Culinary God in Wilderness

Chapter 403: Chapter 251: The Man-Eating Kingdom

Lin Chen soaked in the hot bath for a good half an hour, only reluctantly standing up after the water had completely cooled.

He grabbed two soapnuts and crushed them, working them into a lather to wash his hair before grabbing a few more to wash his body.

By the time he got out of the water, he felt ten pounds lighter, his whole body feeling wonderfully airy.

It was still morning. Even though he’d only been awake for a few hours, his eyelids were drooping uncontrollably. It felt as if he could close his eyes and fall asleep instantly.

’Looks like the hot bath released all the fatigue my body has accumulated. That’s good. Once I’m well-rested, I’ll be back in peak condition in no time.’

He stopped worrying about making the bow and simply listened to his body, lying down on his bed to sleep.

Waking up in the middle of the night to go diving every few days had recently taken its toll. For a man with one foot already in his thirties, he really needed to rest up to get his energy back.

He slept straight through to the next morning.

When he sat up in bed and stared at his watch, he thought he was hallucinating.

’Did I freaking sleep for a whole day and night?’

It was a little after four in the morning, with less than two hours to go until sunrise.

He wasn’t the least bit sleepy. Despite having just woken up, he felt as alert as if he’d just downed a cup of coffee.

Since it wasn’t light out yet and thus not a good time to be active outside, he immediately began rummaging through his pile of bamboo, trying to find a few pieces suitable for making a bow.

’My plan is simple. Find a suitable piece of bamboo that’s strong and flexible, and feels good to hold. Then I’ll use fire to bend the ends into the shape of a bow.’

’Then I’ll use the rubber rings I scavenged from the shipwreck to make a bowstring of a suitable length. Lastly, I’ll make some sharp arrows.’

Making the bow wasn’t too difficult for him at this point. The real challenge was making the arrows.

For one, the arrow shafts had to be perfectly straight. The arrowheads needed to be attached separately and sharpened. And he had to make sure there wasn’t much variation between each arrow, or they’d easily fly off-target when shot.

In just over half an hour, a decent-looking bamboo bow was finished.

He drew it a few times, adjusting the string tension until it felt right. Then, he picked up a straight bamboo twig to use as a makeshift arrow and aimed at a target of bundled bamboo leaves he’d set up on the ground nearby.

TWANG—

The bowstring vibrated.

The bamboo twig traced a yellow line through the air before wobbling and sticking into the edge of the target.

’As expected. It’s just not right without an arrowhead and fletching. I wonder if I need to sand the shafts, too... What a pain.’

The very thought of having to sand down the entire length of every single arrow made him want to give up on the spot.

Sharpening two bamboo knives had been exhausting enough. Now he had to work on even more delicate bamboo arrows, and he’d need at least five—ten, to be safe. Wasn’t that just asking to be worked to death?

He even started to wonder if he should use bamboo or tree branches for the arrows. He’d have to experiment with both to decide.

Before officially starting, he didn’t forget to pull up the system’s exchange list for a quick look.

’I’ve saved up 23 Happiness Points. That’s enough for two knowledge-type rewards or one skill. As for knowledge, I already have the Reptile Compendium, and the others don’t seem very useful right now.’

’As for skills, with the weapons I have, the only ones that might be useful are Basic Long Blade Mastery or Basic Axe Mastery, but I doubt they’d be a big help for my bamboo knives.’

’What other weapons can I use... let me see...’

’A slingshot? That would probably only work on small prey.’

’A Blowgun? That’s probably for the same type of target.’

He scanned the list but found no better inspiration, so he decided against making an exchange and chose to save his points for an emergency.

While he was focused on polishing the bamboo arrows, Erica tiptoed up to the bamboo house. Instead of going to the front door, she came to the side window, curiously poking her head in to see what Lin Chen was up to.

"Stop hiding. I heard your footsteps a while ago."

Lin Chen said without looking up.

"I wasn’t hiding. I made noise on purpose so you’d hear me."

She rested her upper body on the windowsill. "What are you working on so early in the morning? Bamboo?"

"Arrows."

"Are you going to shoot the crocodiles with a bow?"

"It’s my only option. I don’t think traps will work on something their size."

"I suppose so."

Lin Chen fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly put down the bamboo arrow, its surface now polished smooth.

"It’s so early the sun isn’t even up. Why are you over here instead of sleeping?"

He glanced at the time: 5:30 AM.

’This doesn’t fit her usual routine, does it?’

Erica didn’t answer. She glanced at the camera he had set up nearby, aimed at the bamboo arrow, and tilted her head.

"Hm?"

Lin Chen paused, taken aback. It was the first time he’d ever seen her act so serious.

’She wants to talk to me away from the camera?’

Her gesture proved that whatever she wanted to discuss was definitely not suitable for the camera.

His gaze shifted down, and sure enough, he couldn’t see the familiar glint of a camera on her chest.

’Don’t tell me she left it behind entirely?’

He figured there wouldn’t be many viewers online at this hour, but it would still be hard to explain an abrupt, lengthy absence from the camera’s view.

He quickly came up with a suitable excuse. He put down the finished bamboo arrow, walked over to grab a handful of dried potato strips, and went outside. After spreading them evenly on the grill rack, he aimed the camera at them.