After Qi Guang finished writing down his first small goal, his stomach growled even louder, reminding him that he would die if he didn't owe debts, and he would also die if he didn't eat.
The system gave him one month's grace period to pay his debts, but the pressure of survival was already imminent.
Qi Guang remembered that the last time he had eaten was several days ago. Needless to say, it was the end of the world and he had become food, so how could he have the chance to eat? Just now, he only found a few clusters of berries when collecting branches, but they released a lot of white juice when squeezed, so he didn't eat them for safety reasons.
Naturally, water supplies are still floating in the air, and the last time I drank water is longer than the last time I ate.
After all this trouble, Qi Guang is still able to stand up and walk. More than 90% of the credit is due to the system's body repair. He feels he can still hold on for another day or two.
At this time, water is more important than food.
Qi Guang would sweat a lot in hot summer weather, and in order to balance his income and expenditure, he had to drink at least two liters of water a day to ensure his survival.
His first priority was to find plenty of clean, drinkable water—preferably boiled water.
Then the second task is to make a fire and boil water...
Qi Guang frowned, thought about it and decided to cross out the option of making a fire.
Fire is indeed a very important tool. It can be said that with fire, a long list of technology trees can be lit up. However, under the current circumstances, the only way for him to make fire is to drill wood to make fire. This method has high requirements for materials and consumes a lot of physical strength. It may take more than a dozen or even dozens of attempts to succeed. Therefore, he must start to consider it after he has a stable source of energy.
The story of having fire but not having the energy to find food and starving to death is not funny at all.
Qi Guang changed "making a fire" to "collecting suitable materials for making a fire", and the task priority was ranked fourth.
The second is to find food supplies, and the third is to find a place that can serve as long-term shelter.
After finishing these miscellaneous tasks, Qi Guang wrote four words next to the goal of 100 points in the notebook.
Prepare for winter.
This is what must be considered in the most optimistic scenario that he can survive until winter, and in order for him to survive the winter.
Qi Guang is now in Shen City. This city in the south of China is located on an alluvial plain with fertile land and abundant water system. It has been a famous land of fish and rice in the south of the Yangtze River since ancient times. The typical subtropical monsoon climate also makes the four seasons here distinct, and the climate...
Not very pleasant.
The short spring and autumn seasons are often over before you even notice them, and are often accompanied by a wet plum rain that can last for more than half a month.
We are all now experiencing the hot and humid summer when mosquitoes swarm everywhere. However, compared with the summer when the mosquitoes are less powerful due to the lack of urban heat island effect, the winter season without greenhouse effect is more deterrent.
Qi Guang didn't think he could withstand the three consecutive magic attacks of water, ice and fog in the southern winter without any preparation, and the probability of him being rescued before winter came was very slim.
Qi Guang made a table in his notebook and planned his next tasks according to his memory of the approximate arrival of autumn and winter in Shen City.
He must find a stable supply of water and food as soon as possible, and build a "home" with this as the center that can be used for a long time, at least to shelter him from the wind and rain this summer.
The second task goal is to successfully make a fire. Having a fire source means having basic safety and hygiene conditions. Fire is also essential for the production of many tools.
The official start of live broadcasting will have to wait until he has solved the problem of food and clothing and the problem of walking his bird, but before that, as long as he does not show his lower body, it should be fine to just live broadcast and earn time points...
Not a big deal
Qi Guang left this matter for further discussion and continued with future plans.
If he is lucky enough and everything goes well, he hopes that his wilderness life will be back on track within a week. It would be best if he can get a better understanding of the nearby terrain, and then improve his quality of life while preparing for the winter.
In general, the task is very difficult and the possibility of completion is not high. Fortunately, this area is the port university town that Qi Guang is quite familiar with. Although it is a primeval forest version of a thousand years later, it seems to be a more reliable cheat code than the system at the moment.
Qi Guang closed his eyes and recalled the topography of the university town, preparing to use this to decide his direction for tomorrow - he remembered that there were several rivers of running water in the university town, which were diversions of the Pujiang River that crossed Shen City. Rather than aimlessly trying to find water in the forest, it would be more reliable to use these rivers of running water in memory as the destination.
--Maybe there is a river that is still flowing smoothly, with fish, shrimps, snails, crabs, water plants, algae and water chestnuts in the river, which can solve his two problems of food and water at once.
Qi Guang touched his stomach, which was so hungry that he had lost the sense of hunger, and cleared his mind of the braised fish, steamed crab, and spicy crayfish.
After writing the plan and looking over the task list again to make sure there were no omissions, Qi Guang opened a new page in his notepad and began to draw a map of the university town that he could still remember as a way to relax before going to bed.
