Chapter 1121: Savage Sun Mo
Translator: Lordbluefire
The condition of the cave was very bad.
There was no bedding to ward off the cold, and the surface of the ground was hard and uneven. If he slept here, Sun Mo felt that his bones might break. What was most troublesome was that his safety was still a question.
Sun Mo didn’t dare to enter deep sleep for fear of being eaten by a wild beast.
But during the later part of the night, Sun Mo couldn’t endure anymore and gave in to it. When it was about time for dawn to arrive, he was woken by the freezing cold.
Gusts of cold wind blew into the cave.
The bonfire had since long been extinguished, and there was only a weak wisp of black smoke.
“Cough, cough. Should I be thanking these gusts of cold wind?”
Sun Mo felt that his throat was somewhat painful. This was caused by the smoke. If it wasn’t for him waking up from the cold, he might have been poisoned to death by carbon monoxide.
There were no products for was.h.i.+ng up, so Sun Mo simply rubbed his face with his hands and walked out of the cave.
After that, he wanted to start cursing.
The sky started pouring heavily, the rain flooding everything.
“F*** your mother!”
Sun Mo truly regretted playing this game.
This must be a fraud!
Usually, Sun Mo would steep a cup of tea as he admired the beauty of nature. But now, he hadn’t even settled his first meal of the day yet.
Gurgle!
Sun Mo’s stomach started grumbling. Hence, he returned to the cave and swept the bonfire pile aside, taking out the bird eggs he had found yesterday.
“Luckily, I was smart enough to leave a few eggs for today’s meal.”
No one knew when the rain would stop.
If it rained the entire day, he would be down on his luck. So, Sun Mo didn’t dare to finish the eggs. He only ate one and lay down after that.
Actually, Sun Mo was feeling very vexed. This ground was completely unsuitable for lying down, but he had no choice but to do so as sitting down would waste his strength.
Although he was very worried about the little sunny egg and lucky mascot, Sun Mo could only force himself not to think of bad things. After that, he wracked his brain to recall those videos he had seen before.
Thankfully, although his strong const.i.tution had been taken away, his knowledge was still present. This was especially so for the ‘wilderness survival knowledge’ in the videos. His impression of them grew even clearer now.
“If I want to continue surviving, food is the most important resource, followed by a water source!”
Sun Mo a.n.a.lyzed the current situation.
“After that, I need a safe place to lodge. I will be able to use that place as my camp, and as I find food daily, I can continue to probe the way.
“No matter when it comes to hunting or for self-protection, tools are definitely needed. This is also the greatest advantage humans have over beasts.”
“I can craft a few bamboo spears first. I will use a bonfire to ignite the spearheads, carbonizing them while I grind them, and then I’ll be able to use them. However, crafting such weapons is a very high drain on my physical strength. Moreover, the range isn’t long and the killing might isn’t great enough.”
Sun Mo’s current const.i.tution was only slightly stronger than the average adult. So, it would be for the best if he avoided clas.h.i.+ng against wild beasts in close combat.
“Crafting stone axes requires good-quality stone and a lot of time to grind it. I can only do this after I have sufficient food reserves. As for stone hammers, they are easy to make, but they are too heavy and inconvenient to carry around. So, for a comprehensive balance, a bow and arrows are still the most optimal.”
If it wasn’t for him watching the videos of some guy from Australia in his previous world, Sun Mo wouldn’t have chosen to craft bow and arrows. Because from his knowledge, crafting such a weapon required a lot of time and labor.
But that guy managed to collect all materials needed from the wilderness and only took half a day to create the weapons.
In the morning, the rain lightened up.
Hunting in the rain was simply torturous. However, Sun Mo had no choice. Even if he didn’t manage to hunt any prey, he had to gather the materials for crafting the bow and arrows first.
Sun Mo followed the path yesterday and went to the places where he had placed traps.
On the way there, he used tree bark and vines to make a pair of straw sandals, or his feet would surely be p.r.i.c.ked.
It was very misty. The heavy rain had damaged the simple and crude traps, so Sun Mo didn’t manage to catch anything.
