As the mud stick was pulled away, a dark and smooth vertical pipe appeared before my eyes.

I was overjoyed when I saw this, and quickly took it to the water's edge to clean the excess soap from the pipe.

Then, looking towards the sun, the pipes inside appeared polished, with a mirror-like finish.

The verticality is impeccable. If you rotate the blowgun around, the tube inside always appears as a straight line, with a very high degree of curvature.

As expected of the blowgun I painstakingly crafted, I immediately used a knife to shave off all the excess bamboo strips from the blowgun tube.

Then, the burrs on the edge of the inner tube at one end were smoothed out with the tip of a knife to make it smoother.

Before making the blowgun, I had already scraped out about twenty bamboo arrows, each about a foot long. These bamboo arrows were about the same size as the large bamboo skewers sold at barbecue stalls.

Next, I'll make the conical fletching for these blowguns. For this type of fletching, you can actually just wrap some wild cotton in water and use it.

I haven't found a substitute for this material yet, so for now I can only use resin molding.

The conical mold for the arrow fletching cannot be too large or too small. If it's too large, the arrow won't be able to be blown out. If it's too small, it will leak air, greatly reducing its power.

I tore off a small piece of banana leaf and rolled it into a cone shape, then glued the edges of the leaf with pine resin. Then I gently placed this cone into the pipe.

Mark any excess leaves that are left outside the pipe, then cut them off with a knife.

Considering that the resin will have a certain thickness during the molding process, it is enough to just shave off a tiny bit from the bottom of the cone.

Then, use the remaining fine clay to fill the cone-shaped leaf, shape it, and slowly bake it over a low flame until it dries. The solid cone inside is the mold for the arrow's fletching.

Still, apply soapy water to the mold, and then brush the rosin evenly onto the cone. Since the thickness doesn't need to be too thick, just one coat is enough.

The thin layer of resin will solidify quickly. At this point, you can peel off the hollow cone-shaped resin, heat a bamboo skewer, insert it through the tip of the cone, and secure the arrow tail.

I assembled the remaining fletchings using the same method, and thus, more than twenty precision-made blowguns were born from my hands.

I took out a straight arrow, put it into the quiver, and then blew a breath at a tree trunk ten meters away.

With a soft whoosh, the bamboo arrow pierced firmly into the tree trunk, its fletching still twitching, demonstrating its immense force.

A blowgun weighing only two grams and measuring 1.1 meters in length can reach a maximum initial velocity of 80 meters per second, which is equivalent to the speed of an eight-millimeter steel ball fired with a powerful slingshot.

At that speed, even a small steel ball could blow a rabbit's head off. A blowgun dart, being sharp, would likely inflict twice the damage.

My dart is about 1.5 meters long, which is longer than the blowguns commonly used by Native Americans, and is almost at the limit of the blowgun's length.

I estimate that the initial velocity of my blowgun will only be higher, and with my lung capacity, blowing it to 100 meters per second should still be no problem.

With such powerful force, as long as you make a diamond-shaped arrow, even against a tough-skinned animal like a wild boar, you can still take it down by piercing its ribs and hitting its heart or lungs.

I went to the tree and found that the arrow was deeply embedded in the ground. I tried to pull it out with all my might, but the arrow was like a hammer driven into it and I couldn't pull it out at all. In the end, it broke in two.

I took out blowgun arrows of the same length and compared them with the one I had broken off before. This arrow had actually penetrated a full four centimeters!

Looking at my masterpiece, I felt quite satisfied. Now those waterbirds are going to suffer!

Now that we have new toys, I absolutely have to play with them. Hunting is a distant memory now; back then, I was just a child who would go up the mountain with the adults and watch them shoot with bird guns.

I used a section of bamboo tube and hemp rope to make myself a quiver that I could carry on my back. Then, as usual, I carried my basket and walked towards the willow grove by the lake.

There are many waterbirds there, such as wild ducks, white-faced moorhens, egrets, herons, and rails.

These guys haven't experienced the harsh realities of society, and since they have some flying ability, they're not afraid of me at all.

When I arrived at this willow grove, the sun was already high in the sky, so I estimate it was between 10 and 11 a.m.

The four- or five-meter-tall willow trees were already filled with many water birds that had eaten their fill and were sunbathing and dozing off.

I quietly loaded the arrows and crouched down to the foot of the willow tree. These water birds were usually quite docile and didn't pay any attention to me.

Even when I cut willow branches under the trees, they don't even bother to move an inch.

Many of the birds have now spotted me, but they remain as confident as ever, convinced that I can't do anything to them.

I slowly raised the blowgun and aimed it at a great egret, then suddenly blew out a breath. With a whoosh, the arrow shot out of my blowgun.

The great egret was less than ten meters away when, in the next second, it stood up straight and fell directly off the willow tree.

I picked up the dead egret to examine it, and surprisingly, there was no arrow on it. It seemed that the arrow was too powerful and pierced through the egret.

Good start, first prey caught.

There were many water birds in the trees, unaware of the danger. They merely glanced at me briefly before closing their eyes to rest.

I sighed, "A complete idiot with no social experience is truly terrifyingly stupid."

However, I did not intend to continue hunting these waterbirds; I only intended to test the effectiveness of shooting targets at high altitudes. Obviously, the effect of this one-shot kill was unexpectedly good.

Egrets and other waterbirds may look big, but they are actually just birds with fluffy feathers and not much meat to eat.

My target is waterfowl like wild ducks and moorhens. These waterfowl are so delicious that they make such a savory soup that it would make the neighbor's kids drool.

When I was a child, my father would bring back the moorhens or frogs he caught in the fields when the rice was harvested. After cleaning and peeling them, he would sprinkle them with a little salt and lard and steam them directly in a steamer for my sister and me to eat.

Back then, food was scarce in the countryside, and the meat we could usually eat was mostly fish and crabs. Such rare delicacies were therefore extremely precious.

Even without any seasoning, the original, fresh and savory flavor is still so memorable.