"The weeds near the water have been trampled, and the marks are relatively fresh. A large animal must have drunk water here recently."
As Xu Qiao spoke, he walked a few steps towards the open space next to him. The weeds here were sparse and the soil was exposed. A footprint could be clearly seen on the soil.
Daniel gave a close-up of the footprints.
Xu Qiao placed his hand on it to compare the size: "This should be the footprint of an Asian elephant's front paw. Generally, Asian elephants have five toenails on their front paws and four on their hind paws."
Xiaowen counted silently at the side and vaguely recognized that the footprint had five toenails.
Xu Qiao followed the footprints in a circle, calculated in his mind and continued, "The circumference of the footprints is a little over 140 centimeters. The height of an Asian elephant is basically twice the circumference of its front paws. It is estimated that this Asian elephant is about 2.8 meters tall. An Asian elephant of this size can easily crush an adult to death. It is better for us to stay away from it."
The crew gathered around the camera and watched the live footage. Director Gong Sheng stroked his chin and said, "We should find a simultaneous interpreter. Otherwise, Daniel won't understand what Xu Qiao is saying, and some shots might be missed."
Both Daniel and Matt joined the program team temporarily and did not have time to provide translations.
Gong Sheng called his assistant and asked him to find an interpreter.
Here, Xu Qiao briefly told Daniel in English that there might be Asian elephants here. Daniel was very interested and left a small camera under cover here.
This place is not suitable for shelter. Xu Qiao shook off the dirt on his palms and continued on his way.
At this time, it started to drizzle in the forest and their clothes were quickly soaked by the rain. Daniel and Xiaowen took out the rain cover and installed it on the camera.
After wandering in the rainforest for more than half an hour, Xu Qiao finally found a suitable place.
There is a stream, and there are no signs of large animal activity around it. There is also a small open space next to it.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Xu Qiao looked at the camera and said, "You will keep sweating in the rain forest, and it is easy to become dehydrated. But before you light a fire to boil water, you should try not to drink raw water. The threat of bacteria and parasites in the rain forest is enough to kill you."
On the other side, Daniel and Xiaowen couldn't help but take out tons of mineral water and drink them.
The program crew did not provide Xu Qiao with any supplies or help, but the two photographers had plenty of water and food to ensure they had enough physical strength to complete the photography needs.
Before making a fire, Xu Qiao didn't plan to drink stream water or rain water directly. His throat felt a little numb and itchy, which was a sign of dehydration.
I looked to the side and saw some fruits growing on a tree nearby.
Even if he was experienced, it was impossible for him to know all the millions of creatures in the rainforest, so he could not be sure whether they were edible or poisonous.
Walking to the tree and picking a fruit, Xu Qiao pinched a hole in the fruit, squeezed out the juice and smeared it on the base of his left hand.
While waiting, Xu Qiao explained to the camera: "Most plants and animals in the rainforest are poisonous. When you encounter a fruit that you can't confirm is poisonous, you can test it like this."
After waiting for more than ten minutes and feeling no adverse reactions, Xu Qiao took out a knife, cut a small wound on the base of his thumb without changing his expression, and smeared the juice of the fruit on it.
After waiting for more than ten minutes and making sure that there were no adverse reactions, Xu Qiao smeared the juice on the edge of his lips again. He swallowed a small amount of juice to make sure that there was no problem. Only after completing these steps did Xu Qiao start to eat the fruit.
There were not many fruits on the tree. Xu Qiao ate a few and left a few unpicked.
After slightly alleviating the lack of water and hunger, Xu Qiao looked up and looked around: "As I said before, water, fire, food, and shelter are all very important. The fruits on the trees can be used as food to provide some moisture and replenish physical strength."
"It's more difficult to make fire. I don't have a lighter or flint, and it's humid in the rainforest. It's very likely that I won't be able to make fire by drilling wood, so I plan to build a shelter first."
Walking on the muddy ground, Xu Qiao looked for a tree at a suitable distance.
"The requirements for shelter are primarily moisture and water resistance, with wind and cold being secondary."
"It's best not to be on the ground. On the one hand, the rain will soak the soil, and direct contact with the wet and cold ground will cause your body heat to quickly lose. On the other hand, various insects and snakes will harass you."
Xiaowen was standing by and pointed the camera at Xu Qiao, while Daniel was holding a camera to record the surrounding scene. Under the ultra-high-definition camera, every blade of grass and every leaf appeared exceptionally clear and bright in color.
With the support of state-of-the-art equipment, Daniel was able to use infrared, high-speed, time-lapse and underwater photography techniques to bring this jungle adventure to life.
The happiest person at this moment is director Gong Sheng. With the addition of ultra-high-definition equipment and a first-class photographer with good photography skills, Xu Qiao's performance can be displayed in an even better way.
Although we know that this documentary probably won't be watched by many people and is more like a self-entertainment for a documentary channel, there is no doubt that everyone is working hard at this time.
Xu Qiao used vines to tie two large trees that were not far apart, then fixed several branches horizontally between the vines, and then covered them with a thick layer of huge palm leaves.
