When there’s something to do, time always flies by. By the time Qin Tian realized it, darkness had already settled around him, accompanied by a loud buzzing of mosquitoes in his ears.
In the wild, once the sun sets, mosquitoes often come out in swarms, especially on hot and humid rainy days. They’re almost everywhere and more terrifying than wild beasts.
It took Qin Tian the whole afternoon to chop down nine trees, but that was enough to build the camp.
Using materials on site, Qin Tian peeled the bark off the trees to use as rope, tying all the wood into a bundle.
He lifted it slightly, estimating the weight to be around sixty to seventy jin, which wasn’t much for him.
Taking a deep breath, Qin Tian heaved with all his strength, bending his knees and then standing up smoothly. The bundle of wood was steadily balanced on his shoulder.
The whole process was seamless, as if the wood weighed nothing.
Since he was sixteen, every summer break Qin Tian’s parents would drag him to the Cane Field to help cut sugarcane.
Although they called it cutting sugarcane, after chopping it, they still had to tie it into bundles and transport it to the roadside, waiting for the Truck to pick it up.
A single stalk of sugarcane weighed about five to six jin, some large ones reaching seven or eight jin. A bundle usually contained eight or nine stalks at least, sometimes more than a dozen. The average weight per bundle was around sixty jin, and without some skill, one person couldn’t carry it alone — they’d have to get help.
Qin Tian still remembered the first bundle of sugarcane he carried.
Back then, it was his first time. Although his parents gave him the smallest bundle, the moment he lifted it onto his shoulder, he immediately dropped it.
It hurt so much that he wondered if his shoulder might actually break.
But after a few summer breaks of doing this, he adapted. He could carry dozens of bundles a day. Compared to that, these few logs were ridiculously light.
***
When Qin Tian returned to the camp, Ye Lin was already back, fiddling with the campfire beside the site. A pile of banana leaves lay on the ground next to her.
Seeing Qin Tian return, Ye Lin immediately came over.
Qin Tian threw the wood onto the ground and looked at the banana leaves. “Is there a Banana Grove nearby? Where did you find these?”
Qin Tian never expected Ye Lin to find banana leaves—such an excellent material for roofing in the wild.
Whether it counted as a Banana Grove or not, Ye Lin said, “About three hundred meters downstream along the creek, there are a few banana trees. But they’re too tall, so I could only collect the shorter banana leaves.”
Qin Tian felt a bit disappointed, but finding even a few banana trees was quite fortunate. He didn’t dare to ask for more.
***
With the materials ready, despite feeling tired, the two wasted no time resting and immediately started building the camp.
As before, they split the work. Qin Tian used stones to pound the thickest wood slowly into the ground to serve as stakes.
Ye Lin took charge of the remaining wood, tying them in a horizontal and vertical pattern to create the framework for the Wind Wall.
There wasn’t enough time to shave the stakes, so Qin Tian struggled to pound them in. Even though the soil was soft, the stake only went in about one centimeter and couldn’t stand upright.
Seeing this, Qin Tian gave up and turned his attention to the banana leaves.
Using the Survival Knife, Qin Tian cut a triangle at the leaf tips at an angle, creating hooks to hang on the frame.
Faster than Ye Lin, Qin Tian finished processing the banana leaves and joined in assembling the Wind Wall’s framework.
Although they were rushing, darkness fell in the forest before they finished. Luckily, the firelight allowed them to keep working.
After a long while, they finally tied the framework together. Then, they hung the banana leaves in overlapping layers like roof tiles, which would ensure rainwater flowed along the leaf veins.
At the final step, Ye Lin stood the stakes upright while Qin Tian propped up the Wind Wall, adjusting it before slowly pressing it against the stakes.
At that moment, the stakes, roof, and ground formed a right triangle.
Under the force, although the stakes weren’t driven into the ground, they held the Wind Wall firmly. As long as there was no strong wind or disturbance, it wouldn’t collapse.
***
The camp was finally complete. Qin Tian and Ye Lin stood before it, expressions complicated.
“This is our camp?” Ye Lin couldn’t accept it. “What about the other side? Don’t tell me this is it.”
Before building it, she never imagined their camp would be just a single wooden support holding up one Wind Wall.
Trying to persuade Ye Lin, Qin Tian said, “Don’t underestimate this camp. Although there’s only one side, it reflects heat back, making us feel warmer.”
His voice grew quieter as he spoke, obviously lacking confidence.
“Ding—Host constructed a garbage camp, earned 1000 points.”
