Su Xi handed Lu Wuyai a shriveled fruit. Although it had lost moisture due to improper storage, it tasted even sweeter inside.
"It's better to save some fruit." Lu Wuyai licked his lips, cut the fruit in half, and handed the other half to Su Xi.
Su Xi nodded. Fruits are rich in vitamins. Taking a supplement daily is very important for them.
Others shared the fruit, savoring its subtle sweetness in the cold.
After dinner, there were still three hours until dark, and everyone spent most of the day stockpiling firewood.
As night fell, everyone checked the available supplies and calculated whether they were enough to get through the three cold months of winter.
"Is there enough salt?" Yang Jian asked.
Song Xiaoyou opened the pots one by one, calculated the possible emergencies, and finally nodded.
How much fruit is left?
“There’s still some left,” Su Xi said. “It should last for about a month. If we save a little, two months will be enough, but three months won’t be enough.”
"Then let's go to the orchard tomorrow."
The orchard is a three-hour drive from the cave. With repeated trips and the time spent picking fruit, it could take a whole day.
"There's no need for us to go together tomorrow," Jin Xilu said. "Let's leave two people at home."
After discussing it, everyone decided that Lu Wuyai would lead the team to the orchard and pack up all the fruit they could pick in one go.
Yang Jian had no objection. The fruit was extremely important. Although the existing fruit could be stored for two months, no one could guarantee that it wouldn't spoil during that time.
The more preparation work is done, the more peaceful everyone's mindset will be.
Before going to sleep, Yang Jian opened the wooden lid and went to the outhouse in the woods. When he returned, he felt that the cave was like paradise.
"Why not build a toilet in a hole in the ground in winter?" Lu Wuyai took a breath, his teeth aching from the cold.
The others looked at each other in confusion, but after experiencing the chill of the forest at night, they all became extremely united in their idea of building a toilet.
However, to build a toilet in the tunnel, the existing cement must be broken up, a new tunnel must be dug, and only then can the toilet be built.
As a result, many things that were planned for winter will be postponed.
After much deliberation, they decided to move the toilet construction to the evening.
The next day, Lu Wuyai woke up Anna and Song Xiaoyou, applied cream and Xinshui to himself in the morning, left the cave, and headed towards the orchard.
The sunlight on the horizon wasn't too glaring, and there was a faint fragrance in the air, but the temperature was unbearable.
Lu Wuyai was wrapped in sheepskin, and Anna and Song Xiaoyou also wrapped themselves up tightly. Their shoes were wet from the water, and their feet were cold.
Three hours later, the sun began to shine on the deserted island, everything came back to life, and late autumn gradually gave people a sense of being enveloped in the sun.
Yang Jian and the others stood outside the orchard, but did not go in immediately.
Because when they were outside, the sharp-eyed Song Xiaoyou spotted several man-eating monkeys. Their purplish-gold hair was impossible to ignore.
"I'll distract them, hurry."
As soon as he finished speaking, Song Xiaoyou ran out.
"Young friend Song."
Lu Wuyai shouted quickly and reached out to grab his opponent, but he was simply not fast enough.
Finally, the man-eating monkeys in the orchard saw humans coming and going and immediately followed them.
The two people who saw this couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"Let's hurry up and pick some fruit," Lu Wuyai said to Anna.
Anna nodded, carrying two bamboo baskets on her back, and followed Lu Wuyai toward a fruit orchard.
Perhaps it's the arrival of late autumn, but falcons are rarely seen in the orchards anymore. They are also preparing food for winter. As carnivores, they naturally need to eat meat.
In the durian forest, yellow shells hung from the trees. Lu Wuyai chopped some down. While Anna was picking apples, he began swinging his axe, smashing all the durian shells.
"The flavor is really strong."
These durians are fully ripe and still hanging on the branches. A large part of the reason is their protective shells, and in fact, with late autumn approaching, even falcons are reluctant to visit them.
In fact, durian is just as filling as fresh meat; the feeling of fullness from fruit is much easier to satisfy.