Ah!
Sun Mo roared in depression and launched a kick at the large tree beside him. After that, he gave up because his straw sandals might be damaged.
Also, his roar might attract ferocious beasts.
“Isn’t it good to tour the Qinhuai River with beauties?”
Sun Mo scolded himself as an idiot for partic.i.p.ating in this game while he set a trap.
Since the quality was insufficient, he would make do with quant.i.ty then.
In any case, Sun Mo placed his traps in all possible routes where wild beasts might pa.s.s through.
After probing, Sun Mo saw a type of birch. He used stones to hack those trees that were about a baby arm’s thick and brought the wood back.
They could be used to make spears and the body of the bow.
The bowstring was simple as it could be made from tree bark. However, in order to have a better range, Sun Mo chose the bark from a type of mulberry tree.
He chose those little trees whose bark wasn’t too thick and had a little greenish tint to them. After peeling the bark, he then separated them to get thumb-sized thick fibers.
Despite being busy for a day, Sun Mo didn’t manage to hunt any beasts. He could only depend on berries and wild fruits to a.s.suage his hunger. He also ate some mushrooms.
Sun Mo’s wealthy botany knowledge allowed him to live easily in the forest. He didn’t need to worry that he might consume poisonous herbs.
At night, Sun Mo sat beside the bonfire and was grinding a stone, preparing to use it as a knife. Beside him, a simple wooden structure had the tree trunk and bark drying on it.
During the third dawn, the sunlight shone brightly.
Sun Mo stretched himself and headed right into the hills.
Very good, there was a dead animal caught hanging in his sixth trap. It was fat and furry, resembling a squirrel.
Sun Mo used the vine to tie the creature up, hanging it from his belt, and continued hunting. Because he didn’t have any available weapon on hand, he focused on plucking wild fruits and raiding bird nests.
“Speaking of which, where should I get edible salt?”
Seeing the darkening light when he looked at the sky, Sun Mo was filled with worry.
After a few more days, if he wasn’t able to consume salt, his const.i.tution would grow weaker and weaker.
Seeing the cave in his vision, Sun Mo’s tense feelings relaxed.
(The feeling of returning home is so good!)
Sun Mo sighed ruefully. After he arrived at the cave entrance, he cautiously glanced at the plant ash he had sprinkled on the ground earlier. There were footprints on it, and this immediately caused him to hold his breath as his muscles tensed.
“There’s someone!”
Sun Mo immediately hid at the side and looked at the cave.
He sprinkled the plant ash for the sake of making a warning sign.
If wild beasts walked over them, they would leave behind footprints. However, Sun Mo didn’t expect that there would be a human.
“Could it be Xinhui and the others?”
Sun Mo placed the squirrel on his belt, the bird eggs, wild fruits, and mushrooms down. He carried a wooden spear and stealthily entered the cave.
Crackle! Crackle!
This was the sound of firewood burning.
When Sun Mo left, he kept the tinder here. Evidently, the tinder was now being ignited by someone, creating the bonfire.
There was a bend in the cave.
Sun Mo paused before the bend and tried to differentiate the location of the source of sound within. After that, he was like a hunting leopard and charged in.
“Oh no!”
Sun Mo was badly shocked as he didn’t see anyone. However, there was a person behind him rus.h.i.+ng over. The run kicked up a gust of wind that was quite cool to the feel.
He got ambushed!
Sun Mo didn’t turn to meet the attack. Instead, he exerted force with his legs and continued rus.h.i.+ng forward. At the same time, he changed his direction and charged toward the left, evading any possible long-range attack from his back.
Swis.h.!.+
Sun Mo’s right hand grabbed the wooden spear. He flipped it to face the back and pierced out.
Ignoring whether he could hit his opponent or not, it was good enough to disrupt them first.
“Teacher!”
A voice filled with surprise rang out.
“Zhiruo?”
Sun Mo hurriedly retracted his hands. After that, when he turned his head, he saw a girl lunging into his embrace.
Bang!
“Boohoohoo, teacher, I missed you so much!”
