Moving targets are undoubtedly much harder to hit than fixed ones. On his second draw, Qin Tian still missed.
The wild bamboo partridges strolled and paused unpredictably, leaving Qin Tian helpless. Of course, the root cause was still his lack of skill.
However, that second shot did teach Qin Tian something: these bamboo partridges were the dunces of the bird world. His second arrow missed by only an inch, yet the bird showed no reaction at all and continued searching for food.
Qin Tian chuckled, unsure what to say, and nocked another arrow.
Until now, he had only practiced shooting at stationary targets. Now with these wild bamboo partridges as moving targets, he didn’t even bother chopping bamboo for practice anymore. After all, bamboo could be cut anytime, but these partridges were rare encounters.
After several attempts, Qin Tian finally discovered the secret to shooting moving targets and pierced one right through.
“Ding — Host eliminated Bamboo Partridge, earned 200 points.”
The System Prompt sounded, through which Qin Tian learned the name of these birds.
He was excited, not because of the points gained, but simply because he had successfully hunted prey.
***
By this time, Qin Tian had been practicing for over an hour. It was already noon, and he decided to stop practicing and approach the bamboo partridges.
When he got within five or six meters, the birds all turned their heads towards him, stared blankly for a moment, and then scattered, leaving feathers everywhere.
At that moment, Qin Tian seemed to realize something and twitched at the corner of his eye. “So they’re nearsighted—no wonder they only just reacted now.”
Not thinking too much about it, Qin Tian picked up the fallen partridge and found that its meat was minimal. A single touch felt the bones beneath; the weight was less than a pound.
But for Qin Tian and Ye Lin, who currently had no food worries, the amount of meat wasn’t so important. What mattered more was that these bamboo partridges’ feathers could be made into arrow fletching.
All of Qin Tian’s arrows used leaf fletching, which would rot over time and couldn’t be preserved long. The feathers, however, would eliminate this problem.
“Maybe next time I can set a trap to catch some partridges and raise them.”
Looking at the bamboo partridge flock a dozen meters away, Qin Tian thought quietly.
Pulling back his gaze, he raised his Stone Axe.
After an hour of work, Qin Tian had felled two bamboo stalks, each over ten meters long. He cut them into sections, tied them with String, and carried everything back.
***
By evening, the fire in the earthen stove burned fiercely, and the Ceramic Pot on top boiled vigorously, sending a cloud of steam from its vent.
Qin Tian and Ye Lin waited by the stove, holding bowls and chopsticks, looking as if they had been waiting a long time.
Tonight’s dinner was bamboo shoots stewed with chicken. After eating pork and fish for so long, they finally had a change of flavor, and both were excited beyond words.
A few minutes later, the aroma of chicken wafted from the stone pot. Qin Tian lifted the lid, releasing an irresistible fragrance. Inside, bamboo shoots floated while the bamboo partridge was stewed to a golden orange—utterly enticing.
Ye Lin could no longer recall how long it had been since she last had soup. She eagerly ladled herself a bowl.
One sip, and her expression gradually softened into delight. “Delicious! So fresh!”
“Do you have to be so dramatic?” Qin Tian doubted, seeing her reaction.
He took a sip himself. After a moment, his face showed slight regret. “Too bad there’s no Salt, otherwise the taste would be even better.”
“I think you’re a bit picky about food,” Ye Lin laughed at Qin Tian’s comment. “But honestly, this soup tastes better than what you’d get in a restaurant.”
This was no empty compliment; Ye Lin truly believed the freshness of the soup was something restaurants just couldn’t replicate.
Qin Tian smiled faintly. “Can’t help it, life is tight. Usually, I can only afford to be picky when it comes to food.”
Ye Lin understood immediately and praised, “Guys who can cook well are really popular.”
“Don’t flatter me, I’ll get arrogant.” Qin Tian looked pleased with himself.
After a moment’s thought, he continued, “It’s decided. Tomorrow we’ll go to the seaside to make sea salt.”
This idea had been on Qin Tian’s mind for a long time, but without a proper vessel, it never came to fruition.
***
Blue sea, clear sky; water meets sky.
Around nine in the morning, Qin Tian and Ye Lin arrived at the beach.
Feeling the sea breeze blowing towards them, Ye Lin said, “It’s been so long since I came to the beach.”
The ocean was still the same vast sea, the sky still the same clear blue, but for Ye Lin, everything felt so captivating at this moment.
Back in the Forest, Ye Lin’s daily range was limited to the Creek and the Banana Plantation—a small area full of danger. Without Qin Tian leading, she wouldn’t dare venture far from the Camp.
