Rowan squeezed the remaining sap and applied it to his forehead; the cooling sensation from his forehead made him feel a bit more comfortable.
Incidentally, he used force to squeeze out all the yellow-white pus in the inflamed calf, gritting his teeth without uttering a single groan.
He guessed his calf might have been bitten by some poisonous creature with a powerful bite force; it seemed to have wanted to bite off both the flesh and bone of his calf, as the wound was very wide.
Looking at his calf, he didn't know why it was injured.
He felt as if he had fallen into some time vortex or a cosmic black hole, then inexplicably came back to life, arrived here, and got bitten.
Although it was absurd, he was still alive and couldn't find a better reason to explain it.
Rowan recovered a bit of strength and continued on his way. Stopping and going like this, he felt the distance didn't seem to shorten, but rather felt like it had no end.
Looking at the surrounding giant trees remaining unchanged, if not for encountering the marks he had left behind, he always felt as if he were being led astray by spirits.
He had lost his sense of direction. On the way, he encountered many fallen branches, so he had to take long detours, gradually deviating from the original path.
Now Rowan could only rely on intuition to walk straight ahead. If it were anyone else, they would have collapsed and given up long ago.
Although the chance of survival was very slim, he would not easily give up a single ray of hope.
The sky was gradually getting dark; it seemed he couldn't get out of here today. Rowan chose a giant tree with drooping branches—though tall, with his current strength he could climb it—to use as a resting place for the night.
He didn't dare to casually find a tree trunk to sleep by; if a ferocious beast attacked, the consequences would be unimaginable.
But throughout the journey, Rowan didn't meet any other living creature besides himself; the forest was terrifyingly quiet.
Fortunately, the climate of this world was not as harsh as in space, otherwise he wouldn't have made it far.
He couldn't sleep deeply, only dozing fitfully. Just a movement could wake him, but all night there was only the sound of wind rustling the leaves, and no other activity.
As soon as dawn broke, Rowan set off again. Perhaps because he had treated the leg wound well yesterday, plus he didn't overuse the injured leg, shifting most of his weight to the other one.
He felt his forehead was not as hot today; there were signs of the fever subsiding.
Although his body was still very weak, Rowan felt a bit lighter in his heart.
The journey remained unchanged compared to yesterday: resting when tired, eating leaves when hungry or thirsty.
After two days of exploring, Rowan discovered that this forest only had this one type of ancient tree and no other plants; no wonder no creatures lived here.
The two gigantic monstrous birds he met earlier were just an accident.
Therefore, at night, Rowan no longer wasted energy climbing trees to rest; he just curled up under a tree to sleep.
Now he felt as if he had been abandoned by the whole world, leaving only him and the endless forest.
Sometimes he couldn't help thinking that perhaps he would never get out of here. But he didn't let himself think wildly anymore, forcing himself to keep trudging forward.
A few days had passed since Rowan left that cave, and the high fever had also receded.
But he still hadn't found the exit from the forest. Rowan knew he was about to reach his limit, holding on by a mere thread of breath.
Eating only leaves these past few days couldn't sustain his life; now he didn't even have the strength to pick the leaves.
His whole body had slimmed down a size, making his features, which were already sharp and aggressive, reveal their bony outlines even more clearly.
On the final stretch, Rowan relied entirely on willpower to walk soullessly. When the scenery appeared before his eyes, it was no longer giant trees.
Instead, it was a grassland, jagged bushes, and mountain ranges in the distance. Even a top-tier Alpha couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
No one knew what kind of torture he had gone through in the past few days.
Rowan didn't know that if the cave where he woke up hadn't been located very close to the forest exit, he wouldn't have been able to get out at all.
Ultimately, he would have been like other creatures that wandered into the Lost Forest, turning into nutrients for the forest and disappearing.
Rowan casually picked a blade of grass reaching his knees and tasted it; it was bitter.
This time he was very lucky; not far after walking, he discovered a mountain cave where he could rest.
He tried picking up a stone and throwing it inside; waiting a while without any movement, he then entered.
The cave entrance was about three meters high, but upon entering, he discovered the entire mountain had been almost hollowed out. The space was incredibly vast and very deep inside, feeling like it extended underground.
Rowan saw a wide stone bed inside, covered with soft animal furs.
In the corner of the cave, some oddly shaped stone tools were piled up. On the ground was a pile of yellow fruits the size of plates, and on the cave wall hung an entire wall of glossy black cured meat.
All these things showed the existence of humans.
He wanted to call out, but his throat was hoarse and couldn't produce any sound, so he gave up.
The cave seemed to have no one; perhaps they had all gone out.
Rowan couldn't wait for the owner to return, so he took a yellow fruit first. He didn't touch the meat on the wall.
He thought to himself that he would repay them double later. Such a large cave couldn't possibly be inhabited by just one household.
Rowan slowly sat down, picked up the yellow fruit, and took a bite; the fruit flesh was sweet, fragrant, and soft, instantly soothing his stomach.
He restrained himself and ate the whole fruit slowly. This was the first time he had eaten normal food since transmigration.
After eating, he checked his calf again. It was still swollen and inflamed; the layer of rotten flesh on top had to be cut away, and it could only heal when new flesh grew.
The wound didn't continue to deteriorate seriously; it seemed there was no need for amputation. This made Rowan breathe a sigh of relief. If he lost a leg, he didn't know how arduous his life would be in the future.
Having food in his stomach and discovering the existence of his own kind, Rowan relaxed both physically and mentally. The uncomfortable aches and pains in his body hit him all at once.
This made him unable to resist lying down to rest immediately, groggily falling asleep.
Far away outside, hunting and stocking up on food for the upcoming Snow Season, Owen had no idea his home had been visited by a "thief".
When Owen was just three months old, because he ate too much, he was thrown out by his Father. Although his Papa was reluctant, he didn't stop it this time.
Because the beast cubs of the Silver-Winged Snake Clan had to learn hunting skills from their Father for one month right after birth, then become independent.
Owen's Papa loved his son and had kept him until he was three months old. But the cave truly had no more space, plus he ate a lot and grew too fast.
The Silver-Winged Snake Clan was not like other tribes that liked living in packs. They were naturally cold, arrogant, and disregarded blood ties, recognizing only one unique mate for their entire lives.
They would not tolerate their mate's attention being focused on the cubs. Otherwise, they would view the cubs as love rivals and kill them ruthlessly.
Therefore, the number of Silver-Winged Snake Clan members was very small, and those who could survive were all the strong ones.
Although Omegina cubs of the Silver-Winged Snake Clan were not thrown out to fend for themselves like the males, the mortality rate was very high.
Most Omegina mates of the Silver-Winged Snake Clan were found during the exchange gatherings organized by the united tribes in the spring. Silver-Winged Snake Beastmen would disguise themselves as beastmen of other tribes to find mates, because no Omegina liked to leave their tribe to live elsewhere.