“How is it? Does it taste good?”
At the camp, the fire crackled and popped, casting flickering shadows that swayed left and right. Ye Lin looked at Qin Tian, her face full of anticipation.
Qin Tian chewed the fish meat without immediately answering her question, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible.
After a moment, the bitterness in his mouth faded, and Qin Tian finally spoke slowly, “So, what do you think?”
“I’ve never eaten it before.” Ye Lin shook her head. Although Qin Tian hadn’t replied, she already knew the answer from the look on his face.
“Is it really that bad?” Suspicious, Ye Lin picked up the slightly charred grilled fish, took a bite, and immediately made a nearly twisted expression. “It’s awful! Completely burnt!”
Both Qin Tian and Ye Lin had one fish each. Counting the one skewered by the fire, these three grilled fish made up their dinner. There was no other option—Qin Tian had come back too late to process any rabbits.
For the same reason, Ye Lin had to prepare food in advance. Of course, this was more because she wanted to help with something rather than out of necessity.
“It’s okay, at least it’s cooked.” Qin Tian didn’t complain.
After working all day, his stomach was already empty. Though the fish tasted bad, it could at least fill his stomach somewhat.
***
Speaking of which, Qin Tian suddenly remembered something and asked Ye Lin, “By the way, did you replace the bait in the trapping trap?”
“Don’t think I’m that stupid.” Ye Lin said helplessly.
“I’m just reminding you in case you forgot.” Qin Tian smiled, feeling quietly moved by Ye Lin’s change.
Before this, Ye Lin had been mostly passive, but now she had become proactive. The best proof was those three burnt grilled fish.
Although the grass carp tasted bitter, with no other food available, the two of them still finished them all.
However, the meat on those three fish was pitifully little. Even if they ate the bones, it could barely keep one person from starving, let alone two.
After eating one and a half fish, Qin Tian and Ye Lin felt as if they had eaten nothing; their stomachs felt completely empty.
During that time, Qin Tian considered whether to process the rabbits by firelight, but after weighing the risks, he held back.
All this while, the reason he always processed food by the creek was not just for easy cleaning but mainly because the flowing water could wash away the blood smell.
Wild beasts are extremely sensitive to the scent of blood. If they processed the rabbits near the camp, it might attract some large carnivores.
With their current gear, they had no means of self-defense, so Qin Tian didn’t dare to take that risk.
They had no choice but to endure the hunger for now.
***
Even though their stomachs were empty, some things still had to be done.
Qin Tian took the bamboo he had carried back today, looking it over carefully as he pondered how to make the most of it.
“What are you planning to make?” Ye Lin asked curiously from the side. She knew bamboo had many uses but wasn’t sure how Qin Tian intended to use it.
“A new trapping trap.” Qin Tian replied. When he found the bamboo grove, this idea had immediately sprung to mind.
Their current trapping trap was too small, and the fish caught every day were hardly enough to fill two people’s stomachs.
“But the opening of a bamboo tube is so big. You can’t make it easy to enter but hard to escape, right?” Ye Lin asked herself. “Are you going to weave a ground cage?”
“I’ve seen others weave one.” Qin Tian smiled, not telling the full truth.
The Wilderness Craft Encyclopedia included various crafts that could be used outdoors, including trap making, and among those methods was how to make a fishing ground cage.
However, understanding the method and actually making it were two different things. Qin Tian wasn’t sure if he could make it or if it would work.
But no matter good or bad, he had to make it to find out. Without wasting any time, Qin Tian began his work.
***
Picking up the Stone Axe, Qin Tian exerted great effort to cut a bamboo tube more than a meter long. He then stood it upright, split it in half, and finally cut the tube into strips with his Survival Knife.
This process took Qin Tian two whole hours because the bamboo fibers were extremely tough. Splitting it in half was manageable, but cutting it into strips was really difficult.
Since the Stone Axe wasn’t sharp enough, he used a technique called “notching.” With the Survival Knife, he poked a row of holes in the bamboo tube and then broke it open into strips.
For the entire process of making the ground cage, obtaining the bamboo strips was the hardest part; the rest was much simpler.
Qin Tian divided the bamboo strips into two groups. He tightly tied one end of one group with String, spread the strips into a circular frame as the skeleton, and then wove the other group of strips in an interlaced pattern over the frame to form the cage’s body.
Following this method, Qin Tian carefully wove the cage body from large to small, shaping it into a bottle form.
After finishing the cage body, only one step remained: making the entrance and exit.
Without any weaving, Qin Tian inserted leftover bamboo strips at the cage’s mouth, forming a funnel shape to achieve the effect of easy entry but difficult escape.
The completed ground cage was about an arm’s length and three palms wide. It could easily catch several pounds of large fish. Although this was Qin Tian’s first attempt and the cage was a bit crooked and imperfect, that didn’t matter—catching fish was what counted.
