The two ate warm congee, and their bodies felt warm. The stone chamber, after being baked by the coal fire all night, was already relatively dry.
Gu Qingcheng got up and walked around the stone chamber.
Du Lanyue did not understand and asked, "Young Master Gu, what are you doing?"
"Oh, disappearing. Right, let's explore the way out again. Use charcoal sticks to mark it. Explore slowly, it's better than waiting."
Gu Qingcheng said.
"Okay."
Du Lanyue felt that she had nothing else to do, and survival depended on herself. She readily agreed.
The two grabbed a large handful of charcoal sticks from by the campfire and then walked out...
As it turned out, they wasted a whole morning.
In the end, they still couldn't get out of the maze-like diverging paths.
Gu Qingcheng was helpless. As she was about to turn back, she jokingly left on the cave wall: Gu Qingcheng was here.
"Heh, no matter what, we've tried our best. Let's go back and lie down, we're tired."
Gu Qingcheng planned to slack off for a day.
Anyway, in the cave, she had no worries about food and drink.
What was more worrying was how she would explain her endless food source to Du Lanyue if they stayed for a long time.
But then again, if in the end, the visible food ran out, and she could produce food, Du Lanyue was a smart person, and at worst, she could make her swear an oath.
Who didn't want to survive?
She was Du Lanyue's savior, and Lanyue wouldn't betray her, would she?
In troubled times, human nature is untrustworthy.
But in troubled times, there are still trustworthy people.
For example, Mi Guo.
After saving Mi Guo, she had always regarded her as family. Mi Guo had not lived up to her family's expectations and trust, becoming her capable helper.
Perhaps it was time to have another friend she could trust.
Gu Qingcheng was prepared. If they stayed here for more than ten days, she would slowly be honest with Du Lanyue.
It wasn't a desperate situation yet, so there was no need to rush.
Du Lanyue appeared very calm, which greatly impressed Gu Qingcheng.
She saw Du Lanyue as a pampered young lady, but she didn't expect her to be so composed in the face of a major crisis.
She herself was a transmigrator, and after experiencing such a melodramatic event, she naturally wouldn't be surprised by anything that happened later.
But Du Lanyue was a native of this world. Facing a life-threatening situation with such composure, Gu Qingcheng felt she had great potential for the future.
If she were the mistress of a household, she would be a pillar of strength.
People are always prone to mutual appreciation.
Because of Du Lanyue's resilience and composure, Gu Qingcheng's opinion of her grew, and she became even more determined to become close friends with her.
Neither of them expected to be trapped in the stone chamber for ten days.
Every day they lived the same life, and Gu Qingcheng was tired of it.
Later, out of boredom, she taught Du Lanyue how to use sleeve darts to pass the time.
Anyway, she had plenty of arrows, and it was a good opportunity to practice her aim.
She lit five large candles, illuminating the stone chamber brightly, and drew a target on the opposite cave wall, letting Du Lanyue practice shooting at it.
Sleeve darts had mechanical assistance, so they didn't require strength, only accuracy.
Gu Qingcheng taught patiently, and Du Lanyue learned diligently.
Moreover, she was indeed nimble and skillful. After practicing for three days, she had basically mastered the timing of launching sleeve darts.
Gu Qingcheng then gave her the sleeve dart she was using.
Du Lanyue knew that this was Gu Qingcheng's life-saving item and refused to accept it.
Seeing her refuse, Gu Qingcheng said with a serious face:
"I have many other life-saving items. You may not be suitable for other items, but this one is the most suitable for you, so please accept it and don't be polite."
Du Lanyue had no choice but to accept it when she heard this.
Gu Qingcheng rolled up her sleeve and carefully tied the detached sleeve dart onto her.
The sleeve dart designed by Mi Guo was very exquisite, and when worn on the hand, it was almost unnoticeable.
Du Lanyue wore the sleeve dart, which still retained Gu Qingcheng's body temperature, and felt an indescribable warmth in her heart.
On the second day of being trapped here, Young Master Li's group came to look for them. They didn't dare to enter, were afraid of getting lost, and were even more afraid of the strange legends in the cave. So they just shouted from outside the cave.
Du Lanyue was very nervous at the time, afraid that Young Master Li and his group would discover their whereabouts.
Fortunately, the group of dandies couldn't find their way and didn't discover their traces. They figured they might have gone deep into the cave and were trapped, so they left dejectedly and didn't bother them again.
Du Lanyue felt that Gu Qingcheng's actions were undoubtedly a sign of responsibility towards her.
She didn't believe that Gu Qingcheng had any other life-saving items; it was just an excuse.
But if she didn't accept the sleeve dart, Gu Qingcheng would definitely be unhappy.
If Young Master Li and his group came again, she would definitely risk her life to save Gu Qingcheng.
At this time, she even hoped that Young Master Li and his group could find them, because if they could find them, it would mean they could also find a way out.
However, Du Lanyue discovered that Young Master Li's group had not reappeared since they disappeared that day, and they still couldn't find a way out.
Gu Qingcheng was very relaxed, and it seemed she wasn't in a hurry.
Du Lanyue felt quite at ease. Apart from worrying that her parents would worry about her disappearance after being away for so long, she had nothing else to fear.
Because Gu Qingcheng could continuously produce food in the stone chamber, she never went hungry. On the contrary, she felt her waist had thickened, and she seemed to have gained weight.
It made her want to laugh and cry.
Although Gu Qingcheng was trapped in the stone chamber, apart from lying flat for the first two days, her daily exercises never stopped. She either lifted stones or did push-ups in place to ensure her physical fitness didn't decline.
On the eleventh day, Gu Qingcheng saw that the rice and cured meat she had pretended to "find" were about to run out, so she planned to be somewhat honest with Du Lanyue.
Du Lanyue had also been calculating the amount of food for the past few days. Towards the end, she wanted to suggest being thrifty with their rations and not cooking so much for each meal, but Gu Qingcheng refused, saying that only by eating enough could they wait for rescue.
It seemed Gu Qingcheng was very optimistic.
Du Lanyue was helpless, so she started economizing on her own food.
But Gu Qingcheng found out and got angry, saying that if Du Lanyue didn't eat, she wouldn't either.
In the end, Du Lanyue found that they were both indulging in eating and drinking without restraint, until the eleventh day when all the food was gone.
A survival crisis struck.
Du Lanyue didn't sleep well for a whole night.
She had also experienced fleeing from disaster and had personally witnessed some refugees resorting to cannibalism.
And now, they had also fallen into a situation where there was no food to eat.
In terms of their physical strength, Gu Qingcheng was definitely superior to her.
Gu Qingcheng could pull the heavy golden chest with no effort, while she couldn't move it at all.
Tomorrow would be the first day of hunger, and they could still endure it.
But what if they starved for three days, five days, ten days?
Du Lanyue was silent, lost in thought.
Gu Qingcheng, with a clear conscience, slept soundly.