Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness Chapter 471

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Chapter 471: Chapter 468: Fishing Ground (Two in One)

Bi Fang mixed the red clay with some dew, and after turning it into a thin mud, he patched up the areas that were slightly falling off, making it uniformly smooth again. His decision to apply the red mud was indeed the right one.

Last night he had slept comfortably, without any incidents, and the mosquitoes hadn't bothered him at all.

“In damp regions, mosquitoes are inherently vicious, and not even floral-scented mosquito repellent works, let alone other herbal remedies. Therefore, physical defenses are the best option.”

“I slept through the night, and to my surprise, I wasn't bitten by mosquitoes at all this morning. The only few bites I have were from before I applied the mud yesterday.”

[Envy. The mosquitoes have increased again these past few days.]

[A mosquito flew into my mosquito net last night, and the school doesn't allow air conditioning, so it was hot and annoying with one buzzing around.]

[Gosh, that's an image. If you don't cover yourself with a blanket, you get bitten everywhere. If you do, it goes for your face. You end up slapping yourself and still can't hit it.]

Hearing about mosquito bites, a bunch of viewers started to vent their frustrations.

Mosquitoes should've been wiped out a long time ago!

In the woods, Bi Fang covered the fire with damp earth and, holding a straight and sharp wooden spear, made his way through the forest toward the stream he had found the day before.

The audience's guess was right. Today, Bi Fang's task for himself was to gather as much food as possible and then further improve the shelter.

“Shelter, shelter, as the name suggests, to me, it is not just a place to sleep but also a place that provides protection.”

“Although I haven't yet started on making iron tools, I may not stay here for a full twenty days, but at the very least I intend to remain here for five days. So, I plan to further perfect it, at least piling up a wall.”

As he spoke, Bi Fang had already quickly arrived at yesterday's stream.

Last night, as he and Leonardo were setting up camp, they had also explored the nearby terrain, identifying whether it was a hunting ground for large animals and safe routes that could serve as paths.

That's why Bi Fang was able to reach the riverbank so quickly today.

“If you get lost in the rainforest or other wild areas, the best way to get food is actually fishing. Any other method is not at all safe.”

The dappled sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves, casting reflections on the stone-strewn stream that twinkled in the splash of water from the protruding rocks.

“Many wild fruits and plants, without a certain amount of knowledge, you simply cannot determine whether they are poisonous. Of course, we can test for poison.”

[Test for poison? How do you test?]

[Feed it to animals?]

[If there were animals to test the poison, would I bother eating unclear fruits?]

Some viewers expressed disdain.

“Of course not, if people are already struggling to find food and willing to take risks with unknown things, how could there be animals to test the poison for you?” Bi Fang explained to the audience while walking along the stream.

“Testing for poison is a complex and rigorous process. I'll show it to you when I have the chance in the future. But first, I'm going to fish now, although, this place isn't suitable for fish to live.”

Bi Fang looked at the flowing stream for a moment, then headed downstream: “This stream isn't very deep, only about half a meter. Although it's clear and drinkable, it's not friendly to fish. Generally, too clean a water source is unlikely to have big fish in it.”

“Clear waters have no fish, and a discerning person has no companions. Although the focus of this saying is on the second half, it does hold some truth.”

[Master Fang, you're just taking advantage of the fact foreigners don't understand Chinese, aren't you? Dog's head.jpg]

A sudden ancient phrase popped up, and although the system's translation was very powerful, enabling barrier-free communication, it still left many foreign viewers scratching their heads, but they more or less understood its meaning.

“So now I need to go downstream to find a spot where the water is slower and murkier, but I don't want to go too far, within four to five kilometers. Any longer and the cost of energy consumption gets too high.”

“The rivers in the Banna Rainforest transform entirely between the dry and wet seasons. What we see now is a creek, but come July or August, in the middle of the rainy season, it could be a river five or six meters wide. It's easy to find downstream pools that have built up.”

After walking for about half an hour, Bi Fang's guess wasn't wrong. The previously rapid riverbed suddenly widened, and the once fast-flowing stream became sluggish.

The clear water also turned turbid, and the riverbed was no longer visible.

Bi Fang thrust his nearly man-tall spear into the water, and two-thirds of it disappeared instantly. The half-meter-deep stream had doubled in depth at this point, exceeding one meter.

