Chapter 188 - 82: River Valley Plain (Part 2)
Chen Zhou pondered silently.
As far as he knew, volcanic ash was a high-quality natural fertilizer, and some volcanic ash could be used as natural cement.
Staring at the volcano, he memorized its location.
Thinking that when he has the time, he must make a trip to the volcano to examine the specific situation.
If there was still high-quality volcanic ash on the mountain, he would find a suitable place to plant a field directly at the foot of the mountain, or simply build a mountain road. Once the cart was made, it would be nice to pull the volcanic ash back to use as fertilizer.
Despite the long journey back and forth to the volcano, in reality, collecting dead fish and shrimp from the sea to compost in a pit and then transporting it to the field might take even more time and effort.
The slow, traditional method is ultimately not as good as hauling finished products directly.
"If the volcanic ash is worthless, now that we've found Pigeon Cave, I still need to see if there is any deposited guano inside.
Compared to the volcano, Pigeon Cave is relatively closer, and I could directly farm in the River Valley Plain."
"But it is too far from home, making it inconvenient to tend the fields. Only when enough seeds are available can we plant on a large scale. That way, even if we 'rely on the sky for a harvest,' the grain yield will be enough."
Having made up his mind, Chen Zhou shifted his gaze and discovered a silvery stream among the rolling mountains to his right.
This little river originated from the foot of the mountain, flowing out to run through an oval-shaped green space. At the edge of the woods, it split into two, appearing finer than the river beneath his feet.
"Damn, could that river be the freshwater source that Robinson discovered?
Could it be that I have been heading in the opposite direction since the first day on the island, no wonder the terrain I found is completely different from what Robinson found."
Chen Zhou finally realized that Robinson had headed northwest after landing on the island, while he had headed northeast from the start, and they were never at the same location.
"If we really aren't in the same place, does this mean there's actually another herd of wild goats on the island?
They live in the forest, far from the cunning group on the plateau.
If that's the case, it would be great! Catching goats in open fields and capturing them in forests is like day and night in difficulty.
In a different place, my success rate could increase several-fold…"
Observing from afar, he determined the correct direction based on the sun, kept the general location of the River Valley Plain in mind, quickly ate his meal, washed the dishes with cold boiled water, and set off again.
...
When calculated correctly, the River Valley Plain wasn't far from the landing site.
If it weren't for going in the opposite directions, Chen Zhou might have reached his destination by the evening of the 22nd.
On the afternoon of the 22nd, he walked downhill until nightfall.
On the morning of the 23rd, rising early before sunrise, Chen Zhou, along with Lai Fu, continued on. Eventually, on the afternoon of the 23rd, after a long trek, both man and dog arrived at the River Valley Plain.
...
Out of the forest, the view suddenly opened up.
Under the vast sky, the vibrant blue and a large dose of weary sunlight poured down, covering the lush green and vibrant grassland.
Embraced by the surrounding forest, the dark green canopy, the blue-green distant mountains, the clear river, and the bright wildflowers filled the view harmoniously, soothing one's mood.
The land was nearly flat, and the wind caused the grass tips to undulate like ocean waves.
Along the riverbanks, a few big trees swayed their branches and leaves, waving at Chen Zhou.
"Phew, finally got to see the sun!"
The difficulty of plunging into the forest halfway through to reach the River Valley Plain cannot be compared to Robinson's river journey.
After more than a day of continuous travel, frequently navigating through dense forests, combating the inner doubts of having an incorrect direction, and enduring depression and fatigue, he finally made it here.
Like a prisoner finally released after a long confinement, a surge of impulse made him raise his head and let out a hearty roar.
Awooo!
The slightly hoarse voice dissipated across the green field as he had already sprinted ahead, leaving human traces on this virgin land.
Woof! Woof!
Lai Fu paused for a moment, infected by his master's mood, gleefully chasing after Chen Zhou into the grass.
After madly running for a few dozen meters, he heard the sound of glass jars clinking in his pocket from behind.
Worried about shattering the fragile glassware, Chen Zhou quickly stopped in his tracks and waited in place for Lai Fu, walking toward a large tree leaning by the river.
