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Novel Catalog
Chapter_165
Inside the cave, Yvette sat in front of the fire, her hands moving with practiced ease as she skillfully started the flames. The damp and shadowy cave soon became warm and inviting, the crackling fire casting flickering shadows on the walls.
The other four men sat to the side, tending to their injuries. Each had varying degrees of damage from the battle with the giant python. Chris carefully examined his shoulder, wincing as he dabbed some antiseptic on it. His gaze often drifted toward Yvette, who was silently watching the fire, lost in thought. He wanted to say something but hesitated, unsure how to break the silence.
Just an hour ago, Chris’s wound had been bleeding uncontrollably, but after eating the vanilla toffee Yvette had given him, the bleeding had stopped within five minutes. The toffee’s effect had been nothing short of miraculous.
Compared to Chris, Emmett and Bruce were less injured. They applied some ointment to their cuts and bruises, leaning against the cave wall to rest. After the fierce battle with the python and the exhausting trek through the rainforest, they were all too tired to even think about speaking.
Frankie, who had been knocked out early in the fight, had suffered fewer injuries. He had only woken up after Yvette had already dealt with the python.
The cave was eerily quiet, the only sound the crackling of the fire.
After a while, Emmett and Bruce, having rested long enough, pulled out their packs of compressed biscuits and began to eat. Frankie watched Yvette closely, his curiosity bubbling. He had a million questions but didn’t know where to begin.
Bruce chewed thoughtfully, then broke the silence, his tone direct, “Yve, you’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
The others turned their attention to Yvette, eager for an answer. Bruce’s confidence in the question was evident—he was certain that Yvette had visited this dangerous rainforest before, judging by her familiarity with it, as well as the way she had spoken about the giant python. No one could describe it in such detail without having experienced it firsthand.
They no longer addressed her as “Ms. Zeller”—that seemed too formal. In their eyes, she had become something more than that. She was one of them.
Yvette’s gaze shifted slowly from the fire to meet their expectant eyes. She narrowed her eyes slightly, her face half-shadowed in the flickering light. Her sharp, rebellious eyes gleamed as a mischievous smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Her voice was fierce yet calm as she spoke, “You’re right. I came here once, ten years ago. Found it amusing, so I stayed for three months.”
The sound of Emmett’s biscuit hitting the ground was almost comical in its suddenness.
Bruce’s expression morphed into disbelief. His mind raced, trying to process what Yvette had just revealed.
Chris stared, wide-eyed, unable to form a coherent thought.
The most stunned of all was Frankie. He watched Yvette with a mix of awe and disbelief, his mind struggling to make sense of it. She came here for fun? He thought, At twelve years old?
This revelation shattered every preconceived notion Frankie had about women. From now on, if anyone ever said that beautiful women were just eye candy, he’d be the first to disagree.
But one burning question lingered in the minds of all of them: How old was Yvette ten years ago?
A twelve-year-old girl survived in the most dangerous rainforest in the world for three months?
Chris swallowed hard, then asked, his voice filled with a newfound admiration, “Yve, how old were you back then?”
Yvette’s eyes were distant, but her smirk remained. She lifted her chin slightly, her gaze cold but with a hint of mischief as she answered simply, “Twelve.”
The cave fell silent.
They were stunned. Twelve?
Who was this person sitting in front of them? A child who could survive alone in the Rainforest of Death for three months? It was almost unbelievable. In a place where hundreds of explorers had perished, where only a handful of survivors had ever returned—she had thrived.
Frankie, unable to contain his curiosity, broke the silence, his voice tinged with excitement. “Ms. Zeller, when you were here… were you invincible? I bet you were, right? Did you fight the giant python back then?”
Frankie’s imagination ran wild, picturing Yvette slashing through beasts with her dagger, effortlessly taking down the most dangerous creatures the rainforest had to offer.
Yvette glanced at Frankie, her eyes gleaming with a playful yet sinister light. She reached down, grabbed a stick, and poked the fire, stoking it higher. Her smile grew, almost devious.
“I met it a few times,” she replied casually.
Her tone was so nonchalant, so matter-of-fact, that they couldn’t help but feel that the giant python from earlier was nothing to her—a mere nuisance.
Yvette didn’t remember how many creatures she had slain in those three months, or how many times she’d faced death. But one thing was certain: she thrived in that world. The scent of blood, the piles of corpses, and the ceaseless violence—they all fueled her in ways they could barely comprehend.
To her, the python was just another animal.
The next day, after a night of much-needed rest, the group set off again. They had a better understanding of the rainforest’s dangers, and strangely enough, they felt more confident. After all, they had Yvette with them—someone who had ventured alone into this very jungle at the age of twelve and survived.
The days that followed were filled with dangerous and breathtaking encounters. They came across enormous carnivorous plants, swarms of giant hornets, flesh-eating ants, and enormous crocodiles lurking in deep pools. But with Yvette’s calm and calculated guidance, they navigated each threat, learning as they went. Even Frankie, the least physically capable, had grown stronger with every encounter.
Emmett and Chris, both seasoned combatants, seized every opportunity to consult Yvette on combat tactics and strategy. They respected her not just for her abilities but for her wisdom, which they had never encountered in anyone else.
Under Yvette’s careful mentorship, their internal energy grew stronger. They were no longer just survivors in the jungle—they were evolving, becoming better, more attuned to the dangers around them.
Five days had passed, and the dynamic had changed. Emmett, Bruce, Chris, and Frankie were no longer awkward around Yvette. They had come to rely on her leadership. Even Bruce, who was typically reserved, had started cracking jokes with her.
One evening, in the cave, as the group sat around the fire, the others looked longingly at their dry, crumbling compressed biscuits while Yvette leisurely enjoyed her self-heating steak. The contrast was impossible to ignore. After five days of nothing but biscuits and water, their stomachs ached with longing.
Frankie, staring down at his biscuit, couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “This isn’t a compressed biscuit. This is duck confit… stewed pork… a big drumstick…”
It was hard for Yvette to ignore their pitiful glances. She raised an eyebrow, unable to stifle a small, knowing smirk.
