From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 81 Departure
The shock waves generated when using explosives to open up the cave have a certain impact on the structure inside the cave.

Normally, without being shaken, the sand and gravel layers always maintain a delicate balance, and only a shallow layer of them falls when wind blows into the cave.

After the earthquake, large pieces of sand and gravel that were already damaged inside the cave peeled off and fell off the top of the cave.

In the storage room, wherever you look, all the stacked supplies are covered with a layer of dirt.

The scene in the bedroom and kitchen was not much better, with small piles of varying heights everywhere.

However, overall, the load-bearing beams and concrete load-bearing columns still played their due role, and no large-scale collapse occurred in the cave.

The food racks, storage racks, bedside tables in the bedroom, wooden boxes and leather drying racks were all unharmed and only needed to be cleaned of dust before use.

Just as Chen Zhou expected, Robinson's shoddy load-bearing construction was not destroyed by the earthquake, and his cave house, which used concrete load-bearing columns and wooden beams, had no problem facing the test of the earthquake.

However, there were too much sand and small stones in the cave, and it was quite difficult to clean them up. It would probably take at least a day and a half.

……

After a quick inspection of the cave and making sure it was still safe, Chen Zhou picked up a few pieces of dried firewood and prepared to return to the cabin.

There would be a rainstorm in the afternoon of the day of the earthquake. He didn't want to live in the pile of dirt before the cave was cleaned up, so he decided to go back to the wooden house for the night and wait until the weather cleared up tomorrow to clean up the cave and move all the supplies.

……

It was getting dark and dark clouds could already be seen in the sky.

A few minutes after Chen Zhou returned to the wooden house, raindrops began to hit the ground with a crackling sound.

There was no thunder, no lightning, just pure torrential rain.

The sounds of dense raindrops hitting the roof of the wooden house and the branches were continuous and noisy, making it almost impossible for people inside the house to hear any other sounds.

The flames in the stove were dancing up and down in the wind that rushed in from the chimney, and slanting rain flew in from the empty window frames of the sun room, passed through the half-open door, and fell on the edge of the stove.

hiss~
The water droplets evaporated into white mist that was difficult to discern with the naked eye, rising in the wooden house, and immediately a strange smell with the smell of earth emerged.

Lai Fu was lying at the door, his back wet by the rain. He turned his head impatiently to glance at the door, then lazily moved his butt toward the room.

The rain grew heavier, and soon it exceeded the storm that Chen Zhou had experienced in the camp at the foot of the mountain.

The wind also raged and howled with the rain.

Looking out through the door, the dense treetops at the tops of the tall trees were swinging wildly like the hair of a Shamatte dancer dancing.

Just after the shaking of the earthquake, a strong wind came.

The tortured leaves fluttered in the wind, became heavy due to the rain, and fell rapidly in spirals.

They fell from the window frames of the sun room and soon covered the floor.

The branches and leaves on the roof of the cabin were blown away by the wind, and even some moss stuffed in the gaps between the wooden sticks was scattered.

Chen Zhou sat on the bed, looking up worriedly, afraid that the wooden house would not be able to withstand the storm.

As time passed, the strong wind and heavy rain gradually put away their ferocious faces, and the noodle porridge heated in the stove began to emit a fragrant aroma.

The sound of rain outside was getting quieter and quieter, and everything was over.

After dinner and before going to bed, Chen Zhou opened the lid of the chinchilla's box and saw the little guy with his furry belly bulging, leaning against the wall of the box, chewing a slender blade of grass.

There were a few more feces in the fixed defecation area in the wooden box, which showed that the little chinchilla had gotten rid of its panic and returned to normal.

Feeling relieved, Chen Zhou added a few more pieces of firewood into the stove without reserving any fire. Hugging Xiao Huihui, he fell asleep peacefully.

……

After a night, the wind stopped and the rain stopped.

April 4th was a sunny day.

I was thinking about going to the river valley plains and fruit tree valleys, looking for spices, pigeon holes, and exploring the migration direction of the sheep.

