Chapter 2 Survival

  It's not easy to live on.

  In the bleak and biting wind, Lü Sheng struggled forward, his goal, the south.

  It is said that struggling against heaven is endless joy, struggling against earth is endless joy, and struggling against man is endless joy. That's the philosophy of great men. For a poor devil like Lü Shi, survival is extremely difficult, especially at this time.

  The belly's lament surpasses all else; from head to toe, apart from the clothes bestowed upon me by that deceased person, I have nothing.

  On the third day of crossing over, when Lu Shi's eyes were seeing stars, he finally saw a fat dog, which was gnawing on the thigh of a human corpse by the roadside.

  Lü Shi didn't vomit, but instead charged forward. Of course, Lü Shi wasn't trying to compete with the wild dog for food of the same kind. The target was that wild dog, which was also very fierce and glared at Lü Shi with blood-red eyes in a desperate battle. However, in the end, it succumbed to its 1.85-meter-tall enemy.

  The law of survival tells us that at this time, failure has a consequence - death.

  Hunger overcame nausea, and Lv Shi roasted a dog's leg beautifully, eating the first meal of the Great Ming.

  Now with Wen Shi's episode, I have a deeper understanding of the difficulties of life in the late Ming Dynasty, which has greatly shaken Lv Shijie's confidence in surviving as a crosser.

  Sometimes, Lü Shidu thought that maybe starving to death was the way back to the 21st century. Now thinking about it, after all, a worry-free and dull home in the 21st century is what he most urgently wants to get. What's the point of overthrowing the Ming dynasty, blocking the wild boar skin, saving the Han family's honor, or being a rich man in the south? Compared to a brain full of hamburgers and hot pot, all these things are just fleeting clouds.

  However, however.

  Wanting to return is one thing, but actually using the method of starving oneself to death to go back, I still feel it's not reliable. What if I starve to death and can't go back? Wouldn't that be unjust?

  In his own world, a big living person lost himself and met someone he had never seen before, but didn't know if it was really crossing over, but hadn't seen anyone who came back after crossing over, this was a nailed-on certainty, so it's better not to take the risk.

  For Lv Shi now, living is the first priority, there is no second. The grand ambitions for the future? That's just a dream.

  The last bit of meat on the dog's leg has been swallowed, turning into nothingness. Now the stomach is no longer growling, not because it's full, but because it's numb from hunger.

  Originally robust legs have lost their sensation and are now just mechanically moving forward.

  Destination? Yes, after deciding that I couldn't go back, I decided to head south.

  In his limited historical knowledge, Yulin was immediately a place where war broke out. There were Wang Er wanting to kill officials and rebel, refugees rising up in revolt, government troops began to fight with the rebels, and back-and-forth battles with Mongolian bandits who had entered the pass to loot.

  Lü Shiye also wanted to join the surging tide of this great revolution, and with a loud call, followers gathered from all sides. However, history told him that Wang Er's ending was tragic, and the Ming dynasty had not yet truly declined to the point where rebellion could be carried out without regard for consequences. Therefore, the "Rebel King" Wang Er was extinguished in just two short months, becoming merely a starting point for historians' definition of the late-Ming uprising, but nothing more than that, with no praise or excitement.

  Wanting to survive means not getting involved in the meantime, you don't have ninth-level martial arts skills or a fantastical shape-shifting body. Every time you go hungry, you realize that you're still an ordinary person after all.

  Going south has two purposes, the farther south the drought is lighter, even if you want to beg for food, it's better to have more to eat, after all, struggling to survive is not as good as being a beggar.

  If we are lucky enough to make it to the south, then everything will be fine. Let's not mention escaping the locust-like rebellions of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong that followed later.

  It's just that the Manchu invaders who entered the pass later did not ravage the south too much. Although they had great ambitions, they first sought a stable place for themselves. In case things didn't go as planned, they could rely on their foresight to avoid disaster and flee to Southeast Asia if necessary. At worst, they could use their common sense in life to become a wealthy merchant in this era. As for the previous arduous task of changing history, it has been worn down by hunger and lost interest.

