Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 59: Trap Completed

As they were eating and chatting, they quickly finished off the wood ear mushrooms and fish mint.

"It would be great if we could always have vegetables to eat," Lu Ke said expectantly as she chewed on the last piece of wood ear mushroom.

"There’s plenty of fish mint, but we can’t eat it every day. After all, it’s a medicinal herb, and eating too much might not be good for the body," Xu Yi remarked, noticing the abundant patch of fish mint they had found, which would last them a long time.

Moreover, the environment there suited the growth of fish mint, so after harvesting one patch, it would grow back again.

"Next time, let’s go together and hopefully find some better vegetables," Lu Ke nodded in agreement, acknowledging that they couldn’t consume too much fish mint as its fiber was quite coarse and might not be great for the digestive system if eaten excessively.

"Alright, in a couple of days. For now, let’s settle the matters at the campsite first," Xu Yi agreed to Lu Ke’s proposal, recognizing the need to explore their surroundings.

"Okay," Lu Ke nodded, then glanced at Xu Yi, asking, "What about the afternoon? What’s the plan?"

"You handle the earthen kiln, and I’ll embed the barbs into the soil," Xu Yi said, knowing they had just eaten and it wasn’t suitable to work immediately.

"Got it," Lu Ke tidied up the dishes, preparing to rest for about ten minutes before starting on the kiln.

After resting enough, Xu Yi took the previously carved wooden sticks and began installing the barbs.

Each barb was inserted into the soil by Xu Yi, forming sharp spikes. This completed a relatively complete trap.

While Xu Yi was planting the barbs, Lu Ke was mixing soil with water and repeatedly treading the soil to make it uniform.

Separated by a fence, both were busy with their own tasks.

The barbs Xu Yi set weren’t dense, as the trap was mainly for defense, not hunting.

So, after just two and a half hours, Xu Yi had all the barbs embedded in the soil.

Then, he picked up a machete to cut some thatch grass.

He carried bundles of thatch back and laid them over the traps.

"Done!"

Xu Yi looked at the newly set traps and showed a satisfied smile.

For now, the Defense Power of the campsite had improved a bit.

If a pack of wolves attacked, Xu Yi wouldn’t be too worried.

After finishing all this work, it was already past 5 PM, and Xu Yi returned to the courtyard.

Lu Ke was still working on clay bricks, her face sweaty.

"Take a break; I’ll do it," Xu Yi offered.

Lu Ke nodded, seeing Xu Yi looked quite energetic and not too tired.

"Sweating feels so good," Lu Ke said with a smile, wiping her forehead.

Before, she envied the girls who often went to the gym or could run marathons. Her health didn’t allow for strenuous activities.

After nine days in this world, she finally understood what it meant to sweat profusely.

"You want to sweat? There’s plenty of hard work to be done here," Xu Yi chuckled.

In the wilderness, to improve living quality, a lot of effort was required.

"Is this okay?" Xu Yi asked, stirring the mud in the pit with his feet to make it uniform.

"Yes, that’s fine," Lu Ke nodded, as it wasn’t too difficult to grasp.

After a few minutes, Lu Ke instructed Xu Yi to take the mud out of the pit. Then, she shoveled the dry soil into the pit, added a certain amount of water, and continued to mix.

After one cycle, Xu Yi knew how to do it.

This task indeed wasn’t easy, requiring full-body effort, which explained Lu Ke’s sweat-drenched state.

Each stir made five clay bricks, which was a decent speed.

"Xu Yi, let’s take a break for dinner now," Lu Ke said after checking the pot with boiling water.

Their stock of dried fish was low, maybe enough for another three days, after which they’d face food scarcity again.

"Okay, are our food reserves running low?" Xu Yi paused and took the mud out of the pit.

"Yeah, they should last us about three more days," Lu Ke replied, intending to mention it to Xu Yi, but he had already brought it up.

"Alright, got it," Xu Yi nodded, indicating his understanding.

Three days was relatively ample time.

If necessary, they could gather some shells by the shore to last a couple of days.

In this period, he needed to find suitable materials for crafting bows and arrows.

Without iron arrowheads or Bone Arrows, they needed to find dense and hard wood to ensure that the arrows could penetrate animal hides and reach the muscle.

With luck, it could take just a day.

Without luck, finding suitable materials for bows and arrows could take months.

Besides bows and arrows, traps also required materials.

After all, Xu Yi was eyeing the wolf pack.

Tomorrow, finding suitable wood was a priority.

With these thoughts, Xu Yi shaped the clay into uniform bricks and then cleaned himself up.

For dinner, there was only fish soup, as Lu Ke didn’t cook more fish mint.

After dinner, they chatted for a while and then went back to making clay bricks.

"Awoo!"

Suddenly, a wolf’s howl resonated.

Lu Ke immediately tensed up and asked, "Xu Yi, are the wolves coming?"

Listening carefully, Xu Yi replied, "They’re still a bit far, seems like they’re attacking some animals."

Lu Ke listened intently and indeed heard some animal’s cries.

"Don’t worry; we’ve dug traps. Wolves aren’t like cats; they can’t do much to us," Xu Yi reassured Lu Ke.

He was right; canines aren’t like felines and struggle with fences.

Felines are a different story; they even climb trees—a meter-high fence wouldn’t stop them.

Fortunately, felines are mostly solitary. Even if not entirely solitary, it’s usually the females hunting alone.

The wolf pack howled a bit before calming down, likely after taking down their prey.

Xu Yi continued working on the clay, entirely unaffected.

Perhaps Xu Yi’s calmness was contagious, steadily soothing Lu Ke’s nerves.

"Xu Yi, we’ve made enough clay bricks for today," Lu Ke noted, eyeing the lined-up bricks under the eaves.

"You go take a bath first; I’ll make a few more. With plenty of bricks, we can make a proper stove, so you won’t have to squat to cook anymore," Xu Yi shared his plan.