After returning to the bamboo house, it was already dark.
Jiang Xuan lit a torch, chose a suitable place to plant the small stone eggs and saplings he brought back, and then began to think about self-protection.
The smoke in the forest lingered in his heart for a long time, like a sharp sword hanging above his head. No one knew when it would fall.
In the primitive jungle, people from different tribes are often more terrifying than beasts.
Wild beasts can also be driven away by various means, but in order to compete for prey, population and other resources between tribes, they often encounter a situation where they will fight to the death.
Therefore, if the Vine tribe wants to survive for a long time, it must start thinking about how to protect itself when facing other tribes.
Jiang Xuan thought for a long time and decided to do three things first.
First, try to improve the strength of the five people and create defensive and offensive weapons.
Second, speed up the process of planting and breeding to ensure that the tribe has sufficient food, and then find ways to increase the population.
Third, build a defense line of dangerous plants around the tribe and use dangerous plants such as cage vines and biting flowers to protect the tribe.
Of these three things, the first is the top priority right now.
Because the latter two take a long time to complete, but making weapons can improve combat effectiveness in a short time.
In the jungle, there were not many weapons that could be made with bare hands, so Jiang Xuan planned to make bows and arrows.
Bows and arrows are true long-range weapons of destruction. Their emergence has replaced slings and spear throwers that have extremely poor accuracy and short range.
Whether it is hunting or fighting with other tribes, the side with more excellent archers can often have a greater advantage.
Shi Loach had a bamboo bow, but it was too soft and could not withstand the strength of the Yishi warriors, and it had almost turned into a toy.
Due to limited conditions, Jiang Xuan wanted to make a single bow.
A bow that uses only one main material for its body is called a single-piece bow. It is simple to make and can be made with only primitive tools.
As for those synthetic bows made of multiple materials spliced and bonded together, although they are more powerful, they are very time-consuming and require high production tools and technology. Jiang Xuan cannot make them at present.
The next day, Jiang Xuan prepared to make bows and arrows.
"Snapped!"
Jiang Xuan went to the creek and found a piece of high-hardness gravel. After breaking it, he selected a few large stone pieces with sharp edges. After bringing it back to the bamboo house, he first made a simple stone axe, and then used it in the woods near the bamboo house. Choose the right wood.
"Chief, what are you looking for?"
Chi Shao followed him as expected. She was always worried about Jiang Xuan going out alone, for fear that something might happen to him.
Jiang Xuan turned his head and said helplessly: "Sister, I have told you so many times, just call me Xuan."
Chi Shao said stubbornly: "Since you have become the leader, I have to call you leader."
Chi Shao is a very independent person. It is difficult for others to persuade her to change her mind about something she believes in. Therefore, Jiang Xuan had to give up persuading her.
"I'm looking for wood suitable for making bows and arrows."
Jiang Xuandao: "People from other tribes may find us here sometime. If we practice bows and arrows well, if there is a conflict, at least we won't have to fight with them."
In short, the five members of the Vine Tribe are too weak, young, and have very little combat experience. They have no chance of winning in melee combat, and long-range attacks are the best way.
Chi Shao nodded and said: "I have seen the hunting bows of tribal warriors. Can I help you find suitable wood?"
"good."
After all, Chi Shao had been in a hunting team for half a year and knew much more about the animals and plants in the forest than Jiang Xuan.
The two walked around in the woods twice, and Chi Shao's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw a big tree.
It was a big tree that required at least five people to hug it. It grew almost straight, very tall and dense.
Chi Shao used a stone knife to peel off some bark from the big tree. Inside was a purple trunk. After a while, red juice flowed out.
"We call this tree the Purple Blood Tree, because as long as you cut its bark, you can see the purple trunk and its sap, which looks like blood."
"It is very tough and difficult to break. In the past, tribal warriors liked to use it to make spears. Most of the bows and arrows used by the warriors in the hunting team were also made from this tree."
"But be careful, its juice is slightly poisonous. If you touch the juice with a cut on your hand, or if you accidentally eat this juice, you will feel pain all over your body within two or three days."
"After soldiers cut down the purple blood tree, they usually roast it with fire or leave it for a few months before using it. The juice inside will solidify, so there is no need to worry about poisoning."
