Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 53: New Gift Pack

After showering, Xu Yi stepped out with a shaved head.

Before coming out, Xu Yi washed his underwear.

After all, working the whole day had soaked it with sweat; if he didn’t wash it, it would start to stink.

While drying off, he continued to whittle sticks.

He hadn’t much left in stock, so he finished whittling them in less than half an hour.

The underwear hadn’t completely dried yet, and it was not yet midnight, so Xu Yi picked up the Hunting Bow that needed further processing and continued removing excess wood.

Xu Yi whittled carefully since it was close to being finished. He was worried that if he applied too much force, he might accidentally cut away parts that shouldn’t be removed.

Engrossed in his task, Xu Yi lost track of time.

When Xu Yi finally came to his senses, it was almost one o’clock.

"System, check-in."

"Ding, checked in for 7 days, obtained a Basic Gift Package."

This sound was music to Xu Yi’s ears.

He touched his nose and spoke in his mind: System, open the package.

"Ding, obtained Basic Wood Art Package (Basic Level)"

"Ding, obtained Hearing Enhancement Package (Basic Level)"

Hmm, why are there only two?

Xu Yi muttered inwardly, since prior sign-in packages and welcome packages all contained three items, but this time there were only two.

This made Xu Yi a bit frustrated, but there was nothing he could do.

Asking the system was futile since it had even disabled the response function.

"System, use the package."

No matter, let’s accept them first.

Basic Wood Art, Xu Yi felt came quite timely.

He needed this basic knowledge for crafting wooden tables, chairs, and beds next.

A few minutes later, Xu Yi felt a slight change in the world through his ears.

The sounds he heard became richer and clearer.

Moreover, he could discern the approximate origin of the sounds.

Sound localization, perhaps that’s what this feels like?

With improved hearing alongside vision, Xu Yi felt his hunting success rate would significantly increase.

Having received the package brought Xu Yi peace of mind.

After a stretch, he took his underwear to change into and then entered the house.

Xu Yi fell asleep as it began to rain heavily outside.

The rain lasted through the night. A team encountered a landslide and withdrew from the challenge.

"Morning."

Xu Yi noticed that Lu Ke, nestled under the covers, also opened her eyes, so he greeted her.

"Morning~"

Lu Ke responded with a blushing face, shrinking back a bit.

"It’s still raining." Xu Yi sat up and crawled out from under the covers.

He opened the door to a muddy outdoors.

The campfire had long been extinguished.

"Looks like we’ll be going hungry this morning." Xu Yi glanced around; the firewood under the eaves was mostly soaked. Plus, the rain showed no sign of letting up.

"Who knows how long this rain will continue; luckily, I moved the mud bricks inside, otherwise all efforts would’ve been in vain." Lu Ke said thankfully, glancing out from the doorway.

"We need to build a shelter when we have time, otherwise the earthen kiln will get destroyed by heavy rain, and we won’t be able to keep the firewood dry." Xu Yi said with a frown, feeling there wasn’t enough time each day.

With no umbrella, there was really no way to go out.

Unless he took Lu Ke’s clothes off to wear.

But there’s no need for that.

Skipping breakfast for a day isn’t the end of the world.

Although some firewood was still dry, there was no material to start a fire, making it difficult to light one.

Xu Yi decided not to attempt it and instead picked up the unfinished Hunting Bow to continue working on it.

Just watching the rain without working wouldn’t cut it.

Seeing Xu Yi start to make the Hunting Bow, Lu Ke picked up a knife to begin stripping off tree bark.

After all, one shouldn’t let oneself idle. There are always new tasks to attend to every day.

The rain gradually lessened, and by almost ten, the sun appeared.

The sunlight remained scorching, giving the skin a burning sensation.

Xu Yi opened the fence gate and checked out the trap finished yesterday.

He had made drainage provisions which seemed effective, as there wasn’t much water accumulation inside.

"The rain isn’t all bad; setting up the spikes might be easier now." Xu Yi muttered and walked out.

No dry tinder to start a fire meant a need to venture out to find some.

This event served as a reminder to Xu Yi that such supplies must be prepared in advance and stored indoors.

Lu Ke followed Xu Yi, and the two headed towards the woods.

Soon, they gathered some damp hay. Xu Yi let Lu Ke carry it back to spread it out in the courtyard to dry.

With the sun this strong, it should dry enough in one or two hours to ignite.

Meanwhile, Xu Yi continued collecting dried branches, as there wasn’t much firewood left and they needed to stock up. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough for the night.

After Lu Ke returned to spread out the hay, she came back. With the rain just stopped, there shouldn’t be much wild animal activity nearby, making it relatively safe.

After an hour of gathering, Xu Yi carried a large load of wood back.

Lu Ke wasn’t empty-handed either; her basket was filled with sturdy hay, and she was carrying a pile of firewood on her shoulder.

With these supplies, they had enough to last for two days.

Upon returning, they naturally spread everything out to dry.

Xu Yi took out fire-starting tools, teaching Lu Ke how to start a fire.

With the sharp tools, learning was easy for Lu Ke and she quickly got the fire going.

Soon, Lu Ke began cooking fish slices.

Both hadn’t had breakfast, and after doing some physical labor, they were famished.

While Lu Ke cooked, Xu Yi took the opportunity to further refine the Hunting Bow.

Now, the Hunting Bow in Xu Yi’s hand was beginning to take shape.

"I didn’t expect Xu Yi’s hands to be so skillful. The Hunting Bow looks pretty good."

"Looks good, but I wonder if it works well. In ancient times, making a bow took one or two years. Xu Yi’s only took a few days; I wonder if it can actually be used for hunting."

"As long as it’s resilient enough, it should be no problem to hunt typical animals. But expecting it to take down leopards and tigers might be a stretch."

"The bow looks quite impressive; hopefully, it’ll be useful."

"And I wonder what Xu Yi will use for the string."

"I think he could use Lu Ke’s shoelaces; that seems likely."

"Shoelaces would work; after all, they’re sturdy products of a civilized society."

"If it were me, I’d use shoelaces too."

Indeed, Xu Yi planned to use Lu Ke’s shoelaces because, aside from this, he had no better material.