Chapter 13: A Guide to Survival in the Wilderness of Qiongluo Island (4000-word chapter)
Accompanied by a loud noise, the huge monster that was originally rushing forward suddenly shook and fell to the side, and with a plop, raising a circle of sand and dust...
Looking at the monster's head, a broken bullet hole was clearly visible on the hard shell...
"Huh!" Zhao Qiankun blew the muzzle. Although the bullets fired by the magic flames did not have smoke, the revolver that did not blew the muzzle had no soul...
"Did you beat me?" The other three were shocked, and Xiuen felt sweat on his forehead. He just learned how thick the worm's shell was. It was only a part of his body. His head was obviously bigger and stronger, and it was so easy to penetrate?
"I said it hurts so much that I hit someone, but you still don't believe it!" Zhao Qiankun smiled and walked towards the twitching monster, and stepped on it: "Don't worry, I'm here, I guarantee your mission..."
"Be careful, don't get close!" Seeing that he was so unscrupulous, Xiuen suddenly screamed. Zhao Qiankun was stunned for a moment when he heard this. Before he could react, he saw the giant insect jumping up suddenly, overturning him, twisting his body and pounce on him!
Zhao Qiankun sat on the ground, turned around, then raised the dragon hunting gun and shot the monster four times, shooting from his head to his body, and finally let the monster die.
"Wow, can you still look back?" Old Zhao took out five bullets from his bag and filled them into the dragon hunting gun. This time he couldn't make the same mistake again...
However, seeing that Xiuen and his men were not completely relieved, Xiuen cut off a long section of the tree roots and inserted them far away into the monster's mouth and stirred them a few times. Seeing that it did not respond, it was finally over.
"Remember... the insects on Qiongluo Island are different from monsters elsewhere. Most of them are not done if they are broken by the head..." Xiuen turned around and educated Zhao Qiankun: "The insects we usually see are the same? Even if we pull our heads off, we can still run around the ground. The same is true here. So, don't easily get close to the seemingly dead bug. Be sure to confirm that it is dead and collect spoils..."
"Headshots don't work..." Zhao Qiankun's eyes rolled: "Where is the key?"
Xiao An explained to him: "My teacher said that the heads of insects are different from those of large animals. Many insects do not have brains in their skulls. The heads are just organs that carry tentacles, eyes and mouthparts. Their real nerve center should be behind the mouthparts, roughly the position of the chest, usually protected by the thickest carapace." As he said, Xiao An pointed to the skull of the skull: "This kind of insect has a very large head, and the nerve center should also be on the head, but it is in the rear. The first shot of your eye is the position, and it should not hit the key point..."
"Then what's wrong with it pretending to be dead?" Zhao Qiankun frowned and said, "Is this thing so smart?"
"The bugs are all fools..." Xiao Ye explained: "Their heads are very simple, and they basically rely on instincts to move... This pretending to be dead should be an instinct after being attacked..." As he said that, Xiao Ye leaned over and pointed at Zhao Qiankun's nose: "But don't underestimate this instinct, because they have no feelings and will not think in a complicated way, so they act particularly coldly and efficiently, which is even more dangerous!"
Zhao Qiankun nodded. Indeed, the huge dinosaur and the spider as big as a dinosaur seemed to be the latter a little more terrifying...
"But you say that the nerve center of this thing is usually in the thickest shell, so it wouldn't be very difficult to kill them?" Zhao Qiankun himself didn't care. He had a way to dismantle these bed bugs. He was curious about how these weak hunting dog-level adventurers dealt with these terrifying big bugs?
"Usually, we will give priority to attacking their limbs..." Xiuen came to the insects: "Although these insects have too many legs, but losing two or three will seriously affect their actions. We will first squander their movement power, and then consider how to kill them... So on the Qiongluo Island, most of the prey hunted by adventurers lacks arms and legs..."
"But this is only a little difficult..." Xiaoye also came up: "It seems that the big meat worm has so short and thick legs, which is not easy to attack... But the big meat worm has soft skin, and I have never seen a carapace as hard as it has..."
"No matter what, this mission has been completed..." Xiuen raised his long sword and slashed the monster's tentacles. After the monster's death, the tentacles no longer glowed. I don't know if it can count if I take them back, but if they are so tired, they can't go back even if they are exhausted.
