Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 44: Dug Up by Wolves

"Did you catch a rabbit?" Xu Yi saw the rabbit in the basket and exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, yes." Lu Ke immediately became excited and continued, "You said animals might drink water in the morning, so I was extra careful when going to fetch water. As a result, I encountered two squirrels and a rabbit. Actually, I didn’t expect to hit it, but I managed to bring it back."

"That’s impressive, you deserve praise." Xu Yi gave Lu Ke a thumbs up, surprised that she managed to kill a rabbit.

The rabbit wasn’t completely dead yet.

Xu Yi took it out and then used a dagger to slit its throat.

The rabbit’s blood was collected in a bowl, ready to be cooked with some salt later.

Blood is iron-rich, and they need to consume some.

After draining the blood, Xu Yi skinned the rabbit. Then, he made a supporting frame to stretch the rabbit skin.

This was already their fourth rabbit skin; accumulating more could make a blanket.

"By the way, Xu Yi, an animal dug into our fence last night." Lu Ke suddenly remembered she had something important to tell Xu Yi.

"Hmm?" Xu Yi frowned and asked, "Did you see what kind of animal it was?"

"No, I didn’t, but there seemed to be footprints. It dug into our doorpost, you should take a look to know." Lu Ke said as she poured water into the pot, preparing to cook the rabbit meat.

"Alright, I’ll check it later." Xu Yi nodded, took the skinned rabbit, and went out with his machete and dagger.

The doorpost area was indeed dug up, with some shallow footprints.

"It was wolves digging; I didn’t expect them to come again last night. But they didn’t stay long." Xu Yi said to Lu Ke in the yard, then led the rabbit to a creek.

The wolf pack is indeed a threat, but Xu Yi currently has no better way to deal with it.

The traps around the fence should start being set up.

Slit open the rabbit’s belly and removed the entrails; Xu Yi discarded the intestines and stomach.

How far things can flow with the water, Xu Yi isn’t sure.

After finishing cleaning, Xu Yi carried the rabbit back.

"You can start cooking breakfast; I’m going to the seaside to bring back the dried fish. Otherwise, if it rains, it’ll be problematic." Xu Yi glanced at the sky, suspecting that it might rain today.

If it rains, many things can’t be done.

Working in the rain easily leads to catching a cold, and Xu Yi isn’t reckless.

"You’re going without having breakfast?" Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi, surprised he was heading to the seaside so early.

"I’ll eat when I’m back; I’m not hungry right now anyway." Xu Yi thought it best to get the dried fish back first.

It was caught in the rain the day before yesterday, sun-dried yesterday, and it’ll not taste good if it rains today.

"Alright, do you want to carry some water to drink on the way?" Lu Ke had just started boiling water and had not prepared drinking water for today.

Xu Yi shook his head and said, "No need, I can make a round trip in a little over an hour alone."

An hour without drinking doesn’t matter.

"Be careful on the road." Since Xu Yi was determined to go, Lu Ke wouldn’t interfere.

"I will; and you take care at home too." Xu Yi reminded her as he headed out with his basket.

Running down the path, Xu Yi took less than half an hour to reach the seaside.

Climbing onto the rocks, Xu Yi filled the basket with dried fish.

The fish dried thoroughly and shrank considerably.

Filling the basket almost halfway.

Without lingering, Xu Yi headed back immediately after packing.

Xu Yi moved quickly and returned to camp in 40 minutes.

"Xu Yi, you came back so fast." Lu Ke had just started cooking the rabbit meat, surprised that Xu Yi had arrived. She initially estimated he’d need at least 20 more minutes.

"It’s faster alone; you can take your time cooking." Xu Yi put down his basket, then hung it on the wall.

"What’s our main task today?" Lu Ke asked Xu Yi, while cooking the rabbit meat.

"Digging traps to prevent the wolf pack from coming. We must finish digging the traps. This project is quite big; it might take two or three days."

After all, the trap needs to circle around, and it’s a large task.

However long it takes, Xu Yi thinks it’s worth it. Camp safety is most important. Otherwise, sleeping will be restless.

Taking turns to guard at night is too much trouble, and Xu Yi doesn’t want to do that every day.

After saying this, Xu Yi went out again.

Since breakfast wasn’t ready yet, he might as well cut down a few small trees.

Xu Yi cut down small trees about the thickness of an arm, four in total.

After bringing them back, the rabbit meat was also cooked.

"Xu Yi, take a break and have breakfast first." Lu Ke saw Xu Yi busy and quickly called him to eat.

"Alright." Xu Yi nodded; his stomach was indeed hungry.

The two sat on the stone blocks, eating the tender rabbit meat.

Bite by bite, as the rabbit meat entered his stomach, Xu Yi felt his strength coming back.

"Full." After finishing a bowl, Xu Yi said satisfactorily, putting down his bowl and chopsticks.

With a short rest, he could start making a ’pipe.’

Xu Yi planned to carve a V-shaped groove on the freshly cut trees to direct water back.

The Engineer Shovel was previously hard to use, but now with a very sharp dagger, it’s much easier.

After Lu Ke finished washing the dishes, Xu Yi signaled her to come over.

"What’s up?" Lu Ke approached Xu Yi, curiously asking.

Lu Ke saw Xu Yi cut the four pieces of wood, but didn’t know what he intended to use them for.

"Watch." Xu Yi drew his dagger and sliced the tree with force, at a certain angle.

After one slice, Chu Yi pulled back the blade, then sliced the opposite direction similarly.

A V-shaped notch appeared.

"Oh, a pipe, we can use it to collect water." Lu Ke immediately understood, glancing at Xu Yi, her eyes were filled with admiration.

Why could Xu Yi think of that, but she couldn’t?

Xu Yi mentioned today’s task was to direct water to the camp; she was curious how Xu Yi would do it.

"Exactly, so that’s your task for today. Be careful not to cut yourself." Xu Yi instructed Lu Ke, saying bringing water to the camp has many benefits, mostly, they’ll no longer need to fetch water every morning.

"Yes, I’ll be careful. With such a useful dagger, there shouldn’t be a problem." Lu Ke sweetly smiled, promising she’d be careful.