Bringing the farm to another world

Chapter 15458 Wooden Drum
After eating the roasted snake meat, Shi Jie said, "Let's take turns resting. At least one person needs to keep watch at night, otherwise it's too unsafe. Our cultivation has been sealed, and our strength has been greatly reduced. We must be extra careful." None of them objected, and Shi Jie arranged the order of everyone keeping watch. Then, they all began to rest.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, the group got up early, ate some wild fruits and the remaining snake meat, and then continued on their way. This time, they not only wanted to move forward, but also to gather some wild game or find other food. They also arranged for someone to knock on trees. They found that this method could indeed help them find their companions.

After walking for about an hour, they heard a response. The group quickly went over and found that the other party was also a small team of six. The two teams merged into one, with Shi Jie still as the captain. The main force continued forward. During that day, they encountered quite a few teams. By evening, their team had grown to more than a hundred people. They had also found quite a few wild animals along the way, so they had a night's meal.

Over the next few days, they encountered more and more people. Finally, on the tenth day, their group had grown to ten thousand people, and they had a captain. Now they could be considered a large army. At the same time, they emerged from the forest and discovered that there was a beach not far away. On the beach, there was another group of several thousand people. The two groups naturally joined together.

After they reunited, the two captains and several squad leaders gathered together to discuss what to do next, since they had a mission this time. Shi Jie was a squad leader, so he was qualified to attend the meeting. One of the captains was named Ji Lei, and the other was named Qu Guang.

Ji Lei is in his thirties and is a body cultivator with formidable strength. Although his cultivation is currently sealed, his strength remains considerable thanks to his physical body. Qu Guang, on the other hand, is a sword cultivator with considerable strength. However, his cultivation is also sealed, and he doesn't have a sword. Nevertheless, he has crafted a wooden sword. Despite its wooden nature, no one dares to underestimate him. Sometimes, sword cultivators rely on sword intent rather than cultivation level.

Ji Lei glanced at the group of people, then said, "I called everyone here today to ask you what we should do next. Does anyone have any ideas? If so, please speak up." After saying that, he looked at everyone and waited for their answers.

The group looked at each other, none of them speaking. Ji Lei wasn't in a hurry, waiting for everyone to speak. At this moment, Shi Jie spoke up: "Captain, let me share my thoughts. I think there are two things we should do right now. First, find the others, or get them to come and gather here. Second, with so many of us, we must divide the work and establish a base. Our ultimate goal is to leave this place, and this is a good location. It's close to the forest, and to leave the island, we need to build a boat. Being close to the forest will make it easier for us to cut down trees and build a boat. But we must divide the work. We need someone specifically to collect food and water, and we also need to build some shelter. We can't let everyone live in the open all the time. If it rains, it will be unbearable for everyone. So I think these two things are the most important things right now."

Upon hearing Shi Jie's words, Ji Lei and Qu Guang both nodded. Qu Guang said, "I agree. Establishing a base, finding food, and building shelter so everyone can survive are among our most important tasks. As for gathering the others here, that's also necessary. With so many of us now, I think we can send some people out to search for others in the surrounding area. Once we find them, we can have them gather here. This way, our numbers will increase. Once everyone is gathered, we can then figure out how to build a ship and leave." Everyone nodded in agreement with Qu Guang's words.

Shi Jie then spoke up, "We can light a fire and cover it with some damp grass. This will produce a lot of thick smoke. If other people see the smoke, they will know there are people here and they will gather around. At the same time, we can send people to check the surrounding area and look for the others." Everyone nodded in agreement, agreeing that Shi Jie's suggestion made sense.

Ji Lei agreed with Shi Jie and said, "Then let's send some people to look around and see if there's a suitable place to build a base. Ideally, the base should be near a water source so we can get water more easily, and the terrain should be higher. I've noticed the tides are rising frequently these days, so we need to be careful." Everyone nodded. Ji Lei continued, "Alright, let's assign tasks. Shi Jie, you take a small team to check the surrounding area and find the others. Captain Liu, you take some men to find a suitable place to build a base. The rest of you, go find food now; we need to stockpile plenty." Everyone responded and stood up, immediately starting to move. They were all militarily trained, so their mobility was excellent; they acted immediately upon receiving the order.