S University, Shenyang Foreign Language School, Shenyang Hainan Agricultural University…
Front Street, Cherry Blossom Road, Little China…
The memories of before and after the end of the world were swirling and intertwined in his mind. He was scribbling on the notebook, and finally his energy ran out and he lost consciousness.
On the first night after the time travel, Qi Guang slept for no more than four hours in total.
His sleep quality was extremely poor, and he spent most of his time having nightmares of being bitten by zombies and having his arms and legs broken. As a result, the phantom pain of being bitten when he woke up was not relieved but even more severe. Fortunately, life in the apocalypse made him accustomed to sleeping on the floor, so he didn't suffer from back pain because the "mattress" was too hard.
The birds in the forest woke up earlier than Qi Guang. He could hear their clear and melodious chirping without even opening his eyes.
Qi Guang yawned and looked at the roof made of branches and tried again to be happy that he was still alive.
Unfortunately, the triple pressure of hunger, slight dehydration, and lack of sleep left him with not enough strength to be happy for even half a second.
The only thing he could do was to rub his face, crawl out of the temporary shelter and face the pressure of survival. The sun had not yet risen completely, and a light white mist was floating in the forest, with bright dewdrops hanging from the leaves and grass tips.
The soil was wet and sticky, and the tree trunks were covered with steam, as if it had rained in the middle of the night without anyone noticing. Qi Guang looked at the small water droplets rolling on the grass leaves and his throat moved. He tried to hold back but couldn't help but move closer.
He gently shook the tip of the grass, letting the few drops of dew fall into his mouth.
It felt like there was a fire burning in his throat, and all he could taste in his mouth was the smell of blood. The cool, sweet taste flowed over the tip of his tongue, and disappeared without a trace before it reached his throat. Qi Guang licked his lips, and the dry mucous membrane on his tongue rubbed against his cracked lips, not even giving him the illusion that they were wet.
With the tip of his tongue pressed against the roof of his mouth to suppress his thirst, Qi Guang forced his eyes away from the dew and focused on observing the stump of the fallen tree to determine the direction.
The tree stumps with sparse growth rings are in the south, and those with denser growth rings are in the north. The target river he chose yesterday is in the northeast.
It was not the closest river to here, but after excluding the rivers that he remembered as narrow and winding, that needed to be manually desilted every year, and that flowed through densely built-up areas and were likely to be blocked by collapsed buildings, the target river he chose was the one with the greatest possibility of survival among the several rivers in the university town.
Determine the direction, encourage yourself, and then start the live broadcast.
Qi Guang turned his eyes away from the mosaic-covered lower body in the live camera, and zoomed in to focus the camera on the area above the collarbone.
Before setting off, Qi Guang did not forget to tie the small basket he had woven yesterday around his waist, rubbed wet mud on his arms and face for sun protection, and picked up a branch of suitable thickness to use as a walking stick.
His destination was about ten kilometers away from here. Given his current physical condition, he should be able to reach it before noon if he tried his best - if he didn't go in the wrong direction, didn't encounter any danger on the road, and the river was indeed not dry.
If you're unlucky...
Qi Guang thought about it and couldn't decide whether it was more miserable to die of thirst, starvation or exhaustion, or to be bitten to death by zombies.
Traveling is a boring thing, and Qi Guang needs to concentrate on confirming the direction and avoiding animals on the road at any time. Although he was live streaming, all he could hear was his panting and dry coughs. In the camera, his face was covered with sweat and dirt, and he looked miserable.
The number of viewers in the upper right corner fluctuated between zero and five, with one or two "?" or "???" comments occasionally floating by, fully reflecting the audience's confusion.
Qi Guang had no time to take care of these things. Today's live broadcast was just to refresh the beginner tasks and live broadcast time. Later he even turned off the barrage and system prompts.
Along the way, he also collected several branches of different softness, hardness, thickness and size, and picked up a curved bow-shaped branch and a handful of withered and dry vines.
I don’t know if it will have any practical effect, but it will help him stabilize his emotions.
The cicadas' chirping became more exhausted as the sun rose higher. Qi Guang wiped the sweat from his forehead and patiently used his walking stick to push away the fallen leaves and branches on the ground to prevent him from stepping on something he shouldn't while walking barefoot.
In the gaps between the fallen leaves and branches, he saw round, dark brown balls that looked like berries that had fallen from the tree.
But this is definitely not some berry.
Qi Guang crushed the small ball with the end of his crutch. It was dry and sticky, and there was a 90% chance that it came from some common domestic animal that made a bleating sound.
