As dusk fell, no one went any further and finally decided to turn back.
Song Xiaoyou took out the map he had drawn. It was covered with numerous markings. This was undoubtedly the biggest gain from this trip.
"There are indeed too many abandoned islands, and their area may be larger than that of some island nations."
"The sky is still hazy, so the vegetation here is completely unaffected."
"Not only were they unaffected, but even saber-toothed tigers have appeared."
"On the contrary, we discovered a new water source that could serve as one of our initial campsites."
Soon, night fell, and Lu Wuyai and the others followed the current back in the direction they had come from.
Several days passed, and they returned to the rocky hill, temporarily concluding their survey mission on the deserted island.
Shi Qiu remained as quiet as ever.
The fourteen-day journey was exhausting. The first thing to do upon returning to Stone Hill was to rest.
It just so happens that we arrived at Shiqiu at dusk that day.
The group entered the rocky mountain, took care of everything, and then fell asleep on their beds.
Everyone slept soundly that night. Even Lu Wuyai couldn't hear a sound, as if he were completely isolated from the world.
It wasn't until noon the next day that everyone gradually woke up.
Lu Wuyai opened the blanket covering him. With the arrival of autumn, the temperature had reached a comfortable level.
Counting down the days, in just 14 days, the new batch of rice in the paddy fields will be ready for harvest.
In the small cubicle, the women had all gotten up earlier than Lu Wuyai, leaving only Gu Yuxin and Song Xiaoyou still in the laboratory researching materials.
"Put lunch in the pot and eat it yourself," Moro's voice came, clearly knowing that Lu Wuyai had woken up.
After lunch, Lu Wuyai stood on the rocky hill and glanced at the traps that hadn't been triggered yet. Nothing unexpected seemed to have happened in the past fourteen days.
However, there were many footprints near the cowshed fence, and a lot of the wire had been removed. It looked like it had been stolen.
Wire is rare. It has many uses on a desert island, so it's inevitable that people will monitor it.
Fortunately, there were many cows. Three cows lived in the barn. With the presence of wolves and dogs, most people dared not enter the enclosure.
Lu Wuyai scattered some of the new army's food to give the wolves and dogs a change of pace.
After strolling around for an hour and enjoying the rare tranquility, Lu Wuyai went to the rice paddies and found that the saplings on the grass near the cave were denser than they had been half a month ago.
"If this continues, these pine trees will grow to more than three meters tall by autumn, and the trees will be covered with green leaves, making it much cooler than the following summer."
Lu Wuyai is considering whether to add more black stones so that he can achieve the green trees sooner.
As Lu Wuyai stepped into the rice paddies, he smelled the fragrance of rice in the air. When the strong wind blew in from outside, the wheat rippled like waves, creating a truly magnificent scene.
Ten minutes later, Lu Wuyai rolled up his sleeves and joined the army harvesting rice.
There were seven people with sickles in the No. 2 rice paddy, which was about the size of a football field, making a clanging sound.
Now that the weather is cooler, the underground space is even cooler. People don't feel any discomfort when moving around inside. On the contrary, after working there, their bodies feel warm and comfortable.
After harvesting the rice, everyone moved the bundled rice to an underground cave for storage, preparing to husk it in the afternoon and then vacuum-pack it for preservation.
Perhaps because they had traveled such a long sea route, they hadn't quite recovered yet, and walking on the road always felt like they were wandering.
As dusk fell, an autumn rain began to fall, causing the temperature to drop again, and everyone felt the chill of autumn.
However, sleeping at night seemed quite comfortable, except for the occasional meowing of night owls from inside the container.
For several days in a row, it rained continuously, and apart from fetching water, everyone rarely left the cave.
On this day, Lu Wuyai came out of the cave and found the area around the stone mountain extremely quiet.
As usual, he walked to the fence, but his expression changed.
He could clearly see the bits of grass on the lawn outside the fence. At first, he thought they were people, but he quickly realized he was wrong.
