From Robinson Crusoe

Chapter 34 Post-placement decorations

December 12th, the 13th day since the challenge began, is the day when the fifth mysterious reward arrives.

Chen Zhou, who has never believed in metaphysics, has completely changed his view of the "mysterious reward" since he obtained the two axes.

Before this, he always thought that the so-called rewards were small commodities worth more than ten yuan at most. These two axes, which were estimated to be priced at more than seven or eight hundred yuan, really overturned his previous cognition.

Therefore, facing this reward, just like the first reward, he became nervous again.

He knew very well that the probability of producing something good again was very slim.

But just like gambling, every gambler is pursuing the probability of doubling the odds and the adrenaline rush of winning everything.

Everyone has two eyes and one mouth, and no one will think of himself as a loser.

Between reason and fantasy, Chen Zhou chose to believe in metaphysics.

If this reward is a mechanical lathe or a wheelbarrow, or even a dozen bags of vegetable seeds, his happy life will be guaranteed.

On the 13th, Chen Zhou got up early, washed his hair carefully, shaved his beard with a razor, cut his fingernails, cleaned the mud between his nails, and rubbed the skin that was blackened by the mud in the cracks of his calluses.

After tidying up his appearance, he lit three incense sticks made from ironwood branches, politely offered sacrifices to heaven and earth, and stuck them into the soil in front of the cave.

When the incense burned out, he patted his dusty sailor's duty uniform, put on a new hat, and then set off.

Lai Fu had no idea what was wrong with his master, and he followed Chen Zhou as usual, feeling genuinely happy about the long journey that took place once every two weeks.

“Although my procedures of bathing, changing clothes, burning incense and fasting are not standard, my sincerity is not lacking at all.

Even if the last prize was a big guarantee, this time there should be a consolation prize!

I think that makes sense.”

Chen Zhou deliberately didn't eat breakfast and came to the beach on an empty stomach.

Judging the value of rewards by the size of the box has become a necessary skill.

For big things, the worst they can be, the worst they can be. But for small things, it’s not necessarily the case. There may be top-notch items like mechanical watches, gas lighters, and Swiss Army knives, but there may also be junk.

Chen Zhou didn't want to see the small packaging box from the bottom of his heart, but his hopes were dashed.

The box lying quietly on the sand is neither as small as a phone case or ear pick set, nor as big as a tomahawk package.

The paper box is about 30cm long, and about 20cm wide and high. There are no patterns on the surface. It looks very similar to the five-pound fruit boxes on Pinxixi.

“Will there be food rewards?
If the reward is a box of apples, pears or pomegranates, that would be acceptable as they have many seeds and if you take good care of them you will probably be able to raise one or two.

With patience, I will be able to eat high-quality modern varieties in seven or eight years."

Picking up the packaging box, it is not heavy at all.

This light feeling often indicates low-quality rewards.

Having a bad feeling about this, Chen Zhou comforted himself silently.

“I made enough last time, so even a stuffed toy won’t be a big deal this time.

People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, and the moon waxes and wanes. Maybe things will get better next time."

Gently shaking the box, you can feel a metal or glass ceramic product inside. It collides with each other in the empty box, making a dull sound.

"Yo!"

Chen Zhou's eyes lit up, and he felt that this reward was not as bad as he had imagined. Modern handicrafts made of metal, ceramics, and glass could be put to use to some extent and were much better than plastic products.

"There's a show."

Remove the tape and unpack.

The first thing that catches your eye is a big fluffy tail wrapped in a transparent plastic bag.

The hair on the tail is a pink-purple gradient, much darker than the color of pineapple tree sap, and very much like the small lights at the door of a hair salon in an alley that exude an ambiguous atmosphere.

"Something seems to be wrong..."

Grab the tail end - it should fill almost the entire carton.

Slowly pull out the tail. Its shape is obviously inspired by a fox. It is gathered at the head and tightened with a silicone ring. A metal product is also connected to the silicone component.

This metal piece is made of stainless steel and its surface is polished to a mirror finish so smooth that it can reflect a person's face.

Although Chen Zhou had never seen this thing in real life, thanks to the well-developed Internet, he had viewed it several times through other channels.

If it were placed in ancient times, it would have a very elegant and appropriate name "Yumensai".

"Oh shit……"

Stuffing the tail in his hand back into the cardboard box, Chen Zhou couldn't find a word to describe his feelings for a moment.

He thought the reward could be a children's educational toy, another mobile phone case, a plastic bag, disposable tissues, or even a bottle of mineral water.

But I have never thought about it in this direction, because it seems a bit too abnormal.

"This is really outrageous. Is there a role-playing part in this challenge?"

Pick up the "plug-in" in the box again.

Apart from removing the piece of stainless steel and connecting a long stick to the back to make it a weapon, Chen Zhou couldn't think of any other uses for it for the time being.

As for the tail with a very high acrylic content, it can only be disassembled and used as high-quality tinder.

“If you like to make fun of me, give me a doll next time!

I think it’s much more practical than this thing.”

