Chapter 72 - 68: Long Spear
Qin Ziwen looked at the meat in Zhao Pu’s hand and teased, "Dr. Zhao, can we eat this?"
Zhao Pu gave a wry smile. "From a medical standpoint, meat like this is risky. We should boil it for a long time. Cut it into small pieces first, and pick out any parasites you find."
He paused, then added, "The main thing is that the snake was still alive when we got it. If it had been dead for a while, bacteria like salmonella and other anaerobes would have multiplied rapidly. Not to mention the endotoxins and cortisol released before death. Endotoxins, for example, can’t be broken down even with high-heat cooking."
𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Although the floodwaters had receded, the river was still rushing, and its level was considerably higher than before.
Winding east along the Gated Community’s perimeter wall, they found the cars parked behind it had been tossed about by the flood, now lying in disarray. Scratches were minor damage; some cars had their doors and rears caved in, many windows were shattered, and their interiors were filled with water.
Only a few cars parked on higher ground were spared.
But compared to the cars parked outside, the garage was the real disaster area.
The water hadn’t drained away as the flood receded, but instead remained pooled inside the garage.
It was like a giant fish tank.
Huang Tao got a gasoline-powered water pump from the property management office.
The blue intake hose was placed in the water, and the other end was aimed down the slope.
"Anyone have some gasoline?" Huang Tao called out.
"I’ve got some in my car. Go ahead, take it."
"I’ve got some in my car too. Oh, well. It’s not like I’ll be able to use it anymore. Might as well contribute it to pumping out the water."
Many of the neighbors watching stepped up to offer the gasoline from their cars.
From the crowd, Zhao Pu looked at the flooded garage and stepped forward to ask, "Do you need 95 or 92 octane?"
A property management staff member next to Huang Tao said, "92."
Zhao Pu nodded. "Perfect. My car has 92 octane."
One after another, many neighbors came forward to donate the gasoline from their cars for free. Before long, they had collected enough.
Huang Tao stepped forward. "Alright, I won’t just take this gasoline for free. Who knows if there are any fish in the garage. If we find any, we’ll divide them up based on the proportion of gasoline you donated. We can’t let people contribute for nothing."
Zheng Yuan was the first to step forward in support. "Sounds fair. I’m okay with that."
Qin Ziwen said, "I don’t see a problem with it either."
Qin Ziwu gave his brother a strange look. "Bro, we don’t even have a car."
Qin Ziwen laughed. "I don’t, but Zhao Pu and Deng Guang just did."
Most of the onlooking neighbors agreed, and the few dissenting opinions were drowned out by the majority.
As the pump started up, a great volume of water was drawn out and surged into the adjacent river.
Some residents whose cars were trapped in the garage also began bailing out water with buckets and basins.
But the garage was huge, and even after more than an hour of pumping, the water level had barely dropped.
Qin Ziwen returned to his apartment.
Arriving at the Blacksmith Shop, he found Li Tieshan still forging the Spearhead. It had already begun to take shape as he continuously swung his hammer, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
After a flurry of blows, he used a pair of tongs to place the Spearhead back into the forge. As he worked the bellows, the coals flared with a dazzling red light, and the temperature climbed.
After finishing this First Stage, Li Tieshan wiped the sweat from his brow. "My Lord."
Qin Ziwen said, "Thank you for your hard work."
"It is what this humble one ought to do."
Qin Ziwen took out the Strong Beast Trap Blueprint he had received from the previous night’s settlement and handed it to Li Tieshan. "Take a look at this. It’s a Beast Trap. Can you make it with this blueprint?"
Li Tieshan accepted the Strong Beast Trap Blueprint, cupping it in both hands and studying it intently.
He let out an occasional murmur of surprise and confusion.
’It’s a bit complex...’ "But with the blueprint, I can attempt it."
"Good. Once you’re done with this Spearhead, start on the Beast Trap."
"Yes."
"How much longer will the Spearhead take?"
"I can finish it by this evening!" Li Tieshan declared, patting his chest in assurance. He then hesitated. "It’s just... we don’t have a suitable shaft. I was wondering if My Lord might have one to provide?"
"Not at the moment. But what about this? Think you can use it?" Qin Ziwen took out a wooden clothes-drying pole.
Li Tieshan took the clothes-drying pole, bent it a little, and swung it twice.
Then he shook his head. "My Lord, this probably isn’t suitable. It’s too short. A proper spear shaft needs to be at least two meters long, especially when fighting beasts. Anything shorter and you risk getting injured. This pole is only a meter and a half long, so it doesn’t meet the length requirement. And while it’s made of wood, it’s not resilient enough—it’s too ’brittle.’ It might hold up against a small or medium-sized beast, but it would easily snap against a large one."
"For a Long Spear shaft, the best wood is birch, followed by hickory, Zhe Wood, oak, or chaste tree. A resilient, high-quality piece of bamboo could also be used. Furthermore, a proper shaft actually requires special treatment. From what this humble one knows, one method is to soak the wood in tung oil, then let it air-dry in the shade for over a month. A shaft prepared this way is much tougher than an ordinary pole and is resistant to both woodworms and rot."
’Air-dry for over a month... That’s such a long time.’
’I’ll have to forget about the special treatment for now, but finding a suitable type of wood is certainly possible. With the variety of species in the wild, it shouldn’t be too difficult.’
Hearing this, Qin Ziwu ran back to the spare bedroom and brought out a branch he had previously cut in the wild.
"What about this? Do you think this will work?"
At the time, he had simply thought the branch was the right thickness and was perfectly straight—he’d rarely seen such a "prime specimen."
After taking it, Li Tieshan smiled. "Oh! This is chaste tree wood. It’s perfect for the shaft of a long weapon. It’s a little bent here, but My Lord, have no worries. This humble one can straighten it with fire."
"Alright, use mine then!" Qin Ziwu declared with a grand wave of his hand, contributing his treasured staff.
After the arrangements were made, Qin Ziwen was about to leave when Li Tieshan hesitated and requested, "My Lord, to increase efficiency, I wonder if Lord Wu could be assigned to help? If I have an assistant, this humble one can shorten the project time."
Qin Ziwen said to Qin Ziwu, "Xiaowu, go help Master Li."
Qin Ziwu laughed loudly. "Alright, I can take this chance to learn some real skills from Master Li."
’He’d never worked a forge before, but he was a little interested in blacksmithing.’
’The craft seemed pretty interesting.’
Once Qin Ziwu went to ask Master Li for instructions, Qin Ziwen left the Blacksmith Shop and walked over to the lavatory, taking out the Solar Charging Panel first.
It was a foldable solar panel with a two-by-three grid.
Normally, it would need to be placed in an open-air area like a rooftop to absorb sunlight.
But putting the solar panel outside wasn’t secure.
So he planned to install it inside his own space. The idea came from his farmland plot; common sense dictated that crops needed sunlight to grow.
’But since the crops on the plot were able to grow, it meant the light source above the expanded area must be a form of sunlight.’
’There was a high probability the Solar Charging Panel would work here.’
He installed the Solar Charging Panel on the roof of the lavatory, unfurling it so that it looked like a hat sitting on top of the small structure.
A wire ran from the side of the panel, connecting to a small device that stored the electricity.
As long as the Solar Charging Panel worked properly, he wouldn’t have to worry about his phone running out of battery in the future.
...
...