Even without enough pressure, Chen Zhou still showed 100% enthusiasm, cleaning the sand and soil in the cave, fetching water to soak the rag, wiping the furniture indoors, and then moving the supplies back.

I've been busy from morning till night, and the work is almost not finished.

Before dark, Chen Zhou went to the goat family's new settlement.

The mother goat and the kid are free to move around. They hid under a tree because it rained yesterday, and their fur is basically dry.

The male goat had nowhere to hide and was soaked from head to toe by the heavy rain on the grass. His wool was tangled and felt a little wet to the touch. It also had a strong smell of goat.

The male goat, drenched by the rain, looked sick and a bit pitiful.

Thinking that he might not be back for three or four days, and worried that the male goat would not get enough water and get sick, Chen Zhou led it to the meadow where the female goat had been, untied the rope around its neck, and replaced the hoop with footrests.

Compared with mother and calf goats, the hobbles of male goats are shorter. Although they do not restrict their freedom, they impose stricter constraints on their movements.

On April 4, after being busy for most of the day, Chen Zhou found some seal skin and sewed a pocket for himself before going to bed.

This time, he did not make the stitches as fine as he did when he sewed the raincoat, so he finished it very quickly.

When going on a long journey, you will definitely need to bring various supplies such as food, fire starters, weapons and tools, so it is necessary to have a pocket that is easy to carry.

……

On April 4, after breakfast and finalizing the details of the pocket, Chen Zhou prepared to set off.

He expected to return home in two days at the earliest and four days at the latest. He brought two bottles of cold boiled water, eight bread cakes, four pieces of dried seal meat, a small box of salt, and a can of fried rabbit meatballs.

Without any seasoning, the fried rabbit meatballs are crispy but taste very bland, slightly fishy, and not very delicious. However, they can be stored in a glass jar as emergency food, which does not require heating and is simple and convenient, so it is quite suitable.

In addition to the necessary food, Chen Zhou also packed a small kettle made from canned food, a flint and two lighters.

If you are not in a hurry to make a fire, use a flint to strike it slowly to save gas for the lighter.

If there is an emergency need for fire, a lighter is enough to meet the need, and he brought two lighters with him, so if one of them is accidentally damaged, there will be a spare one left.

Food and fire-making tools almost filled his entire pocket, and Chen Zhou took out a few empty glass jars.

If he found suitable plant seedlings on the river bank, he would dig them up, put them in a jar with roots and soil, and carry them back.

The food and tools to sustain life were all packed, but Chen Zhou was troubled when it came to choosing a weapon for self-defense.

It stands to reason that it is best to carry a matchlock gun when traveling long distances.

With the power of large-caliber lead bullets, it can deal with any wild beast. It is basically the ceiling in terms of self-defense weapons.

But Chen Zhou knew that there were no large wild animals on the island that could endanger human life.

If there was an opportunity to catch goats or other animals, he would not use a gun.

The matchlock gun was too powerful and its accuracy was not good enough. Once fired, the target would either be killed or injured, and there was no way to capture him alive.

If you kill the prey, you can’t take it away. If you kill it and leave its body on the ground, you can’t eat it and you can’t take it back. Isn’t that a waste of things?

Moreover, the matchlock was heavy and long, and with the supplies in the pocket, it weighed more than 30 kilograms, making it inconvenient to carry. The gun also had to be equipped with a bunch of small tools, so its cost-effectiveness was far inferior to that of a crossbow.

However, the crossbow found in the carpenter's room had not been maintained for a long time and had been used without any support, so the bowstring had become a little loose and the fibers inside the string had broken.

Fortunately, the metal bow structure of the steel crossbow is very strong and has not been damaged. As long as the bowstring is replaced, it can regain its former glory.

However, after the bowstring was damaged, the accuracy of the crossbow was greatly reduced and its stability was also questionable, making it no longer suitable for hunting or self-defense.

Ever since Chen Zhou dropped the crossbow in the cave after inspecting the fields two months ago, he had let it gather dust in the wooden box and had not taken it out to use it for a long time.

