“Ding — Host has crafted Shampoo, reward: 800 Points.”
“Ding — Host has crafted Toothpaste, reward: 500 Points.”
Early this morning, Qin Tian was woken up by the System’s notification.
He glanced at Ye Lin, who was still sound asleep, and carefully got out of bed.
Yet, it seemed as though there was an invisible thread tying Ye Lin and Qin Tian together; no matter how softly Qin Tian moved, she would always wake up as soon as he did.
Fortunately, by the time she opened her eyes, Qin Tian had already reached the mouth of the Cave, so the awkward situations from before didn’t happen again.
Eyes still drowsy, Ye Lin yawned and followed Qin Tian out of the Cave.
Arriving at the kitchen, the first thing Qin Tian did was check the bamboo tubes containing the Shampoo and Toothpaste.
“How is it? Did they set? Let me see.” Ye Lin leaned her head closer.
“We’ll know once we look.” Qin Tian opened the lid.
Though he said that, Qin Tian didn’t really need to check—this morning’s System prompt had already told him the result.
The next moment, the scents of coconut and Mint wafted into the noses of Qin Tian and Ye Lin. Looking inside, they saw that both the Shampoo and Toothpaste had already solidified.
Because they were made of different materials, their colors were different as well.
The Shampoo was brown, while the Toothpaste was white-yellow. Even with a stuffy nose, you wouldn’t mix them up thanks to the color difference.
“Looks like it worked.” Qin Tian smiled.
“Let’s hurry to the water and try them, I want to see how they turn out.” Ye Lin snatched the Shampoo and Toothpaste from Qin Tian’s hands and held them in her arms as if they were some kind of treasure.
Since moving to the Cave, Qin Tian and Ye Lin had been washing up in a corner of the grassy field. But today, Ye Lin wanted to try the Shampoo, and Qin Tian needed to check the fish traps. For convenience, the two of them decided to wash up by the river.
Since they didn’t have a face towel, Qin Tian and Ye Lin had always just scooped a bit of water with their hands and splashed it on their faces to wash. But when it came to brushing teeth, it wasn’t as simple as just rinsing.
At first, they would find a thin stick, chew the end to fray it, and use it to scrub their teeth like a toothbrush.
After they got salt, Qin Tian and Ye Lin would dip it in while brushing, but the effect wasn’t ideal—until today, when they finally had Toothpaste.
“It feels just like Mint Toothpaste. No, this is real Mint Toothpaste!” Ye Lin said excitedly, her words muffled as she brushed her teeth.
Qin Tian stayed silent by her side, brushing quietly, but he felt exactly the same as Ye Lin inside.
This Toothpaste they were using really wasn’t much different from the Mint Toothpaste sold in stores. Even though it had Coconut Oil added, it didn’t feel greasy at all. All they could taste in their mouths was the refreshing scent of Mint.
While Qin Tian and Ye Lin were brushing their teeth, Han Pi was watching them from behind with a curious look. Han Pi didn’t understand why these two two-legged beasts were making so many white bubbles from their mouths.
Under Han Pi’s watchful eyes, Qin Tian and Ye Lin finished brushing their teeth.
“Qin Tian, come help me scoop some water.” Ye Lin bent over, rubbing the Shampoo onto her head.
Ye Lin could wash her hair alone, but it was a hassle and she might get her clothes wet. With Qin Tian helping, this wasn’t a problem anymore.
The Shampoo worked as well. Though it was solid and not a liquid like regular Shampoo, once it met water, it created plenty of bubbles.
“How’s the Shampoo?” Qin Tian poured a ladle of water over Ye Lin’s head.
Without any extra herbal ingredients, Qin Tian didn’t have much confidence in the Shampoo’s effects.
“It’s great.” Ye Lin replied, and kept rubbing her hair.
“Then that’s good.” Qin Tian laughed.
Though she only said two words, judging from Ye Lin’s focused hair-washing, the Shampoo was decent. At least it wasn’t harming her hair, or she wouldn’t wash for so long.
Maybe it was because she hadn’t washed properly for a long time, or perhaps it was just that women always spent a long time washing their hair, but it took over ten minutes before Ye Lin finished.
“The Shampoo works really well. My hair feels smooth and doesn’t get rough and dry like when we used lard soap.” Tilting her head, Ye Lin used the comb Qin Tian made to brush her hair.
Qin Tian didn’t answer. He just watched Ye Lin for a long time, then finally couldn’t help but smile and say, “You really look just like those country girls washing their hair by the river.”
He could still remember, when he was little, every time he walked past the river in his village, he’d see all the aunties washing their hair and clothes there.
“Are you saying I’m old?” Ye Lin paused, glaring at Qin Tian.
“The village’s prettiest girl, also called country girl. I was complimenting you.” Even Qin Tian himself didn’t believe his words.
Not daring to linger, and not giving Ye Lin a chance to retort, Qin Tian turned and left.
