“Trapping Trap?” Ye Lin blinked in surprise, then watched as Qin Tian stuffed the half of the bottle’s mouth back into the body.
Even without Qin Tian’s explanation, Ye Lin could understand the principle behind it: simple enough, it’s easy to get in but hard to get out.
“But if the bottle is made into a trapping trap, what will we use to boil water?” Ye Lin asked again, confident that Qin Tian must have thought of this issue before making the trap.
“Coconut.” Qin Tian answered as if he had anticipated Ye Lin’s question. “If you put heated stones into a coconut shell filled with water and try it a few times, the stones will boil the water.”
Ye Lin immediately thought of steam saunas. “Right, there’s that method! How did I not think of it?”
When steaming in a sauna, to raise the room temperature, water is poured onto the hot sauna stones. At such a high temperature, the water evaporates into steam.
This proves that Qin Tian’s method could heat the water to 100 degrees Celsius, achieving a high enough temperature to sterilize it.
Also, boiling water this way is far better than using plastic bottles. Plastic releases toxic substances when heated, but they had no better containers before, so they had no choice but to use plastic.
Compared to that, Qin Tian’s method has no risk of producing toxins.
***
“So, are we heading to the beach today?” Ye Lin asked. They hadn’t brought any coconuts when entering the deep forest.
Qin Tian nodded. “Yes, we need to collect coconuts.”
While speaking, Qin Tian used a knife to poke a few small holes at the connecting points of the trapping trap, then tied it together firmly with hemp rope.
As the trap was completed, the System’s alert chimed: “Ding—Host crafted a trapping trap, earned 200 Points.”
Ignoring it as if he hadn’t heard, Qin Tian remained expressionless. After last night’s incident, he was immune to the System’s mockery. It was just a system; not worth getting angry over.
After finishing the trap, Qin Tian placed the innards of the Banana Worm inside as bait, then headed to the stream to find a spot rich in aquatic plants where he set the trap.
Having done all that, Qin Tian glanced at the sky. The sun was slightly east of zenith, shining intensely—it must be around eleven o’clock.
The midday heat would easily cause dehydration, and since the camp was just a bit over an hour’s walk from the beach, there was no need to rush.
After some thought, Qin Tian decided to set off after noon.
With the remaining time, he considered improving the camp, but since the current camp was already warm enough and improvements would take a long time—far more than a single midday break—he quickly dismissed the idea.
After pondering, Qin Tian decided to continue exploring along the river.
Their activities so far had covered only a small part of the river. There were still vast areas waiting to be explored, and there might be usable resources there.
The jungle’s ecosystem was far richer than the beach. Besides large beasts, poisonous insects posed dangers too. For safety, Qin Tian and Ye Lin didn’t split up on this trip.
***
Not long after, they passed the Banana Plantation and continued downstream, where bushes along the banks grew thicker.
Downstream, the trees on both sides grew so densely that the whole river was hidden under shade.
Here, the types of plants changed somewhat, and the number of insects increased. It was unclear if the heat had driven the insects here to cool off, or if they naturally lived in this environment.
Fearing poisonous bugs hiding in the grass, Qin Tian grabbed a stick, probing cautiously as they moved forward.
After a long walk, they found no useful supplies, but Qin Tian noticed the stream’s depth varied widely—some places barely knee-deep, others too deep to see the bottom. There was no pattern.
By now, it was about one o’clock. Qin Tian was already considering whether to return the way they came.
“Qin Tian, have you caught any scent?” Ye Lin suddenly asked.
“Scent?” Qin Tian sniffed again after Ye Lin’s reminder. Indeed, there was a faint smell.
It was peculiar and somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t recall what it was at once.
Women’s noses are generally keener than men’s, and while Qin Tian was still thinking, Ye Lin had already followed the scent into the thicket.
Wanting to figure out what it was, Qin Tian followed behind her.
***
The smell grew stronger as they walked, and after just a few steps in the dappled sunlight, they spotted a patch of green plants.
Mint: Locally called “Silver Dan Herb,” it belongs to the Lamiaceae family, like other dried whole herbs. It mostly grows in wild mountain wetlands near rivers, with rhizomes spreading underground.
The entire plant emits a refreshing fragrance. Leaves grow opposite each other, with small pale purple flowers. The leaves contain menthol, menthone, and peppermint oil, which easily evaporate into the air. Cultivating a pot of mint in a small area can mildly repel mosquitoes.
