Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 389: Chapter 244: The Collapsing Contestant

The moment the earthen wall collapsed, the clear stream water, driven by the terrain, surged through the opening. In the blink of an eye, it flowed over two meters and rushed with incredible speed toward the grid-like fields.

Lin Chen walked alongside the current, wanting to see if it would irrigate the entire farm as he had envisioned. If any part needed improvement, he could fix it on the spot.

After finishing the irrigation channel, the next step was to till the soil and sow the seeds.

He had never actually farmed before, so he wasn’t clear on the methods and techniques. He only knew that farmers liked to mound the soil where they planted seeds, creating raised beds with clear dips between them.

He didn’t understand the reasoning behind it, but he figured he couldn’t go wrong by copying the method.

First, he would till the entire plot of land surrounded by the main channel. Then, he’d pile all the soil he had dug out earlier into it, shaping it into a series of small, raised mounds. He also dug smaller channels in the gaps between each mound, connecting them all together.

This way, from a distance, the stream water divided the entire farm into a grid of square plots.

He didn’t have many types of edible plants on hand to grow in the fields—only chili peppers and potatoes, and perhaps some wild ginger.

He could plant the remaining space with things like coyote cilantro, lemongrass, and basil leaves, but that would have to wait until after he returned from a foraging trip in the forest.

Tree-like plants such as mango, soapnut, and allspice definitely couldn’t be planted in the field. Even if he planted them, heaven knows how many years it would take for them to mature, so he didn’t bother.

Besides, the parent trees were still there. They could handle the natural seeding process without his excessive intervention.

’It’s getting late. If I go into the mountains now, I might not find those plants right away. I’d better wait until tomorrow morning.’

’There are still a little over two hours until dark. What else should I do...’

In the past, he would have definitely chosen to lie down and rest.

But things were different now. With only eighteen days left, every contestant had entered the final stretch.

Two hours was enough time to weave a bamboo basket. He absolutely couldn’t waste it. He had to give that guy, Andre, the respect and attention he deserved.

And then there were the other contestants who hadn’t been eliminated yet, whereabouts unknown. Anyone who could survive this long after the migration was definitely no pushover.

Just as he sat on a wooden stump in front of his hut, pondering what to do next, the sound of leaves being trampled suddenly came from the nearby forest.

’Someone?!’

He frowned slightly, one sharp eyebrow arching in surprise as he looked in that direction.

’That’s the direction of the upstream part of the creek, where the channel is. Erica would definitely not come from this direction. I just saw Andre at noon, so he probably wouldn’t be coming over either.’

’Who could it be?’

He turned his head and saw a burly, thickly bearded man, also dressed in camouflage, staring at him from a distance with his mouth agape in disbelief.

Standing right beside him was the bamboo water channel Lin Chen himself had built.

"You’re... Lin? The only contestant from Great Xia?"

"That’s me," Lin Chen said, nodding as he stood up.

The man opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but then he glanced at the water channel beside him and the bamboo hut near Lin Chen. A bitter smile crossed his face.

He followed the channel down, and his eyes fell upon the farmland hidden behind the hut, the rest of the irrigation system, and the large piles of bamboo stacked inside and outside the structure.

"I thought I had a shot at the top three, but now it looks like I was getting ahead of myself. I never expected the seaside to have such abundant resources. No wonder you and Andre headed straight for the coast from the start."

Big Beard sighed and shook his head. He pulled a metal spoon hanging from a cord around his neck out from his collar and blew into it.

FWEEEE—

?

Lin Chen stared at him, confused, clearly not understanding what the man was doing.

’Did he really run all this way to my doorstep just to quit the competition?’

"It’s nice to meet you. You’re far more clever than we imagined. To think of using bamboo to channel water from a mountain spring right to your doorstep... a setup this convenient would save a ton of time."

After blowing his whistle to forfeit, the man visibly relaxed. Making no effort to hide his curiosity, he leaned right over the joints connecting the bamboo troughs, studying them intently. He was clearly trying to learn the technique.

Lin Chen didn’t stop him. It wasn’t as if the technique was a secret, but for people from regions where bamboo wasn’t a common building material, it was certainly a novel and useful piece of infrastructure.

Especially in a wilderness survival situation, it could solve a lot of problems and make life much easier.

Since the man had already quit, Lin Chen didn’t pay him any more mind. He walked straight into the hut, emerging with a long loop of rubber and his simple fishing spear.

With no intention of being secretive, he sat down on a pile of bamboo. He took his saw and cut a shallow groove around the spear shaft near the head, then a second one just below it.

Once the two grooves were cut, he easily peeled off the bark between them, revealing the pale-yellow wood of the core.

He then wrapped and secured the rubber loop in the groove, leaving about half its length dangling free.

????

Big Beard’s jaw dropped. He clearly hadn’t expected to see such a high-end tool out here.

’A metal spearhead and a rubber power band! Where on earth did this guy find these materials?!’

Lin Chen had only ever seen this type of fishing spear on wilderness survival shows. For a while, he had been a huge fan of *Law of the Jungle*, and this was the signature hunting tool of the Pangwan Clan Leader.