Taking into account the various flaws of the crossbow and the fact that he had not used it for a long time and his lack of accuracy, Chen Zhou decided to bring a hand axe and a dagger.

It is impossible for the cannibal natives to run into the island, so these two weapons are enough for self-defense.

The long-handled axe is the tool he uses most frequently in his life. He has already mastered its use to the fullest, and the quality of the tool is beyond reproach.

When going out, the axe can be used to chop trees, attack, open up roads, or be used as a hammer.

Apart from the lack of long-range means, the long-handled axe is almost a perfect weapon, and it is also the equipment Chen Zhou is most accustomed to. He tightened his belt and hung an iron knife on it.

Before leaving, he carefully polished the long-handled axe, the "Damask pattern" dagger and the knife on Robinson's body.

After packing up all the equipment and checking that nothing was missed, Chen Zhou took out the bag of dried fish, opened the bag, left some food reserves for Xiao Huihui and Tuzi, and added a handful of hay and a few fresh grasses to the chinchilla's wooden box.

Make sure there are no remaining flames in the stove that could cause a fire.

Putting on a wide-brimmed hat, closing the doors and windows of the bedroom, putting the original copy of Robinson Crusoe in his arms, Chen Zhou went down the mountain and headed straight for the beach.

The next mysterious reward will be on April 4th, and he can pick up the reward when he returns home from work.

Before going out, he had to rearrange the wood and stone wall built on the beach.

After the earthquake, the semi-finished wooden boards and bricks must have been in a mess. If left unattended, 15 days would have been wasted.

It will take another month to re-cut the finished product.

……

This time, Xiao Huihui, Tizi and the chinchilla were left at home. Only Lai Fu was worried about them and took him out with him.

Lai Fu has a big appetite and there is no dry food suitable for him at home. The salt content of dried meat is too high and eating it for several days in a row will affect his health.

If you cook a large pot of batter in advance, it won't last long.

As the dry season begins, the temperature on the island continues to rise, and the batter will turn sour and rancid within a day, breeding bacteria and becoming toxic.

Chen Zhou couldn't bear to tie Lai Fu in the cave and leave him only a few bread buns and cold water.

We have been together for more than half a year and have a deep relationship.

He couldn't leave his old friend, who had made great contributions, to jail at home.

After thinking about it, Chen Zhou felt that bringing Fu along would bring more advantages than disadvantages.

During the day, Lai Fu can provide assistance in the hunting process. At night, it can act as a sentry, guarding against wild animals, snakes and insects and giving timely warnings.

If you get lost, you may have to rely on it to lead you in the right direction home.

And even if Lai Fu can't do these things, when he goes out alone, he has a companion by his side who can tease him, talk to him, and help him relieve his worries. This is something other animals cannot do.

……

The beach looked completely different after the earthquake.

The ends of the waves were covered with white foam and looked dirty and murky.

The sand was no longer flat, but had many gentle ups and downs.

There is a huge rock missing from the top of the mountain not far from where the reward will land. If you look closely, you can find the depression on the mountain made by the bottom of the rock.

As for the wooden and stone wall that Chen Zhou had worked so hard to build, it had long since turned into a ruin. Even the rain shelter in the center was crooked and in a mess.

Chen Zhou had long expected such a scene on the beach. He sighed, and although he accepted it in his heart, he couldn't help feeling tedious and tired when he thought of his work.

Putting down his pockets, unfastening the iron knife from his waist, and throwing the long-handled axe on the beach to lighten his burden, he began the reconstruction work of the cutting site.

While traveling back and forth between the coastal woods and the beach, Chen Zhou discovered that a lot of broken wood had been washed up by the waves along the coast.

These wooden planks and blocks that were rotten by sea water were the remains of the slave ship that was dragged into the sea. They were basically useless except for being dried and used as firewood.

Near the wooden board, Chen Zhou also saw a big fish that was about 1.56 meters long, with a white and smelly body.

This fish may have been stranded on the beach after an earthquake and was pecked by seabirds after death. A dry hole was left at its eye, and its body was rotten with bones exposed.

