Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 298: Targeting Crocodiles

"How could there be such a heavy snowfall, it’s almost like the poles of our planet, isn’t it?" Lu Ke sat inside, sipping hot water, watching the snow outside through the door.

With this kind of snow, going out would require a sled.

However, unless it stays this way, Xu Yi wouldn’t choose to go out.

"Yeah, the climate here is truly baffling," Xu Yi said with a sigh, then opened a bottle of wine and poured himself a glass.

With nothing much to do, a little wine and some jerky were the indulgence.

Lu Ke pushed her glass over, intending to have a glass as well.

The chessboard was set, and the two soon began playing a game.

By ten o’clock, the sunlight broke through the gloom in the sky, shining down onto the earth.

The gloom in Xu Yi and Lu Ke’s hearts dissipated as well under the sunshine.

Because the sunlight was still blazing, the snow would soon melt away.

In the afternoon, instead of playing chess, Xu Yi started making a long handle for his machete. This way, his machete could turn into a one and a half meter long sword, making it more convenient to use.

After all, his machete was mainly used for dealing with wild beasts, not for clearing paths.

Lu Ke also crafted a long handle for her dagger, which could then turn it into a spear.

Lu Ke’s handle reached two meters, so even when sitting on Gigaha, she could make use of her spear effectively.

Xu Yi’s dagger wasn’t modified because he often needed it for skinning and slaughtering wild animals.

By the time they had been busy until dark, the snow had shrunk to less than half a meter high.

As long as it didn’t snow again overnight, the snow should disappear by tomorrow afternoon.

Before dark, Xu Yi and Lu Ke rescued two reindeer and Dabai, leading them to the bottom of the Stilt House.

To prevent Gigaha from biting them to death, Xu Yi and Lu Ke crafted a new muzzle that night, making it impossible for Gigaha to open its mouth.

Later on, Xu Yi and Lu Ke practiced some push-ups in the house.

No other options, there really wasn’t anything else to do.

If the Black Scale Lion’s pelt had dried, Lu Ke could sew Black Scale Soft Armor for Xu Yi. However, making the Black Scale Soft Armor would take at least another two days.

By ten o’clock, Xu Yi and Lu Ke went to sleep.

That night, it didn’t continue to snow.

Having gone to bed early, Lu Ke woke up by six in the morning.

The fire pit inside the house was still burning, providing warmth.

Lu Ke added some firewood, then picked up a torch.

This torch was made by Xu Yi and Lu Ke yesterday using wood during the day, immediately having animal fur and grease attached, which burned fiercely.

Xu Yi and Lu Ke made three of them, so they could take two when going out. This way, even if it got really late, they could find their way back.

With Gigaha now, it could easily find its way back to the campsite, so there was no worry of getting lost.

Holding up the torch, Lu Ke walked out and saw that the snow hadn’t piled up thicker, and she could still see the footprints she and Xu Yi made yesterday, letting out a sigh of relief.

No snow meant they could go hunting today.

Nineteen days left, just nineteen days till the hundredth day. Lu Ke thought to herself, it would be best if they could amass over a thousand points before the hundredth day.

Holding the torch, she went downstairs to check on Gigaha and the others, relieved to see that Gigaha was still wearing the muzzle.

She started a fire and planned to fetch some water. However, she discovered the stream was completely frozen, so she collected some snow to melt and drink instead.

Then she poured out some fresh milk and began practicing the Eighteen Forms of Body Strengthening.

After a while, Xu Yi woke up as well.

Glancing beside him and not seeing Lu Ke, Xu Yi knew it hadn’t snowed outside.

"System, check-in."

Xu Yi completed his 87th check-in, then got out of bed.

Upon going out, he saw Lu Ke practicing the Eighteen Forms of Body Strengthening in the snow.

So, Xu Yi joined in as well.

After finishing their exercise, they rested for a while before having breakfast.

"Should we head out in the morning?" After breakfast, Lu Ke saw Xu Yi preparing things and asked. After all, the sun had just come out, and the snow was just beginning to melt.

"Yeah, we should go to that large river and see if we can hunt crocodiles." Xu Yi strapped his machete over his back; with the added handle, it wasn’t suitable to hang at the waist anymore.

The machete was turned into a long sword mainly to deal with those crocodiles.

"Alright." Lu Ke’s eyes lit up, and she went to untie Gigaha’s reins.

More than ten minutes later, Xu Yi and Lu Ke set off riding their mounts.

They followed the stream, heading upstream the whole way.

By half-past ten, Lu Ke and Xu Yi reached the vicinity of the large river.

They found a suitable location to tie Gigaha and the reindeer.

Xu Yi, carrying his long sword, led the way with Lu Ke gripping her spear, heading towards the riverbank.

This large river wasn’t frozen over; you could still see fish swimming in the river.

Xu Yi and Lu Ke cautiously searched along the lakeside, hoping to find traces of the crocodiles.

However, after searching for an hour, they didn’t spot a single crocodile. It was as if they had all vanished collectively.

"Last time we were here, there were crocodiles, both on the bank and in the river. How come there aren’t any now?" Lu Ke looked at the river, trying to spot any sign of the crocodiles but found nothing.

Previously, Xu Yi thought maybe due to the snowstorm, the crocodiles went into the river and didn’t stay on the bank.

But walking such a long distance without spotting even one seemed illogical.

Now, with most of the snow melted and temperatures back to twenty-seven or eight degrees, shouldn’t the crocodiles have come out of the water?

He knew crocodiles could stay underwater for a long time, submerged for two to five hours.

"Perhaps they’re still underwater. After all, they can dive, and the temperature at the bottom wouldn’t be that low," Xu Yi thought this might be the only possibility.

Unfortunately, the river water here was somewhat turbid, not clear-to-the-bottom type, otherwise they could have seen if the crocodiles were lurking beneath.

"Should we try baiting them with some animals?" Lu Ke suggested as she glanced at Xu Yi. After coming all this way, returning empty-handed wouldn’t do. At least, they should ascertain whether there were still crocodiles in the river.

"Alright, let’s go hunt a rabbit or goat and throw it into the river as a test." Xu Yi thought this was a viable approach, so he led Lu Ke into the woods, planning to find some rabbits or goats to throw into the river as a test.

If there were no crocodiles in the river, they would have to find a different target.