Looking at his neat movements, Xiao Wen was amazed: "6."
"This is the hammock." Xu Qiao wiped the raindrops from his eyelashes. "It's still raining now. It will rain intermittently in the rain forest, so we need to add a rain shelter to the hammock."
A monitor lizard was standing on a branch nearby, dragging its tail and looking at Xu Qiao. Perhaps it had never seen humans before, so it didn't show any intention of running away or being afraid. It just tilted its head and examined Xu Qiao.
After breaking off some branches, Xu Qiao took out the parachute rope from the previous parachute and cut off a few sections of branches to tie up the branches on both sides of the hammock to form an A shape.
"Be careful when tying the knot. I use a coachman's knot, which can be tied very tightly. Wrap the rope in a small loop with the free end on top, fold it, and then like this..."
When picking palm leaves, the leaves hit the monitor lizard and it quickly dodged away.
Put up palm and banana leaves like tiles, and a hammock with a roof that can shelter from rain and wind is ready.
Finally, spread the parachute cover over the hammock to increase the comfort level.
Xiaowen set up the camera and looked at the hammock in front of him that was both beautiful and comfortable.
Xu Qiao lay in the hammock and breathed a sigh of relief.
His physical strength is indeed a problem, and he is already showing obvious signs of fatigue.
This is only the first day. If we can’t find enough food supplies later, things will probably be even more difficult.
Turning his head to face the camera, Xu Qiao said: "It took a lot of energy to make this shelter. Now I need to rest. I can see that it is getting dark. It is not a good choice to hang around outside at this time, so I plan to take a nap."
After taking a breath, Xu Qiao raised his hand and took off his clothes.
Xiaowen: “!”
daniel: “!”
The boy's body was not strong, and his cold white skin looked even paler against the rich green background.
Daniel looked at the images captured by the camera. The colors were like those of a Renaissance oil painting. The half-naked messenger of God in the woods had an awe-inspiring temperament of purity and abstinence.
After wringing out the clothes, water started to drip down. Xu Qiao was a little helpless: "In the rain forest, if your body and feet are always wet, you will easily get jungle skin diseases and foot rot, and the risk of bacterial infection will also increase, so you should try to keep your body dry."
"If you unfortunately get sick due to moisture, it may cause serious skin damage or skin necrosis if you don't get timely treatment."
"It would be nice if I had a fire to dry my clothes." After wringing out the water from his clothes and putting them back on, Xu Qiao yawned, "I'll try to make a fire tomorrow. Of course, finding food is the most important thing. Now all I have to do is rest and recover my strength to deal with tomorrow."
The rainforest is lush and vibrant, with towering trees overhead and short trees below with thick and broad leaves to better absorb sunlight and water, and below that there are layers of dense moss.
Almost every inch of space is squeezed and filled, creating a vast biological paradise stretching for hundreds of miles.
Xu Qiao was very tired and fell asleep quickly after lying on the hammock.
Daniel pointed the camera at Xu Qiao, looked at his sleeping face and sighed softly: "He really looks like an angel."
Xiaowen's English was poor. He barely understood this sentence and nodded seriously.
In the evening, the program crew came over and two other photographers took over during the night. Xiaowen and Daniel came back in the morning.
The next morning, Xu Qiao woke up and his stomach was already growling.
Fortunately, the rain has stopped.
With his clothes still half wet, Xu Qiao jumped off the hammock and walked to the stream to wash his face.
"Okay, today we have to find materials suitable for making fire, and also bring back some food." Xu Qiao took a knife and cut off a piece of parachute flour and took it with him.
Xiaowen and Daniel followed him.
Leaving marks along the way, they walked for about an hour. On the way, Xu Qiao collected some wild fruits and put them in his umbrella.
There was a faint pungent smell in the air. Xu Qiao stopped and looked at the camera: "Do you smell it?"
"A very strong smell, probably oil nan."
Following the smell, I saw a nanmu tree.
"It looks like there's hope of starting a fire."
"The smell of oil nan is a bit like pine resin. Its trunk is rich in flammable oily liquid, which can be easily ignited even when wet. I need to scrape off the bark with a knife and take the thin layer of skin inside to use as tinder—"
"boom!"
A loud noise in the distance interrupted Xu Qiao's words, followed by the sound of an elephant.
"Was that a gunshot?" Xiaowen's expression tensed and he and Daniel looked at each other in surprise.
The program crew was also shocked by this unexpected change and quickly told Xiaowen through the headset: "Keep Xu Qiao away."
Xiao Wen nodded and swallowed: "Xu Qiao, let's leave quickly. I don't know who is over there—"
"It's a poacher." Xu Qiao frowned.
The cry just now was from a wild Asian elephant.
Then there were several more gunshots.
"I'll go take a look, you guys stay here."
"Hey!" Xiao Wen was unable to stop it and saw Xu Qiao bending over towards the direction of the sound.
Just when Xiao Wen was about to call Daniel to help stop Xu Qiao, she turned around and saw him holding a camera, following him with excitement on his face.
Xiaowen: “…”