhou was discovered by Great Qian only three to five years ago, a few thousand people at most had been sent to develop it.

Though the population was small, at least food and drink should not be a problem.

Their top priority now was to locate that small town; otherwise, staying in the wilderness would eventually spell disaster.

Though they currently had food and drink, many problems remained—vegetables, salt—none of these could be replenished.

Over time, people would inevitably suffer in one way or another.

Lost in thought, Jiang Li suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed ahead.

A few hundred meters away, in the thick grass, a figure wearing a beast-hide apron was walking away from them...

“Quiet!” Jiang Li quickly grabbed the two and pulled them down to crouch.

“Master, is that a person from the small town we’re looking for?” Qiu Yue whispered.

Jiang Li’s eyes flickered uncertainly as he stared at the figure.

“I hope so, but it’s hard to say right now.”

“Let’s follow and see!”