Chapter 17: I’m Here

The wild rabbit meat was even gamier than Qin Tian had expected.

Even after processing, the gamey smell was still overwhelming.

Qin Tian could tolerate it, but the moment Ye Lin caught a whiff, she felt nauseous—let alone eat it.

For the past several days, Qin Tian and Ye Lin had always split their food evenly.

But given the current situation, Qin Tian had to redistribute their rations, tearfully deciding to keep the rabbit meat for himself and giving the three grass carp caught from the fish traps to Ye Lin.

After finishing their meal, Qin Tian and Ye Lin sat quietly by the campfire, silently digesting without exchanging a single word.

***

Usually, Qin Tian would have been asleep by this time, but tonight was different.

Today marked the sixth day since they arrived on the Deserted Island.

Tomorrow would be the seventh day—the last day Ye Lin could endure mentally.

Thinking of this, Qin Tian glanced at Ye Lin.

Although she behaved no differently than usual today, he could still sense the excitement bubbling inside her, like a schoolchild on a Friday eagerly awaiting the weekend.

Perhaps noticing Qin Tian’s gaze, Ye Lin turned her head and asked, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

“The rabbit meat smells too gamey; I’ll rest a little longer,” Qin Tian said casually, stretching as he looked toward a pile of wood nearby.

He picked out a slightly curved stick, then grabbed some hemp rope and tied it to both ends, fashioning a wooden bow.

Next, he took a larger piece of wood and split it in half with a stone axe, then carved a V-shaped notch on the edge of one half with a dagger.

***

“What are you making?” Ye Lin asked at that moment.

Though she asked the question, she had already guessed the answer when Qin Tian finished making the bow.

“A fire drill.” Qin Tian smiled and picked up the other half of the wood, hollowing out a small pit with his dagger to make a cap.

“But we already have fire,” Ye Lin said, confused.

“It’s for emergencies. It never hurts to learn more skills,” Qin Tian replied without further explanation.

He had a feeling he would need this skill tomorrow.

***

Ye Lin didn’t press the matter and simply squatted nearby, watching quietly with interest.

With all the tools ready, Qin Tian placed some dry grass under the V-shaped notch, then fitted the wooden stick into the bow and pressed it against the notch, placing the cap firmly on top.

After ensuring there was sufficient contact between the stick and the board, Qin Tian gripped the bow and began to pull it back and forth.

From the Wildcraft Compendium, Qin Tian had learned seven methods of fire-starting, five of which involved friction.

They were the Classic Fire Drill, Dual-Person Fire-Starting, Scraping Hook Fire-Starting, Pushing Wood Fire-Starting, Iroquois Fire-Starting, and Bow Drill Fire-Starting.

Among these, the Iroquois Fire-Starting had the highest success rate, followed by Bow Drill Fire-Starting.

However, since the Iroquois method was too complicated, Qin Tian chose the Bow Drill Fire-Starting.

As the bow moved back and forth, the stick and board rubbed fiercely.

Within a minute, the V-notch had blackened, and black wood shavings spun out, falling onto the dry grass below.

Seeing this, Ye Lin held her breath, and Qin Tian sped up the motion.

Soon, thin white smoke began to rise, growing thicker by the second.

Seeing this, Qin Tian stopped immediately and looked closely.

Amidst the black shavings, tiny sparks flickered.

Carefully, he wrapped the dry grass around the embers and gently blew on them, occasionally cupping his hands together as if in prayer.

The smoke thickened, and suddenly Qin Tian felt a burning heat in his hands—a flame ignited.

“It worked! Qin Tian, you did it!” Ye Lin shouted excitedly, as if she had made the fire herself.

“Of course. When I take action, failure isn’t an option,” Qin Tian said proudly.

Truthfully, he hadn’t expected to succeed on the first try.

***

“Give you a little sunshine and you really shine, huh?” Ye Lin teased disdainfully.

Her words made Qin Tian start plotting in his mind.

Maybe he could use this to teach Ye Lin the fire drill skill.

Chin raised, Qin Tian challenged, “Then you try.”

“Fine, I’ll try.” Slightly defiant, Ye Lin grabbed the wooden bow and followed Qin Tian’s steps.

But this kind of physical work wasn’t her strong suit.

After over ten minutes, not a wisp of smoke appeared on the board.

Still, she didn’t give up and tried again with more strength.

The second attempt produced white smoke, but she stopped too soon, and the sparks were too few to ignite the grass.

Frustrated and so close, Ye Lin tried a third time.

After the lessons of the first two failures, this time she finally sparked a flame.