The grass on the River Valley Plain was lush, but unlike the tall weeds around the wooden house; here the grass only reached knee-high, bathing in sunlight, and had not yet wilted even with the onset of the dry season, standing upright and pleasing to the eye.
Despite the short grass, Chen Zhou did not dare to be careless, proceeding cautiously as he used the Iron Blade to cut through the grass and make a path.
Lai Fu was cheerful for a few dozen seconds, then deflated back into a listless state.
Long treks are a human strength. As a canine, it followed its master relentlessly during the day and stood guard at night, its spirit already exhausted to the limit.
Luckily, Chen Zhou would deliberately delay every day while cooking to give Lai Fu a good chance to rest, or else it might have fallen behind.
...
After advancing about three hundred meters, Chen Zhou reached the tree.
Here was a small Rock Beach, the ground soil mostly washed clean by the raging river waters during the rainy season, leaving only small river pebbles and coarser sand.
The large tree exposed its gnarled roots, with a trunk thick enough for two people to encircle slanting over, its canopy hanging over the rushing river, casting a patch of green.
Among the surrounding leaves, many pale pink flowers were budding, faintly emitting a light fragrance.
The scenery was nice, and he prepared to set up camp here for the night.
Looking around, Chen Zhou spotted several thick-stemmed, broad-leafed wild aloe vera plants around the rock beach.
They looked quite different from domesticated aloe vera.
The rootstock at the base of the whole aloe vera was very thick, resembling individual hemispherical brownish lumps of wood, from which many individual plants sprouted.
The stems and leaves of the aloe vera lacked the layered pagoda-like appearance of ornamental aloe, growing wildly; the spiny leaves pointing towards the sky, densely intersecting with each other.
Some leaves were even pricked by the edges of other leaves, leaving scars.
"Wow, the books didn't mention the aloe vera would be so big.
I wonder if the medicinal properties of this aloe vera are similar to that of domesticated ones, if it's poisonous, and whether it can treat inflammation."
Not in a hurry to pull out the jar to transplant the aloe vera, Chen Zhou turned over the small Stones underfoot, carefully checking if the rock beach was damp.
Some rivers experience tidal changes, rising and falling at different times of the day.
He had learned from news reports of a case where a person who loved collecting exotic stones found a beautiful uncut jade on a remote rock beach but did not leave immediately, continuing to search the area.
Unexpectedly, when the river rose at night, that rock beach was submerged in cold water.
The man, absorbed in the joy of stone hunting, was unaware he was surrounded by water, and ultimately drowned alive on the rock beach, holding the uncut jade in his arms until his demise.
The lessons left by predecessors with their lives are meant to prevent later generations from repeating the same mistakes.
Fearing a similar fate, being submerged during sleep, Chen Zhou specially checked the area.
The results were reassuring: slightly damp under the rocks, but not containing much water, within a normal range of humidity, proving it was not a "flood-prone area."
He chopped some dry branches of the trees, using Stones from the rock beach to build a stove and start a fire to boil water.
He left Lai Fu to rest beside the tree roots, setting down the bag.
With the Long-handled Axe at his waist and holding the Iron Blade, Chen Zhou walked along the riverbank.
Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, he wanted to search for the various crops mentioned in the books.
Reaching the riverbank and observing closely, he found out that this river was wider than the one near the camp, but much shallower.
The river water was not as clear as the one near the camp, with along the shore dense black mud, overgrown with dense aquatic weeds, where many fish with bluish-black backs swam among them.
Looking farther, amid a field of tender light grass stood several clumps of dark green and almost black wild sugarcane.
They were much thinner than the sugarcane Chen Zhou had eaten before, and not very tall, only about two and a half meters high, with dark green leaves tinged with reddish-brown at the top, looking slender and unassuming.
"I wonder if these have a high sugar content and if they're tasty."
Curious, Chen Zhou approached and cut down a segment of the sugarcane.
The core of the wild sugarcane was nowhere near as thick as that of edible sugarcane; the fibers were large and tightly wrapped in a sturdy outer husk, and its color was not as white as edible sugarcane, appearing as a faint rice yellow.
Concerned he might have misidentified the plant, Chen Zhou peeled away the sugarcane's skin and brought it to his nose for a sniff.
The result was unmistakable; he could still discern the distinctive clear sweetness unique to sugarcane.