Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 55: There Really Are Coconut Trees

"Yeah, let’s just cut down the trees, it’s safer." Xu Yi thought Lu Ke made sense; he didn’t want to place too much confidence in his tree-climbing skills.

If he really fell, it could cost him his life.

Unless he had a safety rope.

Besides, this is a coconut grove; cutting down a few trees wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Then, Xu Yi took out his machete and started chopping down a coconut tree.

For Xu Yi, chopping trees was a very familiar task.

Today was the 9th day, and Xu Yi had lost track of how many trees he had cut down.

It only took him 4 chops to bring down a coconut tree.

"Xu Yi’s machete must be on cheat mode, it’s so sharp, bringing down a coconut tree in just 4 chops."

"I really envy him; his machete is a real game-changer in the wilderness.

"A tiger’s head wouldn’t even withstand two chops from Xu Yi, right?"

"A bit much talking about tiger’s heads, this isn’t a zoo. Tigers are man-eating beasts, not something you can just mess around with."

"You think the king of beasts is easy to deal with?"

"Why does everyone think dealing with a tiger is easy? It’s not a rat."

"What’s going on, why’s everyone talking about tigers? Have Xu Yi and the others seen any tiger tracks?"

"This is nonsense, just chopping down a coconut tree, why bring up tigers."

The live chatroom was abuzz with discussion.

Xu Yi had already cracked open a coconut and handed it to Lu Ke first.

The milky coconut meat exuded a unique coconut aroma.

Lu Ke held it up and took a sip.

"It’s not tasty at all, why does it taste so bland?" Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi in confusion, questioning his life choices.

"You’re drinking coconut water; that’s just how it tastes. What we usually drink is coconut milk made from the pulp, and it’s sweetened." Xu Yi smiled and looked up to drink the coconut water.

Though not particularly delicious, it was more flavorful than plain water.

After drinking, Xu Yi dug out some coconut meat with a knife and handed it to Lu Ke, saying, "Try it, it’s quite fragrant."

A slightly disappointed Lu Ke accepted the coconut meat and put it in her mouth.

As soon as she bit into it, the coconut fragrance spread immediately.

At this moment, Lu Ke felt like she was drinking coconut milk, though there wasn’t any sweetness.

"It’s not bad, it’s a bit of comfort." Lu Ke took another piece.

They had eaten most of the coconut meat from two coconuts, then Xu Yi glanced at Lu Ke and asked, "Do you want more coconut water?"

"No, it’s not tasty at all, can we squeeze coconut juice to drink?"

"Sure, it’s not too hard. But it won’t be as sweet," Xu Yi nodded; this small request from Lu Ke was certainly doable.

"At least it will be fragrant!" Lu Ke said nonchalantly, smiling lightly.

"Let’s bring some back later," Xu Yi mentioned to Lu Ke, then stood up.

"Why is that beach so white over there, could it be salt?" Lu Ke pointed into the distance.

"It’s quite possible, let’s go check it out. It might be a natural salt flat." Xu Yi suggested, since they wouldn’t know for sure without taking a closer look.

If it really was a salt flat, Xu Yi would be impressed with their luck.

Then again, it might be Lu Ke’s luck.

"Are there really natural salt flats, beaches made of salt?" Lu Ke asked in shock, realizing how little she knew about these things.

"Of course, nature is full of wonders and can create miracles," Xu Yi smiled, though salt flats by the sea are quite rare; many are formed by large salt lakes.

But, the possibility of salt flats by the sea can’t be ruled out.

"Let’s hurry then; if it’s all salt, that’ll be amazing, we won’t have to worry in the future." Lu Ke cheered up and started running in that direction.

Xu Yi followed alongside Lu Ke, not rushing too much.

The two of them ran for half an hour before finally reaching the place.

"Is it a salt flat, Xu Yi, is this a salt flat?" Lu Ke exclaimed, running towards the salt flat.

Xu Yi nodded, it was indeed a salt flat.

"Our luck is truly unbelievable, to come across this. If we can’t last 500 days given this luck, it would be a waste." Xu Yi grasped some of it; it was undoubtedly sea salt crystals, no doubt about it.

"Xu Yi’s right, their luck really is off the charts."

"Getting picked was a big stroke of luck already; out of so many people worldwide who signed up, only 1000 were chosen. You could say these people have extraordinary luck."

"The concept of fate is quite mystical; sometimes you just have to believe. They could’ve chosen any direction on the beach, yet they both picked this one."

"Indeed, when Xu Yi asked, they both pointed in this direction simultaneously."

"Speaking of luck, they’re not as lucky as Su Yan and Yun Qing, are they? They found a salt mine directly, the luckiest of all."

"Wow, they found a salt mine? When did that happen?"

"A day ago, they hunted a goat that directly led them to a salt mine."

"Amazing, they’re like living lucky charms, absolutely unbeatable."

Xu Yi and Lu Ke had no idea that Su Yan and Yun Qing had such good luck; if they knew, they’d probably just be envious.

Xu Yi emptied his backpack, filled it with some salt, and let it dry on the edge.

After all, this salt flat was still soaked in seawater, so the water had to be filtered out first.

"Xu Yi, why are we piling the salt anyway?" Lu Ke asked, confused but not stopping her work.

"This way, we can collect salt next time we come, saving a lot of hassle," Xu Yi explained.

Lu Ke nodded, surprised at the simplicity of the reasoning.

After piling up a ’small hill’, they left the salt flat.

The saltwater density here was too high, so they couldn’t stay long.

"Xu Yi, this salt isn’t directly edible, right?" Lu Ke remembered that this type of salt was coarse and could be used for curing food, but not for direct consumption.

"No, it needs to be filtered. Basically, we use fine sand, activated carbon, and the like for filtering, and then we can get fairly pure fine salt." This is a traditional method of purification and is sufficient for consumption.

Lu Ke nodded, once again admiring Xu Yi’s knowledge inwardly.

Xu Yi loaded up with fifty pounds of salt and started the return journey. Along the way to the felled coconut tree, Xu Yi picked up four coconuts.

It wasn’t that Xu Yi didn’t want to take more, but Lu Ke wouldn’t let him. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

She felt that Xu Yi already had enough to carry with the salt, so he shouldn’t add any more weight.

As for Lu Ke, she carried one coconut in each hand, happily leading the way.