After a busy morning, we were already ravenous. Wang Yan made fried eggs, grilled sturgeon, and cooked snake soup, adding some tender leeks to it. With the addition of salt, these foods became incredibly delicious. Our meal was the most abundant we had ever had. Wang Yan carefully steamed and cooked the snake gall for me; although it was hard to eat, I managed to swallow it. After lunch, we sat together to discuss our plans for the afternoon. Zhang Xi'er, despite having drunk two big bowls of snake soup, would rather die than follow me back into the bamboo forest. Jiang Dandan was also unwilling to join us in the bamboo forest, citing the fear of being bitten by poisonous snakes, to save Lin Xian'er and me the trouble of finding antidotal herbs for her. I looked down on Jiang Dandan's reason. The salt fields had already been built, and all that was needed was to wait for the wind and sun to crystallize the crude salt; boiling the salt was just a matter of gathering firewood, which was quite easy, much less strenuous than doing hard labor in the bamboo forest. Xia Lan and Lin Xian'er volunteered to come with me, both understanding that to maintain the stability of our small group, it was not the time to quibble over who did more or less work. I took the military knife, axe, and water bottle, and set off with Xia Lan and Lin Xian'er towards the bamboo forest. Upon arriving at the bamboo forest, Xia Lan's face lit up with joy at the sight of the towering bamboo, exclaiming, 'This bamboo is wonderful; we can make a lot of bamboo furniture in the future!' I nodded and said, 'The priority is to use these bamboo to build a fence first, so our cave will be safer.'

Lin Xian'er glanced at me and said, 'These bamboo shoots have a very vigorous growth, we can transplant some to block near the cave, which can increase the secrecy of our cave. If the savages come to this island again, they won't be able to find us easily.' I looked at Lin Xian'er and sighed deeply. The sacrificial pits left by the savages and those mysterious runes have been troubling me, making me restless. None of us knew when the savages would come to this island again. Xia Lan seemed to sense what I was worried about and said, 'Let's just get to work, there's no use worrying about something that hasn't happened yet.' I nodded and started to chop with the axe. The thumping sounds scared away the bamboo rats living in the bamboo forest, they looked panicked, as if the end of the world had come, wondering if any unlucky ones would fall into my trap. Recently, I've found my physique getting better and better, I didn't feel too tired even after chopping down three bamboo shoots. I used a military knife to cut off the excess branches and leaves, and then processed them with an axe into pieces as high as my chest. After processing, Xia Lan and Lin Xian'er carried them back. 'Lu Yuan, take a break!' Xia Lan said, handing over the water bottle. I stopped my axe, took the water bottle from Xia Lan, took a sip, and let out a long sigh, asking, 'How much bamboo have we transported back?' 'About one sixth, we don't need to rush.'

Xia Lan said. I took another sip of water, picked up the axe, and continued to chop bamboo, saying, 'I can't afford not to be anxious. Lin Xian'er's words today reminded me.' 'Are you worried about the wild men?' Xia Lan asked. I nodded, and with a crash, the bamboo fell. 'We have guns in our hands, what are you afraid of?' Xia Lan comforted. I looked at Xia Lan, took a deep breath, and said, 'We might be able to handle one or two wild men, but what about a whole group?' Xia Lan looked at me with interest and asked, 'If we were both captured by wild men, who would you save first?' 'I wouldn't save anyone,' I said very seriously. Her expression was slightly stunned, and she looked at me with disappointment. I voiced my worst-case scenario, 'I will die with you.' Xia Lan fell into a silence, and Lin Xian'er returned from not far away, looking as if she had gone to relieve herself. Xia Lan glanced back at Lin Xian'er and then said, 'You have to promise me to survive, I will soon make you get Wang Yan.' I looked at Xia Lan and said, 'I am curious, what exactly did you say to Xi'er?' Xia Lan looked at me and said, 'That's not important, you need to be careful of Jiang Dandan.' Jiang Dandan's words 'Perhaps others don't think like you do' echoed in my ears, and I looked at Xia Lan with surprise. She was chatting so enthusiastically with Jiang Dandan at noon today, so why is she now warning me to be careful of her? 'Why?' I asked. Xia Lan said unequivocally, 'I hate it when people ask me why.' Lin Xian'er looked at me blankly, very surprised by Xia Lan's serious expression.

I spat into my hand and continued to chop the bamboo. Around dusk, we stopped felling and transporting. Xia Lan and Lin Xian'er looked weary, but I only felt a bit of soreness in my arms, not as tired as they were. I checked the traps I had set and indeed caught some bamboo rats, a total of five. One was larger in size, likely a female and pregnant, while the other four were males. These bamboo rats were big and plump, a rare delicacy. I tied their legs, feet, and heads with the remaining rope. Xia Lan and Lin Xian'er found a stick to carry the larger one, while I carried the four smaller ones back to the cave. Seeing us return with the bamboo rats, Zhang Xi'er jumped excitedly. She hugged my neck and kissed me on the cheek, saying, "Brother Lu Yuan, you're so awesome, you're literally my idol." I coughed awkwardly, and Zhang Xi'er immediately realized that Wang Yan and the others were watching her. A blush appeared on her cheeks, and she stuttered, "That, I, I, got excited." I smiled and patted her head, saying, "Little glutton." I glanced secretly and saw that although Wang Yan was smiling faintly, her eyes were filled with suspicious scrutiny. Jiang Dandan had a mischievous grin, Xia Lan looked helpless. Lin Xian'er was indifferent, her gaze almost murderous, making me feel uneasy. To ease the awkwardness, Xia Lan lightly flicked Zhang Xi'er's head and said, "Hurry up and help your sister Wang Yan deal with two bamboo rats. Tonight we'll have a bamboo rat feast." I handed the two bamboo rats in my hand to Zhang Xi'er and passed the military knife to Wang Yan.

Zhang Xier went to deal with the bamboo rats with high spirits along with Wang Yan. 'What should we do with these three bamboo rats?' Lin Xian'er asked, her tone a bit cold. I glanced at the bamboo that had been transported back and said, 'Let's build a nest later and keep them for now.' Lin Xian'er nodded, and we reinforced and tied up the bamboo rats again, placing them at the entrance of the cave. Jiang Dandan was very careful boiling the clams, she glanced at Lin Xian'er, then looked at me. We all sat down in front of the fire, Xia Lan and Lin Xian'er massaging their shoulders, looking very tired.