"Did you see any crocodiles or pythons?"
"The water is very clear and deep, and there are a lot of fish. I don't think crocodiles and pythons are too fond of this kind of lake. They tend to be more active on mudflats and puddles. Even if they come close, they usually stay near the shore."
Shen Bing nodded, "Come up quickly. Let me see if there are any leeches on you."
Lu Zhe climbed up. There really was one, but despite its best efforts, it still hadn't managed to pierce Lu Zhe's skin.
Lu Zhe plucked off the leech and casually tossed it into the fire.
"What kind of fish did you see?"
"Many. With the naked eye I could see at least ten species, but there are definitely more than that. Most of them are edible."
"It seems this lake really is a treasure!"
Lu Zhe wiped himself off with a rag, "If we can get rid of the pythons and crocodiles, this will become our fish pond and water reservoir."
"Should we kill them all?"
Lu Zhe pondered, "I'll have a talk with them first. If I can persuade them to leave, that would be best. If I really can't convince them, then we'll have to kill them. It's not humane, but there's no other way."
Shen Bing nodded, "Hunting them can certainly increase the safety of our camp. Otherwise, imagine them casually wandering in from time to time - forget about those girls, it makes me feel scared just thinking about it. But would doing this disrupt the island's ecological balance?"
Lu Zhe shook his head, "Although carnivores can hunt herbivores to maintain the island's ecological balance, our presence can completely replace them. I'm just worried there will be too many herbivores reproducing later, making it very difficult for us to hunt them."
"So I think it's best to keep some predators that pose relatively low danger to humans. Otherwise, we might not be able to hunt them as fast as they reproduce."
Lu Zhe nodded, "Yeah, let's eat something and head back. Don't make them worry by making them wait too long."
Shen Bing took out a piece of mutton, preparing to roast it and eat with Lu Zhe. But Lu Zhe's expression suddenly hardened as he made a "shh" gesture.
Did you notice something?
Lu Zhe pointed in one direction!
Shen Bing turned to look:
"A rooster..."
That's right!
Thirty meters away on a dirt slope stood a great red rooster!
With its red comb, gorgeous feathers, apart from being even more colorful, its appearance was no different than a domestic rooster.
Shen Bing stared dumbfounded!
If she had seen a wild chicken in the woods, she wouldn't have found it surprising at all. But seeing a domestic chicken, what can you say?
"Someone must have raised that right?"
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful raised chicken?"
"Then it's..."
"Let's catch it first, watch me shoot it!"
As he spoke, Lu Zhe drew his bow, aiming at the rooster.
But just then, he noticed another predator.
A figure flashed lightning fast, nimbly pouncing on the chicken!
The chicken was completely unprepared and was immediately pinned under it, flapping its wings and squawking loudly.
Lu Zhe and Shen Bing both saw clearly.
A clouded leopard!
It was actually a clouded leopard!
Although small in size, clouded leopards are born hunters.
It didn't give the chicken any chance to resist, instantly plunging its two fangs into the chicken's body. It looked like the chicken wasn't going to make it, desperately flapping its wings in its death throes.
At that moment, Lu Zhe suddenly shouted and rushed out, throwing a large piece of crocodile meat at the leopard.
He didn't hit it, but it did startle the leopard.
Its innate sensitivity and suspicion, along with an inherent fear of humans, made it timid.
It decisively let go of the chicken, backing up a few steps before turning and darting into the woods.
"Brother Leopard, don't go. I have more to say!"
It would have been better not to say this, because the leopard left even more decisively after hearing it.
It leapt up into a tree and disappeared in a few jumps.
"So that's a clouded leopard..."
"Yeah, a small leopard cat, a born hunter."
"I've heard it can even kill Tibetan mastiffs."
"Forget Tibetan mastiffs, some wolves can't even beat it. Its mouth can open to the largest angle of any cat, and its long fangs can easily kill predators much larger than itself. I don't know why it has such a deep inherent fear of humans."
Shen Bing thought for a moment, "I actually feel its instincts for danger are quite accurate."
"Accurate how? Do we pose any danger?"
"Don't we?"
"Of course not! I was originally going to make a deal with it, trading that crocodile meat for the chicken. But it left without taking anything, completely wasting my goodwill."
Shen Bing smiled, "It may have asked the other animals here."
"There must be some misunderstanding, but I believe in time they will truly understand what kind of person I am."
After speaking, Lu Zhe picked up the dying chicken.
Information about this chicken appeared in his mind!
Red junglefowl: forages on the ground but capable of flight, roosts in trees at night. Range includes the Indian subcontinent, southern temperate regions, tropical coasts, and Southeast Asian islands.
The ancestor of the domestic chicken.
Lu Zhe was elated, "This isn't an ordinary chicken, but the ancestor of domestic chickens. The chickens our ancestors raised were domesticated from these junglefowl."
Shen Bing nodded, "I see, I thought there were still people living on this island!"
"The harvest today is significant. Let's eat this rooster first when we get back. Once the camp is stable, we'll catch a few hens and raise them in the yard. That way we can regularly eat chicken and eggs."
"Can it fly away since it has wings? How will we raise it?"
"Simple. We'll pluck its flight feathers so it can't fly anymore, only jump around and lay eggs for us."
As he spoke, Lu Zhe put away the chicken.
The two returned to camp.
By the time they got back it was already dark.
The four girls were still waiting at the camp for them to eat dinner. Without Lu Zhe and Shen Bing returning, none of them could eat.
This feeling of having someone waiting for you is indescribable.
The girls were all extremely surprised to see the chicken. Only after Lu Zhe's explanation did they understand why such a creature would appear on the island.
That night, they roasted acorns, and also stewed mushrooms with the rooster. The six feasted happily.
August 6th, Saturday, the 58th day shipwrecked on the deserted island.
Thanks to the girls' constant hard work, the protective netting was finally finished weaving.
By then, the watermelon seeds in the ceramic basin had sprouted. They would be ready for transplanting in over twenty days.
The papaya, cantaloupe, and strawberry seeds needed more time to germinate.
No worries. In order not to delay the planting schedule,
Lu Zhe prepared to first plant some crops as the first residents of the experimental farm!
That afternoon, Lu Zhe put up the protective netting at the base of the volcano, and transplanted one loquat tree, one lemon tree, ten wild turnips, and over twenty chili pepper seedlings into the experimental farm.
After a period of time, once the mint and chili peppers started growing normally, and the loquats ripened without being stolen, they could plant important crops like sweet potatoes.
August 7th, Sunday, the 59th day shipwrecked.
Lu Zhe began trimming the banyan tree, preparing to rebuild the shelter and put the living space up in the tree.