“Ding——Host upgraded trapping trap, gained 500 Points!”
The System’s notification sound suddenly rang out, and the system screen appeared before Qin Tian’s eyes.
Having long grown used to this intermittent pop-up page, Qin Tian’s first reaction to the sound was to check his personal Points.
1,000 Points.
“That’s 1,000 Points away from redeeming the Wild Plant Encyclopedia.” Qin Tian thought to himself.
Among these 1,000 Points, 500 came from upgrading the fish basket, and the other 500 were the reward from upgrading the Camp. It was at that time Qin Tian had already set his sights on the Wild Plant Encyclopedia.
***
Making this ground cage had cost Qin Tian a lot of time. When he finally stopped, it was already midnight, but his tasks were far from finished.
After a brief rest, Qin Tian took the remaining bamboo, cut two sections, carved holes in each with his Survival Knife, then tied them with String to make two water bottles.
Coconut water bottles were too round and tended to slip out of their strings, plus their capacity was small. Compared to that, bamboo water bottles were definitely better, which explained why Qin Tian was remaking their water containers.
After finishing the bottles, Qin Tian felt his body stiffen slightly. He stretched his limbs and then went over to the wooden shed to wake Ye Lin.
When cutting the bamboo strips, Qin Tian had already anticipated working late into the night, so he cleverly swapped shifts with Ye Lin. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had time to sleep.
***
The next morning, Qin Tian was woken by hunger. Before dawn, his stomach had started rumbling relentlessly.
After a quick wash-up, Qin Tian grabbed a mother rabbit and took the fish basket to the creek.
Rabbits grew fast. Three days had passed, and the rabbit kits had grown significantly, already weaned; otherwise, Qin Tian wouldn’t have dared to hunt the adult rabbits.
After processing the rabbit, Qin Tian placed some stones in the ground cage to prevent it from being swept away by the current. Then he tied the wild rabbit’s entrails with String, hung them inside the cage as bait, and tossed it into the water.
Having done this, Qin Tian pulled up the original trapping trap, took out the grass carp inside, but didn’t put new bait in this time.
With the ground cage in place, the original trap had become less useful, almost obsolete. But Qin Tian hadn’t discarded it because plastic was an irreplaceable resource on the island. Throwing it away meant it was lost forever.
More importantly, that plastic bottle held a special meaning for Qin Tian.
It was the bottle that helped them light their first bonfire on this deserted island. Over the past days, it had consistently provided them with protein. Without that bottle, neither Qin Tian nor Ye Lin would have been able to start their life here.
After cleaning and storing the bottle, Qin Tian returned to camp to prepare breakfast.
When hungry, anything tastes good—this saying was absolutely true.
Ye Lin had originally been very resistant to rabbit meat, but after a night of hunger, she found the gamey smell strangely appealing.
Chewing on the thigh meat, Ye Lin’s mouth watered. “Are we going back to that bamboo grove today?”
“Yes. You’ll have to come with me.” Qin Tian nodded. Now he could finally use Ye Lin’s labor without hesitation.
“Okay.” Ye Lin seemed a bit excited about the bamboo grove.
***
The bamboo grove was three hours’ walk from camp. After breakfast, the two set off early, and by the time they arrived, it was still before noon.
“This bamboo grove looks pretty big.” Walking through the grove, Ye Lin tried to find its edge but could only see bamboo everywhere—no other trees in sight.
“It is quite large.” Qin Tian agreed.
When he had come yesterday, pressed for time, he only cut bamboo at the edge and hadn’t paid much attention. But now, after going deeper, he realized just how vast the grove was.
“It’s a pity it’s so far from the water source; otherwise, I’d really want to build a camp here.” Ye Lin immediately took a liking to the place. “The light in the bamboo grove is so clear; there’s none of that gloomy corner feeling you get in a forest. We wouldn’t have to worry about wild beasts suddenly appearing.”
“Each place has its advantages.” Qin Tian smiled.
Still, Ye Lin’s comment reminded him it was necessary to clear some vegetation around the camp to prevent venomous snakes or insects from hiding nearby. But for now, it was just a thought—they didn’t have time for such work.
***
Not forgetting today’s task, Qin Tian said to Ye Lin, “I’ll leave the bamboo shoot search to you.”
“Here’s a Survival Knife for self-defense.” Thinking quickly, Qin Tian took out the knife. “And no matter if you find any or not, be back here to meet me before afternoon.”
“Okay.” Ye Lin took the knife and turned to leave.
Unlike Ye Lin’s task to find bamboo shoots, Qin Tian’s main goal today was to collect as much bamboo as possible. After Ye Lin left, he swung the Stone Axe in his hand and set to work.
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