To save space, Yang Jian cut the durian open, removed the seeds, and put only the flesh into the basket.
This time, only three people came, so each of them carried many baskets, enough to hold a large amount of fruit.
The durian grove was very large, and Yang Jian filled two baskets with the durians he had just harvested.
As for Anna, her task was to collect apples. The wild apples in the orchard were generally small, so Lu Wuyai had her pick out the unripe, red ones so that they could be preserved for a long time even after being picked.
"Yang Jian, I'm full," Anna called out from one end of the orchard.
Hearing the sound, Lu Wuyai called her back. There were some small green wild fruits here. They didn't know their names, but they were edible.
Time passed second by second, and his bamboo basket was full, but Song Xiaoyou still hadn't returned.
Lu Wuyai put down the bamboo basket, took out an axe from his waist, said something to Anna, and rushed in the direction Song Xiaoyou had left earlier.
The forest outside the orchard was very dense. Even in late autumn, there were many evergreen plants, so when Lu Wuyai barged in, he had the illusion of leaving a deserted island.
If you look closely along this path, you can find traces left by Song Xiaoyou. Seeing this, Lu Wuyai was somewhat relieved, indicating that Song Xiaoyou's condition was not serious; otherwise, she wouldn't have had time to mark the path.
But as they continued along the road, the distance between the landmarks grew increasingly greater. Several times, Yang Jian even thought Song Xiaoyou had disappeared.
Once back on the right path, the forest became even darker.
He chuckled.
A strange chicken-crow terrified Lu Wuyai, making him tremble all over and his scalp tingle.
He instinctively turned his head to look at the source of the sound, only to find a purple-gold monkey looking at him sideways, holding a piece of sheepskin in its hand, as if showing it off to him.
Lu Wuyai's pupils shrank. Wasn't that sheepskin the one Song Xiaoyou wore?
Thinking of this, Lu Wuyai acted impulsively and rushed over immediately.
He chuckled.
An eerie laugh echoed through the forest, and the next second, Lu Wuyai suddenly felt a familiar sensation in his body.
Two seconds later, he looked at the 360-degree rotating world and finally understood what the monkey was laughing at.
He was knocked down in mid-air for the second time in the same trap.
Lu Wuyai was so angry that his brain was congested with blood and he almost fainted.
But given the current situation, I certainly need to find a way to break free.
It's just unclear whether this trap was made by man-eating monkeys, or whether someone else placed it here for the man-eating monkeys to use.
Regardless of which one it is, Yang Jian is facing a huge problem.
However, having learned from previous experience, Yang Jian quickly discovered that the rope had also fallen onto a tree branch. The violent swinging actually presented an opportunity to break free.
Seeing this, Lu Wuyai breathed a sigh of relief and then began to sway up and down.
During this time, the purple-haired monkey seemed to have disappeared, which relieved Lu Wuyai, allowing him to concentrate on getting out of the predicament.
But in fact, a few minutes later, just as Lu Wuyai was struggling to get up from the ground, the piercing crowing of a rooster came again.
"This time, let's see if I can spare your life."
Immediately, Lu Wuyai grabbed the axe that had fallen to the ground and rushed forward.
The next second, he was horrified to discover a monkey holding a pistol in the grass. Its mouth was split open to the bottom of its ears, revealing a mouth full of triangular sharp teeth.
Where did the gun come from?
"How does this monkey know how to use a gun?"
In the flash of lightning, Lu Wuyai thought of many things. The black muzzle of the gun was pointed at his brow. Once the monkey pulled the trigger, he would surely die.
But the beauty of life is that you never know what will happen next.
The next second of the standoff, the monkey on the other side suddenly pointed his gun at him, and to Lu Wuyai's surprise, he pulled the trigger.
With a bang.
The crisp sound echoed through the forest, and for a brief moment, Lu Wuyai's mind went blank.
After a moment of blankness, he immediately woke up. He went straight to the monkey's corpse and pulled the gun from its paw.
