Ye Ju ate her fill and by the time the sky had completely darkened, she finally felt fear. All she could hear was the sound of the waves, and she had no mind to admire the sky full of stars. It was the fear of the unknown that made her tremble. Ye Ju clutched the wooden stick tightly. She stoked the fire, the flames bringing her a small sense of security. Sleepiness overcame her, and she forced her eyes open, afraid of falling asleep and letting the fire die out.
After adding wood one last time, Ye Ju finally couldn't hold on any longer. She fell asleep at some point, the warm firelight shining on her. The sea breeze howled over the rocks; the night temperature was a bit lower than during the day. Ye Ju unconsciously moved closer to the fire, curling up. A subtle change occurred in her body, as if something was slowly seeping out of her skin. All of this happened without her awareness. Something seemed to approach in the darkness, fearing the firelight, it retreated. The stick beside Ye Ju flashed.
She stirred as the first rays of morning sunlight touched her face. Her face felt itchy, and when she reached up to check, she found her entire arm was covered in black grime. When she touched her face, it was also covered. The fire had long since gone out.
Ye Ju quickly got up and ran to the shallow waters of the beach to clean herself. Knowing there was no one else on the island, she didn't care about modesty and jumped into the shallow water, stripping off her clothes and scrubbing vigorously. She found the sticky substance wouldn't come off. Then, she took some of the grass and wood ash from the campfire and scrubbed her body with it. The water around her became murky, and she wondered why she was so dirty. What had happened last night? Was it the legendary cleansing of the marrow? She had read some cultivation novels and knew that the cleansing of the marrow in those stories had a similar effect. She couldn't recall eating anything or any spiritual herbs or fruits last night. Ye Ju mused to herself. There were only crabs, shrimp, and water. Was it the crabs, the shrimp, or the water?
Ye Ju thought that in cultivation novels, after cleansing the marrow, the skin would improve. She looked at her hands and saw no change, though perhaps she looked a little fairer. She thought it must be false, that she had been poisoned by something she ate. After finally scrubbing herself clean, she quickly took the grass and wood ash and meticulously scrubbed her clothes. She found it very effective; anyone who grew up in the countryside knew that wood ash could clean clothes. If she didn't wash her clothes, she would have nothing to wear. She only had this one set of clothes. She put on her clean inner wear and laid her thin long-sleeved t-shirt and pants on the rocks to dry.
Still feeling too ashamed in just her inner wear, she went back to the campfire, picked up a few leaves, and tied them around her waist with wild vines. She felt a slight sense of security. Only her upper body was exposed without leaves, which she considered a bikini. Ye Ju consoled herself, thinking that no one was around.
Ye Ju didn't notice that the morning temperature was still quite low and the seawater was cool. However, Ye Ju didn't feel cold at all. This was a change in her body, but she was completely unaware of it.
Ye Ju looked up to see that the sun had fully risen. It was high above the hillside from the east. Ye Ju estimated it was past 8:00 AM. Ye Ju stuck a small wooden stick into a clearing on the beach and surrounded it with small stones to create a simple sundial. By observing the length of the shadow, she could roughly tell the time. The morning shadow was the longest and pointed west. As time passed, the shadow gradually shortened, and at noon, it was the shortest, directly at the center of the stick, making it easiest to discern. After noon, it began to lengthen again, pointing east. Ye Ju enjoyed reading and dabbled in various subjects, remembering seeing the principle of a sundial somewhere, which was enough to estimate the time. She regretted not knowing more details; books are truly valuable when you need them!
Feeling a rumble in her stomach, Ye Ju went back to the rocky area to see if there were any more crabs. Catching a few more shrimp would be very fortunate.
She then spotted a few sea urchins in a shallow pool. She found two long sticks and picked them up. It was probably too dark last night to see clearly. She rummaged through the rock crevices and found two more crabs, smaller than last night's and of a different color. Seeing this bounty of seafood, Ye Ju's eyes lit up. Breakfast was secured.
She returned to the campfire, and finding embers, carefully rekindled it and added firewood. It took a while to get it going. As she prepared to fetch water, she noticed a few footprints in the direction of the water source. They looked like the paw prints of a dog or cat, but not quite. Ye Ju didn't like small animals and wasn't knowledgeable about them. The only certainty was that it wasn't a large wild beast, otherwise, she would have been eaten last night. It seemed she needed to build a shelter quickly. It was too dangerous. She turned back and picked up the wooden stick again. Ye Ju didn't think much of it, finding the stick made of some unknown tree very useful.
There was a lot to do today. Ye Ju quickened her pace, carrying the basket for water, tapping and making noise to scare away any animals as she walked towards the water pool.
She thought about the sticky grime that had inexplicably appeared on her body. If it was indeed the water, then this water might be spiritual spring water. The thought of it being spiritual spring water made Ye Ju want to scream. Today, she would test whether it was the crabs or the water. On this isolated island, if her body could improve, her chances of survival would be much greater.
The water pool showed no change, clear to the bottom, with bubbles gurgling up. The water flowing in the ditch trickled and wound its way along.
Ye Ju thought she should enlarge the small pool. The water flow was quite good. It was estimated that the water had emerged before and then seeped underground. She dug around the spring source again with the wooden stick. The stick was very useful; it could pry up a large chunk of soil with a single insertion. After an hour of work, she finally enlarged the spring pool to about two meters long and two meters wide. Then, about two meters below the drainage ditch, she dug another pool, about one meter wide and half a meter deep. She also dug a new drainage ditch along the edge of the pool, stopping where the ground naturally sloped, allowing the water to flow naturally. This was intended for bathing. The larger pool was for drinking. Ye Ju made the water very cloudy, but within half an hour, the water in both pools had become clear again.
Ye Ju's guess was correct; there was something unusual about this water. Even the best mountain spring water didn't have such strong purification capabilities. It would be perfect if the bathing pool could be paved with stones at the bottom. After finishing, she didn't feel tired; her strength seemed to have increased. Her stomach rumbled; she had forgotten breakfast.
She quickly fetched water back to the campfire and found the fire was almost out. Ye Ju slapped her forehead; her careless nature never changed.
After some hurried work, she finally managed to prepare breakfast. Ye Ju found the crabs today were exceptionally crisp; their shells could be easily broken open. Last night, it had felt like she had to use all her might to break open a crab. This was definitely the spiritual spring water; her strength had indeed increased. Looking at the sundial, the shadow was shorter than in the morning, estimating it to be around 10 to 11 AM. She took the wooden stick again and planned to explore the area she hadn't finished investigating yesterday.