LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 462 - 459 Reserve a Spot
Chapter 462: Chapter 459 Reserve a Spot
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Leonardo stripped the branches and leaves off the rattan and wrapped both ends around his hands, fixing the middle section into the groove of the saw board.
Taking a deep breath, he began to rub vigorously.
But right from the start, Leonardo realized it was far from as simple as he had thought it might be, for some reason every rub was awkward and stuttered, there was no smooth feeling whatsoever.
At this rate, let alone starting a fire, it was difficult to even accumulate a bit of heat.
“Oh my god, this is nothing like what I thought…” Leonardo increased the force in his hands, but the situation didn’t improve, instead, it became even more jerky.
Bi Fang reminded from the side, “Don’t apply full force, pull the rattan tight, apply the force longitudinally, don’t put too much pressure initially, the pressure should gradually increase with the accumulation of heat. Think of it like the blade of a saw, it’s firm and won’t break.”
Leonardo wiped the sweat off his forehead, adjusted his posture, and pulled again. This time it was a lot better, but there were still stutters.
“Each stutter means a dissipation of heat,” Bi Fang shook his head. Fire-making isn’t something you learn after watching once or being taught once, it requires a wealth of accumulated experiences.
Experience needs to be personally accumulated; you can’t learn it just by studying.
Regrettably, Leonardo didn’t seem to have much of a knack for wilderness survival skills. After rubbing for over ten minutes, he managed only to minimize stutters, far from building up enough heat to start a fire.
People inside the first pavilion were chattering away.
“Is it really that hard?”
“Of course, do you think making a fire outdoors is so easy?”
“I want to try it, too.”
The crowd on-site seemed eager to give it a go, considering fire-making by wood-drilling and pump fire-making were too troublesome, the fire saw method seemed very simple.
“Of course, do you think making a fire outdoors is so easy?”
“I want to try it, too.”
The crowd on-site seemed eager to give it a go, considering fire-making by wood-drilling and pump fire-making were too troublesome, the fire saw method seemed very simple.
And raw materials were easy to find, aren’t bamboos everywhere?
Wouldn’t almost every hilltop have them?
“Bamboo strips and rattan for sale, fifty yuan per set, experience the fire saw method on the spot!”
Just as people were considering trying it out when they got home, an ill-timed shout rang out from outside the door.
A staff member pulled a cart full of bamboo and hollered, “Experience the fire saw method on-site, fifty yuan for one set of materials!”
Everyone: “…”
“Give me a set!”
“Me too!”
“That was quick, count me in too!”
Until his arms were sore and swollen, Leonardo couldn’t manage to accumulate effective heat, and he had to stop for a break, “I can’t anymore, this is too tough.”
“That’s normal, the first time is always like this. Do it successfully a few times, and you will gain experience,” said Bi Fang, flipping over red clay on the stone slab with bamboo strips. After more than ten minutes, the damp red clay had started to crack and dry, indicating that it would soon turn into powder.
But Leonardo didn’t give up, he shook his hands to relax his muscles, grabbed the rattan, and continued sawing!
Ten more minutes had passed, and at last, white smoke began to rise from the bamboo board!
Leonardo instantly became excited, “Hey, did you see that? Did you see that? It’s smoking, the saw board is smoking!”
“Yeah, I saw it,” Bi Fang nodded in encouragement, “But the real challenge begins after the smoke appears. What you need is charcoal embers, not just smoke.”
Another quarter of an hour went by, and the smoke coming from Leonardo’s hands remained pitifully scant, barely there, as if silently telling him to try a little harder, try a little harder, and soon there would be embers.
But reality was always cruel. After spending a full hour, Leonardo had still failed to start a fire. The thought of Bi Fang effortlessly igniting flames within a mere two to three minutes inevitably brought a sense of defeat flooding into his heart.
At that moment, Leonardo’s forearms were sore and swollen, even trembling slightly.
Meanwhile, Bi Fang had obtained the dry powder state of red clay. He moved the stone slab to the side, waiting for the dry powder to cool. Then he pulled the old fan leaves out of the funnel, replaced them with new ones, and poured the red dry powder inside.
“We’ve got the red powder ready. In a moment, we’ll find a clean water source to mix it with before application. Moreover, for better effect, we can add some strongly scented herbs to it. This can effectively mask our scent and prevent us from being targeted by some ferocious beasts,” Bi Fang said.
It was at this time that a barrage of complaining comments caught Bi Fang’s attention.
[I also failed, boohoo.]
[I sawed for over ten minutes and didn’t even see any smoke.]
[I’ve spent three hundred yuan… and didn’t even see a spark.]
[I heard someone next door succeeded… The coach from the club is showing them the fire saw method.]
[Just a faint wisp of white smoke… I feel like a loser, while the sawboard is like a girl, leading me on with its elusive hints…]
[This club’s manager is really a genius, making money off a bunch of bamboo.]
[Damn, I really want to try it too, regret not grabbing a ticket now.]
What’s going on?
Bi Fang was stunned; he scrolled through the comments, looking utterly bemused.
This was too showy, wasn’t it? How could this be?
He had never anticipated the club could pull off such a stunt.
Without a doubt, this scheme was concocted by Yao Jun. The moment Bi Fang acquired the bamboo, Yao Jun had thought of raising participants’ involvement in this way.
You’re really a genius.
Bi Fang thought to himself.
“The red clay is ready. How about it, do you want to keep trying?” Bi Fang, carrying the funnel on his back, looked at Leonardo with a smile, who was still diligently pulling the saw.
Leonardo sighed deeply and threw the vine and bamboo board onto the ground, “I might not have the talent for this.”
After restoring the fire pit to its original state, Bi Fang took two pieces of charcoal for easy fire-making next time, then gestured with his hand: “Let’s go, we need to continue searching for a water source.”
This time along the way, Bi Fang’s gaze became even more meticulous. He was trying to find some herbal medicine that could repel mosquitoes, which could be mixed into the red clay later.
“There are many common mosquito-repelling herbs, such as mugwort, which, except for extremely arid and cold regions, is almost ubiquitous in Huaxia,” Bi Fang poked around a bush with a stick. After a huge centipede woke up from the shrubbery and scurried away, he bent down to pick a plant and sniffed it near his nose.
The fragrance was very strong.
“Besides that, there are honeysuckle and perilla leaves, which are also very common mosquito-repelling herbs. You don’t need much; around ten grams is enough.” Putting the mugwort into the funnel bag at his waist, Bi Fang explained.
He was carrying three funnel bags on him now, two around his waist and a larger one on his back, filled with red clay powder.
His overall image blended more and more with the rainforest.