With mixed feelings, Chen Zhou started walking towards the camp.

The space in the cave has been opened up, but there is still a mountain of sand and gravel inside the cave. It will probably take more than half a month to clean it up.

Before that, he had to carry some finished wood up the mountain, including the ship's main mast, some planks and a short keel.

The wood on the boat has been painted and treated to prevent moth damage.

Before being installed on the ship, these woods have been dried in the sun, making them less likely to rot, longer service life, and more reliable as load-bearing columns.

Although there is plenty of wood on the island, it is not suitable for direct use.

Wet wood has a high moisture content and is easily attacked by insects and fungi during storage. It is more likely to split and deform, affecting its service life and structural strength.

Moreover, wet wood is much heavier than dry wood and is not easy to carry.

In Chen Zhou's hometown, before building the beams of a house, you must select suitable wood, cut it, peel off the bark, and place it in a ventilated woodland to dry for a year or two. Only after the moisture evaporates can it be assembled into beams and hoisted to the gable.

The experience passed down from our ancestors cannot be ignored.

In order to avoid problems with important load-bearing columns, Chen Zhou planned to use these finished woods first. At the same time, he would select some wood of suitable length and thickness in the forest, cut and peel it, and stack it in the forest to dry for future use.

The moving of the wood took three days, during which time the cleaning of the sand and gravel in the cave was not interrupted.

The platform at the entrance of the cave has extended out for more than ten meters, and there is an obvious gap between the leveled land and the slope.

It was on this flattened land that Chen Zhou began to saw wood and make load-bearing components.

The cave house has a flat roof and cannot use an arch to bear the weight. Although this structure is less artistic and appears too rigid, it can reduce his workload.

Chen Zhou planned to use six load-bearing columns to separate the main living room, kitchen and storage room.

The top of the load-bearing column also supports the horizontal and longitudinal beams with mortise and tenon joints, providing a solid support for the top sandstone layer.

Fortunately, we did not slack off when transporting the supplies, and there was still a lot of wood left to use.

With Li Axe's help, Chen Zhou's progress was much faster than before when carrying out rough structural repairs. Combined with the carpentry experience he had accumulated from making the raft, the progress of the load-bearing columns was relatively smooth.

During this period, he did not forget to climb to the top of the mountain on time to observe the beach.

Although the European monocular telescopes of the 17th century cannot be compared with modern telescopes, they have been tested in navigation and have high practical value. In clear weather, looking down, you can see the changes of the beach on the northeast side.

The empty yellow sand beach had no obstacles and no blind spots. As long as the natives landed, they would be discovered. Even if the time period was wrong, traces of their cannibal feast would be seen the next day.

However, after observing for so long, Chen Zhou still failed to find any indigenous people landing, which made him doubt his own speculation for a time.

But December is not over after all, and since his life is at stake, he has to continue observing.

12 month 20 day.

Four load-bearing columns have been installed in the cave.

A large amount of fish bladder glue was applied to the mortise and tenon joints, making the vertical and horizontal top beams and the load-bearing columns very tightly connected, and also giving this seemingly primitive and simple cave a bit of civilized atmosphere.

Because of the recent focus on manufacturing load-bearing columns and wooden beams, the progress of clearing sand and gravel has been delayed, and the entire cave, which is more than 140 square meters, still appears very crowded.

Chen Zhou plans to install all the load-bearing structures first, then clean up the sand and gravel, and finally build the exterior walls and install windows and doors.

Except I don't want to rush things.

One of the reasons is that there has not been time to look for yellow mud or suitable clay.

To be precise, the wall-building project had not even started yet. Even if he dropped all his work and started working immediately, he wouldn't be able to finish it.

Eat one bite at a time and do things one at a time.

At noon, it's time to take a break.

Chen Zhou set up a tripod on the platform at the entrance of the cave, hung an iron kettle, boiled hot salty milk tea, soaked soft and hard dough cakes, and chewed them slowly.

Chewing slowly aids digestion, reduces the burden on the stomach and intestines, and prevents high blood sugar.

I have forgotten where I learned this knowledge.

However, Chen Zhou remembered that he still had to spend more than 1200 days on the island.

In order to prevent his body functions from declining too quickly, he began to try to change his lifestyle habits that had lasted for many years and worked hard to maintain a good physical condition.

After dinner, he picked up the telescope, put on his musket, called Lai Fu, and walked towards the top of the mountain as if he was taking a walk.

Cross the line between yin and yang, put on your brimmed hat, and look up.

I thought this would be a similar, fruitless mountain climbing and observation trip as usual.

After climbing to the top of the mountain ridge, before even picking up the telescope, Chen Zhou saw green smoke rising from the beach.

The sun was at its highest point and the bonfire distorted the air, but the thin smoke was not very noticeable.

If he had not had fewer opportunities to use electronic products when he was a child and had excellent eyesight, he probably would not have noticed it.

"Really here?"

Signaling Lai Fu to keep quiet, Chen Zhou held his wide-brimmed hat tightly, wishing he could put a circle of dead leaves on his head to disguise himself as a dead tree or weeds. He took out a telescope and looked down cautiously.