Shi Jie mustered his men and set off. They chose a direction and headed straight there. After about two hours, they hadn't seen a single person. It wasn't surprising; the surrounding area was full of forest. Even if the people were very close, they wouldn't be able to see them. If they entered the forest, finding the enemy wouldn't be easy. Thinking of this, Shi Jie frowned and stopped. His men all stopped as well. Then Shi Jie turned to everyone and said, "Everyone, wait a moment. Searching like this is too slow, like looking for a needle in a haystack. I don't think this will work. Does anyone have any ideas on how to make something that can make a loud noise?" Everyone was taken aback when they heard him say that. Then one person raised his hand and said, "Captain, I've thought of something. I like to read all sorts of books. I remember reading about something called a wooden drum in one of them. This kind of wooden drum is made of wood and can make a loud sound when it is struck. It is used by some primitive tribes to transmit sound. This kind of wooden drum is not complicated to make, but it requires a big tree, the bigger the better."

Shi Jie nodded and said, "Alright, let's make a wooden drum and see how it goes. Let's go find a suitable tree." Everyone responded, and then they entered the forest. Under the guidance of the person who knew about wooden drums, they used stone axes to cut down a large tree, which was nearly three feet in diameter. They then cut off a section of the tree that was more than two meters long and carried the tree outside. The person then began to work on the tree, first removing the bark, then carving sound grooves and sound windows into the trunk. He then took out a large wooden stick and struck the wooden drum once, producing a loud thud that carried far.

Everyone's eyes lit up, but the man frowned and then said, "The wood is a bit of a poor quality, and the wood is still wet, so the sound doesn't travel as far as I expected. For now, we can only make do with it."

Shi Jie said, "Alright, that's enough. A few people, let's beat this drum together right here. Senior Brother Xin, you take ten people back to the army and tell the two captains about this, so they can make a similar wooden drum. The rest of you, go forward. We'll walk a little further and then make another wooden drum. That way, if there are people in the forest, they should be able to hear the sound. Also, arrange for a few people to go into the forest, gather some firewood and some wet branches, light a fire, and put the wet branches on top to create a lot of thick smoke so that people can see it."

Everyone responded and immediately began to act. Shi Jie left ten people behind to keep beating the wooden drums, while he led the rest of the group forward. After walking for about an hour, they could still faintly hear the sound of the wooden drums, though it was no longer very clear. Shi Jie then stopped and had the group make another wooden drum.

After the wooden drum was made, Shi Jie had them start playing it again. However, this time they only played it for about an hour before stopping because it was getting dark and they had to go back. Shi Jie planned to tell the two captains that they intended to stay outside for a couple more days the next day, otherwise going back as soon as it got dark would be too much of a delay.

By the time they returned to the camp, it was completely dark. Fires were lit in the camp, and everyone sat in circles around them. Shi Jie arranged for the others to eat, while he went to find Ji Lei and Qu Guang.

The two men were sitting together discussing something when Shi Jie walked over, bowed to them, and said, "Captain Ji, Captain Qu."

Hearing the voice, the two turned to look at him. Seeing it was Shi Jie, Ji Lei said, "You're back? Come on, have something to eat." Shi Jie responded and sat down beside them, picking up a piece of roasted meat and eating it. Then he said to the two, "Captains, I'm here to discuss something with you. I'm planning that after we go out tomorrow, we won't come back immediately. We'll stay outside for a few days. Otherwise, running back and forth like this every day is too time-consuming. If we stay outside, we can light fires at night and set off smoke and beat drums during the day. This way, more people might know we're here, and then everyone will come here and regroup with us. What do you think?" After Shi Jie finished speaking, he looked at the two of them, not forgetting to take a bite of the meat.

Ji Lei nodded and said, "Okay, after you go out tomorrow, you can come back whenever you want. We have found a place to build the base today. It is not far from here. You can see the base when you come back. Don't worry about not being able to find us. The wooden drum you made today is really good. When you hit it, the sound is huge and can be heard far away. I believe that many people will come to hear it tomorrow."