Chapter 211: The Cave on the Island

This time there wasn't much coconut flesh, so the two only set up six traps; whether they could get a catch was left to fate.

After finishing those, the original plan was to go foraging, but now that's impossible; they must solve a survival problem:

Fresh water!

Originally they considered there would be coconuts, so they brought a bottle of water, but they'd almost finished it while working, and there was still half a day left—they couldn't go without water.

Although that amount of time wouldn't kill them from thirst, it was still unpleasant.

Really, a nice foraging trip turned into a desert island survival situation.

However, many sea islands have fresh water; they just didn't know if this island did.

The two began walking around the island; the central hill wasn't very high, like a small mound.

Walking along the base of the hill, they indeed found a small stream; following it upstream, they discovered a large cave.

It wasn't the kind you have to crawl into; rather, it was a hall-like, semi-open space where spring water seeped from the rock fissures and slowly gathered into the outside stream.

The spring water was sweet, standard mountain spring water, rich in minerals; the two drank their fill and also filled their water bottle.

There was also a bucket, originally meant for holding fish catch, which they first filled with fresh water.

This place was quite cool; after finishing, the two found a spot to sit down.

"Brother, we have water, but what about food?" Xiao Hu began to worry.

Ye Cheng scratched his head; after watching so many wilderness survival documentaries in later times, his mind was now a blank—he couldn't remember anything.

As he was thinking, Ye Cheng casually lifted his gaze to the cave ceiling.

Suddenly, a white object caught Ye Cheng's eye.

He stood up, narrowed his eyes slightly, and examined it closely.

Xiao Hu also rose to his feet, looking at the thing above: "Brother, what is this?"

After a moment, Ye Cheng's eyes widened, his mouth fell open, and he said incredulously, "This... looks like bird's nest."

"What? Bird's nest?" Xiao Hu was stunned; bird's nest, whether in novels or on TV, is an absolute top-tier delicacy—ordinary people haven't even seen it, let alone eaten it.

Of course, in later times it's been made somewhat common; who knows what black technology is involved, but anyway you can get it for a few hundred bucks.

But the bird's nest now is genuine, absolutely top‑priced goods.

Bird's nest refers to the nests built from the saliva of certain swiftlets in the order Apodidae, family Apodidae, and some golden swiftlets, mixed with other substances; it is also called swallow vegetable, swallow root, swallow greens.

Bird's nest contains rich protein, amino acids, carbohydrates, and various trace elements, and has many benefits such as nourishing the lungs, strengthening the stomach, beautifying the complexion, and stabilizing pregnancy. Traditional Chinese medicine believes it can nourish the lungs, enrich yin, relieve dryness, supplement deficiency, strengthen the stomach, nourish yin, harmonize the middle, strengthen the heart, lower blood pressure, beautify the complexion, and stabilize pregnancy.

Modern scientific research finds that bird's nest contains up to 49.9 g protein per 100 g dried nest, calcium 42.9 mg/100 g, phosphorus 3 mg/100 g, iron 4.9 mg/100 g—truly a veritable "nutritional treasure house"!

This is also why bird's nest is expensive; of course, the main reason it can fetch that price is just four words: beautifying and nourishing the complexion.

For those four words, no matter how expensive, women will pay for it.

Generally speaking, wild bird's nest sells for tens of thousands per catty; you can imagine the price.

Bird's nest is divided into two types according to where it is built: "house swiftlet" and "cave swiftlet."

Golden swiftlets that build nests in caves are called cave swiftlets; those that build in man‑made houses are house swiftlets. It is generally believed that cave swiftlet nests are closer to natural products and rich in minerals, whereas house swiftlet nests are relatively cleaner.

What Ye Cheng and the others are seeing now is pure wild cave swiftlet nests.

Generally, cave swiftlet nests are mostly produced in coastal cliff caves; harvesting is extremely difficult, and a slip could mean death or serious injury.

But looking at it now...

This cave seems a bit lower; perhaps there's a chance.

"Xiao Hu, can you climb up?" Ye Cheng pointed to the arched dome above, which was pitted and had plenty of handholds.

Xiao Hu stood below, gauged left and right, shook his head, and said, "Brother, it's too steep; without any tools I can't climb up."

Ye Cheng furrowed his brows; if Xiao Hu was afraid to go up, he certainly couldn't, so they needed a solution.

He looked outside the cave; there was a small grove of trees, perhaps...

"Xiao Hu, let's try making a ladder." Ye Cheng pointed to the woods outside and said.

"Sure, we brought a knife anyway."

The two took their knives to the woods, cut down two somewhat large trees, then trimmed off the branches, leaving the two main trunks.

Then they tied several thinner branches to them, forming a triangular ladder that was wider at the bottom and narrower at the top, standing a little over three meters tall.

At that height, if Xiao Hu stood on it and stretched his arms, he could reach nearly five meters—about enough to harvest that patch of bird's nest.

By then the two would search again; there was no way this cave held only a single patch of bird's nest.

Ye Cheng held the base while Xiao Hu carefully stepped up; the bindings weren't very solid, but they were barely sufficient.

When Xiao Hu reached the top of the ladder, he stretched his hand but was still a bit short.

He could only place his foot on a rock, then hang in mid‑air and gently pry the bird's nest from the stone wall with his right hand.

Actually, the proper method would be to spray water, soften the nest a bit, then harvest.

But they lacked those conditions, so they had to do it this way.

"Brother, you take this; there are several more over here." Xiao Hu tossed the piece of nest he'd just taken down to Ye Cheng and then crawled toward another side.

Soon Xiao Hu harvested another four or five pieces from the cave crevices and tossed them all to Ye Cheng.

Bird's nest is measured in "bowls"; one bowl is about 5–10 cm long, 2–5 cm wide, and usually weighs 5–10 grams.

The few bowls Xiao Hu harvested were fairly intact—about seven to eight centimeters long, four centimeters wide, light in hand; their weight was unknown for now.

The highest‑grade bird's nest is white, but cave swiftlet nests tend to be slightly yellowish; Ye Cheng looked at the few bowls in his hand—the color was fine—but he didn't know how much they could sell for.

Xiao Hu climbed down, brushed his hands, and said, "Brother, that's all there is."

They now had only six bowls; surely there were more. Ye Cheng set the ladder against the stone wall, climbed up, and looked across to the opposite side.

"Over there, over there is something white, and that spot." From his high vantage point, Ye Cheng could easily see the situation opposite, and even make out details in the smaller cavities.

From Ye Cheng's angle, there were at least another dozen or so pieces.

The two kept to their division of labor: they moved the ladder over, Xiao Hu climbed the easy spots, and Ye Cheng took the higher ones.