With a sudden, mechanical sound, Lu Wuyai saw that there were still three bullets left in the pistol. His overwhelming joy was palpable, making him extremely excited on the spot.
"Good monkey." Lu Wuyai grinned, completely forgetting that he had probably just been shot to death by a monkey.
On his way to find Song Xiaoyou, the pistol he unexpectedly obtained really relieved Lu Wuyai from his previous exhaustion.
However, he left without lingering, as the gunshots might attract unwanted attention.
In the vast forest, Lu Wuyai tried calling Song Xiaoyou and finally received a response at some point.
"Yang Jian, I'm here."
A faint sound echoed in the air. Lu Wuyai searched around and found Song Xiaoyou, pale-faced, peeking through a crack.
"Why did you come here?" Lu Wuyai pulled Song Xiaoyou out of the crack in the ground. The latter had lost her sheepskin, saying she lost it while running away.
At this moment, Song Xiaoyou saw the pistol on Yang Jian's waist and was both surprised and delighted.
"We need to put it away," Song Xiaoyou reminded him.
Lu Wuyai nodded naturally. The three bullets in the pistol meant three lives. Of course, they had to be carefully hidden.
"Let's go back, it's getting late."
Soon they returned to the orchard and found that Anna had reorganized her baskets, making much more room.
After working for a while, it was already noon. Lu Wuyai looked around the orchard and found that there was still plenty of fruit. Red fruit hung on the branches, and he really wanted to come back for more.
"It would be better to go back first." After thinking for a moment, Song Xiaoyou told Lu Wuyai that she had seen other survivors in the forest while she was distracting the man-eating monkeys.
"Is he someone you know?" Lu Wuyai asked hurriedly.
Song Xiaoyou glanced at him, knowing perfectly well who he was asking about, but she shook her head. Although it was just a glance, she was certain the person was a man, not a woman.
Lu Wuyai was somewhat disappointed when he heard that the survivor was a man.
Yu Mengrou and the others have been missing for a long time. I really don't know how those women survive on a deserted island.
In other words, they have been dead for a long time.
Song Xiaoyou looked at Lu Wuyai's face, reached out and tugged at his sleeve, reminding him that he could leave.
Lu Wuyai sighed and picked a few more lemon-like fruits from the orchard until his basket on his back could no longer hold a single fruit.
"Let's go," Yang Jian said.
At 1:30 p.m., the three of them returned by the same route, but the return journey was longer than during the day.
The basket on his back was very heavy because it was full of fruit.
On their journey, they stopped to rest in a thicket, with rainforest on one side. However, the rainforest seemed quite desolate at this time of year. Under the broad leaves, everything became less of a secret.
Lu Wuyai saw a carcass; it was a black antelope. This kind of wild animal was rarely seen on the deserted island, and he was deeply moved when he saw it.
But at that moment, the dead antelope was slowly dragged into the forest by something.
Seeing this, the three of them were instantly stunned. Lu Wuyai took out his scope, and when he saw it clearly, he couldn't help but swallow hard.
They are not predators, but swarms of leeches.
They clung tightly to the surface of the antelope carcass, moving and sucking its flesh, unknowingly propelling the antelope forward slowly.
"That's terrifying." Listening to Lu Wuyai's description, Anna touched her arm, which was covered in goosebumps.
Lu Wuyai urged them to leave. The forest was too dangerous; it would be safer to return to the cave as soon as possible.
As they lifted their legs to leave, some small red ropes suddenly appeared on the withered branches and leaves around them.
At first, they didn't notice until the thin red ropes quickly climbed up their shoes and onto their trousers.
Lu Wuyai instinctively tried to wave the bullet away, but the stinging pain made him wince. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the red strings were actually ants linked end to end.
"Go quickly."
Realizing that these ants were not simple, Lu Wuyai quickly shouted, and the expressions of the two women behind him also suddenly changed.
In just one minute, ants crawling out from the withered branches and fallen leaves gathered into a flowing "red stream."
