Chapter 434 - 4: Rescue (Part 2)
Chen Zhou hoped that after he left, the indigenous people could survive better in this era and not tread the same tragic path as the indigenous people of the same period.
...
Before the arrival of the third-anniversary gift package, also one of the only three festivals on the island in a year, Chen Zhou completed the repair of the canoe and had the indigenous people test it in the wide river channel.
The results were quite gratifying. The canoe could freely shuttle in the river without issues like leaks or instability. It was expected to perform well in the sea for fishing, lacking only a fair and sunny day.
...
On September 29, a torrential rain poured down on the island, and Chen Zhou found himself completely idle.
The heavy rains accompanied by strong winds affected not only him but also the work of the indigenous people.
The indigenous people tending to the crops were somewhat better off, needing only to dig around the edges of the fields to drain the accumulated rainwater in a timely manner.
The fellow responsible for herding was really suffering.
In such heavy rain, visibility was extremely low. The straw hat on his head was no match against the pounding raindrops, with its brim pressed down, sticking to the sides of his head.
Even though Chen Zhou had lent him a sealskin raincoat early in the morning, it couldn’t withstand such a heavy rain.
Water accumulating on the mountaintop streamed downhill, forming rivulets.
Unstable sands and gravels turned into slippery mud, slipping was unavoidable when stepping on it.
The entire world was shrouded in a gray-black curtain of rain. Two cows, relying on their large size, basked in the rain, while the sheep were scattered by the downpour and thunder.
The herder searched from morning until dusk, eating only a slice of rain-soaked bread and some chocolate crumbs at noon, yet he still couldn’t find all the sheep.
After counting, it was found that two large sheep, one male and one female, and three lambs were missing.
...
Since the herd of goats on the island had gradually expanded, this was the first time they had suffered such a severe loss.
The night of September 29, after realizing how many sheep were lost, the indigenous man was filled with panic, sitting on a still-raining hillside, delaying returning to the wooden house.
Setting out in the morning, searching for sheep until dark, the straw hat on his head was thoroughly soaked and ruined by the rain.
As for the sealskin raincoat he was wearing, it was useless in the particularly dreadful weather.
From head to toe, there wasn’t a single part of the indigenous man’s skin that wasn’t wet.
Because of the slippery roads from the rain, he fell multiple times on the mountain, his clothes were covered with yellowish-brown mud spots, especially his pant legs and shoes, which were almost encased in mud.
The rainwater evaporating from his body was taking away his body heat.
The strong mountain wind blew through, making the rare tropical drizzle filled with a chill, causing the indigenous man to feel cold all over.
He trembled as he unfastened the buttons of the raincoat and fumbled out a small piece of chocolate from his pocket, along with some cookie crumbs resembling porridge, and shoved them into his mouth, chewing while gazing down the mountain.
Dusk and rain had already enveloped the entire world in the embrace of darkness.
In the far distance, he could only see a layer of mist lingering over the forest canopy, obscuring the indigenous man’s vision, making him feel as if he was stepping into an unknown and tragic situation.
In the tribe, even losing one of the leader’s fruits could result in having an ear cut off or even execution.
This time, he lost a few sheep—sheep that could feed them for two or three days, sheep that the leader had emphasized their importance many times.
Even though the new leader was always very kind when talking to them and was particularly generous in treating them.
Todays rain, he even brought him thick clothing.
But they were, after all, five sheep.
The indigenous man was worried about the punishment he might face, scared, wanting to escape into the forest, yet he also felt he had betrayed the leader’s trust, failed to do his job, and was filled with guilt.
He wanted to keep searching for the missing sheep, but he truly had no strength left.
Even a native honed for years in the primitive tribe, with incredible stamina and endurance, couldn’t exceed the limits of human beings by engaging in high-intensity activities in the mountainous environment amid a rain curtain for hours on end.
In fact, now, the indigenous man could feel a chill growing from within his bones, causing him to shiver involuntarily.
Meanwhile, a strange heat crept into his brain, making him feel dazed, experiencing a sensation of heaviness in his head and lightness in his feet. Once seated on the hillside, he found it difficult to get up.
Somehow aware that he was sick, the indigenous man harbored little desire for survival.
Spaniards hanged on the gallows;
Tribe members who committed errors having their throats cut by the leader;
Companions whose skulls were split open after a thunderclap;
Indigenous people scourged until they bled all over...
Harsh punishments and various painful deaths whirled in his mind, and he seemed to see himself become the man on the gallows.
He neither wanted to escape nor could he find the lost sheep, and he was unable to bear the consequences of his mistake, lacking the courage to return to the leader’s wooden house.
He thought it might be better if he just died on the hillside like this.
At least it would be more comfortable than hanging from a rope, and his body might not, like that naked hanged man, be slowly devoured by birds, beasts, and flies, turning into a rotting mass of flesh and bare bones.
...
The fevered brain gradually clouded his consciousness.
The images in his mind were tinged with a fiery red at some point, making him forget his cold body, only feeling heat.
Death was drawing away the indigenous man’s life.
Before collapsing onto the hillside, he vaguely heard a companion call his name, then the heavy darkness swallowed his consciousness.