Chapter 77
Returning to the camp with the remaining water, Lin Zhinan looked at the coconut bottle held by the little monk. His face turned red with anger, his eyes were wet, and he felt sad and guilty.
"It's okay, we'll look for it later," Chu Huaiqin smiled, pulling Lin Zhinan to sit by the fire and start digging potatoes. "Let's eat first. After we're full, we can figure out a solution. An empty stomach makes your brain dull."
"Brother, we are not eating rice, we are eating potatoes." Seeing Lin Zhinan sad, the little monk suppressed his sadness, and sat down next to Chu Huaiqin with a smile.
"Make way." Xia Entang picked up the little monk and pushed him aside. He sat down next to Chu Huaiqin, looked him up and down, and only shifted his gaze to help dig potatoes after seeing that he was not injured.
Little Monk: ...
After digging out three potatoes, each person broke off a piece and ate them. After that, they ate bananas. The two bundles of bananas were almost digested. Chu Huaiqin thought that if he couldn't find any more food inside, he would have to move to the seaside. This would solve the food problem a little, but it would increase the distance by at least half.
After everyone shared the last bit of water, each person only took two sips. Chu Huaiqin and the others were in no hurry to continue. In summer, with no water, and on a tropical island, the temperature would reach at least 35 degrees Celsius. Adding these factors to the journey would be fatal. However, they couldn't just stay like this, so the five of them slowed down, searching for food while keeping an eye out for water. Unfortunately, by around 4 p.m., they still hadn't found any water.
Fortunately, Chu Huaiqin found some water-rich plants along the way for the group to chew on, so they didn't become dehydrated. Even so, the five of them were completely dry, especially Chu Huaiqin, who needed water the most. Without water, he felt like he was wilting and had lost several pounds.
"Why aren't there even any banana or plantain trees?" Su Huaichen regretted and felt discouraged for a moment.
"Can everyone still hold on?" Chu Huaiqin slumped against a tree, half-closed his eyes, looked up at the sunlight shining above his head, and felt that the water in his body was about to be drained out.
"Sure," Lin Zhinan replied quickly, but "Brother, why don't you take a rest? Let's go find some water first."
Su Huaichen agreed with Lin Zhinan's words, "Yes, Huaiqin can't go on like this, we should rest first and then continue on our journey. This island is not that big, we still have plenty of time!"
"Yes, yes, we are now in first place. Oh, no, there is a camel team ahead of us." The little monk only then remembered that there was another team. "But we are at least in second place, so there is no rush."
"Yes, if we keep going this way, I'm afraid we'll end up drinking urine." Su Huaichen frowned, looking unbearable.
Everyone: ...
"Brother Huaichen, this is impossible!" The little monk couldn't believe it and looked at Su Huaichen with disgust.
"Okay, you say something, he says something, what do I say?" Xia En glared at the three people who were chattering. Chu Huaiqin was already very thirsty, so why did he make him talk so much?
"We're not in a hurry," Chu Huaiqin licked his lips and said hoarsely, "It's too hot now. We can't travel without water. I suggest we go to the coast."
This is a long, circular island with considerable length but not much width, so it is not difficult to get out of the dense forest.
The little monk's eyes lit up, "Is there water on the coast?"
"No," Chu Huaiqin shook his head, "It would be best if there were coconuts. If there weren't any, we could see if we could distill or dig groundwater."
Several people: ...
Live broadcast room:
"I really wanted to refute him, but then I thought, if he can even boil a pot, digging a well might not be difficult."
"Yeah, I think Chu Huaiqin is omnipotent. Go for it! Make it to the international competition."
"Why didn't the person in front say that he could use running water? He can do anything, he's a god!"
"I love being slapped in the face by my brother the most."
"I finally see it clearly. Humph, is someone starting to praise him?"
"What's wrong with us, the regions that didn't participate, being optimistic about the Gun Gun team? Do you still want us to be optimistic about you guys who are so shameless?"
"What's wrong with us? My Great Republic of Korea is not bad. The competition has just begun, and it's still unclear who will win or lose!"
"Thanks to God's blessing, our Peacock is the most powerful."
"Our Monkey Team is not bad either."
Suddenly, voices of support for the Gun Gun team came out from countries other than China in the live broadcast room, which made some people a little unbearable, especially those from Goryeo and Peacock. They wanted to jump into the screen and wave flags to cheer for their own team, so that these blind people could see how powerful their team was.
"Haha, these are all my rations."
"As a species that survived eight million years ago, it is indeed the ancestor of other animals."
“The country has a long history.”
"You must be joking. Our Great Goryeo Kingdom has a history of half a thousand years. Who has a longer history?"
"Pfft, brother is older than dad."
audience:……
Since they had decided to head to the beach first, they didn't waste any time and began crossing before sunset. Summer days were long, and the five of them kept an eye out for water as they walked. Their pace was a bit slow, and it took them three hours to reach the coast. Listening to the crashing waves, Chu Huaiqin and the others couldn't help but drool. But to their disappointment, there were no coconut trees.
All five of them were disappointed.
"Huaiqin, what should we do?" The saliva in Su Huaichen's mouth became sticky, and he felt uncomfortable when he moved his mouth. Although it would not cause a big impact on his body for the time being, it was not a pleasant feeling to be thirsty without water to drink.
"Yes, brother, please tell me quickly, I'm so thirsty." The little monk was very hungry now. He was so thirsty that he had no appetite even when thinking about food.
"We have three methods. The first one is pot distillation. Who knows this?" Chu Huaiqin asked.
