Chapter 525: Hunter and Prey
As the camphor wood is roasted by the fierce fire, fine oil slowly seeps out from the fibers, and a rich fragrance floats in the air.
After the camphor leaves were picked, they were placed on a stone slab and ground into green mud with a smooth stone. Bifang smeared it on the exposed skin, and the mosquitoes around them seemed to disappear.
The stick was surrounded by raging flames and slowly turned black.
Bifang picked up a tree stick, cut a cross on the top of it with a dagger, placed it on top, picked up a round stone and hit the back of the dagger, splitting it into a cross.
The wooden handle of the steel dagger was removed, and the slender iron handle was inserted into the middle of the cross opening. In addition to accommodating the slender iron handle, Bifang also carefully opened several grooves inside the cross opening to accommodate about two centimeters of the dagger body, thus forming a simple inlaid structure.
When the cross is put together again, you can't tell that anything has been added inside.
Bifang explained: "One side is concave, and the other side is convex. When they fit together, it is the simplest mortise and tenon structure. It is not easy to break or fall off. It also accommodates part of the body of the dagger, so it is not easy to bend."
Holding the broken end, Bifang took out a piece of white rope from his bag, wrapped it around thinly, and finally tied a knot.
"This rope is made of Dyneema material, which is cut-resistant and wear-resistant. It is more than 10 times stronger than high-quality steel and second only to premium carbon fiber. Its density is less than that of water, so it can float on the water and is very light. Anyone who has watched my video of climbing Mount Everest should know this, and you guessed it right, this is the rope I used before."
"We didn't use it up after climbing Mount Everest last time, so we continued to use it this time. However, its strength is really high, and it's very difficult for me to cut it..."
Bifang grabbed the excess rope and cut it bit by bit with a whale harpoon. This was a dagger given by the system, but it was difficult to cut the Dyneema rope, which showed how strong the material was.
[Damn, this rope that Lao Fang used to climb Mount Everest, this steel blade forged in the wilderness, and I’m going to use it to bathe in bear blood later. I can’t imagine how high the value of this thing can go.]
[Conservative estimate: two million! ]
[This is awesome! I wish this could be a family heirloom and I could keep it at home as a decoration.]
【White tassel spear! 】
[Back then, I used this Dragon Gallbladder Silver Spear to kill him seven times at Changban Slope, leaving him with a thousand holes and making him piss and shit himself! ]
Bifang was waving a spear about 1.8 meters long in his hand. The bark on the trunk was peeled off, leaving only white branches with delicate patterns. The whole branch was straight, with a blade of six inches long. An excess rope hung down, swaying in the wind.
I stuck it into the ground and stepped on it. It was very tough and showed no signs of breaking even when bent nearly 60 degrees.
After finding a pine tree, it easily pierced into it, and resin slowly overflowed. Bifang wrapped the flowing pine resin around the junction of the spear head and the spear body, reinforcing it three times.
After three steps of mortise and tenon joints, rope wrapping and resin bonding, the wooden spear has become a whole. It is difficult to separate it whether it is chopping or stabbing.
The sharp spear pierced the sky, making a sharp whistling sound, and the leaves nearby rustled.
Bifang put it away with great satisfaction and immediately made two more wooden spears.
At the same time, the other hunters were all busy with their activities.
Everyone chose their own range of activities, but the program team did not airdrop everyone into the center of any forest, but asked them to make their own way.
The radiation range of human settlements is very wide, and most people have not gained much. They only encountered some pheasants and rabbits, and no larger animals.
Only when you enter the depths of the forest, does the real competition of skills begin.
It is now 9:30 in the morning. Bifang predicts that around noon, people will begin to make discoveries one after another.
In the jungle, Sato, fully armed in anti-cutting suit and carrying a small explosion-proof shield, holding a man-high naginata and a crossbow, shuttled through the jungle, giving people a sense of incongruity between modern and ancient times.
Times have changed.
Traditional hunters also know how to use it to protect themselves.
The program prohibits the use of heavy crossbows and hot weapons, and ordinary bows and arrows and modern equipment are excluded from these two.
The other hunters who participated in the program did not have the blessing of Bifang's system, so they could not "achieve great success at a young age", but they also had no task restrictions and could install all the equipment they could.
In addition to offensive humans like Sato and Mugaren who carry weapons, there are naturally defensive counterattack humans who dig traps.
Primitive hunting, without the restraint of hunting dogs, especially hunting large beasts like black bears, is ultimately a very dangerous thing. The best choice is naturally to lure the black bear into the trap.