The papaya girl cried and hugged Sun Mo tightly.
“Are you alright?”
Sun Mo stroked the lucky mascot’s hair and heaved a sigh of relief. After that, he felt awkward. This was because in the game, no one had any clothes.
Sun Mo was merely wearing a straw skirt, and Lu Zhiruo was roughly the same as well. Now that he was hugged by the papaya girl, the sensation was extremely clear.
“Zhiruo, release me!”
Sun Mo hurriedly instructed.
“No, I no longer want to be separated from Teacher!”
Lu Zhiruo shook her head and hugged Sun Mo even more tightly.
“Let me go first!”
Sun Mo felt a headache.
(I’m not Liu Xiahui, if you keep pressing into me, my little brother will stand up!)
After persuading her in every way possible, Sun Mo finally got Lu Zhruo to release him. After that, he headed out to collect his harvest.
“Oh, there are small animals to eat!”
Lu Zhiruo applauded happily as her stomach grumbled.
“How did you survive these three days?”
Sun Mo hurriedly roasted the bird eggs.
“After I entered the game, I failed to see any of you guys so I started searching. Two days ago, I slept in a tree hole. Yesterday, I spent my night in a cave. Whenever I’m hungry, I’ll eat some wild fruits.”
Given Lu Zhiruo’s intellect, she had never even thought about survival. Rather, she was trying her best to find Sun Mo and the others as soon as possible.
Fortunately, her luck wasn’t bad. If not, she would be finished in at most five or six days.
Surviving in the wilderness required one to do their utmost to make use of their first few days where their strength was at the max.
“How did you obtain this stone dagger?”
Sun Mo furrowed his brows.
On Lu Zhiruo, other than a straw skirt, there was a stone dagger slightly above a foot long. He didn’t feel that the papaya girl was able to create and sharpen such a tool.
“Oh, I found it in the cave where I slept.”
Lu Zhiruo pa.s.sed the stone dagger to Sun Mo.
Sun Mo received it and the more he looked, the tighter his brows were furrowed
(d.a.m.n! Could the background of this game be set in the stone age where savages are everywhere? In that case, what’s the condition to clear the game? Leading primitive savages toward the bronze era?)
The stone dagger was very sharp. Sun Mo first washed and removed the organs of the little animals before he used a wooden structure to tie them above a bonfire, roasting them. After that, he took this time to make the body of the bow.
He first split the log from the center before cutting it 1.5 meters long. He then ground and polished the ‘bow arms’ on both sides to guarantee that the center was thick, while the two sides were smooth.
This sounded simple, but Sun Mo spent a total of three hours on it. After that, he started to knead the dried tree bark into a bowstring.
“Teacher, do you really want to make a bow and arrows?”
Lu Zhiruo was curious.
“Mn!”
After hearing Sun Mo’s definite reply, although Lu Zhiruo knew she shouldn’t doubt her teacher, she felt that this was very unscientific.
Such a simple and crude bow wouldn’t even be able to kill rabbits, right?
The bow was ready. What was next were the arrows. Sun Mo selected two-inches long branches that were perfectly straight and had the thickness of an index finger.
Actually, for the sake of stability, he should still put feathers at the end of the arrows, but Sun Mo didn’t manage to capture any bird species. So, he could only give it up for now.
When Lu Zhiruo opened her eyes in the morning, she saw that Sun Mo had created a quiver from the remaining bark, and it was currently filled with a total of 12 arrows.
“Eat the eggs and meat. It’s time for us to go hunting”
Sun Mo smiled.
After seeing his lucky mascot, the loneliness in Sun Mo’s heart faded away.
“Teacher, you should eat. I’m not hungry!”
Lu Zhiruo shook her head.
She understood that it was best to let the person responsible for hunting fill their belly first.
Lu Zhiruo understood that it was very difficult to survive in this vast expense of hills. So, even a mushroom was precious.
“Eat!”
Sun Mo’s att.i.tude became forceful. “Don’t be afraid.. From today onward, we will have an inexhaustible amount of wild game to eat.”