In order to make the report as detailed as possible, Xiao An took out a notebook and sketched the corpse of the insect. Zhao Qiankun glanced at him with a neat stroke and accurate strokes. He was also a master of painting!
"Awesome!" Lao Zhao exclaimed sincerely.
"This is also the interest of the master. After following him for a long time, I learned some basic knowledge..." Xiao An was very modest.
"By the way, Zhao Qiankun, your magic prop is so powerful!" Everything came to a stable level. The few people finally remembered the magic weapon that Lao Zhao defeated the enemy. Xiao Ye asked excitedly: "That's so small, I think it's even more powerful than the crossbows of those large mercenary groups. Can you lend me a look?"
Old Zhao was not stingy and pulled out the dragon hunting gun rice and handed it over. Xiaoye wanted to pick it up, but Old Zhao raised his hand and moved it away: "It's OK in advance, but it can't be directed toward people! This thing is very powerful. As long as you move your fingers, you can kill people!"
Xiao Ye nodded quickly and agreed, took the dragon hunting gun, put it in his hand and looked around. Xiuen and Xiao An hurriedly avoided the gun.
"This is the handle, this is the trigger. Just pull the trigger..." Zhao Qiankun explained to her a simple usage: "But the recoil is a bit too high, I haven't practiced it before, and it may hurt myself. It's best to hold the gun in both hands..."
"Can I try a shot?" Xiao Ye asked.
Before Zhao Qiankun could speak, Xiuen stopped her first: "Don't mess around! This thing is so loud that it can easily attract other monsters!"
"I've fired several shots, so it's time to lure it over!" Zhao Qiankun smiled and said, "Let's try to find a target and shoot it!"
Xiaoye was excitedly pointing his muzzle at the insect corpse, but hesitated for a moment and put it down: "Xuen is right... don't make noise..."
"Did you really do this yourself?" After a while, Xiao An finished drawing the sketch and looked at the Dragon Hunting Gun: "There are magic crystals on it. Does this prop come with its own magic power? Can anyone use it?"
Zhao Qiankun nodded, and Xiao An returned the dragon hunting gun to him: "Then this is a dangerous thing, please pack it up!"
After collecting the spoils, the few people's mission was half completed. The rest was to consider how to go back. Everyone brought the spoils and portraits and left the canyon.
It was already very late, and the few people were very tired after running around for a day. They might be in danger when they rushed back overnight, so they decided to find a place to rest for a night.
It is very particular to sleep in the wilderness of Qiongluo Island.
Generally speaking, in other continents, hunters or adventurers will raise bonfires when they rest at night. The bright light of the flames and high temperatures are feared by most animals. The strong light in the night is a dangerous signal for many animals. Not only will they cause their visual brief blindness, but some people also believe that some animals will mistake torches for the eyes of huge creatures and escape.
But on the Qiongluo Island, the trick of raising fire did not work very well...
There is a word called moth to fire...
The perception ability of insects is relatively primitive. When judging directions and walking in a straight line, they rely on moonlight as a reference. In general, the direction of their movements is at a fixed angle to the moonlight. Generally speaking, moonlight can be approximately considered parallel light, so when insects move at night, they can naturally walk in a straight line.
But the fire is different. This is a point light source. The light is divergent. The insects look for angles along the light and will get closer to the light source in circles, which will eventually lead to the tragedy of moths flying into the flame.
This is just a small allusion in other continents, but on the Qiongluo Island, it is not just moths who come to fight the fire!
Adventurers always have the iron rule to camp outside, that is, they cannot ignite fires in the open air at night! Otherwise, there will be a steady stream of insects gathering, leaving you without a burial place!
So where to rest?
The answer is very simple, tree hole!
No matter what species the trees on the island are, they are a hundred times larger than those on other continents, like a hill standing on the ground. These giant trees cannot escape the disaster of insect diseases. Many insect larvae choose to drill holes in the trunks to facilitate hiding, and secondly, food is everywhere. Isn’t it beautiful?
Over time, these larvae turned into adults, bite the bark and left, leaving holes on the tree. Some would slowly heal with this time, leaving only a scar. Some had not yet healed, and they became natural habitats for adventurers.
It can protect vulnerable larvae and naturally protect adventurers.