Because of the foul smell emanating from the cowshed, Lu Wuyai opened the door with a bad feeling and found a calf and two wolfhounds lying in a pool of blood. The carcasses were torn to pieces, and their internal organs were missing. Clearly, they had been dead for some time. The time had come.
In addition, two other heifers in the barn have also gone missing.
Woof woof woof.
Outside the cowshed, a series of urgent barks came from the dogs.
Lu Wuyai hurriedly ran out, his face grim. As he ran, he pulled out a pistol from his waist, released the safety, and looked into the distance.
I saw several stray dogs trying to jump over the fence, but given their limited size and jumping ability, and the fence being covered with barbed wire, it was almost impossible.
However, Lu Wuyai also saw the remaining two cows, huddled on the ground, looking very frightened.
Finally, Lu Wuyai arrived at the front, and the wolfhound immediately stopped barking, howling sadly as it surrounded Lu Wuyai.
Clearly, they were saddened by their brother's death.
Lu Wuyai touched their bodies with a gloomy expression. Obvious wounds were visible on these wolfhounds.
On the meadow leading to the withered forest, Lu Wuyai could see the silhouette of a wild beast. Judging from its size, it looked like a tiger.
Lu Wuyai took a breath and finally brought the wolfhound back to the cowshed.
After quickly dealing with the corpses in the cowshed, Lu Wuyai had no time to grieve and began to rearrange the traps outside the cowshed.
“Your two brothers are dead, so don’t come to the office anymore.” Lu Wuyai chased the remaining seven wolfhounds out of the fence and made them guard the rocky hillside.
As for the two cows, they were temporarily kept inside the cowshed and not allowed to go out because Lu Wuyai had set up a large number of rat traps near the cowshed.
“There really are tigers coming and going here.” Lu Wuyai frowned, glanced at the withered forest, and a dark shadow loomed over him for a moment.
And so, Lu Wuyai returned to the cave, told everyone about the cowshed incident, and instructed them not to leave the cave for the next few days.
"What do you want to do?" Song Xiaoyou suddenly asked Lu Wuyai.
"This is all I can do now. I can keep an eye on the cowshed 24 hours a day." Lu Wuyai simply set up a series of traps around the cowshed.
If the other side dares to come again, these traps will definitely work.
"Be careful, no matter what, never leave the cave alone, whether it is day or night," Lu Wuyai warned again and again.
But that night, Lu Wuyai did not fall asleep; instead, he kept paying attention to the sounds coming from the outside world.
The next morning, Lu Wuyai opened his eyes and sighed. Thinking about the previous night, he couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep again.
"Let's go out and take a look."
So Lu Wuyai got up, left the cave entrance, and walked across the grass. The dew quickly soaked his shoes and trousers.
"Hey, why are Su Xi and the others here?" Lu Wuyai then remembered that there was indeed no one in the cave when he went out earlier.
Now, all the women are gathered around the office.
Lu Wuyai opened the fence and walked closer, discovering a huge corpse lying near the cowshed. It was said to be a tiger, but there was no tiger image on it.
"It's a saber-toothed tiger."
Walking forward, Lu Wuyai looked at the animal's head, and his scalp tingled. It was actually a saber-toothed tiger.
But shouldn't this thing be in another forest?
There was a trap around the saber-toothed tiger's neck. The incredible bite force crushed the tiger's neck. It must have died last night.
"It looks like this is what kills cows and wolves."
The saber-toothed cat lived between 3 million and 10,000 years ago and was the largest prehistoric cat.
Although most people think of saber-toothed tiger as the name of a single species, it actually refers to several different species.
But no matter what, this kind of creature should not exist in this world.
Everyone was curious about the saber-toothed tiger that had died in the trap, but also felt a chill and unease.
They had never seen a saber-toothed tiger on a deserted island before, but after this voyage, the creature actually appeared on the rocky hill. Even if they said it was a coincidence, they didn't believe it.
This dead saber-toothed tiger was twice the size of an ordinary tiger. Even in death, the aura emanating from it was still terrifying, especially the two fangs on its forehead, which gleamed coldly in the sunlight.