And that was just the edge; who knows how deep it got further in.

However, the murky river where the bottom couldn't be seen gave the viewers a sense of unknown terror.

[There aren't crocodiles in this water, right?]

[Yeah, I remember that there are crocodiles in tropical rainforests, and also giant pythons. Super scary.]

[Darn, Old Fang, stay further away from the water, don't get dragged down by something, it's frightening.]

Bi Fang laughed: “You're thinking too much, there may be crocodiles in other rainforests, but I've never heard of them in the Banna Rainforest. There might have been hundreds, even thousands of years ago, but definitely not now, or they would have been discovered by now.”

“I don't know much about history, but before the pre-Qin era, there were a lot of crocodiles, elephants, and even rhinoceroses in the South. Back then, there were poisonous creatures everywhere, making it hardly suitable for living, not to mention many diseases people didn't understand then.”

[Damn, rhinoceros? Did we really have those things?]

[Yes, there even were rhino horn cups before the pre-Qin period, where do you think they came from?]

[There were also armors made of rhino hide that only generals could wear.]

Many viewers were learning for the first time that such magnificent scenes had once existed in the lands of Huaxia.

Elephants and rhinoceroses used to run through the rainforest, but now, sadly, they can no longer be seen.

Rhinoceroses became extinct on this land hundreds of years ago, and even elephants are now few in number.

“Also, because the living environment was so harsh, the ancients referred to it as a place with 'miasma.' But miasma doesn't mean some kind of literal poison fog that one will encounter upon arrival here, rolling in like the mist in movies; it's not actually like that.”

Bi Fang explained calmly.

The damp and hot conditions in ancient southern regions, swarming with insect poison, created a hotbed for diseases and epidemics, also becoming a historical memory of the resistance in the Lingnan region by the central dynasties.

Soldiers from the north, after traveling a great distance, arrived in the far south, unable to adapt to the climate and water and soil there, and suffered from malaria after being bitten by poisonous insects or dysentery from unclean food and drink, plagued with various ailments, many of whom died.

Without understanding the true pathological causes, they could only blame these unfortunate experiences on a special and harmful 'qi' derived from the adverse environment so different from their homeland.

It might be related to the stagnant and unventilated water and soil in the south, or the geographical isolation between the north and south… In any case, various notions were integrated into one concept named 'miasma.'

Almost all unknown diseases in wild lands could be attributed to 'miasma,' which was definitely not the literal 'gas' it seemed to be.

Even the Tibetan Plateau was thought to have miasma, but in reality, it was just a respiratory difficulty caused by lack of oxygen…

When Bi Fang was in school, he too somewhat took for granted that it was a kind of toxic gas, like marsh gas, but later, he learned more and realized it was not so.

“Like schistosomiasis, which plagued our country until the middle of the last century, it was directly called 'plague spirit.' Once infected, patients would rapidly lose weight, becoming just skin and bones. Even their height would seem to shrink, making them look like dwarfs.”

“Meanwhile, their stomachs were swelling up as if they were pregnant, growing so large that their belly buttons turned inside out. At that time, a gentle prick on the abdomen would cause ascitic fluid to leak from the needle hole, which was terribly shocking.”

Bi Fang remembered clearly because nearly 10 million people suffered from the disease in the mid-20th century, including 600,000 in the late stages, with over 100 million people at risk.

How many people were there in the country at that time?

Six hundred million.

That meant one in six people was threatened by this disease until the instructor issued an urgent order, launching the slogan “Eradicate schistosomiasis completely and thoroughly.” Only then did the disease gradually disappear.

[Sss… After all that, Old Fang, you still dare to drink raw water?]

[Awesome, worthy of being Master Fang!]

[You must go to the hospital for a check-up after every live broadcast, right?]

[Speaking of which, won't there be any side effects from Old Fang doing this every time?]

Side effects?

Bi Fang looked at his system panel and scoffed disdainfully in his mind.

Whatever side effects there might be, the system could heal them all.

“Regarding drinking raw water, I've actually mentioned before that many parasites are found in crustaceans, such as schistosomiasis due to snails. But in places with fast-flowing water, it's difficult for these animals to survive, and with the filtration of heavy stones, there's not too much to worry about.”

