On the damp ground, the infant who had been accidentally left aside for a long time had woken up at some point. Unable to open its eyes in the heavy rain, it merely parted its tiny mouth now and then to drink the falling raindrops.
The downpour was relentless, the rain pouring in sheets, striking the body with discomfort. Yet the child remained quiet, neither crying nor fussing. Occasionally, it would squirm slightly or turn its little face when feeling uneasy, appearing remarkably well-behaved.
Sha Yi, however, felt an overwhelming pang of heartache at the sight. She hurried over and scooped the infant into her arms.
Xi Yi did not stop her. Narrowing his eyes, he glanced up at the sky before swiftly pulling her into a sprint.
At first, Sha Yi was slightly confused, but after a brief moment of thought, she understood—lightning was about to strike!
By the time the lightning struck, the two hadn’t run very far, but they had fortunately reached a relatively open area. The moment a series of deafening thunderclaps erupted, followed by the infant’s piercing wails, Sha Yi turned her head—and what she saw shocked her beyond words.
This lightning… was nothing like what she had imagined!
The bolt did indeed strike the thick vine, but it didn’t stop at merely charring the giant carnivorous snakegrass. Instead, the energy spread across the water’s surface in an eerie blue glow. Moments later, another series of explosions followed. If not for witnessing the blindingly fast formation of multiple electric fireballs in different locations, Sha Yi might have mistaken it for a single blast!
Honestly, she had assumed that once the lightning struck the vine entangled with the carnivorous snakegrass, the conductive medium would create a high-voltage current in the water, electrocuting aquatic plants within a certain range. But she never expected that this act of attracting lightning would not only churn the entire stretch of water into chaos but also—more distressingly—instantly obliterate a vast section of the forest. Countless trees were split in half, and even the shore where they had stood moments earlier was blasted open with multiple gaps, causing a significant amount of water to gush out through the breaches!
The scene before her eyes was so drastically different from her expectations that even Xi Yi stood frozen in shock for a long while, unable to snap out of it.
Standing there, Sha Yi pondered for a long time but couldn’t figure out the exact cause. She could only strongly suspect that it had something to do with the electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen. And indeed, she had just witnessed the fireballs created by the lightning. If they were truly catalyzed by the combination of water and the extreme heat from the lightning strike, then this might very well have been the trigger for a hydrogen explosion!
If that were the case, she had truly miscalculated. Had Xi Yi not pulled her away, judging the safe distance based on the range of the vine’s lightning strike, she would have died a hundred—no, a thousand—times over!
The vine attracted the lightning, the water served as the medium, and electrolysis occurred—this lightning strike’s range was undoubtedly unprecedented in her experience, far surpassing even the devastation she had witnessed in the forest settlement.
However, while she was lost in thought, Xi Yi was elated. He pulled her back toward the shattered shore of that stretch of water.
The giant carnivorous snakegrass had been reduced to a pile of charred remains, while the thick vine wrapped around it remained completely unharmed, exactly as it had been before, unaffected by the lightning strike—except for the fact that all its glowing green spots had vanished.
She didn’t know what this meant. Perhaps its ability to attract lightning was permanently lost, or perhaps those glowing spots would regrow. In any case, she noticed that its dense roots had somehow burrowed back into the charred remains of the giant carnivorous snakegrass and the broken trees—likely preparing for something.
As for the deep-water area, upon closer inspection, Sha Yi realized it had been completely transformed. Within this modest-sized expanse, every single tree that had once stood densely had been snapped in half, without exception. Charred, fallen trunks lay crisscrossed everywhere, and the disturbed water had turned murky. Not far away, floating on the surface were several smaller plants resembling the carnivorous snakegrass—whether electrocuted into unconsciousness or outright killed, she couldn’t tell.
Xi Yi didn’t overthink things the way she did. His focus was entirely different. If she was preoccupied with the reasons behind certain phenomena, he was solely concerned with how to use the current situation to escape their predicament!
While she was lost in thought, he busied himself gathering scattered items from the ground. By the time she snapped out of it, he had already stepped onto the trunk of a fallen tree and extended his hand to her.
Without hesitation, Sha Yi took his hand and let him pull her onto the broken tree.
At this moment, they truly needed to focus on getting out of this forest as soon as possible—who knew what else might happen if they lingered?
Lightning was unpredictable, and the storm showed no signs of stopping. Sha Yi felt that as a modern person, she simply wasn’t built to endure such relentless rain. If not for sheer willpower, she would have collapsed long ago!
The same went for Xi Yi. No matter how strong or robust he was, even he couldn’t withstand continuous exposure to wind and rain. They had to return to their cave dwelling as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, the remaining journey wasn’t too difficult. After crossing the makeshift bridge formed by the fallen trees, the two made quick progress and soon exited the forest.
When they finally reached the boulder on the slope again, Sha Yi was suddenly struck by a surreal sense of having lived through an eternity. She couldn’t help but turn back to gaze at the terrifying, low-lying forest now far behind them.
In just a single day and night, so much had happened. In that dark, shadowy place, life-threatening dangers had lurked at every turn, making every second feel like an eternity.
The rainy season was truly terrifying.
It wasn’t just the lightning, the floods, or the scarcity of food—in this ancient era, there were far too many things to worry about. Just looking at this near-fatal expedition into the dense forest, had it not been for Xi Yi, she would have perished long ago at the bloodsucking vine tree, let alone made it out alive.
Now, she understood deeply that she had to stay with Xi Yi—and that they both needed to make full use of their respective strengths. Otherwise, surviving this rainy season would be nothing more than a pipe dream.
Time travel wasn’t as wonderful as she had imagined, and the ancient world wasn’t as idyllic as she had pictured. She truly needed to seriously consider the realities of the rainy season and carefully plan their next steps.
Since Xi Yi had chosen her, she was determined to prove that his choice was worthwhile—not that he had merely burdened himself with a huge liability!
With her mind settled, Sha Yi turned back to look at Xi Yi—only to find that he was already busy hunting.
Near the boulder, she spotted several small, grayish-white creatures that resembled a cross between mice and miniature squirrels hopping about. Xi Yi was chasing after them, his movements somewhat comical yet undeniably heartwarming.
Sha Yi was momentarily speechless, but soon, her brows lifted in amusement, and she broke into a smile, her mood lifting.
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