From Robinson Crusoe

After the sun sets, the darkness in the forest gradually deepens, like layers of black gauze hanging on the treetops.

Birds returning home gather in flocks, like a dark cloud drifting across the sky.

A dazzling galaxy has appeared in this unspoiled world, and the moonlight, like a tide, illuminates the campfire beside the big tree and the people tending it.

……

Chen Zhou prepared enough firewood to burn all night.

He also broke off many branches as thick as his arm, arranged them closely together, leaned them against the fallen tree trunk, spread a layer of broken leaves on the branches, and then used pine needles mixed with some mud to stick on the broken leaves in the stream formed by melting snow.

A simple wind shelter was thus built. With the fallen tree as a natural barrier, it could avoid the cold wind when resting at night and save energy.

However, due to the hasty construction, the interior space of the shelter is very small.

Chen Zhou was a big guy, and Paul was almost as tall as the human ceiling. The two of them couldn't even stand up straight in the shelter, and there was basically no room to turn over if they wanted to sleep.

Even so, having a place to stay is far better than sleeping in the wilderness.

The firewood burning in the campfire was mostly pine, slightly damp, and when lit, it both smoked and emitted a resinous smell.

The three baby sawtooth tigers that Paul brought were kept in a fence. They were quiet for a short while, but perhaps because the surrounding smells were too unfamiliar, or perhaps because they were hungry without a mother to nurse them, they began to howl.

Despite their unsteady gait, these little creatures were surprisingly strong, and the makeshift fence Paul had built was quickly overturned by the largest tiger cub.

As the "eldest brother" escaped, the other two serrated tiger cubs also staggered out, crawling along like piglets, rooting through the fallen leaves on the ground, forming a crooked line and heading straight down the mountain.

The little ones clearly don't realize how dangerous the world is.

Cubs like these, who die before being weaned and without the protection of adult tigers, will almost certainly die in the wild.

Although the sawtooth tiger is a local tyrant, there is never a shortage of fierce beasts that dare to challenge the strong in this wild and primitive land, not to mention that the sawtooth tiger cub is still so small and powerless.

No carnivore would let them go, after all, such a risk-free hunt is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Chen Zhou used the campfire to harden the mud cakes he had made and placed them on the roof of the shelter to serve as "roof tiles." He was just about to go to the stream to catch some fish when he saw the tiger cubs leave the firelight and waddle away into the distance.

He pretended not to see them, but then remembered the survival tools Paul had given him before he left. In the end, his conscience prevailed, and he went forward and grabbed the three tiger cubs.

To prevent these little rascals from escaping again, Chen Zhou simply locked them up in a shelter.

The shelter had only one exit, and the other end was sealed off. He could see the tiger cub as soon as it peeked out of the exit.

After laying the "mud tiles," Chen Zhou planned to sweep away the fallen leaves inside the shelter and dig out a large pit about 40cm deep.

This way, tall people will be more comfortable walking into the shelter, and it will also make the shelter even warmer.

While he was busy working, the saw-toothed tiger cubs, who were locked up again, made an even bigger fuss.

The strongest "big brother" attempted to imitate the escape method from before and began digging at the base of the shelter's walls.

However, this time it chose the wrong direction, digging relentlessly at the trunk of the fallen tree. Although its chubby little paws thrashed about fiercely, it could only cause minor scratches to the dead tree, and couldn't even break the bark.

After trying for a long time without being able to budge the new high wall, and with little food left in his stomach, the sawtooth tiger cub felt his hunger intensify after all the fuss.

Instinct prompted them to begin a second round of howling, calling for their mothers to nurse them.

The constant "howling" sounds created an annoying symphony, and Chen Zhou was quite bothered by the little creatures. Even the "mud tiles" he made were uneven in size.

"Enough is enough!"

After warning the three tiger cubs at the shelter, and seeing that they still showed no sign of stopping howling, Chen Zhou walked to the shelter entrance, intending to drag them out and teach them a lesson.

Just as he reached the front of the shelter, before even getting close to the campfire, he suddenly darted to the other end of the shelter and pulled out the wooden spear stuck in the ground.

The firelight illuminated the spacious flat area in front of the fallen tree, but the area behind the trunk received no light at all.

They were all hidden by the tree trunks.

Behind the tree trunk ruled by darkness, a mottled beast crouched low and moved slowly forward, attempting to ambush Chen Zhou, who was in the open.

