Chapter 82 - 78: Spring

After Qin Ziwen finished giving his instructions, he left with Qin Ziwu.

Li Yue watched them go before turning his gaze away.

He sat on a damp rock nearby, staring blankly at the river’s surface.

The normally sunny and cheerful young man was unusually quiet.

’I can’t believe so many families are willing to follow Brother Qin.’

Li Yue sighed inwardly.

’Then again, for someone as kind as Brother Qin, it’s only normal that people would want to follow him.’

’It’s just that the other families aren’t single individuals. Even Dr. Zhao has another person in his family. I’m the only one fighting alone.’

As if sensing its master’s low spirits, the large Golden Retriever panted as it trotted over and licked his cheek.

Li Yue wiped the slobber from his face, laughing as he cursed, "You stink."

He hugged the Golden Retriever, a warmth spreading through his heart. ’I almost forgot about you. You’re my family too. I’ll work hard with you, and we’ll survive in this world together.’

’I’m not without my advantages, though. My advantage is the knowledge in my head.’

At this thought, Li Yue felt a surge of confidence.

Ever since he’d transmigrated here, Li Yue had never felt safe. While others had family to accompany them, he slept alone in an empty house, often jolted awake by nightmares.

In the early days after arriving, he had actively contacted a few friends from his usual dog-walking group, and they had formed a team together.

To gain their trust, he had even given them the melee weapons he had collected.

But in return, he was abandoned.

He thought he was going to die in the forest, but then he met Brother Qin, Brother Deng, and the others. They took turns carrying him back to the Gated Community.

That night, as the cool wind blew and he gazed at the moon above, listening to the conversations around him, was the most at ease he had felt.

...

"Brother, this wood is all waterlogged. Li Tieshan told us to find dry wood. Where are we supposed to find that?" Qin Ziwu said, swinging a stick in his hand to sweep through the grass ahead.

"Aren’t there plenty on the trees?" Qin Ziwen replied, scanning the surrounding branches. "Don’t worry. Iron Mountain said even slightly bent sticks are fine. We can straighten them over a fire."

A black snake, disturbed by the stick, slithered quickly away from the undergrowth.

The two of them stopped in their tracks, only continuing forward to scout once they were sure the snake was gone.

Qin Ziwu suddenly pointed to a tree not far away. "Brother, do you remember this place? This is where we picked mulberries."

Qin Ziwen followed his gaze. "Of course I remember. It was the first food we found. All the mulberries on the tree have been picked clean now."

"Hey, Brother, I remember Blacksmith Li saying that mulberry trees can also be used for spear shafts, right? It might not be the best choice, but it should be usable."

"That’s right."

Qin Ziwu added, "And mulberries are the fruit of the mulberry tree, aren’t they?"

"They both have ’mulberry’ in the name, so I’d think so."

The two exchanged a look.

That settles it.

Finding a mulberry tree meant they had a fallback plan.

Their knowledge of trees wasn’t extensive. If a tree happened to have fruit or flowers on it, they might be able to identify it.

But if it had neither, things became much more difficult.

Their perception of most trees was limited to: ’That tree is thick,’ ’That tree is tall,’ or ’That tree is growing so straight.’

So their method for finding suitable spear shafts along the way was simple and crude: they would break off a branch or chop one down with a hatchet, then swing it around to see if it was hard, dense, and resilient. If it felt good to use, it was good material.

Qin Ziwu climbed the tree, looking for a section suitable for a spear shaft.

Soon, he had chopped down two branches, each over two meters long and of a suitable thickness.

The two of them picked up the branches, hoisted them onto their shoulders, and continued their search.

This time, they headed up the northern slope of the hill. The trees were dense here, and the light was sparse.

Wedged between several trees, a certain tree caught Qin Ziwen’s attention.

Mainly because next to this tree were several fallen branches, which were already naturally air-dried and perfectly straight.

The only flaw was the numerous thorns growing on their sides.

He picked one up, shaved off the thorns with his hatchet, and gave it a few swings. It whistled through the air. The feel was excellent—heavy and solid. He could tell the wood had a high density.

Besides the branch in his hand, there was a smaller one on the ground nearby, but it was thinner and shorter.

"Being a bit shorter doesn’t matter. It’ll be perfect for making a Javelin."

With their prize in hand, the two men headed home with the four long branches.

After Li Tieshan finished his work, he came over to inspect them.

Taking the two Mulberry Wood branches, Li Tieshan first nodded, then shook his head. "Sir, Mulberry Wood can be made into spear shafts, but its hardness is limited. It’s fine for use against people, but if you’re fighting fierce beasts, it’s likely to break on impact."

"Then take a look at these two."

When he took the other two branches, Li Tieshan’s eyes lit up with recognition. "Sir, this is Zhe Wood! It’s not just hard, it’s also damp-resistant and rot-proof. It’s one of the best types of wood for spear shafts. It’s also excellent material for making a Bow."

"So both of these can be made into spear shafts?"

Li Tieshan picked up the larger one, which was nearly 2.8 meters long. "This one will work. It’s long and straight. With just a little processing, it will make a fine spear shaft."

He then picked up the smaller one, which was only 1.7 meters long. "This one’s a bit short. It could be used to make a Bow or a short spear, but I don’t know how to make a Bow, and I’m afraid I’d waste the material."

"No rush. We’ll set it aside for now. How’s the work on the Beast Trap coming along?"

Li Tieshan said, "Sir, it can be finished today. But there’s a key component that I’ve tried to forge several times, and the result is still a bit off from the blueprint’s requirements. The Beast Trap’s power will probably only be about fifty percent of what’s shown on the drawing."

"What’s off?"

"The spring."

Qin Ziwen mostly understood. He mulled it over for a moment, then said, "Don’t worry about the spring. I’ll take care of it."

After leaving the Blacksmith Shop, Qin Ziwen said to his brother, "Go back to where we found the Zhe Wood branches and bring back the rest of that Zhe Wood."

"Okay," Qin Ziwu nodded.

Qin Ziwen, after leaving, headed straight for the river, found Li Yue, and told him his idea.

When Li Yue heard that Brother Qin needed springs, he said without hesitation, "Springs that can be used on a Beast Trap... there are tons of those! Modern industry uses them everywhere, and they’re not uncommon in the Gated Community.

"The best ones would be valve springs from motorcycles or electric scooters. That stuff is high-strength and the right size. Then there are car suspension springs. The quality of suspension springs is actually even better than valve springs, but they’re too hard, very difficult to process, and the size is too big. If you made a Beast Trap sized for a suspension spring, I reckon you could probably trap a dinosaur."

Li Yue laughed as he said this. ’Dinosaurs are extinct, so where would you even find one?’

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