Jiang Xuan nodded and took Chi Shao's words to heart.
This tree is so big that even its branches are extremely strong and grow very tall. If you want to make bows and arrows, you must find a small tree.
Fortunately, there were many small purple blood trees near this big tree. Jiang Xuan chose small purple blood trees that were as big as the mouth of a bowl, straight and without knots, and cut down six of them in one go.
After removing the branches and treetops, they were tied with rattan, and each of them had three red peony trees, and they were carried back to the bamboo house.
After returning to the bamboo house, he first followed Chi Shao's instructions and hung the purple blood trees above the fire pit and baked them for a whole day, so that the sap inside would solidify and would not flow out when cut.
Then, he peeled off the bark of the purple blood tree and chopped it bit by bit with a stone ax into a suitable bow shape.
The middle position of the bow body is the stress point and the place for gripping. It is relatively thick, and the bow belly curved on both sides is relatively thin.
Pay great attention to this step. If the bow is not cut properly or unevenly, or the wooden texture of the bow body is damaged, the bow will be easily deformed or even broken.
Because it was necessary to make bows and arrows for five people, it was obviously not possible to rely on Jiang Xuan alone. Everyone was helping with the rough processing, and the more detailed work was done by Chi Shao and Jiang Xuan.
After cutting the bow body into a suitable shape, Jiang Xuan cut grooves on both sides for binding the bow strings, then selected the toughest bark rope as the bow strings, used force to bend the bow body slightly, and then tied the bow strings.
Next, is the bow training stage.
The newly made bow cannot be bent directly to a large extent, otherwise the bow body will be damaged.
Bow training is to slowly adapt the bow back to the bend bit by bit, and in the process, continue to scrape and adjust the bow body so that the bending amplitude on both sides is consistent.
Jiang Xuan made a simple bow training stand, then put the bow on it, first pulled the bow to a relatively small range, fixed the bow string to keep it in an open position, and carefully observed the bending of both sides of the bow body.
If any side of the bow is not curved enough, use a stone knife to plan and scrape it again until both sides are consistent.
When the bow adapts step by step and bends to a suitable angle, take it off the bow training stand, fix the bow string, and polish it again.
At this point, an original single bow is basically completed.
If possible, it is best to apply some tung oil on the bow body to prevent moisture and cracking.
Jiang Xuan didn't have tung oil, but based on Chi Shao's suggestion, he found a natural tree paint that could have the same effect after applying it.
After that, Jiang Xuan made some feather arrows. The arrow shafts were made of a small shrub that grew straight. After being baked and straightened, they could be used directly.
The arrowheads were made of polished tri-rhombus stone flakes, and the fish bladders that Jiang Xuan had stored before came in handy. After boiling the swim bladder glue and adding some fiber, the arrowheads could be firmly stuck to the arrow shafts.
The arrow feathers are made from the tail feathers of birds. The tail end of the arrow shaft is broken, the left and right symmetrical tail feathers are clipped on, and then tied with a string.
After the arrowhead, arrow shaft, and arrow feathers are all finished, a feathered arrow is finished.
Ten days later, five bows and some feather arrows were completed.
Each member of the Vine Tribe has a bow of his own and a batch of feather arrows.
Jiang Xuan and the others took their first bows and walked into the woods, ready to try out the newly made bows and arrows.
Jiang Xuan was the first to take action. He aimed at a big tree about twenty meters away. The diameter of this big tree was about the size of a washbasin.
He held his breath, drew his bow and nocked an arrow, then aimed at the trunk of the big tree and loosened the bowstring.
"call out!"
The feather arrow shot through the air instantly, but it missed the big tree and stuck in another tree.
"I shot it wrong..."
Jiang Xuan felt very embarrassed, after all, the people behind him were watching.
Chi Shao comforted her gently: "It doesn't matter. It's normal for the first shot to go wrong. Any archer needs to go through a long period of training before he can shoot accurately."
Jiang Xuan nodded and said: "Keep practicing, I don't believe I can't shoot accurately!"
Jiang Xuan shot arrow after arrow. After shooting all the feather arrows, he went over to pick them up and continued practicing.
He is a patient and perseverant person, and once he wants to do something, he will not give up easily.
An hour later, he finally found some feeling and could occasionally hit larger targets.
Others are also practicing hard.