It was a female sawtooth tiger.

Its stealth skills are impeccable; it even takes the wind direction into account, so ordinary prey cannot detect its arrival at all.

However, Chen Zhou was not only a more intelligent human, but also possessed senses no less keen than those of a cautious herbivore. Even with the burning pine branches interfering with his sense of smell, Chen Zhou still managed to detect an unusual, fishy odor from the complex array of ambient scents.

That's the unique scent of carnivorous beasts.

……

When the female sawtooth tiger realized she had been exposed, she didn't panic at all. Instead, she leaped up onto the tree trunk and stared fiercely at Chen Zhou, who was holding a spear. Occasionally, she would look down at the three little sawtooth tigers that were being kept in the shelter, her expression somewhat anxious.

Sawtooth tigers live in groups, and the cubs born to a sawtooth tiger are often cared for by other members of the group.

Two saw-toothed tigers were killed by a giant ground sloth during the day. The female saw-toothed tiger fled in panic and was only recently attracted here by the cries of her cub.

It firmly believed that the cubs were captured by this primitive-looking creature.

Despite its ability to abandon its companions and flee when faced with a giant ground sloth, hunting a frail human is an easy task for it.

Whether it's to perpetuate the species or to atone for its own guilt, it will not let go of the one who stole the cub.

……

Having scanned the area around the campfire and found no other humans, the saw-toothed tiger grew bolder.

If it weren't for Chen Zhou's imposing stature when he stood upright and the roaring campfire, it would have attacked long ago. Groaning, it looked down at Chen Zhou from its superior position. The female saw-toothed tiger, its maternal instincts awakened by the cries of its cubs, found itself increasingly unable to suppress its desire to attack.

It suddenly pounced, stretching out its front paws to reach Chen Zhou.

Chen Zhou instinctively thrust out his spear, but the female sawtooth tiger retreated even faster and continued to observe from a distance.

The standoff between the human and the beast lasted for a while. The female sawtooth tiger seemed to realize this was no easy opponent, and promptly changed her strategy to probing and exhausting her prey's strength.

When it comes to protracted warfare, the sawtooth tiger is a master; its experience in this area is no less than that of later wolf packs.

Like a cat playing with a mouse, the sawtooth tiger kept probing and luring Chen Zhou to attack.

It felt it had the rhythm of the battle under control and was about to complete a successful hunt.

However, in Chen Zhou's eyes, every step it took was full of flaws. If Chen Zhou hadn't wanted to avoid getting hurt or even tearing his clothes, he would have already gone over to let the saw-toothed tiger see just how sharp his spear was.

Seeing the serrated tiger becoming increasingly arrogant, and the cubs' cries growing louder, Chen Zhou finally couldn't resist ending this farce as soon as possible—

During the maneuver, he had arrived at the place where several other spears were stored, and the spear he was holding in his hand had somehow turned into two.

Seizing the opportunity, and taking advantage of the sawtooth tiger's renewed attempt to retreat without having the strength to dodge, Chen Zhou threw out the first spear in his hand.

Throwing weapons are beyond the comprehension of wild beasts, and the sawtooth tiger was struck by a spear before it even knew what was happening.

However, due to its declining stamina, the distance it retreated this time was slightly different from the previous times, so Chen Zhou's spear did not hit a vital spot, but only pierced the outside of the sawtooth tiger's hind leg.

The spear entered from one end and pierced out from the other, piercing through one of the tiger's hind legs.

The intense pain and discomfort in its hind legs extinguished all the saw-toothed tiger's malicious intentions. Looking at the unharmed humans not far away, its not-so-large brain finally gave it a wise choice—

run.

However, with one leg crippled, it couldn't run far with its "three-legged tiger" skills, not to mention that Chen Zhou's second spear was already poised to strike.

Whoosh!
The second spear pierced the tiger's lower abdomen, passing through its entire belly and embedding itself deep into the ground.

This time, the saw-toothed tiger was completely unable to move. It stared fiercely at Chen Zhou and howled in despair.

The mother's screams were a particular deterrent to the tiger cubs, who had just been opening their mouths wide and crying out in unison, begging for food and hoping to gain their mother's protection.

Upon hearing this sound, they all shut their mouths on their own and dared not make a sound.

……

"This saves us the trouble of catching fish. We have meat, but I don't know if the bladder is damaged. If it isn't, we have a water storage container too."

