In the afternoon, Wang Lun woke up from his nap. Actually, he wasn't really fully awake; he had just dozed off for a while. Although the earthen house was quite effective at keeping cool, Wang Lun was sleeping on the far side with the window open, so the hot outdoor air was directly affecting him. He didn't sleep very soundly, but after dozing for a while, he stopped trying to sleep to avoid having trouble sleeping at night.
Wang Lun got up, went outside to wash his face, and saw that it was still quite early. So he took some hay, twisted some more straw rope, and planned to take it outside later to find suitable spots to make several rope traps. Now, after the dried fish were gone, meat would only be obtained through hunting. But Wang Lun knew very well that he couldn't even shoot an arrow, let alone hunt. The only thing he could do was make more traps to catch some small animals. As for what to do when hunting in the future, Wang Lun had already thought it through: he needed to practice archery more. There were two ram horns in the camp, enough to make a ram horn bow. The arrows would be wooden arrows, of course. Liu Ruoxi rarely used alloy arrows anymore, since if one was broken or lost, it was gone and there was no replacement. Wooden arrows, on the other hand, were readily available; wood was everywhere, and Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi could make them whenever they had free time in the camp, enough for Wang Lun and Liu Ruoling.
However, practicing archery wouldn't yield much progress in a short time, so Wang Lun thought of something else, something he had already prepared: javelins. Wooden javelins were surprisingly lethal. While their accuracy might not be perfect, with two or three people throwing them together, eventually some unlucky wild animal would run into them. Moreover, Wang Lun planned to arm the four of them with the javelins. If any wild animals were near the camp, the four of them throwing javelins together would significantly increase the chances of a wild animal being hit.
However, javelins require a lot of practice to use effectively, and better accuracy is also needed to increase the chances of hunting animals.
Wang Lun planned to spend some time each day practicing archery and javelin throwing, mainly javelin. After all, bows and arrows hadn't been made yet, and with Liu Ruoling around, they weren't in short supply for the time being. However, he decided to skip today; even if he wanted to practice, he'd wait until he returned in the afternoon. Wang Lun would focus on making more straw rope for now.
Wang Lun twisted straw rope for a while before Liu Ruoling woke up. After getting up, Liu Ruoling saw Wang Lun sitting by the fire pit, twisting straw rope. So she greeted him and went to the pool to wash her face.
When Liu Ruoling returned, she found that Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi were also awake and getting out of bed. Liu Ruoling was about to go over and help Wang Lun twist straw rope, but Wang Lun stopped her. Seeing that all three of them were up, Wang Lun thought that after they finished washing up, they could set off to take a walk around the area.
After Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi finished washing their faces and returned, Wang Lun prepared his basket and all the tools he might need for the trip. He also brought a bundle of short spears, intending to use them as javelins temporarily and test their power in the woods.
Led by Wang Lun, the four left the camp and headed into the woods. They had actually explored most of the surrounding woods before, though some areas might have been overlooked, only briefly glimpsed from afar. Wang Lun's arrangement of taking a daily stroll around the area was partly due to this consideration. After all, it's impossible to explore the entire area; there will always be things missed.
Once inside the woods, the four split up. Liu Ruoxi stayed close to Wang Lun, while Li Ling and Liu Ruoling were further away, but still within sight. This time, as usual, they picked up anything they thought might be useful, not worrying about finding nothing useful, but rather about having nothing at all. After filling four baskets, they headed back ahead of schedule.
After walking for a while, they came to an open area. There were a few wild rabbits there, but they were startled away by Wang Lun and his companions who had just emerged from the woods. So Wang Lun taught the three girls how to make a noose trap at the entrance of each rabbit hole. They made a noose trap at every rabbit hole before stopping. Of course, there were bound to be some rabbit holes missed, but they made traps at all the ones they could find.
Seeing that the trap was ready, Wang Lun led them away. After walking for a few minutes, they stopped. He took out the short spears from his basket; each of them had just received two. They would practice here before heading to the open area to see if they could hit a rabbit. Liu Ruoling said she could hit the rabbit and wouldn't need the spears. But Wang Lun insisted she practice, as bows and arrows were less effective against larger prey. He just needed to give her two spears to Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi when they used the spears to kill the rabbit. Wang Lun had brought nine spears with him this time, just enough for three each.
The four practiced for more than ten minutes and were able to throw the short spears quite far, with some initial lethality. Although their accuracy wasn't great, it was already quite good. So Wang Lun told them to rest for a while and recover some strength.
Five minutes later, they had all regained some strength. Wang Lun then had them carry their baskets on their backs, and they quietly returned with him. Wang Lun, Li Ling, and Liu Ruoxi each held a short spear in their right hand and two in their left, intending to throw all three spears as quickly as possible, regardless of whether the first spear hit its target. As for Liu Ruoling, she naturally carried her bow, arrow nocked, ready at any moment.
This time, Wang Lun and his three companions quietly approached the open area before the rabbits had been frightened away. Wang Lun instructed each of them to aim at a rabbit, and wait for Liu Ruoling's arrow as a signal. As soon as she fired, the three of them would throw their short spears, aiming to get all three spears out as quickly as possible.
They quickly chose their targets. Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi chose one rabbit each. They thought that with six short spears, they should be able to hit a rabbit, but with only three spears, they were afraid they wouldn't be able to hit it. So they decided to shoot at one rabbit together.
Liu Ruoling aimed at a rabbit, released the arrow, and it flew swiftly towards the rabbit she had aimed at. Without even looking at the rabbit, Liu Ruoling drew another arrow, ready to fire again. At the same time, Wang Lun and the other two heard the sound of the bowstring and quickly threw out their three short spears. After Liu Ruoling fired her second arrow, the rabbits scattered in panic and disappeared, except for the three that had been shot and the four that had been caught in the noose trap.
Of the three rabbits that were shot, Liu Ruoling's rabbit died from a single arrow wound, its death being relatively pleasing. Wang Lun's rabbit was impaled by a spear and pinned to the ground, dying peacefully, though its wound was larger. The rabbits belonging to Li Ling and Liu Ruoxi were pierced by three short spears and were still struggling. Wang Lun stepped in and delivered a fatal blow, ending the rabbit's miserable existence.
Wang Lun then removed the four rabbits from the snare and continued setting up the trap. Li Ling and the other two collected the rabbits they had shot and covered up the bloodstains.
After the four of them finished, they immediately picked up their baskets and left, hurrying back to the camp.
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