***
In the next few days, Qin Tian and Ye Lin used bamboo to make a bamboo bed, bamboo chairs, and even a bamboo door. Altogether, this earned Qin Tian 2,000 Points.
The bamboo bed and bamboo chairs each earned Qin Tian 500 Points, while making the bamboo door gave him 1,000 Points.
However, despite the bamboo door giving the most Points, it also brought Qin Tian and Ye Lin quite a bit of trouble.
Han Pi had to get up every night, but since he didn’t know how to open doors, he could only nudge Qin Tian or Ye Lin awake, disturbing their sleep.
So after just three days, Qin Tian and Ye Lin took down the bamboo door and turned it into a cabinet.
With a place to sleep, food and drink, and all the basics, Qin Tian and Ye Lin could easily survive on this deserted island for a long time, as long as nothing unexpected happened.
But they still weren’t living comfortably. The biggest problem was that they hadn’t solved the issue of clothing.
Outer clothes could go unchanged for a while, but underwear couldn’t be worn indefinitely. After all, these close-fitting garments were extremely prone to breeding bacteria, and if that caused an infection, it would be a big problem.
Qin Tian and Ye Lin weren’t naïve kids. They discussed the issue frankly, but even Qin Tian couldn’t think of a good solution.
The first thing Qin Tian thought of was weaving hemp clothes.
Hemp is made from ramie, which generally grows in hilly areas at elevations of 200-1700 meters. It’s found in the Forest too, but it’s much rarer.
Even though Qin Tian always kept an eye out when searching for resources, he hadn’t found any so far.
So now, Qin Tian and Ye Lin would wash their underwear every two days. Before they dried, both of them would go commando and try to avoid each other, each doing their own thing.
But that couldn’t last forever, so Qin Tian set his sights on the Wild Boars in the Bamboo Forest. Wearing boar skins wouldn’t be very comfortable, but it was better than nothing.
But before he could go after the Wild Boars in the Bamboo Forest, the whole herd came knocking on their door themselves.
***
That day, dark clouds gathered over the island, threatening rain. Knowing this, Qin Tian and Ye Lin didn’t go out searching for resources, but stayed at the Camp to take care of chores and avoid being caught in the rain.
Unexpectedly, not a drop fell all day. It wasn’t until night that a torrential downpour suddenly poured from the sky.
If they were still at their previous Camp, Qin Tian and Ye Lin wouldn’t have been able to sleep tonight. But now it was different; no matter if it rained or hailed, as long as the sky didn’t collapse, they had nothing to worry about.
As usual, around ten o’clock, Qin Tian and Ye Lin climbed into bed. Just after lying down, they noticed that Han Pi, who normally slept early, was crouched at the Cave entrance, staring out into the darkness.
Assuming Han Pi just liked rainy days, Qin Tian and Ye Lin didn’t think much of it and soon fell asleep. But in the middle of the night, they were both awakened by a faint noise.
It was subtle, but it still cut through the sound of the pouring rain and reached Qin Tian and Ye Lin’s ears. In that instant, images of the Wild Boar herd attacking flashed through their minds.
“Qin Tian!” Ye Lin suddenly shouted.
“Get up!” Qin Tian jumped off the bed and quickly grabbed the Recurve Bow hanging on the wall. “Don’t come out. With Han Pi here, there shouldn’t be any problem!”
At that moment, they were both on high alert.
They knew that sound all too well—too well to ever forget. Just like tonight, that previous night had seen heavy rain, and the Wild Boars had emerged from the darkness, destroying their Camp.
But this time, with Han Pi here, and a deadly poisoned arrow in Qin Tian’s hand, there was no way he would let the same thing happen again.
The noise grew louder. Judging from the distance, they had maybe a dozen meters before it would reach them.
It was pitch black beyond the grass. Qin Tian grabbed a burning piece of wood from the fire, and with the help of his talents, hurried to the kitchen and lit the wood in the stove and earth kiln. Only then did a bit of light spread outside the grass.
He then returned to the Cave, set an arrow on the string, and prepared himself. Han Pi had also gotten ready to attack, its huge body standing up. Through the Nu Beast Mark, the word ‘danger’ sounded in Qin Tian’s ear.
That was Han Pi’s message. The Nu Beast Mark could translate beast-speak, but since Han Pi’s intelligence wasn’t high, it could only convey simple words like danger, hunger, heat, and the like.
As for Ye Lin, she held the Stone Axe and hid in the innermost part of the Cave.
The air in the Cave was tense. Though only a dozen seconds passed, to Qin Tian and Ye Lin, it felt like over ten minutes.
“Howl–~”
All of a sudden, Han Pi let out a roar and charged out of the Cave.
At the same time, shadows emerged from the Forest around the grass.
Just as Qin Tian and Ye Lin had expected, the Wild Boar herd had come!