Starting from Robinson Crusoe-Chapter 74 - 26: Cave_4

Afraid of encountering danger on the road after dark, Chen Zhou hurriedly returned with Lai Fu. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He reheated yesterday’s leftover bird meat. The fishy smell was stronger today, yet Chen Zhou ate it with great relish.

Nearly a month had passed, and he could feel himself gradually becoming stronger.

After the last transport trip, the overload of physical labor had decreased.

Almost every day, he was running with a load, causing his weight to drop, but his physical condition improved instead.

His muscles no longer ached, and the scars on his body were slowly healing. Everything was heading in the right direction.

After dinner, Chen Zhou hung up a string of targets with a rope and began practicing with the matchlock gun and crossbow.

The sounds of gunshots echoed through the forest, startling the newly nesting birds to scatter in panic, flying out of the canopy like a shadowy cloud.

The wooden stick serving as a target was occasionally hit, sometimes merely brushed by the lead bullet.

Chen Zhou was continuously adapting to the primitive sights of the matchlock gun, feeling its trajectory while summarizing shooting experiences.

One lead bullet after another shot out rapidly, the recoil impacting his shoulder, making it increasingly sore. Finally, he put down the matchlock gun and picked up the crossbow.

While practicing with the crossbow, Chen Zhou realized that there were plenty of timber resources on the island, tendon from animals, and fish swim bladder glue were also available. He should try making some hunting bows and arrows.

The bow and arrow were more challenging to use than the crossbow, but it didn’t require effort to string, had a faster firing rate, and could seize fleeting opportunities in battle; it just required a massive amount of practice.

Conveniently, what he had in abundance now was time to practice.

Every shot from the crossbow reduced the lifespan of the crossbow arrow and bowstring. Chen Zhou focused intently, understanding the feeling of aiming to ensure that each shot showed improvement.

He stopped practicing before nightfall.

Now, he had a certain understanding of the trajectory of the matchlock gun and crossbow, estimating that given enough time to aim, he had a tenfold confidence in hitting a medium-sized stationary target within thirty meters.

As for moving prey, that would depend on luck.

As a novice hunter, he still had a lot of room for improvement in accuracy.

Shooting was a skill that relied on time and the accumulation of experience, not something that could be quickly mastered in just one or two hours.

After putting away the matchlock gun and crossbow, before sleeping, Chen Zhou checked on the situation in various supply shelters one by one.

Because the rain at noon wasn’t heavy, there wasn’t much water accumulated in the containers.

Even so, Chen Zhou still emptied the water before returning to the tent.

After the wooden door was removed, it hadn’t been installed yet, and the gentle breeze brushed against the hair on the bedding.

The little gray cat climbed out of the wooden box, trying to snuggle into the bedding. Chen Zhou flicked its forehead and shooed it off the bed.

He casually picked up a wedge-shaped piece of pine wood from the bedside table, feeling its fine texture. Suddenly inspired, Chen Zhou decided to make a special calendar out of the wood.

Every day, he would carve marks onto the surface of the wood.

A short mark represented a day, a deep long mark represented a week, and a cross-shaped short mark represented a month. Each piece of wood had three hundred and sixty-five marks.

During the twenty-eight years on the island, each year he would find a different kind of tree, and when the challenge ended, he would have twenty-eight unique calendars.

After the rain, the night inside the tent was not stuffy. The cool breeze made it difficult for Chen Zhou to sleep.

The thought of carving the calendar intensified. Tossing and turning, he couldn’t wait until the next morning. He covered himself with a blanket, lay by the bed, took out his dagger, counted the days, and marked the passage of time that belonged to him alone from top to bottom.

Between the sea and sky, the tide rose, the moon ascended, and a missing corner re-evolved into smoothness through the cycles.

Only the stars gazed indifferently at the mountains and forests.