“Mint!” Qin Tian called out. He recognized it without the System’s reminder.
“This is mint?” Ye Lin looked amazed.
She had chewed gum and seen pictures of mint on packaging but had never seen the real plant, so she hadn’t recognized it at first.
“Come help me dig. Mint can repel mosquitoes—we should take some back!” Qin Tian was visibly excited.
Remembering last night’s mosquito torment, he cursed himself for not coming here earlier. Luckily, Ye Lin had noticed the scent in the air, or they wouldn’t have found so much mint.
Speaking as he worked, Qin Tian approached the mint patch, took out his knife, and used it like a shovel to dig into the soil.
He cut a small square around the roots and finally grabbed the plant and pulled hard.
The forest soil was loose and soft. With the knife’s assistance, Qin Tian easily uprooted the mint and handed it to Ye Lin, who tied it into bundles with hemp rope.
Not knowing how much mint was needed to repel mosquitoes, Qin Tian collected as much as possible.
They didn’t stop until they had two large bundles.
The hot weather caused the mint to wilt slightly despite the soil clinging to its roots.
Seeing this, Qin Tian hoisted the bundles and headed back to camp.
***
An hour later, the camp was surrounded by mint plants. After working hard, both were somewhat exhausted and sat down on banana leaves to rest.
“With this much mint, we won’t have to worry about mosquitoes tonight,” Ye Lin said with a smile as she looked at the mint before her.
Sitting nearby, Qin Tian smiled faintly but said nothing.
The entire camp was filled with the scent of mint, invigorating and cooling—even the breeze felt fresher.
There was still some time before afternoon. After resting, Qin Tian didn’t remain idle. Before setting out, he found a suitable piece of wood at the camp’s edge and tied the cobblestone used for chopping yesterday to it.
“Ding—Host crafted a Stone Axe, earned 200 Points,” the System’s voice rang out in time.
Qin Tian was a little surprised—not because he earned points for making a stone axe, but because the System didn’t mock him this time.
Thinking it over, Qin Tian realized the stone axe was the most basic wilderness tool. There was no such thing as a junk or non-junk survival tool.
Could it be that making useful survival tools earned rewards?
This was the second time today he had received points for crafting tools, which led him to suspect the System’s logic.
Recalling the points from building the camp last night, Qin Tian became even more certain of his guess.
Understanding this, Qin Tian suddenly felt that items in the System’s shop might not be so hard to obtain after all. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
***
With the stone axe ready, Qin Tian led Ye Lin toward the beach, their moods growing tense.
Though prepared for long-term survival on this island, Qin Tian couldn’t stop thinking about returning to civilization.
If he felt this way, Ye Lin even more so.
It was this yearning to return to civilization that made their hearts flutter with hope and fear as they set out.
Hoping not to be disappointed, their anxiety was understandable.
With this mindset, they reached the forest’s edge, their hearts pounding faster.
Without a word, both stopped, took a deep breath, then stepped out of the forest.
The sudden brightness made them squint.
When their eyes adjusted, the sea was as blue as before, the beach unchanged from when they left, and even the SOS sign laid out with stones remained untouched.
They stood there motionless.
They had considered this outcome, but when their hopes were dashed, their spirits sank deeply.
Fortunately, Qin Tian had long prepared himself and quickly regained composure.
But Ye Lin still stared at the vast sea, her eyes dull.
Feeling her mood, Qin Tian said nothing.
After a moment’s silence, Qin Tian suddenly punched a nearby tree trunk, cursing, “Damn it, it’s already been three days! What is the Search and Rescue Team even doing? Do they have to wait a whole week before finding us?”
Hearing this, Ye Lin’s eyes lit up.
That’s right—it’s only been three days. There were still four days until a full week. The Search and Rescue Team would surely find them within these four days.
Thinking this, Ye Lin’s eyes regained their sparkle.
“Calm down. Getting angry now won’t help. We just have to wait patiently,” she patted Qin Tian’s shoulder, comforting him instead.
“Now that we’ve found a water source, even if we only drink water, we can survive the remaining four days.”
Qin Tian opened his mouth to say something but ended up sighing.
Despite outward weariness, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had worried his act of despair wouldn’t work.
As the saying goes, when acting, you have to play the full part.
Still showing some lingering anger, Qin Tian headed toward the distant coconut palms.
Before entering the forest again, he placed the remaining coconuts there.