Lu Wuyai examined the carcass and, after confirming that the saber-toothed tiger had been killed by a trap, decisively carried it back to the rocky hill, cleaned it, cut the tiger meat into large chunks, and prepared for today's dinner.
Near the cowshed, women were also sweeping the grass and washing away the bloodstains before entering the cowshed to comfort the two frightened calves.
Before leaving, everyone rearranged the traps near the cowshed.
“I’m going to take a look at the Deadwood Forest,” Lu Wuyai said to Su Xi.
Lu Wuyai worried that there might be more than one saber-toothed tiger nearby. If that were the case, they would have to be careful when going out in the future. This creature was much stronger than their little brother, the tiger.
"I've never seen a saber-toothed tiger before. Could it really have followed us all the way down from that forest?" Lu Wuyai's heart was filled with worry the whole way.
Roar!
Before entering the Deadwood Forest, Lu Wuyai heard the roar of a wild beast. His expression immediately turned serious because the sound was completely different from that of ordinary tigers and lions.
"Sure enough, there was more than one saber-toothed tiger." Lu Wuyai stepped forward and cautiously entered the deadwood forest, holding a gun, ready to strike at any moment.
The Deadwood Forest had many entrances. Lu Wuyai chose a narrow passage and crouched down to squeeze in.
On the intricate path, these withered branches are extremely painful.
Soon, Lu Wuyai heard footsteps behind him, turned around, and saw Su Xi and the others. He immediately frowned and asked, "Why are you here?"
Eight women were there, bending down and following Lu Wuyai.
"It's not that I'm not worried about you," Gu Yuxin said, raising her gun. "Everyone has one."
Lu Wuyai turned around, having no other choice but to continue groping his way forward.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at an open forest overgrown with dead trees and saw the carcasses of two cheetahs on the ground. Almost all the flesh on their bodies had been eaten, and a pile of pale bones was scattered around.
Faintly, Lu Wuyai and the others could still see a fleeting figure deep in the deadwood forest.
“It must be a saber-toothed tiger,” Lu Wuyai said, taking a deep breath.
A tragic atmosphere still lingered in the air.
Meow!
In the forest, the sounds of the cat-like creature could be heard again. A moment later, a large golden cat strolled gracefully, munching on scraps of meat from the carcasses of two cheetahs, looking quite pleased with itself.
“Let’s go too.” Lu Wuyai and the others stopped tracking the saber-toothed tiger. First, there were too many people; it wasn’t safe. Second, there was a chill in the air. Autumn temperatures had dropped more sharply than expected.
After returning to the cave, everyone changed their clothes and began processing the recently harvested rice.
The rice ears were full of unhulled grains, absolutely inedible. Lacking machinery, they could only use the most primitive method: grinding the grains with a stone.
When rice is placed on a stone mill, the grains flow in through the round holes and rub against the millstone. After vigorous friction, the rice husks can be partially removed.
In fact, they had used this method to obtain rice before.
Although it was a bit slow, it was the only method they could think of, and the panel and the millstone were found on the rocky mountain, so they could be considered as natural uses.
The only drawback is that it consumes too much energy. Apart from Lu Wuyai, who can continue turning the millstone, the other women can only work for a while and then rest, which greatly reduces their efficiency.
Of course, there are advantages as well. It's an excellent way to build physical strength and endurance, so Lu Wuyai rarely participates in the work of husking rice; it's almost always done by women.
In the orchard, there were many more fruit trees, so Lu Wuyai had to replant them and transport some of the mature fruit trees to the outside world.
However, fruit trees are also the main source of food and fresh water for the survivors, so to avoid trouble, Lu Wuyai usually sends these fruit trees to high mountains far from the rocky mountains to replant them.
It takes almost a whole day to go back and forth.
In the vegetable garden, the remaining people were also busy and enjoying themselves. Green vegetables were also key to the long-term healthy survival of the survivors on the deserted island. They were indispensable.
With the growth of these black stones, there's no need to worry about the yield of the vegetable garden anymore.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Lu Wuyai finished planting the fruit trees, drove to the Deadwood Forest again.
This time, he came alone. He got out of the car, took a hoverboard from the trunk, and rode directly into the depths from the entrance.