  Changing history is for those big shots who travel through time, I'd rather enjoy the glory they bring to me.

  Like this, walking and stopping every day, running around for food in the fields, on trees, in the ground, and in the wild. I've tried everything myself, but it's still a struggle to find enough to eat. Two months have passed, and the weather is starting to get warmer, so survival isn't as difficult as before. At least I don't have to worry about freezing to death anymore. Looking around now, it seems like it's already April, which means it's time for farming, but there's been a severe drought all winter and spring, with no rain at all. All the land along the way is barren and abandoned, not even wild vegetables are growing. It's truly desolate. On the roads, refugees begging for food have started to gather in groups, and finding something to eat has become even more difficult.

  Lü Shijiu abandoned the main road and turned into the mountains. There were still some wild animals in the mountains, and it was easier to find food.

  The first Golden Finger was not opened for wealth, but for survival.

  Watching the rabbit sprint away in front of him, he couldn't help but feel helpless. No matter how fast he could run, he would never be able to catch up with the rabbit. For the sake of the rabbit, Lü Shi needed a bow and arrow.

  But the bow and arrow, according to the requirements of this era and craftsmanship, are not something that can be made by oneself. It takes dozens of materials and countless processes over three years to produce a one-stone bow, two-stone bow, all the way up to the legendary ten-stone bow said to have been created by He Renlong.

  However, ancient Chinese bows had a fatal flaw - they used fire to shape the bow into an aesthetically pleasing form. They thought this would increase the bow's shooting power, but in reality, it destroyed the natural elasticity of the plant fibers in the bow arm, damaging its shooting power. As a result, they could only use greater force to draw the bow, and at the moment of release, the bow first offset most of the lost elasticity, causing the initial speed of the long arrow to drop sharply. To make up for this deficiency, they could only create more complex composite bows using even scarcer cow tendons as strings, increasing power but ultimately not matching the power of European longbows.

  Lü Shi knew that the English longbow was a representative of European archery, made from yew or high-end sandalwood, increasing the length of the bow to increase shooting distance and power. In this era, it is the only advanced and practical weapon in Europe compared to China. Of course, the English longbow also has its drawbacks, not only is the bow body large, but the arrows also need to be longer. With the average height of Chinese people at that time, it was inconvenient to carry, but its power could cover up all the flaws.

  Lü Shi saw a mountain full of zaomu trees and once again had hope for survival.

  It's still good in this era, without wanton felling and logging, which is why large areas of original forests are preserved in Shaanxi. This situation didn't change until the Republic of China era, otherwise Mao Taizu wouldn't have had Zhang Sides burn charcoal, and the ancient famous article "Opening up the wasteland and fighting tigers" in Nanniwan wouldn't have been written.

  When Lü Shiyong was using a primitive stone knife to cut down a thick wooden stick as thick as an egg, and trying hard to bend it into an arc shape with his own belt, he was so focused that a word behind him almost made Lü Shiyong fall over.

  "Are you drawing a bow?"

  Lü Shì suddenly turned around and found that at some point a child with a runny nose was standing behind him, curiously staring at him while biting his finger.

  Hunger had dulled Lv Shi's ears, and he didn't even notice a big living person standing behind him. Fortunately, looking at the child's clothes, it was also a refugee, and there was no evil expression on his face, so he put his heart at ease.

  "This bow of yours is really ugly." The child spoke with a tone of disdain, discussing the bow and arrow that Lv Shi had worked so hard to make. It was indeed difficult to make, especially when cutting down the strong and resilient zamu wood, but Lv Shi was still using primitive stone tools, specifically old ones.

  A child, this is the first living person Lv Shi has seen in nearly a month since he came to this big mountain, and his heart warmed up for no reason.

  "Little friend, what's your name?" Lü Shi asked kindly as he squatted down.

  That child dodged Lu Shi's hand that wanted to touch his head, still mocking Lu Shi: "You're no good, the arrow you shoot won't go far either." His face still carried a look of disdain.