They could also skin a person and use their skin as a bed in the shelter.

He twirled the stone hammer in his hand, familiarizing himself with its weight. With a spear in one hand and a hammer in the other, Chen Zhou walked to the female sawtooth tiger's side, raised the hammer, aimed it at the tiger's eye socket, and smashed it down heavily.

The stone collided violently with the skull of the sawtooth tiger, sending some bone fragments flying out and loosening the willow branches binding the stone.

As for the sawtooth tiger, it died on the spot from the blow. After the impact on its brain, it quickly stopped struggling, and the last bit of light in its eyes disappeared rapidly.

The mountaintop, which had just been filled with the cries of tiger cubs, had all vanished, leaving only the crackling of firewood burning in the campfire, making the area around the shelter exceptionally quiet.

Chen Zhou grabbed the loose fur of the sawtooth tiger and dragged it to the side of the shelter, planning to butcher it into eight pieces that very night, use the good meat to make several meals, use the fur to make a simple set of armor, and then remove its water-storing bladder and wash it clean.

This is based on the premise that the bladder and urinary system are not damaged.

Otherwise, if urine from the bladder spills into the entire interior, not only will you not be able to hold water in your bladder, but even if you want to eat some meat, it might smell like urine.

After cutting open the tiger's abdomen and removing its organs, Chen Zhou discovered that the spear had just grazed the edge of the bladder, leaving it a suitable water container.

The female sawtooth tiger is not as large as the male, and its bladder is also smaller, but it is still much larger than a fish's swim bladder. Chen Zhou estimated that this bladder could hold about one and a half pounds of water, and if stored properly, it could last for half a month.

There is enough water in my bladder for drinking during long journeys.

However, without fur to protect it, the bladder would be easily scratched by tree branches if carried on one's person. After looking at the needle and thread that Paul had given him, and then at the relatively soft belly fur of the tiger, Chen Zhou decided to try to sew a protective cover out of the tiger skin to wrap the bladder. This would extend the lifespan of the bladder sac.

In addition to sewing the leather sheath, Chen Zhou also had to apply a layer of oil between the leather sheath and the outer layer of the bladder to moisten the bladder and keep it as soft as possible, because the outer layer of the bladder would become dry after being removed from the living body.

Of course, sewing the leather case can't be rushed, because tanning the fur also takes time.

He worked through the night to cut off appropriately sized hides, cleaned off the mud, blood, and fat residue from the surface, and then soaked them in clean water for 10 hours after air-drying them.

In this process, he also had to prepare brain emulsion in advance, add warm water to the brain, knead it into a paste, and let it stand for several hours to wait for it to oxidize and produce aldehyde tanning agents before he could evenly apply the brain emulsion to the raw skin and flesh.

After being coated with emulsifier, the raw hide is folded and pounded to replenish the new brain matter. After two to three days, the hide becomes soft and can be stretched flat and hung on a frame to air dry naturally. During the air drying process, it must be rubbed in time to eliminate hardened spots before it can be tanned into a qualified hide.

The entire process will take at least two days. Right now it's late summer and early autumn, and being in a high-latitude region, the temperature difference between day and night is large, so the drying speed of raw hides is even slower than in summer. Chen Zhou estimates it will take three days to tan a single hide.

We were currently near the mountaintop, surrounded by tall trees with large gaps between their trunks, offering a wide view.

As the highest point within a radius of dozens of miles, this place, while not an excellent lookout point, is barely adequate as a temporary encampment.

Chen Zhou planned to tan the furs here, and at the same time, use the shelter as a center to explore the surrounding environment, ideally climbing to the summit to survey the terrain around the mountains. He also planned to observe the plains and forests at night for any signs of fire or smoke.

Unlike the area inhabited by primitive people, the challenge area is not a place without thunderstorms. If there is a fire, it is almost certainly lit by the challenger, who can use this to determine the location of other challengers.

While making plans, he dissected the sawtooth tiger's carcass, removing the four meatiest thighs and breaking apart the tiger's thick ribs. Holding the ribs, he roasted them directly over the fire.

Without salt or seasoning, he could only smear some tiger blood on the ribs to give them a little saltiness when roasting them.

In terms of survival conditions, this place is far worse than Robinson Crusoe's adventures, with dangers coming one after another. If he weren't so different now, he probably would have died last night from the hyenas' attack. (End of Chapter)