There were two large canoes parked on the coastal beach, both of which had been towed ashore by the natives.

At this moment, a bonfire was lit, and the naked natives were busy preparing a feast, without even glancing towards the top of the mountain.

Some people ran to the woods near the shore to collect firewood, some were dragging captives off the canoe, and some were dancing and muttering to themselves, as if they were chanting a sacrificial oration.

Their skin was brown, darker than the South Americans that Chen Zhou had in mind.

This may be because they were not wearing any clothes and were exposed to the sun.

The dark skin blurred their facial features, making it impossible to tell what they looked like.

After a careful headcount, excluding the unknown number of natives who entered the woods and the captives, there were a total of 27 natives left on the beach.

These natives seemed to be all men. At least Chen Zhou did not see anyone with obvious female characteristics.

Most of them had crude patterns painted with white paint on their bodies, and held spears or bows and arrows in their hands, while a few held short knives.

It was too far away to see the material of the knife, and I didn't think it could be made of metal.

The native who was chanting the sacrificial text wore a yellow and white feather crown and a necklace around his neck. He had a hunched body and the patterns painted on his back were extremely complex and dense. He looked very old, like a respected figure like a wizard or a priest.

"Catch the leader first. If there is a conflict with these natives, the first shot should be to kill this old guy."

I have learned from the original book about the fanaticism of these natives in their faith.

Chen Zhou knew that they believed in a god called "Benamaki" and believed that people would not really disappear after death, and their souls would return to Benamaaki's arms.

Therefore, before the death of "Ovokaki" (an elder among the indigenous people who communicates with God), and with the "heroic blessing", the morale of these indigenous peoples would be extremely difficult to crush once they launched a charge.

But such shaky morale can easily collapse.

As long as Ovokaki, the symbol of divine power, fell, they would scatter like monkeys when the tree fell and lose the courage to fight.

Determining the decapitation tactics in advance is to prevent problems before they occur.

Chen Zhou did not intend to start a war rashly since the natives had not yet discovered him.

Now he had no strong shelter, no cells for prisoners, and even if he won the battle he would gain little more than a pile of dead bodies and two canoes.

Wait and see first, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.

With this mentality, Chen Zhou lay quietly behind a concave rock on the ridge, observing the natives' every move.

This group of savage guys acted as if the island was empty and ran around without any vigilance, dancing around the fire and showing off their weapons. The atmosphere was very lively.

The six unfortunate captives were tied up tightly with straw ropes, unable to move their hands and feet. They were like brown flesh worms, at the mercy of others.

They were arranged by the natives in a row, close together, with five guards standing beside them, armed with short knives or spears.

As their death approached, these guys said nothing, as if they had long wanted to return to Benamaki's arms.

Of course, it is also possible that the limbs are stiff due to being tied up for too long and the lack of blood flow to the hands and feet.

Retracting his head and looking at the matchlock beside him, Chen Zhou was hesitating whether to take the risk to rescue one of the prisoners and find a helper like Friday for himself, but the guards holding daggers had already started slaughtering.

His movements were clean and neat, and he killed people like slaughtering pigs. He slashed the necks of all six captives without even blinking an eye.

The blood flowed, dyeing the beach red.

The natives celebrated the massacre they had just completed, shouting loudly and starting a new round of dance around the campfire, as if the people lying on the ground were not their own kind but livestock.

Watching from afar and witnessing their brutal behavior, Chen Zhou felt a chill down his spine.

While feeling terrified, he also understood how Robinson Crusoe felt when he first saw the native cannibalistic ritual.

No one from a civilized society would take such cannibalism for granted.

This group of uncivilized natives are even more backward than the so-called barbarians.

If Robinson had not suffered from loneliness in his last few years on the island, he probably would not have spared Friday's life.

Regardless of whether they have landed on the island or not, these natives have at least taken human lives or eaten human flesh.

Compared with wild beasts, they are not much different except that they are more cunning and more ferocious.

After the celebration, the feast officially began.

Chen Zhou's hand holding the monocular was already shaking. The bloody and realistic scene, even though they were half a mountain away, still made his stomach churn and he kept retching.

But he still endured the discomfort and watched to the end.

It was not until the six men were eaten until only a pile of bones and intestines were left and the natives left the island at low tide that he climbed down the rocks weakly and vomited violently, vomiting out all the food in his stomach.

　Thanks to: Classmates Are in Love for the reward!

　　Thanks to: Nuclear-powered pile driver, Lulu Ares, Lazy Meow, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils secret book, He is at ease, Leaning on the railing to watch the clouds and rain, Sweetnight, richardyu, The Roaring Wind 1994, Purple Sandalwood, Slowly Flying Stupid Bird, A Tabby Cat Pressing a Begonia Cat, All Classmates Are in Love, Lin Kan, Maybe It’s My Fault That It’s Too Late, 6 Hours a Day, Mo Xiaoxiao, and Fu Sheng Steals Half a Day’s Salty Monthly Tickets, thank you all!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)