But luckily, everything that needed to be said was said.
There was no need to dwell on this issue for too long!
In Shen Bing's opinion, although she lost her first time,
she gained five companions who could share weal and woe with her in desperation.
It was so worth it!
The key was that the other party was also a pure little boy, so she felt like she didn't lose out!
Some things, once laid out in the open, could be let go.
Overthinking was useless; braving the world and living on courageously was the real deal!
She picked up the stone axe and started grinding away forcefully, one stroke after another.
Lu Zhe also continued making the stone mortar.
His strength was great now, slowly wearing away to deepen the shallow pits on the round rock.
Next, he placed some sharp pebbles in the pits, and shoved one end of a piece of wood against them, pressing and twisting from side to side!
The powerful friction wore away more stone chips, and the pits grew deeper and deeper.
After two hours of continuous grinding, Lu Zhe had ground a bowl-sized, approximately 10 cm deep small pit into this rock!
Then he used a handful of sand to polish and wash the inside clean, and the mortar was done!
The rest was simple. He found a piece of wood and used the small circular blade pieces to whittle a pestle. He used sand to polish it smooth. A perfect set of stone mortar and pestle was made.
He gained some more potential points!
In the meantime, Shen Bing had sharpened the stone axe and put a point on the table knife. She was exhausted, with sore arms.
"Come take a look, how is it?"
Lu Zhe picked it up and looked it over: "Not bad!"
"Let me see yours!"
Lu Zhe handed over the mortar bowl to her.
Shen Bing couldn't help but be amazed: "Oh my god, how much strength did it take to grind such a large cavity out of this rock? What did you study before?"
"Finance major, and I also liked playing soccer, swimming, and figure skating!"
"Wow, I really wouldn't have guessed! Just looking at this bowl, I'd have thought you were into weightlifting."
Shen Bing thought of something: "Oh, that's right, Lu Zhe, are you interested in learning martial arts? Big sister can teach you!"
"No interest," said Lu Zhe.
In his opinion, right now they had no steady source of fresh water, no established farmland. He really had no mind to learn this stuff.
With his current strength five times that of a normal person, three times the stamina, and two times the reaction speed, taking care of three or five adults would be no problem.
Was there a need to spend time learning martial arts right now?
They could talk about it again once things stabilized.
He put the mortar bowl aside, and headed towards the woods with two plastic bags.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Just to the nearby area to pick some herbs to repel mosquitoes, otherwise we'll be covered in bites."
Shen Bing thought about it: "Well, I've got nothing to do, so I'll go with you!"
"Ok, we can pick more that way."
Once in the woods, Lu Zhe discovered some wild mint.
This plant could be eaten, and also had the effect of repelling mosquitoes and relieving itchiness.
Lu Zhe picked quite a few leaves.
At this moment, Shen Bing caught a whiff of a strange smell.
She couldn't say it was pleasant or unpleasant, just that it seemed odd.
Following the scent, she located a cluster of small white flowers.
"Oh, little Lu Zhe!"
"Hm?"
"Do you know what kind of flower this is?"
Lu Zhe reached out and touched it: "Ding, congratulations host, you've discovered wild spurge!"
"This is Euphorbia, it has the effect of repelling mosquitoes and bugs."
As he spoke, Lu Zhe picked the flowers and put them in the plastic bag.
"Spurge flowers..." Shen Bing thought for a moment: "I've heard this flower is quite lewd, could it be...?"
She immediately covered her nose: "Don't tell me this is the smell of a man's privates!"
Lu Zhe gave it a sniff and nodded: "That's right, the scent is quite similar, though this is even more pungent."
Shen Bing snorted out a laugh: "Oh, so you've smelled your own before!"
Lu Zhe was very candid: "Who isn't curious?"
Shen Bing held in her laughter: "Are you sure you want to smear something with this kind of smell all over several young girls?"
"Compared to being bitten by mosquitos all over, or letting horseflies burrow under your skin, I think applying it is the right choice! Besides, we can add some wild mint to neutralize the smell a bit. At least it'll smell more pleasant to us humans."
"Burrowing shelters under the skin... alright, I believe you!"
Shen Bing also helped Lu Zhe gather the flowers. She felt this boy was not only focused and capable, but also had an interesting spirit.
Back at the camp, Lu Zhe put the spurge flowers and wild mint into the mortar, poured in some coconut water, then used the pestle to pound away continuously.
Shen Bing watched him by the side.
No wonder he could survive on this deserted island with four girls for so long.
Looks like the guy really does have strong survival skills!
If he were just a few years older, wouldn't he be so much better?
Or if she herself were a few years younger.
She heaved a long sigh.
Before long, Lu Zhe had pounded the spurge flowers and wild mint into a light green medicinal paste. The system sent another prompt:
Obtained a new type of mosquito-repelling herbal medicine, potential points +1!
Lu Zhe applied the herbal paste onto himself and onto several spots on his clothes: "Want me to put some on you too?"
Shen Bing didn't hesitate: "Of course!"
She dug out a lump with her fingers and evenly spread it on her body too.
"Sis Bing, help apply it on the other girls too. In the meantime, pound some more mosquito medicine. I still need to make other tools."
"What else are you going to make?"
"Stone knives!"
"Don't we have axes already?"
"The key to survival next will definitely still be finding a steady source of water. To find water sources means entering the jungle. Walking through the jungle, it's inevitable to encounter tangled weeds and vines blocking the way. We must have knives that can hack through undergrowth."
The direction was right and the thinking clear!
Shen Bing nodded. She had a feeling that even if the most capable survival expert from the police station were to come to this deserted island, they might not necessarily do better than this boy.
Looks like she shouldn't flaunt her own pitiful survival skills either. Cooperating with him was the best choice.
"Alright, I'll pound more mosquito medicine."
Lu Zhe started earnestly searching for materials to make knives.
He needed to select the flat slab-like rocks from the diverse shapes of boulders, ideally finding layered rocks, breaking them open, and taking the hard inner layer to grind into blades.
This was also the most difficult part. Lu Zhe spent over an hour just chiseling the ring of small pits.
After chiseling one ring, he used the stone axe to lightly tap it. Before long, the excess parts broke off.
This way, Lu Zhe obtained a 30 cm long, 10 cm wide slab that was 2.5 cm thick at its thickest, with a slight curve to it.
Next was the grinding!
He splashed seawater onto the rock, then carefully ground the thinner side to put an edge on it. After three hours, one side had been ground to a blade!
Considering the durability of the stone knife, he didn't dare grind it too sharp.
The last step was making the handle!
He chopped a half-meter long, wrist-thick sapling, trimmed off the branches, peeled off the bark, then split it open from the side and wedged the stone blade into it.
He melted plastic shards, dripped the plastic into the crevices, pressed it tight, then tightly bound it with hemp rope.
And so, a primitive stone knife was made!