Chapter Forty-Four

Now both camps have started building their walls. Wang Lun's side is almost finished, probably today. Actually, it's already quite good, since the wall is over two meters high. But those two—oh, I should say Wang Lun—seem to have a persecution complex; he insists on building it three meters high, saying he's afraid predators might climb it. Li Ling figured it was all for safety, so she didn't say anything and just went with Wang Lun's idea of ​​three meters. Wu Jing's side has just started building, but it will probably be much faster. After all, their planned wall is shorter and only a little over two meters high, unlike Wang Lun's half-meter thick and three-meter high one. They just want to build a wall, not a fortress. A wall that's twenty or thirty centimeters thick and a little over two meters high is enough. So Wu Jing and his companion's construction speed should be much faster.

The Liu sisters, as usual, foraged for wild vegetables every morning before returning home for lunch. Now that their treehouse was built and their game was plentiful, they began taking a short rest after lunch. After resting for over an hour, they would go back into the woods to hunt a few birds, gather some firewood, and familiarize themselves with the surroundings. Today, the two sisters planned to cross the mountain to the other side to see if there was any game there. This was actually Liu Ruoling's insistence, and Liu Ruoxi had no choice but to agree. As usual, Liu Ruoxi carried a basket woven from vines on her back and held a spear as tall as a person, which served as both a hiking stick and a means of self-defense. Liu Ruoling carried a bow and carried a knife, leading the way.

Because they usually foraged for wild vegetables in the mountains, the path up the mountain was relatively easy to walk. However, Liu Ruoxi's health wasn't very good, so before they even reached the summit, Liu Ruoling had already carried her basket on her back, and Liu Ruoling was leading her by the spear. After about an hour, the two sisters finally reached the top. The view stretched endlessly, with the distant sea merging with the sky, and the nearby mountains lush and green. Looking around, everything was the same, except for the hillside they had come from, which was a barren slope of grass. They could even see the few trees where their campsite was, standing out starkly against the surrounding verdant forest.

The two rested for a while at the summit before continuing their journey. Never having been to this area before, they progressed slowly, both clearing a path and keeping an eye out for any other resources they might find, such as wild vegetables, game, unusual plants and animals, or even minerals—all things they needed. Despite their slow pace, they soon reached the vicinity of the forest, surrounded by dense thickets. They stopped at the edge of the forest, discussed their options, and decided not to continue forward. Instead, they would explore laterally for a while before heading directly to the summit and returning to their camp. Having agreed on their plan, they prepared to set off.

The horizontal exploration was mostly through bushes, resulting in a meager harvest of only wild fruits and vegetables. They encountered birds a few times, and when Liu Ruoling was about to shoot them, Liu Ruoxi stopped her. Shooting birds in the bushes, even if successful, was difficult to retrieve, requiring a lot of time and energy, which wasn't worthwhile. Besides, they didn't lack prey at the moment, so they decided to let them go for the time being. Liu Ruoling agreed, and thus refrained from shooting. So much so that when they encountered a mountain rat later, Liu Ruoling didn't shoot an arrow. Only after the rat ran away did Liu Ruoxi say, "You could have shot that mountain rat! With a wooden arrow, if you hit it, we could have had a feast; if you missed, you'd only lose an arrow." Liu Ruoling immediately realized this and said, "Hey, sister, why didn't you say so sooner?" Liu Ruoxi said, "Say so earlier? I said so when I saw it, but it had already run away by then. Just be careful next time." Liu Ruoling said, "Okay, next time I'll definitely shoot a big prey." Liu Ruoxi rolled her eyes at Liu Ruoling and said, "Stop talking big, let's go." Only then did Liu Ruoling continue walking forward, but in her heart, she was thinking about preparing to shoot a large prey. She was getting tired of eating bird meat every day and just wanted to try something different.

After walking for over an hour, the two decided to rest before continuing their ascent to the summit. Gathering anything from the bushes was difficult, time-consuming, and exhausting. After a few minutes of rest, they set off again. Sure enough, they had a fruitful journey. Liu Ruoling shot seven birds and encountered a rabbit, which she missed with her wooden arrow. Liu Ruoxi dug up many wild vegetables and found a clump of wild onions. It was a truly bountiful harvest. The two reached a cliff and decided to rest there. Just as Liu Ruoxi sat down, Liu Ruoling gently patted the cliff face and pointed to the cliff beside her. Liu Ruoxi turned to look and saw three goats licking something on the cliff.

Ignoring her exhaustion, Liu Ruoxi quickly stood up. Liu Ruoling also gently drew an alloy arrow from behind her back, aiming at the largest goat. As she aimed, she thought, 'Goats are birds too, goats are birds too.' Feeling the opportunity was right, she released the arrow, sending it hurtling towards the sky. The sound of the bowstring slicing through the air and the arrow piercing the air seemed to be heard by the goats. They looked up to confirm their direction and then began to flee. On the cliff, the goats ran as fast as on flat ground. But the arrow flew even faster. Just as the goats looked up, ready to run, the arrow reached the largest goat and struck it in the rump. The goat winced in pain but didn't fall. Instead, it took the lead and ran, but in a different direction than the other two. The largest goat ran down the cliff, while the other two ran up. The Liu Ruoxi sisters, seeing that they had been hit, prepared to run in that direction, but seeing the wounded goat still running, they slowed their pace. After the goat had run a few steps, they realized it was running downhill, so they immediately ran towards the goat.

The two sisters ran a distance of twenty or thirty meters, but unfortunately, the goat that had been hit by the arrow had already descended the cliff and run into the woods. Liu Ruoling was about to continue chasing when Liu Ruoxi stopped her, saying, "Don't chase after it. We're not familiar with this forest; we might get lost again." Liu Ruoling said, "But our alloy arrows are still in the goat's body." Liu Ruoxi comforted her, "It's alright, we still have four left, that should be enough." Liu Ruoling lowered her head and said, "Okay." Liu Ruoxi pulled Liu Ruoling to sit down and said, "Let's rest for a while, then go back. That's all for today." Liu Ruoling nodded and casually fiddled with the stones on the ground.

Suddenly, Liu Ruoling noticed a stone of a different color from the others, with a crystal-like translucency. She picked it up and said, "Sister, I found a gem!" She handed it to Liu Ruoxi, who examined it closely and said, "This doesn't seem to be a gem." Upon hearing this, Liu Ruoling's face fell, and she said, "I thought it was a gem." Liu Ruoxi continued, "It looks like a piece of salt ore." Liu Ruoling immediately exclaimed happily, "Is it really a piece of salt ore?" Liu Ruoxi said, "I'm not sure, it looks like one, but I've never seen one before, only pictures of it in books." Liu Ruoling quickly pulled Liu Ruoxi along, saying, "Come on, let's go back now and see if it's really a piece of salt ore." Liu Ruoxi agreed, as not consuming salt recently was a significant problem. The two then set off on their way back to camp.