The System’s reward tone suddenly sounded. Qin Tian should have been happy, but after hearing the content, his face darkened.
He was being mocked by a System!
Trash is trash, but it’s better than nothing, Qin Tian comforted himself.
Not wanting to dwell on it, after a full day of hard work, they both felt exhausted. The two sat down in front of the camp.
But just as they were about to rest, the annoying buzzing of mosquitoes filled their ears. They initially ignored it, but soon both were bitten several times.
“I can’t take it!” Irritated by the mosquitoes, Ye Lin swatted the air.
But under the dim firelight, only the buzzing sound could be heard; no mosquitoes were visible. Swatting blindly was useless.
Having reached their limit, Qin Tian quietly stood up, found a tree branch, and warned Ye Lin, “Close your eyes and cover your nose.”
Then Qin Tian opened his mouth and emitted a sound like a wolf’s howl: “Wuuu—”
Ye Lin was stunned by the strange noise. She wondered what was wrong with Qin Tian.
Before she could ask, she saw hundreds of mosquitoes being drawn toward Qin Tian, and their numbers kept growing.
The scene was truly miraculous.
On impulse, Ye Lin tried to mimic Qin Tian’s howl, but the moment she made a sound, mosquitoes swarmed toward her. She hastily shut her mouth, frightened.
Seeing this, Qin Tian was speechless but increased the volume of his howl, attracting the mosquitoes from Ye Lin’s side as well.
When enough mosquitoes had gathered, Qin Tian threw the branch into the campfire.
With a crackling sound, thick white smoke billowed out, soon enveloping the entire camp.
Although prepared, the smoke still made them cough.
If the smoke affected humans so much, the mosquitoes fared worse.
Once the white smoke appeared, the buzzing grew louder for a moment, then the mosquitoes started fleeing.
The smoke didn’t last long; after a minute, it gradually dissipated. Eyes red and watering, Qin Tian and Ye Lin wiped their tears.
But it was worth it. After the smoke, all the mosquitoes vanished, though how long this would last was unknown.
***
Curious, Ye Lin leaned closer, but Qin Tian cut her off, “Don’t ask me, I don’t know. Elders at home taught me this, and this sound only works on wild mosquitoes.”
Like a bucket of cold water poured over her, Ye Lin lost interest and returned to sit by the fire.
Using smoke to drive away mosquitoes was only temporary. After about an hour, the mosquitoes returned. Reluctantly, Qin Tian repeated the trick.
This went on several times. Their eyes reddened from the smoke, and they grew even more exhausted. Thankfully, by late night, as temperatures dropped, the mosquitoes disappeared, allowing them to rest peacefully.
Though they had a camp, recalling last night’s ordeal, both Qin Tian and Ye Lin still felt uneasy and instinctively moved closer to each other.
Soon, they both sensed a faint warmth, less unbearable than the night before.
Just as Qin Tian said, the heat from the fire was reflected back by the Wind Wall behind them, warming both front and back.
Relaxing, Ye Lin’s body succumbed to overwhelming drowsiness. She lay down on the remaining banana leaves, curling up.
Seeing this, Qin Tian quickly said, “Tonight we’ll take turns keeping watch. You sleep the first half of the night; I’ll take the second half.”
Before he finished speaking, Ye Lin was already breathing rhythmically.
Qin Tian sighed silently; it looked like he’d be the only one on guard tonight.
***
Unlike the beach, the jungle was full of wild beasts—there could be Tigers or Wolves lurking. No matter how tired, Qin Tian wouldn’t dare sleep without someone watching.
Quietly sitting by the fire, Qin Tian planned for tomorrow.
They now had a camp, a fire, and had found water. If they could secure a stable food source, they could survive on this deserted island long-term.
However, fishing was out of the question. The tide receded early morning when the jungle was still dark, making travel dangerous and risking encounters with wild beasts.
Besides, the island’s shore was some distance away. By the time they reached the sea, the fish and shrimp would have long swum away.
After some thought, Qin Tian decided to check out the Banana Grove Ye Lin mentioned tomorrow.
Bananas grew all year round, so the chance to gather more banana leaves was high. Also, their current camp was too rudimentary. If possible, he wanted to build an A-frame Camp, with Wind Walls on two sides for better warmth.
With that in mind, Qin Tian looked toward the leftover bark.
He grabbed it all, smashed it with a stone, tore it into thin strips, bundled three strips into one group, tied knots, and twisted them by hand to make hemp rope.