Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

Having solved the most critical freshwater problem, Gulang began to explore horizontally, searching for a suitable location to establish a camp.

When setting up camp in the wild, there are five key points to consider: wind protection, flood protection, rockfall protection, drainage, and resources.

The prevailing winds in the Zhoushan Islands, where he is currently located, are from the southeast and northwest.

Therefore, the campsite should be set up on the leeward side of the island's south side, using the island's mountains as a natural barrier to withstand the currently most frequent northerly winds.

This is also why he chose to moor his yacht on the south side of the island.

This beach is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the surrounding vegetation effectively reduces wind speed.

In addition, when choosing a specific location, it should not be too close to the valley or waterway.

To prevent flash floods, dampness, and animal disturbances.

At the same time, avoid the area below steep cliffs to prevent falling rocks.

We also need to find a place that is relatively flat, dry, and well-drained.

Ideally, it should be rich in resources and have a wide field of vision, making it convenient for observation and defense.

Gu Lang returned to the beach and began exploring in the southwest direction.

Not far along, we saw more and more marine debris being pushed ashore by the tide.

Wooden planks, bamboo poles, buoys, plastic buckets, broken fishing nets, foam floats...

Eventually, at a small cove at the western end of the beach, the trash piled up into a small hill.

Gu Lang drew an exclamation mark on the map and marked the place as a "building materials market".

Trash is just a resource in the wrong place; these things might come in handy later.

However, this place is located within the tidal zone, so it is obviously not suitable for camping.

So he collected some wood and dried it for later use.

They then turned around and explored in the northeast, where the terrain was higher.

He rounded a sparse thicket of bushes and found an ideal spot.

This place is located on a slightly raised terrace in the middle and lower part of the hillside, backed by a rock wall more than 2 meters high.

Facing south is a patch of reeds, and the sea can be glimpsed in the distance.

The terrain is relatively flat, with a slight slope that facilitates drainage.

The ground is composed of hard soil and gravel, making it difficult for water to accumulate.

The location is about a 5-minute walk from the water source, making it not too difficult to fetch water while maintaining a safe distance.

"With a view in front and support behind, this is the place."

Gulang decided to establish a temporary shelter here.

They began clearing weeds and shrubs from the ground with entrenching tools to level the land.

Just as he was clearing the roots of a particularly dense clump of bushes, the tip of his shovel suddenly hit something hard.

Digging through the soil and fallen leaves, he discovered some heavy pottery jars half-buried in the ground, their mouths covered with earthenware bowls.

A bad feeling welled up inside me.

Carefully lift the ceramic bowl on one of the jars and shine your headlamp inside.

Inside the jar were piles of grayish-white bones that clearly belonged to humans and looked quite ancient.

"It is indeed a place with excellent feng shui; people are already living here."

Gu Lang remained silent for a few seconds before gently putting the lid back on the ceramic bowl.

"Excuse me, seniors, I'm sorry to bother you."

He stood up, bowed to the jars, and then walked around to continue clearing the land.

The custom of secondary burial is widespread along the southeastern coast, and it is quite normal to encounter ceramic jars containing bones on islands.

This custom is also called bone-collecting burial or bone-picking burial. The islanders will first bury the body in the ground or temporarily place it in a suitable location.

After the body has decomposed, the bones are collected, cleaned, and placed in an urn for permanent burial.

For maritime peoples who historically migrated frequently across islands, using ceramic jars to collect the remains of their loved ones made them easy to carry with them during migrations.

Gulang cleared out a space of about 10 square meters, by which time it was already dark.

He began moving the first batch of necessities: tents, sleeping bags, tools, some weapons, and a small amount of food.

After setting up the tents and tarpaulin, cover the supply storage area with a waterproof tarpaulin.

Gu Lang found another old fish trap in the garbage dump, made some simple repairs, picked up a few sesame snails from the rocks, smashed them, and stuffed them into the net as bait.

Finally, after tying it up with a rope, it was thrown into the sea.

By this time, his body was exhausted to the limit. After eating some compressed biscuits, he crawled into the tent and fell fast asleep.

When Gu Lang woke up the next day, he felt that he hadn't slept well. There were sounds of ghosts howling and wolves wailing around the campsite the night before.

Even when staying in a sheltered spot, the sea breeze on the island is still very strong.

He yawned, fetched water to wash up, and then found a stainless steel basin and went to the reef.

It's low tide now, so we need to hurry and go beachcombing, and also check on last night's catch.

There were no crabs in the trap, but a yellowish-brown sea fish slithered in.

As far as he knew, most of the seafood in the East China Sea was edible, and only a handful were poisonous.

For example, common species like pufferfish and whelks can cause pufferfish poisoning if ingested.

The less common blue-ringed octopus and Portuguese man-of-war are even more dangerous.

It is dozens of times more potent than cobra venom; accidentally stepping on it could lead to poisoning and death.

However, the fish in front of him looked very familiar to Gu Lang.

With a swift motion, he sliced ​​off all the long, hard spines from the fish's back, chest, belly, and tail fin.

I counted them, and there were exactly 16.

"There really are sixteen fish! This fish is delicious. I've decided on you for breakfast."

The sixteen-striped sea bream, also known as the sixteen-striped sea bream, is a very common and delicious seafood along the coast of China.

After stuffing the removed internal organs into the net, Gu Lang threw the fish trap back into the sea.

After carefully searching the reef, in addition to the sesame snails we found yesterday, we also found some horseshoe snails and barnacles.

There are still traces of hammering around, which suggests that someone may have dug there in the past.

Since the remaining ones are too small, they are not worth the effort to collect and eat.

Gu Lang decided to keep it for the time being and continue to use it as bait in the future.

As he stood on the reef gazing at his surroundings, a small platform could be faintly seen on the distant shore.

Upon closer inspection, there was a sign standing there.

"Xizhai Island Marine Ranch Demonstration Zone Project?"

Gu Lang wiped away the mud and sand on the surface with his hand, revealing the small characters below.

"The project was launched in November 2023 and is located in the waters south of Xizhai Island."

The total area is 3 hectares, with a total investment of 1100 million yuan, and a total of 1500 stacked HUT-enhanced artificial reefs were deployed...."

At the end, the signature reads "Zhejiang Provincial Marine Fisheries Research Institute".

"No wonder it was so easy to catch fish, turns out I've been stuck in the beginner's area. Now I don't have to be a loser anymore."

On his way back to camp, he saw several more plastic buoys being floated up on the beach.

When I turned it over, I saw that the bottom was covered with large pieces of mussels.

Gu Lang smiled as he soaked the buoy in the seawater, peeled off the mussels with a knife, washed them, and then threw them into a basin for storage.

On one of the buoys, a "golden legend" was even revealed—an oyster.

"Well, lunch is ready. The produce here is so plentiful."

After building a stove with stones and starting a fire, he happily cooked a pot of seafood stew.