Chapter 56: Forcing the Leopard Away

Chapter 56: Driving Away the Leopard (Seeking Collection)

Throughout the afternoon, Xu Yi finished processing the remaining small saplings and tied them into three bundles.

"Keke, it's time for us to head back."

Xu Yi called out in a loud voice because she had wandered quite a distance away from him.

However, she was still within sight.

After Xu Yi called out a few times, Su Keke did not hear him immediately.

Instead, she saw someone in the livestream chat mentioning that Xu Yi wanted her to return.

Thus, she started walking back toward the downstream area.

Meanwhile, Xu Yi shouldered a bundle of small saplings and headed back first.

This way, by the time Xu Yi made the return trip, Su Keke would have walked from the upstream to the downstream area.

At this time of day, the sun was still somewhat harsh.

Therefore, the wild beasts should not have started foraging yet.

Once the evening cooled down, they would become active.

Precisely because of this, Xu Yi dared to carry a bundle of saplings back alone first, before coming back to fetch Su Keke.

Even so, quite a few viewers in the livestream room scolded Xu Yi, saying he didn't care about Su Keke's safety and shouldn't have left her behind alone.

Naturally, while some criticized, others defended him.

Xu Yi couldn't be bothered to explain himself regarding these matters.

By the time he had carried the saplings back and returned, Su Keke had not yet reached the spot where she could climb ashore.

Xu Yi waited four or five minutes before Su Keke finally reached him, and he pulled her up onto the bank.

"Dad, I caught over a dozen crabs!"

With that, Su Keke pulled more than ten crabs out of her snakeskin shoulder bag.

These crabs were quite large, with bodies noticeably bigger than Su Keke's fists.

She had tied them up one by one with grass; otherwise, there would have been no way to fit them into the bag.

"It's a pity we don't have any seasonings. Otherwise, we could make some dipping sauce, and that would be heavenly."

Su Keke nodded in deep agreement. If they had seasonings, stir-frying the stream snails would undoubtedly taste exceptionally delicious.

This afternoon, not only did she catch eleven crabs, but she also foraged a whole basket of stream snails.

Xu Yi hung all her items onto his own body, and then let Su Keke cross the river via the single-log bridge first.

Once Su Keke made it across, Xu Yi shouldered the goods and crossed the single-log bridge back to the opposite bank.

Upon returning, Xu Yi told Su Keke to stay at the camp while he fetched some water to boil fish and crabs for her.

When he brought back the final bundle of saplings, the sky had already grown mostly dark.

However, Xu Yi did not stop.

He still needed to gather some deadwood so they would have enough firewood to burn through the night.

The two trees he had cut down were full of moisture and had not been chopped or split, making them difficult to burn.

Fortunately, there was plenty of deadwood nearby. Combined with the remaining battery on his phone, he managed to collect two bundles, which would be enough for their nighttime fire.

After finishing with the firewood and returning to camp, Su Keke had already finished boiling the fish soup and crabs.

It was still half a cassava root per person, accompanied by fish soup, fish meat, and crabs.

The portions were moderate, so neither of them overate. They left a portion behind, placing it in a basket submerged in the river to keep fresh.

"Keke, if we keep eating like this, I reckon we might put on a bit of weight, don't you think?"

After dinner, Xu Yi lay in his hammock, swaying gently—it was quite comfortable.

Both he and Su Keke were on the slender side. Xu Yi had always been busy making a living, so he never had time for fitness or bodybuilding.

Cassava was rich in starch, easy to digest, and supplemented by various meats.

Moreover, the heavy workload also led to an increased appetite.

Xu Yi had gradually grown accustomed to this intensity of physical labor; over the past two or three days, he hadn't even felt any muscle soreness.

This indicated that his body had adapted to these conditions.

Tonight, Xu Yi didn't plan on doing any more work.

After days of continuous exertion, he was somewhat tired.

[Number 1, you're going too far! Thousands of people are starving, and you actually want to gain weight?]
[Being able to gain weight in the wilderness makes you a true master! People like Bear and Ed always end up starved.]
[Go Number 1! Feed Keke until she's plump and white—she'll be even cuter.]
[Yeah, Keke is too thin; having a bit more meat is good. At her age, putting on some weight helps her grow taller.]

In the livestream chat, most people were talking about Su Keke.

Therefore, Xu Yi didn't pay much attention to the rest. He chatted with Su Keke for a while and then taught her how to read and write.

Along the way, he also taught her some simple addition and subtraction.

Even though they were in the wilderness, Su Keke's education could not be slacked off.

Once the challenge was completed, Su Keke would still have to go to school.

Even if Xu Yi possessed billions in net worth, he would never neglect Su Keke's education; in fact, he would pour even more money and resources into cultivating her.

So right now, he needed to lay a solid foundation for her.

That way, once she returned to the civilized world, she could keep pace with her peers.

After finishing her lessons, Xu Yi struck the pot one last time.

By now, its capacity had expanded a bit compared to when it first started. Currently, using it to stir-fry a small dish of vegetables would be no problem at all.

As for boiling water, it could probably hold well over six hundred milliliters.

Therefore, Xu Yi was extremely satisfied with this pot.

Tonight, both Xu Yi and Su Keke went to sleep relatively early.

The bonfire burned brightly, and the two of them slept soundly.

However, near daybreak, Xu Yi was awakened by a low growl.

A leopard, holding a large chunk of meat in its jaws, had appeared near their camp.

The moment Xu Yi woke up, the leopard was attempting to leap across the fire pit to attack him and Su Keke.

Xu Yi instantly grabbed his spear and thrust it directly at the leopard.

Unfortunately, the leopard was extremely agile and dodged the spear thrust instantly.

Xu Yi's attack didn't harm the beast, nor did the leopard cross the thermal zone created by the campfire.

Nevertheless, whenever the leopard tried to close in, Xu Yi would jab at it with his spear, preventing it from advancing.

Man and leopard stood in a standoff for about five or six minutes.

Realizing it could gain no advantage here with Xu Yi, the leopard picked up its chunk of meat and turned away, leaving directly.

Seeing that he had successfully driven it off, Xu Yi let out a heavy sigh of relief.

Only then did he realize that his back was completely soaked in sweat.

After catching his breath, Xu Yi muttered to himself:

"I wonder what kind of animal that meat came from, and how far away it was killed."

Xu Yi was deeply worried that the leopard had hunted an animal nearby.

If that were the case, it would inevitably attract even more predators to the area.

This campsite was still quite dangerous for the time being.

After all, they hadn't even finished building their shelter yet.

Stoking the campfire to burn brighter, Xu Yi took out the final two roots of cassava.

He roasted both of them—one to eat in the morning, and the other for the evening.

The fish had already been smoked and could be stored away as reserve rations.

As for today's fish trap, Xu Yi planned to check it a bit later.

The most important thing right now was the shelter.

Once the shelter was fully completed, they would have the time to deal with everything else.