"it hurts."
Lu Wuyai looked at the fingertip that had just been bitten. The stinging sensation grew stronger and stronger, as if he had been burned by flames or splashed with hot oil.
Is it difficult?
At this moment, Song Xiaoyou, seeing Lu Wuyai's pained expression, realized that these fiery red ants might be highly poisonous.
Right now, Lu Wuyai can still endure it; they are still fleeing from the encirclement of the "Red Tide," so they really don't have time to think about anything else.
"Run out first, then we'll talk." Lu Wuyai held his breath, temporarily forgetting the intense pain in his hand.
Looking around, this land near the rainforest was teeming with swarms of red ants, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Unable to return to their original route, Lu Wuyai, Song Xiaoyou, and Anna had no choice but to run towards the fruit orchard.
Along the way, the pain in Lu Wuyai's fingers gradually lessened, but it still made his heart pound.
He had just been bitten by an ant, and the pain he had just experienced was unforgettable.
If you get bitten by a swarm of ants, that's probably painful enough.
"Red Willow" was still chasing after them. Yang Jian and the three of them ran all the way to the orchard.
It was already 2:30, and darkness was fast approaching. If we couldn't reach Shiqiu before 6:00, the late autumn night would surely freeze us to death.
Lu Wuyai looked back at the ants. After a while, the ants also approached the fruit grove, their momentum showing no signs of slowing down. Clearly, the fruit grove was not the end of their journey.
They had no choice but to continue their detour. Unfortunately, the area covered by this "red tide" was enormous, so they had to keep running while searching for a new way out.
What kind of ant is this?
Lu Wuyai couldn't help but gasp a few times. For the rest of the time, he could only run forward with his head down.
As their journey continued, the three of them unknowingly arrived at an unfamiliar wild forest, and the swarm of ants behind them disappeared without them noticing.
Lu Wuyai wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and glanced at his watch. It was exactly four o'clock in the afternoon.
"I'm afraid I'll have to spend the night in the wilderness tonight," Lu Wuyai said worriedly.
But there was nothing they could do; it was a foregone conclusion. For their safety, they had to find a suitable place to stay and, from now on, try to gather firewood and start a fire. Tonight probably wouldn't be so easy.
Song Xiaoyou and Anna fought their way through the enemy lines, while Yang Jian went on a solo journey. He had to find a cave or another equally secluded place within an hour before nightfall.
In the dim forest, Yang Jian continued his search on the nearby mountains. Fortunately, he found a narrow gap at the foot of a high mountain.
With 45 minutes left before dark, Lu Wuyai ran all the way and found Song Xiaoyou and Anna chopping wood. He then led them to a narrow crevice at the foot of the mountain as quickly as possible.
Seeing that the firewood was running low, Lu Wuyai realized that night was approaching and one of them would have to go out to gather more.
Finally, before nightfall, the three of them reached a narrow crevice at the foot of the mountain, quickly gathered wood to start a fire, and created a flame to dispel the bitter cold of the night.
The temperature is at least 10 degrees Celsius lower than during the day, and it will only get colder in the latter half of the night.
"I'll go chop some wood, you guys quickly start another fire."
Not long after Lu Wuyai left, Song Xiaoyou also stood up and, together with Anna, searched for stones near the crevice.
The crevice wasn't very deep, but the campfire at night made it very obvious.
When he arrived, Song Xiaoyou had already seen many stones nearby. Now they were piled up by the campfire, gradually forming a sturdy kiln.
The campfire burned inside the kiln, and the heat was always concentrated in this space.
When Lu Wuyai returned with the wood, he found Anna already asleep against the rock wall.
As for Song Xiaoyou, when she saw Lu Wuyai, she made a small gesture, signaling him not to be too noisy.
Lu Wuyai nodded. He had already chopped firewood in the forest and was now throwing it directly into the fire.
The cave was warm, and Lu Wuyai thought that if he were to sleep in the wild in the future, this kind of stone cave would be a good idea.