Most of her time was spent inside the Camp, which was small and confining. Naturally, this rarely visited beach felt incredibly novel.
Qin Tian, by contrast, felt little, but seeing Ye Lin enjoy herself so much, he stayed by her side for a while.
They then checked on their distress signal, confirming it was still intact before turning to leave.
Having waited so long for rescue, the two had grown indifferent about when the rescue team might arrive. After all, they couldn’t control the search and rescue schedule; fretting was useless.
***
Finding a shaded spot, Qin Tian lit two campfires and placed the two Ceramic Pots from the Camp on them, pouring in seawater. Once the seawater boiled down to dryness, the remaining white crystalline residue would be sea salt.
Each Ceramic Pot held about five to six liters of water, so it would take some time to evaporate fully.
Recalling Ye Lin’s excitement that morning, Qin Tian said, “You can go explore nearby for a bit.”
The words were like a parent telling a child working on homework that they could take a break and play. Ye Lin instantly brightened.
Then she asked, “What about you?”
“I plan to make a sundial.” Qin Tian glanced at the sky; this was his second reason for coming to the beach.
“Sundial?!” Ye Lin didn’t hesitate. “I want to help.”
“Are you sure?” Qin Tian was surprised.
“How do we make it?” Compared to wandering aimlessly, Ye Lin found sundial-making more interesting.
***
With that said, Qin Tian didn’t hesitate and beckoned Ye Lin to dig soil in the woods.
Because they were near the sea, the forest soil was soft. Within half an hour, they had reached fine yellow earth.
Adding fresh water, Qin Tian kneaded the yellow earth into clay slabs. Then, taking a length of String as a measuring base, he used the Survival Knife to cut out nearly a one-square-meter square slab.
Next, Qin Tian and Ye Lin each held one end of the String, stretched it diagonally across the slab, and snapped it taut, leaving a diagonal line on the clay surface.
Then Qin Tian took two one-inch-long bamboo pieces, about the size of fingers, tied one with String, and stuck one bamboo piece at the intersection of the diagonal lines, while using the other bamboo piece to draw a circle on the square clay slab like a compass.
Afterward, Qin Tian folded the base String in half to find the midpoint of each side of the square slab.
Using this method, he divided each side into six equal parts. Finally, connecting the corresponding midpoints on each side with String, he divided the circular slab evenly into twenty-four parts, marking them with Arabic numerals starting from zero.
“So, what about the base?” Ye Lin wiped the sweat from her brow.
The angle of the sundial’s base must equal the latitude of its location. If the base were made arbitrarily, the time it showed would be inaccurate. But they had no way to determine the latitude right now.
Suddenly, Ye Lin’s eyes lit up. “Are you going to make a sextant?”
“What are you thinking? There’s no way to make a sextant in the knowledge I have,” Qin Tian replied darkly. “Besides, a sextant needs time to determine latitude and longitude. If I already knew the time, why would I need a sextant?”
“Knowledge you have?” Women’s points of focus often differed from men’s. Ye Lin repeated Qin Tian’s words, sensing there was something significant hidden in them. “Knowledge?!”
Realizing he had said too much, Qin Tian hurriedly changed the subject. “As for the base, no worries. We can adjust the angle of the sundial plate according to the time we get, and that will give us the base’s angle.”
“Time?” Ye Lin felt her head spin. She could only repeat Qin Tian’s words. “If you already knew the time, why make a sundial?”
Qin Tian breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Although we can’t determine most times, there’s one time we do know.”
“Noon, twelve o’clock!” Ye Lin responded quickly without hesitation.
“Exactly!” Qin Tian nodded. “At noon, the sun is at its zenith, and shadows are shortest. Using this, we can find the time.”
With that, Qin Tian placed the sundial under the sun to dry.
***
By the time they made the sundial, the seawater in the Ceramic Pot had nearly evaporated, and crystals had started to form.
Seeing this, Qin Tian set the Ceramic Pot under the sun to dry completely. Within minutes, all moisture evaporated, leaving only white Salt.
The Salt wasn’t much, but Qin Tian stored it in prepared bamboo tubes and continued making more sea salt.
After all this, it was soon noon.
Waiting under the shade, Qin Tian and Ye Lin both stared intently at the sundial’s gnomon. When the shadow shrank completely to the gnomon’s base, they rushed outside.
Lifting the sundial, Qin Tian adjusted its tilt so that the gnomon’s shadow pointed exactly at “12.” Ye Lin took some clay and stuffed it beneath to stabilize it.
After about ten minutes, Ye Lin finally secured the sundial firmly. Now all that remained was to wait for the sundial and base to dry fully before firing it.