Lu Wuyai drove very fast. An hour later, the balance scooter stopped at the end of the previously opened road.
At this point, in addition to the car tracks, there were also some blurry footprints on the ground.
In this deadwood forest, due to the lack of vegetation to retain moisture, the soil has already begun to weather. It is estimated that a sandy area will appear soon.
Lu Wuyai measured the size of the footprints on the beach and concluded that a saber-toothed tiger had once been there.
Saber-toothed tiger footprints are easy to identify. They are larger and deeper than those of ordinary lions and tigers, likely due to their weight.
Lu Wuyai returned to the balance scooter, found a direction, lowered his head, and drove the scooter in.
Half an hour later, in a narrow passage, Lu Wuyai saw a pile of fresh feces, and nearby were some bones that emitted a bloody smell.
Unfortunately, Lu Wuyai found no trace of saber-toothed tigers in the vicinity.
After checking the time, I had no choice but to turn back the way I came.
However, the matter of the saber-toothed tigers always made him uneasy. He always felt that if he didn't kill these saber-toothed tigers, something bad would happen.
Before dark, Lu Wuyai returned to the cave. Just as he was about to do something, he realized that the laboratory was in a mess.
Lu Wuyai walked over and found Su Xi lying on the ground, her face pale and her condition very bad. Not far away, Mo Luo was making something for Su Xi, and everyone else looked very nervous.
"How could this be?" Lu Wuyai took a breath and noticed snake bite marks on Su Xi's neck.
"I was bitten by a poisonous snake when I went to the puddle just now," Yu Mengrou quickly explained.
Following the gaze of others, Lu Wuyai saw a dead snake in a glass bottle. Its entire body was green; it turned out to be green bamboo leaves.
Lu Wuyai frowned: "Why are there green bamboo leaves in the pool?"
“Perhaps she was just passing by.” Yu Mengrou glanced at Lu Wuyai and said, “Don’t worry, Su Xi will be fine.”
Moro said from the side, "You all go get to work. Su Xi will take a nap and be fine when she wakes up."
As she spoke, Gu Yuxin injected the prepared serum into Su Xi's body.
Seeing the other person's brow gradually relax, Lu Wuyai breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk towards the pool.
At this moment, it was completely dark, but to Lu Wuyai, it still felt like daytime.
He walked around the pool and found no other footprints; the pool was still well covered.
"Perhaps I'm being too sensitive," Lu Wuyai thought to himself.
At the moment Tang Xin was injured, his thought was that someone had deliberately placed poisonous snakes near the pool.
Perhaps the appearance of the saber-toothed tiger aroused his suspicion.
Before returning to the cave, he looked up at the cowshed. It was dark and seemed very quiet.
......
The next day, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Su Xi could walk again.
After living together for so long, even a wooden person would develop feelings, let alone a living person.
"Tonight we're going to the canyon, away from the rocky mountains for a few days," Lu Wuyai suddenly said while we were eating, surprising everyone.
But thinking about it carefully, I still think it's pretty good.
Of course, someone had to stay on the rocky hill. Considering Su Xi's injuries, he was naturally one of the candidates to stay in the cave.
In addition, Yuri took the initiative to stay and take care of Su Xi, which surprised everyone else.
Lu Wuyai felt somewhat uneasy. After all, both women were related to him by blood. If one of them were to voluntarily stay and take care of her, then there was a possibility that things might get a little complicated.
However, Su Xi did not refuse.
So that night, apart from Tang Xin and Song Xiaoyou staying in the cave, everyone else drove off and headed straight for the canyon.
"Be careful on the road," Lu Wuyai reminded him repeatedly before he drove off.
Now that autumn has arrived, nocturnal animals are more active than in summer.
Five vehicles sped across the open grassland, seemingly unaffected by the darkness. However, as night fell, an autumn rain chilled the air considerably, and many felt drowsy.
With a bang.
A dull thud brought the convoy to an immediate stop.
Lu Wuyai peeked out and saw that a military green pickup truck had run over and killed a wild deer.
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