The night was quiet, and neither Yang Jian nor Song Xiaoyou spoke. They wondered if anything unexpected might happen tonight.
The sea breeze howls by, always carrying a salty taste.
And just like that, nothing happened overnight.
The next day, Lu Wuyai suddenly opened his eyes, looked around at the scene, and took a few deep breaths.
In the morning, the three of them were walking towards the fruit grove, and Lu Wuyai still remembered the scene from his dream.
Yesterday's "Red Tide" is still fresh in everyone's memory; Lu Wuyai had a black bite mark on his fingertip.
As they approached the orchard, the three of them gradually slowed their pace.
"Damn it, we have to walk back again." Lu Wuyai cursed as he looked at the red ants covering the ground.
What's intriguing is that these ants clearly didn't just appear this morning. They probably spent the entire night in the orchard.
The orchard was quiet, as if time had been frozen in place.
“Look at these fruits,” Song Xiaoyou said, pointing to a fruit tree nearby.
At this moment, the ants were gnawing on the fruit on the tree, some of them already biting into the peel and piercing into the flesh.
"Are they also preparing food for winter?" Lu Wuyai wondered. This was the first time he had ever heard that even ants prepared food for winter.
In addition, Yang Jian said curiously, "You said these ants are really cold-resistant, they didn't freeze to death."
After he finished speaking, Lu Wuyai was still sighing, but Song Xiaoyou took out a piece of gauze from the basket on her back, picked up a motionless red ant, crushed it with her fingertips, and left a red mark on the gauze.
Seeing this, Lu Wuyai was quite curious and didn't quite understand what Song Xiaoyou was doing.
Next, Song Xiaoyou smeared the dead ants on the back of her hand and waited quietly for a while before speaking.
"These red ants must have something inside them that can protect them from the cold."
After hearing Song Xiaoyou's words, Yang Jian and Anna looked at each other in bewilderment.
After that, Song Xiaoyou picked up two red ants from the ground and smeared their corpses on the back of her hand.
Soon, Lu Wuyai felt a strange sensation in the area where the treatment had been applied. His skin felt tight, but not noticeably so.
However, to the touch, the skin where the ant corpses were smeared was indeed warmer than other areas.
"If we could collect a large number of ant corpses and smear them on our clothes or directly on our bodies, we might not be afraid of the cold anymore."
Song Xiaoyou's words changed the expressions of Yang Jian and Anna. They looked at the corpse in their hands, then at the motionless red ants in the orchard, and their eyes gradually brightened.
If what Song Xiaoyou said is true, then these red ants will definitely play a significant role.
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.
So the three of them looked at each other, then took out a clay pot from the basket on their backs, and while the red ants were still, they began to collect large quantities of each other's corpses.
Every red ant that entered the earthenware jar was immediately crushed by everyone. Over time, Lu Wuyai even smelled a peculiar odor, as if it were emanating from the corpses of the red ants.
Because the red ants were so small, after a whole hour, each person's clay pot still only contained a few corpses.
"Let's have breakfast first, and then continue," Yang Jian said.
On a deserted island, especially in the wild, everyone must maintain sufficient physical strength, otherwise they will be in a very passive position in the event of an emergency.
While Anna and Song Xiaoyou were preparing breakfast, Yang Jian continued collecting the corpses of red ants.
Half an hour later, the three people who were having breakfast finally noticed that the previously quiet red ants had started wandering around, completely losing the orderly manner they had when they "marched" yesterday.
Seeing this, Yang Jian and the others were overjoyed and continued collecting red ants in the orchard.
The time was until noon.
Under a fruit tree, Yang Jian looked at the earthenware jar. It contained half a jar of dead red ants. Although there were many, it still wasn't enough. If he were to apply it to his body, it would probably only cover his entire sleeve, and he wasn't sure if that would be enough, or how long it would last.
The situation was similar for Song Xiaoyou and Anna. At this moment, most of the red ants in the orchard had disappeared, scattered in the nearby forest. Finding them wasn't difficult, but it wasn't easy either.