In addition to the conspicuous big fish, there are also broken kelp that is much larger than usual on the beach, broken seaweed, starfish, various shellfish, as well as small fish, shrimps, and crabs.

Most of them are dead, and those that are still alive have no energy and don't even know how to run away when you get close to them.

If he knew the details, Chen Zhou really wanted to set up his small pot on the beach, boil water and cook some seafood.

……

Chen Zhou was busy all the time until the sun set in the afternoon when he finally finished cleaning up all the wooden and stone walls.

During this process, he dismantled the awning - it was already the dry season anyway, and it would have to continue repairing it, so it was not worth it, so it was better to just dismantle it and save trouble.

After finishing his work on the beach, he seriously considered returning to the cave to get some sleep and then going out to explore the next morning.

In the end, he decided to stick to his original plan and walk directly along the river into the island until he reached the end of the river or found the river valley plain.

……

As we walked through the forest, it gradually got dark.

The land was uneven, with some feet deep and some shallow, and the grass was tall and dense. Fearing there might be snakes, Chen Zhou was forced to stop.

After cutting off a branch, clearing the surrounding grass, digging a hole, and looking for firewood in the dark, he realized that he seemed to have forgotten to bring any lighting equipment.

It’s so dark. It would be convenient to light an oil lamp to make a fire and cook.

Now he has a lighter, which only takes one second to light. He doesn't have to hold the flint and knock it like before. The convenience of the oil lamp can be improved to a higher level.

But we have come so far, there is no point in talking after the fact. We can't just turn back home just for the oil lamp.

Chen Zhou casually grabbed some half-dry, half-wet leaves, took out his lighter, and soon built a bonfire.

Sitting on the ground, the nearby weeds surrounded him and Lai Fu like a low wall.

The fire, accompanied by smoke, became brighter and brighter.

I made a simple tripod out of branches and carved out a pair of chopsticks for future use.

I hung up the canning pot and poured half a bottle of water into it.

When the water boiled, he used a dagger to cut a few pieces of meat into the water, added some salt, and boiled a pot of broth.

Break off a piece of dough, soak it in the broth until soft and then eat it, while feeding the greedy Lai Fu from time to time.

After breakfast, he had been busy all day and only stopped to rest at this moment.

At this time, eat some hot food and eat two pieces of seal meat that are still chewy after being cooked, and your stomach and heart will feel comfortable.

The flames illuminated Chen Zhou's face, dyeing his messy hair and stubble red.

Although I was outdoors, I didn't feel cold.

Lai Fu stood on the grass, wagging his tail slightly, and staring at the dark forest - he was much more alert than usual.

The trees are tall and the Milky Way shines brightly in the sky.

After finishing his meal, Chen Zhou rubbed his stomach, leaned against a tree trunk, added some more firewood to the campfire, and gradually felt tired as he watched the flies and insects flying all over the sky and rushing towards the flames without hesitation.

He did not take off his clothes. He turned his body slightly to the side, put the axe next to him, and rested his head on his pocket. He slowly closed his eyes and soon began to snore.

Lai Fu turned his head and looked at his master who had fallen asleep, his body still upright.

The firelight reflected in its eyes, making it look more energetic.

Its big, bushy tail proudly lifted up on its butt. It took light steps and began patrolling around the grass that Chen Zhou had smoothed with a stick.

The light from the unattended campfire grew dimmer, the darkness in the forest grew thicker, and the birds and animals that hid during the day and came out at night began to move.

The rustling sound replaced the sound of burning wood and became the new melody.

Looking down from the sky, there is only a small fire and a faint yellow next to it in the silhouette of the forest canopies leaning against each other.

　感谢：他肯离开、书友尾号0833、书友尾号7614、关耳禾王山而、帝波罗神、书友尾号3007、niuyutu、白舸、书友尾号2167、明朝丶墨夕颜、此名称无法显示233、一席青衣1、书友尾号6084、桑桑胖、难忘却更难回头、于心诶、同学都谈恋爱了、寡人只白瓤、书友尾号8448、munin、祖贤是最美哒、书友尾号8595的月票，感谢各位支持！

　　
　
(End of this chapter)