To put it more bluntly - these black balls are sheep dung.
He had seen rabbits, some kind of rodent, many varieties of birds along the way, and now he had found sheep dung.
The appearance of sheep dung was a good sign, and Qi Guang felt slightly encouraged.
Larger herbivores usually do not stray too far from water sources, and the habit of sheep, which poop as they walk, is almost a natural signpost.
Qi Guang remembered the general direction of the river, and followed the traces of sheep dung on the ground to make some adjustments. Before the sun rose above his head, he caught the crisp sound of gurgling water.
Transparent and sweet, it flows past my ears along the air, depicting a beautiful fantasy of a clear spring in my dizzy and black vision.
If Qi Guang had not lost the strength to take another step, he would have run towards the direction of the water instead of walking slowly on his crutches, taking one deep step and one shallow step, like a snail crawling on the ground.
But the advantage of the snail was that it allowed him to find a shelter that looked good before reaching the water source - a cave located on the sunny side of the hillside. There were no signs of animal habitation, and there was more exposed rock walls than soil on all sides. It was dry, sheltered from the wind, and could get some sunlight.
The only downside to this cave is that it is a little high, about two meters from the ground, and one needs to climb up by clinging to rock vines to get in and out.
However, this can reduce the possibility of your home being stolen by wild animals.
Qi Guang convinced himself that he had not forgotten that there was the Shen City Wildlife Park near the Port District University Town, and lions, tigers and brown bears might all appear in this forest.
Qi Guang felt that he was lucky to have water, shelter, and possible food near the water source.
He marked the location of the cave and continued to move forward following the sound of gurgling water.
The further they moved forward, the clearer and more obvious the smell of water became. Qi Guang took weak steps and tried his best to speed up.
Forward, forward.
…
Until one moment he reached the end of the shade of the trees, the sunlight suddenly shone, and the sparkling water painted everything in sight white—
The river flows happily, and gray-white stones of all sizes border the forest from the riverside, and dense green moss spreads along the stones. The sun shines in places that are not covered by the shade of the trees, and the river water reflects the golden color of silk, just like the miraculous river of gold flowing in myths and legends.
Qi Guang took off the small basket from his waist and placed it on the shore. He took several deep breaths before approaching carefully.
He walked barefoot on the gravel along the river bank. The river water flowed in shallowly from the cracks in the gravel. The water scooped up in his palms was clear and bright, as if the sunlight was broken into the water.
It was not until he actually felt the water flowing into his mouth that Qi Guang was sure that this was not an illusion.
He actually found the water source.
A small river with gurgling water and clear bottom.
Qi Guang swallowed every drop of water almost greedily, licking from his palm to his arm where the water flowed. Every drop of water that flowed into his mouth was filled with an indescribable sweetness, pouring into every cell of his that was so dry that it seemed to be able to separate the plasmolysis wall (?).
He lay on the shore, and buried his head in the water as if worshipping.
Back to life.
Qi Guang sighed with satisfaction, stood up from the water and shook his head. The sun shining on his body was scorching, but Qi Guang firmly resisted the temptation to take a bath, scooped up the wet river mud and rubbed it on his body carefully.
There is no shade from the trees by the river and the sun is strong, so it would be troublesome if you get sunburned.
After crossing out the two items of searching for water and shelter from his to-do list, Qi Guang boosted his morale and threw himself into the next task.
He dumped out the materials he had collected along the way. Branches were spread out on the flat stones on the river bank to dry, and dry vines were soaked in water and rubbed into fibers, also placed in the sun to dry.
He also found a good-looking stone on the river beach. It was the right size to be held in one hand, and had a flat and sharp edge. While the vines were drying, he could polish the stone a little and get a crude stone tool that could cut the vines.
Qi Guang used his new weapon to destroy the vines and weeds along the river bank. Fifteen minutes later, he harvested a crudely made hand-woven basket - the bottom was sparsely woven with a hole, and its diameter was about the same as the small basket he already had, but it was shorter than the one he already had.
Put the new basket into the old basket and press it until the edges are flush. Dig a few earthworms and throw them in as bait. This is the simplest fishing trap.
In the past, he used plastic bottles, cut the mouth of the bottle in the middle and stuffed it into the bottle body. It was convenient and efficient, which made people sincerely miss the beauty of civilized society.
Qi Guang made another fish trap in the same way. He placed two fish traps on the river bank where they would not be easily washed away, and prayed three times that the two traps would solve his meal problem tonight.
If there is no fish, shrimps will do, and he can also accept snails and small crabs in summer.
Yes, anything you eat is fine.
Then Qi Guang prayed three more times that he could start a fire successfully.