After some discussion, and because it was getting late, the three of them began to return to Shiqiu.
They hadn't walked far when they ran into Su Xi and Jin Xilu, who had come looking for them.
They were very worried because they hadn't returned home last night. This morning, as soon as the sun rose, they set off early for the orchard.
Upon learning that the contents of the earthenware jar were red ant corpses, Tang Xin and Jin Xilu both widened their eyes.
“When we got here, we found several mounds of earth that looked like ant nests,” Su Xi said.
Hearing this, Lu Wuyai and the others were very pleased. The anthill should contain a large number of ants, and they should be easy to collect.
Although red ants are highly venomous, they do not intend to harden steel.
Not long after, on their way back, Yang Guozhen saw several small mounds standing in the mountains. The air around them was a bit damp compared to other places.
“Those rotten wild fruits,” Yang Jian said.
Since ants like to carry fruit, rotten wild fruit is naturally the best tool to lure them.
Near these ant nests, Yang Jian placed a wild fruit every five meters. Over time, the putrid smell of the wild fruit quickly attracted the red ants inside the nests.
Within a short time, the wild fruit was covered with a large number of red ants.
Seeing this, the five people got busy, throwing ants one by one into the earthenware pot with their hands wrapped in cloth strips, and stomping them to death.
Obviously, five people are much faster than three people.
It's 3 p.m. now, and there are still two and a half hours until it gets dark.
Lu Wuyai stood up from the ground and looked at the pottery jar in his hand. The paste inside was clinging to the rim of the jar, and the dark red, viscous liquid had almost solidified.
The other people's earthenware jars were almost full, enough to cover a piece of clothing.
When we returned to the cave, the sky had completely darkened.
The campfire was lit, and everyone was eager to try out the effects of the viscous liquid in the earthenware jar.
"Try it on me first," Yang Jian said.
Then, he took out a short-sleeved shirt and gestured to smear the corpses of red ants on it.
The short-sleeved shirt wasn't very big, so Yang Jian put it on after applying it for a few minutes.
At this moment, the temperature inside the cave is 16 degrees Celsius, which is very comfortable.
Lu Wuyai sensed it for a moment and found nothing special. He couldn't help but sigh. A busy day had yielded disappointing results.
However, Song Xiaoyou still suggested that he go out for a walk.
Lu Wuyai nodded and pushed off the wooden cover over his head. The evil wind outside was gone, so he quickly put on a sheepskin.
On the deserted island in the pitch-black night, it was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The moonlight was blocked by dark clouds, and only a sliver of light shone through the cave, which made Lu Wuyai breathe a slight sigh of relief.
Soon, Lu Wuyai jumped down from outside and entered the cellar, bringing with him a blast of cold air. Everyone shivered, telling themselves, "It's very cold."
"How about it."
Upon seeing Lu Wuyai return, the group immediately glanced at him and inquired about the situation.
As a result, everyone was somewhat disappointed when they saw Lu Wuyai shake his head.
But Lu Wuyai quickly adopted a sarcastic expression and said to them, "This dress is fantastic."
Everyone was stunned at first, then they laughed.
Su Xi punched Lu Wuyai and said irritably, "Why are you doing nothing and still joking around?"
Lu Wuyai clutched his chest, pretending to be injured, but no one in the cave paid him any attention.
cough cough
After coughing a few times to ease the previous awkwardness, Lu Wuyai sat on the ground, pulled open the sheepskin, and revealed the short-sleeved shirt underneath. The ant corpses on their bodies had long since dried.
By this time, the short-sleeved shirt had turned dark brown, and Yang Jian gestured for the others to come over and touch it.
Except for Tang Xin, all the women blushed, but still touched it.
As a result, when they touched the short-sleeved shirt, they felt a slightly warm sensation, which surprised all four women.
Anna and Song Xiaoyou, in particular, had experienced it once during the day, but that time it was just a small patch on their skin, which was incomparable to the feeling they had now.