Scout Xiaoye took the lead and finally found a suitable tree hole nearby. It was a giant camphor tree with a diameter of about one meter, located on the trunk, in the air seven or eight meters above the ground.
This height is just right, and it is not difficult for adventurers to climb up. Ordinary ground insects will not climb so high, and as long as they cover up the hole, they will not usually dig out the tree trunks, which is relatively safe.
"Is it a little narrower than just one meter?" After seeing the tree hole, Zhao Qiankun was a little confused.
"This is just right!" Xiu En smiled and said, "The bugs in the tree hole usually eat a lot of wood. Although the hole is very narrow, the space inside will be relatively wide!"
While speaking, Xiaoye, the most flexible one, had already climbed up, and after slid in, he poked out his little head: "It's very spacious inside, just enough for the four of us!"
After listening to the report, Xiuen also carried the sword and shield behind him, and ran up three or four meters high, grabbed the trunk and climbed up flexibly, and drilled into the tree hole. Then, a rope was stretched out from the tree hole, Xiao An walked over and put the rope around his waist for a few times, grabbed it firmly, and climbed up under the pull of Xiuen and Xiaoye.
After all, he is a mage and does not have that strong physical strength.
Finally, Zhao Qiankun was left, and Xiuen asked, "How are you? Can you climb up?"
Zhao Qiankun compared the height: "Maybe a bit difficult, please follow me with a rope!"
"You are so embarrassing!" Xiao Ye walked down the rope and said dissatisfiedly: "Saberators are usually very agile!"
"I'm a mage, but I'm very weak!" Zhao Qiankun curled his mouth and grabbed the rope. He didn't even cooperate with the climbing. He tied a tight buckle on his waist like a bungee jump, so that Xiu Enfu had a lot of effort to pull it up.
The four of them were in the tree hole. Xiuen took an opaque leather to block the hole, and then took out a fist-sized glass jar, which contained five thumb-sized bugs. The tail emitted fluorescent light and shone through the glass jar, bringing a faint light to the dark tree hole.
This is an upgraded version of Fireflies in this continent. They are bigger and shine brighter. The Adventurer Guild has the task of collecting fireflies all year round. Although the price is not high, it can help low-level adventurers accumulate experience and make money. These fireflies are packed in small jars and sold to adventurers as outdoor lighting equipment.
Generally speaking, if a lantern is used for three or four days, the fireflies inside will starve to death. However, because it is cheap, adventurers will not care. They will basically throw them away when the brightness is not enough and use them as consumables. They must prepare them before going out. However, sometimes they will do longer tasks, and adventurers will find ways to feed fireflies to make them live longer, or catch new fireflies and fill them in... It depends on personal preference.
"This is really a convenient thing..." Zhao Qiankun held the firefly and carried the lantern: "But it is still not bright, so it is not easy to keep warm..."
"Qionglu Island is located in the tropical area... I usually don't have to worry about the cold..." Xiuen explained: "And according to my father's notes, there is another reason why we cannot make fire outside!"
"What?" Zhao Qiankun asked curiously.
Xiuen took out a match from the package and stroked it, and pointed the flame at the wall of the tree hole. After a while, the trunk began to wet, and then a drop of sap dripped off, accurately destroying the flame.
"Wow, there is such an operation?" Zhao Qiankun felt very magical.
"It happened that the giant tree we stayed at was a giant camphor tree..." Xiu En smiled and said, "Fires are very easy to burn on Qiongluo Island, and fires often occur. However, this giant camphor tree secretes special sap and shoots specifically at the flames, so Qiongluo Island is not burned..."
Xiao Ye smiled and said, "We in the Great Zhou Dynasty have a saying, this is called one thing to subdue one thing!"
"It's still Mr. Da's theory of evolution that works..." Zhao Qiankun knew in his heart that this was also an evolution made by trees for the sake of the environment...
When he was just a new arrival, Lao Zhao knew nothing about the Qiongluo Island, because it was a new continent discovered in recent decades. Even the old master's books did not mention this place. He could be said to be a pure novice. Therefore, there are always endless questions to ask. Xiuen and others were also patiently answered, and as time got late, they soon became sleepy.
Although he was in a tree hole, someone still needed to watch the night. Zhao Qiankun volunteered to undertake this task. Anyway, his King Kong Skeleton didn't need to sleep.
Chapter completed!