"I understand. I've read the tutorial." Lin Zhinan raised his hand.
"I understand too." Su Huaichen replied. Finally, there was a place where he could be used.
"Great! We happen to have two pots. Start two fires. Use the seawater in the pots and coconut shells as containers to hold the steam. Throw a few potatoes in while you distill." "Cooking cassava wastes too much water, so put that aside for now." Then Chu Huaiqin said, "Oh, and you can also collect dew from large leaves of palm trees like banana leaves or fan palms."
"We didn't see any banana leaves along the way!" Lin Zhinan reminded.
"It doesn't matter if it's not, as long as the leaves are large. If it's a large leaf you don't recognize, you can mash the leaves into juice and rub it on your wrists. If there is no itching or pain in about ten minutes, it means it's non-toxic and can be used." Chu Huaiqin handed the task to the little monk.
"Xia Entang, go put out the shrimp cages." This was a gravelly beach, with little sand but plenty of rocks. Puddles of water formed from the rocks, large and small. In the distance, there were coral reefs, and there must be coral reefs underneath. "Don't go in the water. This place isn't developed. There must be fish and clams among the rocks."
Now they have no water, and Xia En is dehydrated. If he comes out of the sea without water to drink, it will accelerate the loss of water in his body, which will not be worth the loss.
After finishing the tasks, Chu Huaiqin stood on the beach and looked around. Everyone in the live broadcast room was wondering what this person was doing?
Chu Huaiqin was choosing a place, the one with the highest waterline. After observing, Chu Huaiqin chose a small sand dune, returned to where he had left his bag, got a knife and two coconut shells, and went to the top of the small sand dune and started digging sand.
Live broadcast room:
"What's he doing? Digging for clams?"
"Digging a well."
"Pfft, I was just joking before, how could it be true, really..."
The livestream was shocked. After Chu Huaiqin had dug for a while, water began to emerge from the pit dug out of the small sand dune, slowly overflowing from the sand layer to form a small puddle. Chu Huaiqin scooped up the water with a coconut bowl, took a sip, savored it, and took another sip, as everyone looked on in amazement.
Everyone: ...
"Is Chu Huaiqin thirsty and stupid? How can he drink this?"
"Even the water beneath the sand is seawater!"
"I seem to have read about this kind of survival knowledge. The water beneath the sand has been filtered to remove some salt and harmful substances. Although it still tastes salty, it's drinkable. But try not to drink too much."
"I've learned something new."
After Chu Huaiqin finished drinking it, he felt that it was barely edible. Although the water still had a bit of saltiness, it was much lighter and the bitterness of sea water was reduced. It was still okay to use it in an emergency.
Chu Huaiqin scooped two bowls and brought them back to the camp, asking everyone to drink a sip. All of a sudden, the three people who had bitter faces felt like the flowers were blooming. They hadn't drunk water for an afternoon, and this was simply nectar.
"Brother, give me another sip." The little monk licked his lips, his eyes shining.
"Just two sips, don't drink more."
"Then tell me where to find water."
"I won't tell you."
"Why?"
"I'm afraid you'll get up in the middle of the night and drink secretly."
Little Monk: ...
The water barely relieved the sticky feeling in their mouths. Chu Huaiqin took the remaining water and went to find Xia En. Seeing that Chu Huaiqin wasn't paying attention to him, the young monk scurried over to the beach, assuming it was scooped up seawater. But after taking a sip, his face instantly wrinkled. It was too salty and bitter, completely different from the water he had just taken.
Live broadcast room:
"Chu Huaiqin was right to be wary of you."
Su Huaichen's water was steaming. Besides using stones as a barrier inside the pot and placing a coconut shell to collect the steam, he also fashioned a pot-shaped lid out of large leaves, hanging it over the pot mouth with a branch to collect an additional layer of water. He had obtained the large leaves from the young monk and, following Chu Huaiqin's instructions, spread them over a large patch of uneven bushes. How much water would be available by tomorrow morning depended on the young monk.
After Chu Huaiqin gave Xia Entang some water, he helped him catch fish. It was no secret that places where no one came meant there were plenty of seafood. It was low tide, and fish were still jumping around in the puddles. The fist-sized conchs looked delicious. The two of them picked up fish along the way, chasing crabs. When they turned over rocks in the puddles, they even saw conger eels and snails...
There were so many different kinds of seafood that both of them picked up whatever they saw. They caught three fish weighing two kilograms each, as well as other palm-sized sea fish. They didn't even bother with anything smaller than that.
Soon it got dark and the sea water began to rise, so the two went to get the shrimp cage and walked back.
The setting sun stretched the two figures into long lines, and the hermit crab was running around dragging its big shell. The two also saw a jellyfish that was washed up and was spitting out water. They were stunned and smiled at each other.
Live broadcast room: ...
"I refused to eat from this bowl of dog food and kicked it over."
The author has something to say: I live near the sea, and it takes about half an hour to get there. In the summer, I often drive there at 4 a.m. and return at 8 p.m. There are many shellfish clinging to the rocks on the gravel beach, mainly oysters and abalone, as well as mussels. They are too small to eat, but they are okay to crack open and play with.
There are also sea crabs in the cracks of the big rocks. I often see people catching sea crabs as big as a palm. I have caught them too, but the largest one is only three fingers wide. I often chase them. If they run into the cracks of the rocks, I have to use iron bars to pull them out.
It happened to be low tide, and there were all kinds of seafood on the beach, which was quite fun. However, there were too many people there, and the quantity was not big, so there was not enough to grab.
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