Lu Wuyai said, "Experiments have proven that this thing is really effective. The question now is how long such a garment can be worn."
"Also, how long does the effect of the remaining liquid in the ceramic jar last?"
The first problem was easily solved. Lu Wuyai decided that from now on, he would wear this short-sleeved shirt until the gentle feeling disappeared.
As for the second question, these five earthenware jars have been temporarily isolated from the air using gauze. How long they will be preserved is unknown.
The only saving grace was that on their way back, they discovered some ant nests. These nests had existed before, but they had completely overlooked them.
Now look closely, there are seventeen or eighteen ant nests near the rocky hill. Most of them are no different from those on the plain, and show no signs of collective activity. As for the "red river" that appeared yesterday, it may be their only one of the year—a grain harvest activity.
"Go to sleep," Lu Wuyai urged.
That night, Lu Wuyai slept near the cave entrance. Because of the clothes he was wearing, he was quite comfortable.
The next day, Lu Wuyai found that the temperature of the short-sleeved shirt was slightly lower, but it was still warmer than the sheepskin shirt.
However, it soon became afternoon, and the temperature on the deserted island dropped sharply at dusk. But Lu Wuyai discovered that the temperature inside the sheepskin short-sleeved shirt was actually a little higher than during the day.
"Who cares?" Lu Wuyai was full of doubts, secretly thinking that maybe he was the one who felt something was wrong.
When he returned to the cave and discussed the situation with others, Kim Hee-rok expressed her thoughts.
"Perhaps those red ants have a biological clock adapted to life on a deserted island, regulating their body temperature at different times of the day."
This idea makes sense.
When the ants' bodies are crushed, their internal tissues remain inside, and perhaps some things are automatically preserved.
Lu Wuyai nodded, not delving further into the matter. Then, he took out a piece of scrap paper from the pottery jar, on which was drawn a map with charcoal.
On the map, there is a forest in the rocky mountains. Some places are marked with an "x", and each of these places is the location of an ant nest.
“A total of 38.” Lu Wuyai counted them and couldn’t help but wonder why he had never found so many ant nests in this area before.
However, when winter comes, the ants rarely come out.
As late autumn continued, the days passed one by one, until today, when Lu Wuyai's short-sleeved shirt finally lost its heat-insulating effect.
I calculated that it took a total of ten days, starting from when I started smearing ant corpses on the ground.
By the stream on the rocky hill, Tang Xin was washing clothes, while Lu Wuyai put on his new clothes, which had just been painted with ant bodies.
The familiar feeling returned, and Yang Jian felt no discomfort. The insulation was still very good, but this time, it probably wouldn't last long.
Without a seal, the effectiveness of the liquid in the earthenware pot would eventually diminish over time.
There's no way around it. With their current level of technology, many things simply cannot be preserved for long.
For example, fresh meat and seafood, even though the temperature is very low during this period, some of these materials still rotted, which is unavoidable.
The stream in Shiqiu was cold in the morning. After Su Xi and the others quickly finished washing their clothes, they started looking for clothes to hang up to dry.
In late autumn, the only redeeming quality is the abundant sunshine.
Song Xiaoyou found some succulents somewhere, most of them green, and planted them by the stream. She would check on them several times a day.
Anna and Susie were planting potatoes in the forest. Their previously harvested seedlings had been delayed. It was too cold now, and if they were left there, they certainly wouldn't survive. Whether they could make it through the winter depended on their own fate.
As for Jinxi Road, she found a dense pebble path and walked barefoot on it.
Seeing Lu Wuyai staring at her, Jin Xilu smiled generously and said, "Come and try it."
Lu Wuyai nodded. Isn't this gravel path just another kind of acupressure mat?
Taking off his shoes and walking on the cold stones, Lu Wuyai found that the soles of his feet were numb, as if he had been electrocuted.
Kim Seok-rok, standing to the side, was filled with surprise, but she quickly regained her composure.