Moreover, Bi Fang knew well that his stomach wasn't like that of an ordinary person; just because he consumed parasites didn't mean he would get infected. First, they had to pass the test of stomach acid, where Bi Fang had a significant advantage.

If vultures can eat carrion without fear, what's there to fear from drinking a bit of raw water?

And after every live broadcast, Bi Fang would indeed go to the hospital for a check-up…

Bi Fang looked around and chose a spot where “the stream flows into the river mouth,” preparing to catch fish here.

But this time, it wasn't about fishing, nor was it about fish.

“Fishing is an excellent way to obtain high-protein foods. Fish can be captured with nets, hooks, harpoons, or lassos, or even caught by hand.”

“But for me, these aren't good methods because I have many other tasks to handle. Catching fish by hand is naturally more efficient and likely to catch fish, but it prevents me from doing other things.”

“Therefore, setting traps in the stream is the skill I want to show this time. While waiting for the fish to swim into the trap, you can work on other tasks.”

What Bi Fang had to do was build a fishing corral that would allow fish to swim in. Once set up correctly, he could go about setting other traps or return to continue working on the camp.

He grasped the spear tightly and found a flat stone, using other rocks to hit and polish it, creating an inwardly concave and outwardly convex shape. He then tied it to the end of the spear with vine, and began to dig into the ground.

Bi Fang planned to build a circular corral, with its entrance facing upstream of the stream, and then construct a funnel-shaped corral extending into the entrance.

If the stream's current was strong, this setup could completely capture enough fish; if in a slower flow area, he could weave a curtain from flexible branches along the corral, pointing towards the entrance of the trap.

When fish swam into the corral, the curtain would be pushed open, but it would block the fish trying to leave.

The size of the fish that could be captured could be adjusted by changing the size of the gaps in the corral.

This was a place they could swim into but not out of.

It didn't need to be too deep, thirty centimeters was plenty, and about one to two square meters in size.

The soil in the rainforest was moist and loose, often filled with empty spaces, and it didn't take Bi Fang too long to dig; in just over half an hour, it was almost done. He then gathered plenty of branches and vines to start making the corral.

Once everything was ready, Bi Fang dug open the mouth of the trap, and the stream water immediately rushed in, flooding the small pit. He placed the corral, added some mud for reinforcement, and the “fishing ground” was thus completed.

But even this one trap took Bi Fang over an hour and a great deal of physical effort. Already starving, he let out an even louder cry of hunger on his own.

[Isn't this too labor-intensive?]

[Yeah, can it really catch fish?]

“Of course, it can, but how much we catch is up to whether Heaven feels like feeding us. The trap I've made this time is the same as before; it's permanent. As long as it exists, it will continuously work.”

Bi Fang pulled out a handful of Fishy Grass from his waist pouch, crushed it, and scattered it inside.

“Fishy Grass can attract fish. We use it as bait and can crush it and sprinkle it in.”

“Alright, let's go check out other places. We shouldn't put all our eggs in one basket. To tell you the truth, I'm almost flattened by hunger.”

Wandering nearby, Bi Fang did find a few small animal paths. Along the way back, he casually made several traps.

There were some in the trees too. After observing, Bi Fang believed they were likely made by squirrels.

Unfortunately, he had no suitable bait, so he wasn't very hopeful about the tree traps.

By time he returned to camp, Bi Fang found it was already midday.

“The traps I've set up just now are mostly harmless; they're meant to trap, not to hurt. Do you know why?”

After Bi Fang's reminder, the audience suddenly realized that it was true; the stone slabs and wooden spikes were gone, replaced by traps similar to nooses.

They trap without harming.

[Why's that?]

“Because there are so many protected animals here.”

Bi Fang spread his hands helplessly, “For those animal paths earlier, I can't even be sure what kind of animals they are. I only know they're small herbivores. If they happen to be under level one or two state protection, I'd be in trouble if they get hurt.”

What a guy!

The audience laughed.

[So you do have something to fear after all?]

[The outlaw finally met his match.]

[The net of Heaven is wide and spares no one. Just surrender, Old Fang.]

Back at the camp, Bi Fang began crafting tools for the day's work.

Compared to the fence, Bi Fang felt that creating more containers was the current priority.

Backpack, bowls and spoons, baskets, and even pottery.

All these were tools necessary for long-term survival.

Chapter end

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