  Being despised by a child, especially being despised by an ancient little brat, is something that all crossers cannot tolerate. Lü Shi must also fight for the face of those invincible crossers.

  "Hey little guy, watch what I'm doing for you."

  The bow was ready, but there really were no arrows. Lü Shi then found a few long and straight thorny branches, removed the twigs, took a straight segment of about 1 meter 2, which is more than twice as much as the current arrow, this made the child laugh even more.

  "An arrow that's too long can't be shot far, it's too heavy and attracts wind. My family is a military household with a craft specialty, I understand this."

  Lü Shi ignored him, was teased repeatedly, but didn't get angry, just smiled and continued doing his own thing.

  The English longbow has a long arm, so the arrow needs to be long, which has kinetic energy. The thickness and length of the arrow, combined with its own weight, have potential energy. The longbow is not about precision, but about strong momentum and distant coverage. What does a little kid like you know? I despise you too.

  But for a modern person to despise an ancient child is not decent.

  Found a large stone and sharpened the front end to replace the arrowhead, everything was ready. Lv Shi stood up with a smile and said: "Little friend, watch me hunt."

  Zhang Gong, mounted an arrow, gently drew back, aimed at a fat rabbit that was startled by the conversation of two people in the distance, and shot.

  The rabbit vanished into thin air without a single hair out of place.

  Lü Shi felt very embarrassed, and the child was shocked.

  A fat pheasant fell fifty paces away - an arrow through the chest. In fact, Lü Shi didn't have the ability to make English longbows according to proper craftsmanship, or else its range could reach as far as one hundred and fifty paces, but who made it that all he had was a belt besides his pants?

  What a pleasant surprise, all thanks to the law of "pointing and hitting". Lv Shideng walked up to the pheasant, picked it up with a smile, and said to the young man: "Fortunately, it's not a squirrel. We have pheasant to eat tonight, and I'm so hungry that I could finish this pheasant by myself, but you've shared it with me."

  Thinking again, he shook his head and said: "As fellow refugees, meeting each other is a fate, eating together with you doesn't matter. With this longbow, I won't have to worry about hunger when traveling in the mountains from now on."

  Look at that kid still standing there with his mouth agape, Lü Shi returned to his side and patted him on the head saying: "Refugee?"

  At this time, children like this who are dressed in tattered clothes are refugees. They must have either gotten separated from their group or lost their parents. They're all people with miserable fates. If we meet them, it's fate, and traveling together is also good, so as to alleviate the loneliness along the way.

  The child was patted by Lü Shi Yi and suddenly woke up. He raised his head, and his eyes were already filled with a look of admiration.

  "Big brother, is this the bow you made? Yes, it's the one I made. Is this the bow you made using the wood from that mountain? Yes, I saw it with my own eyes." Then he lifted his face excitedly and said: "Big brother, you're too amazing!" The child spoke to himself, then looked at Lü Shi with a gaze full of admiration.

  Lü Shì smiled lightly, the child's understanding wasn't quite there yet. This English longbow had already gone against the cognitive understanding of this era's people, but it wasn't necessary to explain what physical principles were to a child either. Smiling, he said: "Alright, stop asking these boring questions, come on, we brothers having roasted meat tonight is the real deal, go find some firewood, we'll have a barbecue."

  The child finally came to his senses and asked timidly, "Big brother, can I take the pheasant back home? My brother and sister also...also..." His face turned red as he stuttered and couldn't continue.

  Lü Shiyí was taken aback, and suddenly became overjoyed. What wonderful news! He had been traveling alone for several months, and along the way, there were either no villages or they were deserted. This was the first time he knew that in this Shaanxi Yulin place, there were still households that hadn't moved away.

  "Little brother, I've troubled you." Lü Shi didn't dare decline and hastily confirmed the matter.

  "It's no trouble at all, it's actually a pleasure. My father will definitely be delighted." As he said this, his eyes were fixed on the plump chicken in Lü Shi's hands.

  Lü Shixiao smiled and said: "Little brother, let's go home."

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