Chapter 11: Sister Tong, Be Careful Not to Get Hurt

Lu Cheng wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand. The entire Live Stream Room, including the studio audience, was filled with people metaphorically scratching their heads.

• Wait, is she planning to settle down here permanently? –

• My mind is spinning. Watching both sides of the stream feels like looking at two different worlds. One group is like savages still worrying about food and water, while this side is already planning to build a house? –

• Haha, she really can’t help herself. Just as people were starting to have a slightly better impression of her, she starts acting up again. This is such an obvious stunt. –

• Stunt +1. I don’t believe for a second she can build a habitable house by herself in just one month. –

• I don’t care if she’s putting on a show, but she better not dump all the work on Lu Cheng. Making someone else slave away just to get herself views… give me a break. –

• It’s obvious that’s exactly what she’s thinking. She’s already ordered Lu Cheng to get to work. –

• To be honest, Lu Cheng looks pretty willing to do it. Is it okay to say that? –

…

Lu Cheng, of course, didn’t have the slightest objection.

After spending just a few days with her, he had come to a firm conclusion: as long as Sister Tong said it, it had to be right.

There was no need to ask why; unconditional trust was enough.

In this way, Lu Cheng became the first person to grasp this “hardcore truth.”

Once the order was confirmed and it was clear Sister Tong needed bamboo, Lu Cheng immediately took his machete to the bamboo grove on the flank of their camp.

True to its nature as a completely undeveloped Deserted Island, the bamboo grew wild here, forming a lush, verdant expanse.

Lu Cheng carefully scouted a path and reached the outer edge of the grove.

Looking at the stalks before him, he couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement.

The bamboo here grew incredibly thick. Even the thinner ones were as wide as his calf.

Moreover, bamboo was famously resilient. Cutting it down was not going to be an easy task.

With that thought, Lu Cheng weighed the blade in his hand, took a deep breath, and swung with all his might.

The bamboo shook violently upon impact, the vibration sending a wave of numbness through his arm.

“Holy cow.”

Lu Cheng stared at the single notch he’d managed to make with his full strength. He realized this was going to be much harder than he’d imagined. Using brute force would likely do nothing but rattle his arm into numbness.

No wonder those cultivation novels he used to read always had the sects train their protagonists by throwing them into bamboo forests to chop wood.

If he finished clearing this patch, would he end up mastering some peerless divine technique?

While Lu Cheng was busy pumping himself up with fantasies, Qiao Yitong was pacing nearby.

Every so often, she would stop, crouch down, and press her hand against the ground.

In some spots, she had no reaction at all. In others, she would pause in thought for a moment before picking up a random branch and driving it into the earth.

She spent half an hour searching like this.

The netizens commented:

• What is she doing? She looks like she’s lost her mind. –

• No idea. She looks like she’s setting up some kind of ritual formation. Look at those sticks; it looks so eerie after she pokes them in. –

• Anyone here an expert in Qimen Dunjia¹? Can anyone tell what she’s doing? –

• Qimen Dunjia? You really think she’s some master? If she had that kind of ability, she should have fixed her own luck first. If her Feng Shui² were any good, she wouldn’t have spent the last few years doing so much trashy stuff. –

• So this is just another stunt? Doesn’t she get tired? She has a total performance personality, doesn’t she? Always has to do something to get attention. –

• Lu Cheng is over there working himself to death cutting trees on her orders, while she’s just wandering around sticking sticks in the ground? Classic Qiao Yitong. –

…

Most of the people in the chat were still Qiao Yitong’s anti-fans, treating the act of insulting her as a collective carnival.

At this moment, not one of them realized that they were all about to be slapped in the face.

After wandering in a full circle, Qiao Yitong finally heard the sound of water she had been searching for, about a hundred meters away from their fire pit.

Finding a water source would solve many problems. At the very least, for an ordinary human like Lu Cheng, he would no longer have to feel anxious about dehydration.

Qiao Yitong marked the spot and looked toward Lu Cheng.

Half an hour had passed, and Lu Cheng was still working desperately on the bamboo.

His expression looked strained, sweat beaded on his forehead, and the hand holding the machete was trembling slightly.

She looked at the bamboo already cut on the ground.

There were two.

Qiao Yitong: “…”

Were the humans of this world all this frail?

Respect, understanding.

She walked forward expressionlessly and stopped beside Lu Cheng. “Tired?”

Hearing Qiao Yitong’s concern, Lu Cheng felt as though the exhaustion of the last thirty minutes had been worth it.

He looked up at her with a smile. “I’m okay. But Sister Tong, what exactly are we going to do with this bamboo? How much do we need?”

“About a hundred stalks. For a Bamboo House,” Qiao Yitong said calmly, her face devoid of emotion.

Lu Cheng: “…?”

“A hundred… stalks?” He looked down at the two pieces beside him, which were the result of thirty minutes of desperate effort.

A hundred stalks would take fifty hours.

Even working five hours a day, that would take ten days.

Furthermore, on this isolated island, the daily food supply was a constant struggle. If he really kept chopping like this, he might drop dead within three days.

“Sister Tong, we’re only surviving here for thirty days. Maybe we should just make do? There’s no need to build a whole Bamboo House, right?” Lu Cheng suggested cautiously.

Qiao Yitong lowered her gaze, looking at the two lonely stalks of bamboo. She understood why he would say that.

“Follow me,” Qiao Yitong said, offering no further explanation.

Lu Cheng was a bit confused but followed her as instructed.

They arrived at the spot Qiao Yitong had marked earlier.

“Dig down here. About three meters. Can you do it?” Qiao Yitong asked.

Lu Cheng was baffled. “I can, but Sister Tong, what’s this for?”

“Water,” Qiao Yitong said.

That single word made Lu Cheng’s eyes light up.

“Drinkable fresh water?” Lu Cheng asked.

“Mm,” Qiao Yitong nodded.

It wasn’t just about finding drinkable freshwater. As she had walked along the path of the water source just now, she had laid down a simple water purification array.

She had used a trace of Spiritual Power to empower each wooden stake, allowing the energy to seep deep into the ground. Under the influence of these arrays, by the time the water reached the location she had marked, it would be exceptionally pure.

Drinking it directly wouldn’t be a problem at all.

She didn’t feel like explaining any of this, figuring Lu Cheng would understand once the work was done.

Lu Cheng didn’t doubt her for a second. To him, the words “water source” were practically synonymous with the “source of life.”

“Alright, I’ll get to digging right away. But those bamboo stalks over there…”

“I’ll handle them,” Qiao Yitong said, reaching out to take the machete from Lu Cheng’s hand.

Lu Cheng hesitated, the words catching in his throat.

He had wanted to warn her that the bamboo wasn’t nearly as easy to cut as she might imagine.

Even though they were hollow, the outer layer was so resilient that every swing of the blade left his arms feeling numb.

However, he swallowed his words.

It might be better to let Sister Tong try it for herself. Once she realized how difficult it was, she might give up on the idea and stop dreaming of building an impractical Bamboo House.

With that thought in mind, he watched Qiao Yitong head toward the bamboo grove and simply called out a warning, “Sister Tong, don’t put your full strength into the swing. The blade doesn’t have eyes³, so be careful not to hurt yourself.”

“Mm.”

Translator’s Notes