Giant log traps and spike pits are both good ways to deal with large animals.
"Since we can see camphor trees over 25 meters tall, it means we have actually entered the deeper part of the forest." In the jungle, Bifang got up from the ground and put out the fire pit.
At this time, there were two wooden spears behind him and a sharper and harder steel spear in his hand. At the same time, there were five half-human-length short spears and a dart thrower on the ground.
To deal with a creature as thick-skinned and tough as a black bear, ordinary bows and arrows are far from enough. You must use a javelin with stronger penetrating power. Only in this way can you penetrate the thick fat layer and damage the internal organs and muscles.
"Edmond Rocard, the founder of modern forensics, once proposed a law named after him: 'Every contact leaves a trace'."
"To put it simply, it can be summed up in eight words: 'Every contact leaves a trace'. My translation may not be very good, but that's roughly what it means."
Bifang waved his spear, cut through the bushes blocking the way, and strode forward. With the long-handled weapon, the road was much easier to walk.
"After Roca's repeated demonstration, this statement was regarded as an axiom by professionals and became a cornerstone of forensic science, especially physical evidence."
"Rocard's law tells us that matter is composed of countless particles. When a suspect enters and leaves a scene and commits a crime, particles will be exchanged between the surfaces of objects he touches and his body, leaving some traces."
"His body also has some traces from the surfaces of these objects; even if the suspect has deliberately cleaned them, it is difficult to completely remove these traces."
All the corners where he stood , all the objects he touched, and all the things he left behind, even if unconscious, will become silent witnesses against him.
Not just his fingerprints and footprints, but also his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he broke, the marks left by the tools he used, the paint he scraped off, the blood or body fluids he left behind or collected.
All of these and more support the silent witness against him. This evidence will not be forgotten, will not be confused by the exciting moment, and it will not disappear like the witness.
It is evidence that a fact exists.
Physical evidence cannot be mistaken, it cannot be perjured, and it cannot disappear completely.
Only those who fail to seek, learn and understand can diminish its value.
"In my opinion, searching for prey is the same as searching for a criminal. As long as it has existed somewhere, it will definitely leave traces."
"As for what the traces are, we need to look at the physical signs and behavioral habits of the 'suspect'. There are two types in total: visible and invisible."
"The visible ones are hair, scratches, footprints, damage along the way, and the invisible ones are smells, favorite foods, and possible gathering points."
"If you want to find a bear, you have to be familiar with its behavior."
Bifang lifted a branch and scanned the big trees one after another.
"Bears, except polar bears, like to rub against trees because their legs can't reach their backs, and long-haired animals are prone to lice, so pay attention to whether there are scratches on the surrounding trees. It will be very obvious, and the whole tree will be rubbed with a hole."
"The second is footprints. Black bears are heavy and can easily leave deep footprints on the ground."
"The third is smell, but if there are no hounds, this is not a consideration."
Bifang himself can use this trick, and there are people with super strong sense of smell, but obviously, most people can't, so if there is no hunting dog, this trick does not need to be considered.
"The last thing is behavioral traces. From eating to walking, predators at the top of the food chain don't care too much about concealing their whereabouts. Many times, when you see an obvious passage in the wild, you need to pay attention, because it is likely a path walked by a large herbivore or predator."
This is the kind of confidence that comes from being at the top of the food chain.
Rabbits and mice need to look around when eating grass, but elephants are never overly alert because there are very few animals that can pose a threat to them.
"You should also pay attention to whether there is any fallen hair on the road. If there is hair, there is a 90% chance that it is a ferocious predator. You must be careful and cautious."
"Also food habits, seeing where things that should have been there have disappeared on a large scale, or where there are signs of destruction."
"The Asian black bear is a typical omnivore that mainly feeds on plants. The types of food it eats are diverse, including but not limited to the buds, leaves, stems, roots and fruits of various plants, as well as mushrooms, shrimps, crabs, fish and invertebrates, birds, rodents and carrion. It also digs ant nests and beehives."
"We can look for ant nests that have been turned , nearby fruit that has been gnawed away, or beehives that have had most of their contents bitten off."
[Ah, I know this. Bears like to eat honey.]
[Too awesome]
[Details, all details]
[Speak slower, I’m already taking notes]
【Pay attention to the blackboard, remember all of this! 】
[Why do bears like to eat honey? ]
Bifang did not answer. He shook the spear, grabbed the end, and used the spear head to pick up a hanging branch.
The leaves were turned up, and under the sunlight, several sharp scratches appeared on the trunk.
