The two sisters traveled along the way, mainly to wander around and explore the surrounding environment. Of course, if there was food or anything else they thought they could use, they would bring it along. In short, their main principle was to not be picky about food and take whatever they could find.
After walking for over an hour, the two came to a fork in the river, one side leading in a different direction, the other back to the source. The stream flowing down from the mountain split here, one branch flowing back in the direction they had come from, the other in a direction they had never been before. At this moment, Liu Ruoling asked, "Sister, which way should we go next?" Liu Ruoxi thought for a moment and said, "Let's continue towards the source, and see where the other tributary flows next time." Liu Ruoling said, "Okay, let's keep going then." She then picked up her bow and arrows and continued onward.
More than an hour later, the two reached a pond. Liu Ruoxi stopped Liu Ruoling, who was about to continue, saying, "Let's have lunch here. I think I saw some fish in this pond." Hearing about fish, Liu Ruoling became excited and said, "Really? Let's catch some fish and have fish for lunch!" Liu Ruoxi said, "Okay, but we need to find some firewood first. We can't wait until we catch the fish before we have any firewood." Hearing this, Liu Ruoling prepared to pick up her knife and wooden spear and head to find firewood nearby. Liu Ruoxi quickly stopped her, saying, "Rest for a while, we'll go later." Liu Ruoling said, "Sister, I'll find some firewood nearby by myself. You can rest." Liu Ruoxi said, "No, we'll go together." Liu Ruoling couldn't persuade Liu Ruoxi, and she was also a little tired, so she didn't say anything more and rested.
Ten minutes later, the two got up and started gathering firewood nearby. In no time, they had collected a large bundle, enough for their needs. Liu Ruoxi then led Liu Ruoling back to the pond. Because the water in the pond was quite deep, the fish were rather large. While they rested, they kept watching the fish in the pond; most were over ten centimeters long, with the largest being longer than a chopstick. Since they had no tools, Liu Ruoxi asked Liu Ruoling to cut three relatively thick vines while gathering firewood. White sap oozed from the cut parts. Liu Ruoling asked what they were for, and Liu Ruoxi said they were for catching fish. When Liu Ruoling asked again, Liu Ruoxi said they were going back to catch fish.
Liu Ruoxi instructed Liu Ruoling to take three vines to the upper reaches of the pool, smash the vines, and throw them into the water. She then told Liu Ruoling to return. Liu Ruoling didn't ask why she needed to do this and simply left with the three vines.
Liu Ruoxi found some stones downstream and blocked the way, preventing the fish from escaping. Then she simply waited. Soon, a fish floated to the surface, belly up. Liu Ruoxi immediately used a wooden spear to pry it over and placed it in a small pool. This pool was surrounded by similar-shaped stones, preventing the fish from jumping out. Then came the second, and the third.
When Liu Ruoling returned after smashing the vines, she saw several fish still floating in the pond. She quickly helped scoop them up. Soon, the two had caught the vast majority of the fish; only a few lucky ones escaped the poisoning and survived. They counted them: three large fish, about the length of chopsticks; eighteen medium-sized fish, about ten centimeters long; and seven small fish, less than ten centimeters long. The small pond was now packed full of fish. Liu Ruoxi said, "Let's eat four medium-sized fish for lunch today. Two will be grilled, and the other two will be cooked into fish soup with wild vegetables." Liu Ruoling wouldn't complain if there was food to eat; besides, if they could eat fish, what more could they ask for?
So Liu Ruoling selected four fish and took them to the pool to gut them. Liu Ruoxi grabbed a large handful of wild vegetables from her basket and washed them by the pool. Then she lit a fire, washed the pot by the pool, filled it with water, and put it on the fire. By this time, Liu Ruoling had finished preparing the four fish. Liu Ruoxi placed two of them on a nearby rock, skewered the other two with sticks, and put them by the fire to roast. Liu Ruoxi told Liu Ruoling to watch the fish roast while she prepared the wild vegetables and fish, and then cooked a wild vegetable and fish soup once the water boiled.
The two sisters cooked together and finished quickly. Liu Ruoling found a flat rock, placed a few stones underneath it to make a table. She then picked a large leaf and put the grilled fish on it. Liu Ruoxi put the pot on the table, washed the dishes and chopsticks, and then the two began to eat lunch.
Meanwhile, outside the cave, Wu Jing smeared the last handful of mud onto the wall, and their wall was now complete. The wall was two meters high and twenty to thirty centimeters thick, encompassing the entire cave. Although not particularly high or thick, it was much stronger than the flimsy fence. At the same time, the excavation of soil had created a moat outside the wall, which Wu Jing planned to deepen later when time allowed, thus adding another layer of protection.
After finishing the fence, the two immediately started preparing lunch. They had no choice but to finish the last bit of food before cooking. They cooked quite quickly, as the campfire was constantly burning, there was water in the pot, and the meat had been pre-processed; they just needed to chop it up before cooking.
Soon, the two finished cooking. Of course, Zhang Shengnan did most of the cooking, while Wu Jing rested and occasionally helped out. After all, Wu Jing was digging the soil all by herself, and digging was a very tiring job. After digging the soil, Wu Jing still had to plaster the walls, so she basically didn't stop working.
Ignoring the fact that the freshly cooked broth was still piping hot, the two each grabbed a bowl, blowing on it as they ate the meat and drank the soup. They quickly finished the entire pot of broth, though it was clear neither was full. Neither suggested cooking more, knowing that food was running low; what remained would only last for one more day, and even then, they would have to eat sparingly. They had been busy building the wall for the past two days, not venturing out to forage for food, only occasionally fetching water to cook, and even then, it was a quick trip. And because they were doing heavy physical labor, their food supply had to be plentiful; they couldn't just have soup every meal, meat had to make up a significant portion.
Both of them knew the situation was what it was like, so they decided not to cook another pot and just make do. After finishing their meal, they packed up their baskets and tools, and without even resting, went straight to the stream to find some wild vegetables. After all, wild vegetables were easier to find than hunting, and with vegetables as a backup, they could hunt later, regardless of whether they caught anything.
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