“Not so hard,” Ye Lin said proudly, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Impressive,” Qin Tian praised sincerely, genuinely happy for her success.

They spent nearly two hours mastering the fire drill skill.

By then, it was late, and without further conversation, Qin Tian lay back and slipped into the wooden shelter, falling asleep.

***

The next morning, before dawn, Ye Lin woke up.

Still sleepy-eyed, she asked Qin Tian, “When are we leaving today?”

Though the question was sudden and vague, Qin Tian understood exactly what she meant.

His eyes flickered, seemingly lost in thought.

“You can leave whenever you want.”

Ye Lin perked up.

“Then let’s leave after breakfast.”

***

As usual, once daylight broke, Qin Tian went to the stream and retrieved the grass carp from the fish traps.

Since they had caught rabbits the day before, Qin Tian also picked some wild grass to feed the rabbits.

By the time they finished breakfast, the sun had just risen.

But Ye Lin was already restless, ignoring the mist lingering in the forest, and urged Qin Tian to leave camp.

“We’re leaving—aren’t you going to release the rabbit back into the wild?” Ye Lin glanced at the rabbit trapped in the wooden cage before they left.

“Do you think that wooden cage could hold them? They’d chew through it in minutes. They only stay still because we’re here,” Qin Tian smiled but didn’t finish his sentence.

Release them back to nature? Then what would they eat tonight? Or tomorrow?

“Alright then,” Ye Lin relaxed.

In high spirits, Ye Lin walked briskly through the woods, even humming a little tune.

Qin Tian wore a blank expression, worry etched between his brows.

But Ye Lin was lost in her own world, oblivious to Qin Tian’s mood.

***

An hour later, they reached the forest edge and found a shaded, dry spot to sit.

Looking out at the sea, Ye Lin’s face was full of expectation.

“Qin Tian, when do you think the Search and Rescue Team will come?”

Unsure how to answer, Qin Tian finally said softly, “They will come, eventually.”

“Yeah,” Ye Lin nodded.

At that moment, she seemed to enter a trance, staring out at the ocean.

Seeing her like this, Qin Tian sighed and silently stood, walking toward the beach to gather dry wood and fallen coconuts.

Most likely, he would spend the night here with Ye Lin, so he needed to prepare for the night ahead.

***

Gathering these took little time, and for the remainder of the day, Qin Tian stayed close to Ye Lin.

They waited like this, unaware of time passing.

The sun climbed to its zenith, then slowly sank, finally disappearing into the sea.

But well before dusk, Qin Tian had already started a campfire using the bow drill, so they never plunged into darkness.

“How could this be? Did I remember wrong?” As the last ray of sunlight vanished, Ye Lin stood up.

“Is tomorrow the actual last day?”

“Did the Search and Rescue Team forget us? Or have they given up?” Her voice trembled.

Suddenly, Ye Lin grabbed Qin Tian’s shoulder.

“Are we really going to die here?”

***

Without a doubt, Ye Lin was on the verge of breaking down.

Silently, Qin Tian looked at her, then slowly raised his hand and unexpectedly slapped her across the face.

“Smack!”

The slap was so sudden, it stunned Ye Lin.

After a few seconds, she snapped back and yelled, “Why did you hit me? You hurt me!”

Before Qin Tian could answer, she collapsed weakly to her knees.

“It hurts! It really hurts!”

Her voice grew faint, then she began to sob, finally breaking into loud tears.

“It really hurts, it really hurts!”

Seeing this, Qin Tian actually breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Lin had been like a dam holding back a flood, with her emotional danger level rising each day.

On the seventh day, the water reached its critical point—ready to burst the dam at any moment.

But now, with all her negative emotions released, it was like opening the floodgates.

There was no longer any risk of the dam breaking.

***

Qin Tian crouched down to comfort her, but Ye Lin threw herself into his arms, crying out, “The Search and Rescue Team won’t come! They’ll never come!”

Like soothing a child, Qin Tian gently patted her back, his eyes softening.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. If they don’t come, they don’t come. I’m here.”

Hearing this, Ye Lin cried even harder and held on tighter.

All Qin Tian could do was silently listen to her cries.

That night, Ye Lin cried for a long, long time.

When Qin Tian finally noticed, she had already fallen asleep on his chest.

He shifted to a more comfortable sitting position and held her in his arms.

Even then, she couldn’t stop sobbing, making Qin Tian feel both heartbroken and amused.

The latter half of the night was still cold.

Fortunately, Qin Tian had started the fire near the forest edge, where low shrubs blocked some of the chilling wind.

At least they didn’t have to worry about freezing to death.