Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 40: Returning to the Umbrella Tree Forest

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Returning to the Umbrella Tree Forest

Before heading out, Xu Yi planned to do one thing first, which was clocking in.

Staying up late to clock in is sometimes not very suitable; Xu Yi prefers to do it after waking up.

Unless it’s the 7th day and he can’t wait for daylight, he would think about clocking in then.

"System, clock in," Xu Yi said in his mind, and then a light screen appeared with a calendar, lighting up a new day.

A few minutes later, Xu Yi heard the sound of Lu Ke coming back, and then he crawled out of the sleeping bag.

"Hey, it’s quite chilly this morning." Xu Yi noticed that this morning was much cooler than yesterday morning.

He stepped out of the shelter and saw Lu Ke with her back turned, stirring the pot with chopsticks, so Xu Yi greeted her.

"Morning."

"Morning." Lu Ke thought of the scene of waking up and couldn’t help but blush, her eyes somewhat wandering.

"It’s much cooler this morning, didn’t you feel it?" Xu Yi asked softly and then glanced at the sky.

"Hmm, are we entering autumn here?" They were completely blank about the climate here, not even knowing if there’s winter or whether it snows.

"Maybe, we should start hunting and stock up some furs. That way, if there’s really a winter, we won’t freeze." Xu Yi said with some concern, if it really snowed, food sources might be cut off.

Looks like my bow and arrow need to be made immediately, can’t delay any longer.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Lu Ke glanced at Xu Yi, noticing he was frowning.

The cooling weather is really not a good situation.

"Planning to go to Umbrella Tree Forest, cut down a thick umbrella tree to make a bow. The exploration plan is postponed to tomorrow." Xu Yi shared his thoughts, it’s crucial to be prepared now and make the worst plans.

Currently, they only have two rabbit skins, not enough to sew clothes.

"Then be careful, maybe you’ll be back around four or five in the afternoon?" Lu Ke didn’t oppose, after all, Xu Yi is a hunter, knowing which wood is suitable for bow making.

"I might be able to make it back a few hours earlier, now that I know the route, I can run." Besides planning to cut umbrella trees, Xu Yi also wanted to peel some bark, estimating it could be useful in many areas.

Otherwise, the return time could be even earlier.

"I’ll boil some extra water for you to take." Lu Ke thought of how she could help Xu Yi, which was to prepare thoroughly.

"Hmm, you should wash the close-fitting clothes at home." Xu Yi advised, considering his solo outings aren’t frequent. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Got it." Lu Ke’s face turned red again.

At the same time, she was touched by Xu Yi’s thoughtfulness.

The fish slices were soon cooked, Xu Yi washed at the water source and brought back a basin of water.

"Try to stay home as much as possible, safer that way." Xu Yi advised uneasily, after all, wolf packs may be active during the day. They’ve suffered under him before and may seek revenge.

"Hmm, I’ll take care of myself." Lu Ke said seriously, as it was the first time they separated since starting survival together, she didn’t want Xu Yi to be disappointed by failing to take care of herself.

"Xu Yi, take some smoked rabbit meat with you." After eating boiled fish slices, Lu Ke reminded Xu Yi as he prepared to leave.

Xu Yi hesitated for a moment, then cut a quarter of rabbit meat with his dagger and placed it in his backpack.

With water and rabbit meat, he wouldn’t starve at noon.

"I’m heading out now, be careful, wait for my return." Xu Yi shouldered the backpack and spoke to Lu Ke.

"Hmm, you be careful too, come back early." Lu Ke stood at the gate watching Xu Yi, like a little wife sending her husband off to war, her eyes full of worry.

Xu Yi nodded and turned to leave.

His steps were quick, almost at a jogging pace.

He needed to be fast; after all, the journey was quite far.

Xu Yi held the machete, marking the trees occasionally as he traveled a certain distance.

Today, he took a straight path, saving a lot of distance.

Meanwhile, as Xu Yi just left, Lu Ke returned to the house and a while later came out again. Because she needed to take off and wash her close-fitting clothes, otherwise, they’d smell of sweat, which was unpleasant.

Especially now that they slept in the same sleeping bag, hygiene was even more important.

Feeling embarrassed while washing, Lu Ke had ’Xiao Bai’ face the direction Xu Yi left.

After washing, she returned to the house.

Outside was still relatively dangerous, it was much safer inside.

Then she took out the sleeping bag, turned it inside out, and placed it under the sun to dry.

After finishing, Lu Ke continued working on the earth kiln, one of the tasks she could currently do. Besides that, she could cultivate a vegetable garden in the yard.

When Xu Yi left today, he only took his knife and dagger, leaving behind the Engineer Shovel and short crossbow.

The Engineer Shovel could be turned into a small hoe and is very useful.

However, the vegetable garden wasn’t urgent now; finishing the earth kiln was more important.

She mixed water with mud, took off her shoes, and stepped on it barefoot. This way was less tiring than hand-stirring.

She hummed a traditional melody while stepping.

The viewers were attracted to her melody, asking for help in the comments.

They were unfamiliar with Lu Ke’s tune but found it very pleasant.

Nonetheless, there were some mom and dad fans in the live stream who recognized the tune and quickly found the original song.

Then, they left comments telling everyone the song’s name.

It turned out to be a 70s song, likely a favorite of Lu Ke’s grandmother’s generation.

Unexpectedly, with Lu Ke’s gentle humming, it quickly went viral online, making the original version popular again. Countless internet celebrities began covering it, stirring up excitement.

Lu Ke herself was unaware of this.

Now, she was wondering if Xu Yi had reached Umbrella Tree Forest, whether he encountered any danger on the way.