"You have a great figure."
Lu Wuyai felt a little shy when praised by a woman. Recently, he had noticed that his physical condition was better than before.
Living on a deserted island, every day is a test for oneself.
In late autumn, Lu Wuyai wore only a short-sleeved shirt, mainly because his clothes were covered with red ant corpses. The constant temperature control made him feel comfortable even shirtless.
Chopping wood remains the most important task of the day. To avoid over-logging in any area, Yang Jian often leads his men to remote and unfamiliar deep forests, where they stay for most of the day.
The landscape near Shishan gradually became imprinted in everyone's mind.
On the last day of November, the temperature on the deserted island seemed extremely low, and the cold wind was like a knife, causing pain.
"Let's go back." Lu Wuyai stood in the forest and called out to Anna and Su Xi, who were bundling firewood not far away.
These three people have already cut most of the daytime scenes. The timing is perfect; there are still two and a half hours until dark.
The firewood was bundled together and counted. Today's harvest was pretty good. There were 35 bundles in total. It's just a bit tiring to carry them back.
That night, the north wind howled, as if it had angered the deserted island on the last day of November.
"It's noisy."
Su Xi huddled in the corner. It was as if an earthquake had struck outside the cave; something kept rushing past.
“It’s an antelope,” Song Xiaoyou said.
Before nightfall, she saw a herd of antelopes running through the dark forest. The late autumn weather was too cold; they also needed to safely get through the winter.
The rocky mountain where the cave was located happened to be the place they had to pass through.
"It's alright." Lu Wuyai knew what Su Xi was worried about and said with relief, "The cave has been reinforced. Unless there's an earthquake, nothing will happen."
Song Xiaoyou also said, "Go to sleep."
After a busy day, everyone was exhausted, but deep down they were still worried.
After a while, the antelope's trampling finally stopped, and the five people in the cave visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Wuyai thought for a moment and said, "I'll go out and take a look. You all stay here."
"Don't go out." Tang Xin grabbed Lu Wuyai's hand, still worried.
“It’s alright, I’ll go check it out. There are traps in the forest. If the antelope gets caught, it won’t be able to escape.”
Previously, Lu Wuyai and his group had indeed set up many traps near the cave, partly to ambush their prey and partly to guard against "criminals."
Lu Wuyai insisted on going to take a look, and Song Xiaoyou told him to bring the three black dogs along as well.
After this period of growth, the three cubs have entered an awkward phase. Their fur has begun to change, turning a vaguely eerie purple.
Woof woof
Lu Wuyai patted the dog's head and immediately led them out of the cave.
The rope traps in the forest are not very secure. If an antelope gets trapped, you must kill it quickly, otherwise it will definitely escape if left unattended.
It was for this reason that Lu Wuyai wanted to see if so many antelopes had fallen into the trap.
"I hope I can bring more food to this poor family." Lu Wuyai pursed his lips, feeling the licking sensation at his feet, and knew it was the three little black dogs.
"It's up to you." Lu Wuyai tightened the rope in his hand. The wind was strong tonight, but the moon was bright, and most of the forest scenery could be seen.
Three small black dogs led the way, with Yang Jian following behind. The footprints on the ground were very clear, indicating a flock of sheep.
When he reached the first trap, Lu Wuyai's expression turned to disappointment. The bushes in front of him were almost completely destroyed, let alone this simple trap.
As he continued walking, he discovered the fifth trap. Lu Wuyai heard a scream, looked up, and saw a ram hanging in the air.
The next second, the branch broke, the ram fell heavily to the ground, and the three little black dogs howled, their voices penetrating in the night.
Lu Wuyai quickly came over. Before the ram died, he picked up a shovel and struck it hard on the ram's head.
Once, twice... until the opponent was knocked unconscious.
The ram wasn't killed on the spot because its blood smelled too strong. If it were released, it would inevitably lead to more danger.
Although there were still a few traps, Lu Wuyai was already very satisfied and immediately decided to take the little black dog back.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com