After nearly two hours of continuous trekking, even though Ling Chengyan was physically fit, she was starting to feel a bit tired.
She went to the creek to wash her hands and face, moved a few steps upstream, took the water flask from her waist, scooped half a flask of water, and tasted it. It was very sweet, genuine mountain spring water, and very clean.
However, she dared not drink the raw water.
She found a large, smooth stone beside the water, with a shallow depression in the middle. She piled up some dried branches she had collected along the way, used a handful of soft, dry grass to start a fire, and slowly got it going. Ling Chengyan hung her tea flask above the fire.
Inside the flask was more than half filled with water, into which she added a few spoons of pork fat fried flour, along with a small handful of wild vegetables and wild garlic she had gathered on the way.
