Chapter 474

Su Qiao looked around and found a rock wall not far from the beach, with a cave near the rock wall.

Considering the danger of the tide going out and coming in at dawn and dusk.

Su Qiao finally chose a relatively rear, safe cave.

The cave was quite spacious, about one zhang deep, and the width was about two zhang.

There was enough space for three people to rest inside, plus a fire pit could also fit.

He glanced at the sun, which had already set.

Nightfall was right around the corner.

Su Qiao dared not waste a single moment and hurriedly began looking for tools to start a fire by drilling wood.

Forget about flint for now.

With night about to fall, finding one would be purely a matter of luck.

It was better to just drill wood for fire.

Although it was more troublesome, fortunately he knew several methods for drilling wood to make fire.

He could try them all!

First, find dry, easily flammable tinder, then find suitable wooden boards, firewood, and so on.

Fortunately, there were no signs of human activity here, and on Haidao there were plenty of fallen leaves, branches, and dry grass.

Su Qiao simply found tinder that had been baked by the sun all day.

He also found wood that could be used to make tools for drilling wood to start a fire.

Liu Rushi and the maid Qing'er drank two more coconuts and rested for a while; by now they were able to walk.

Suddenly being in an unfamiliar place, the two women were somewhat frightened.

It seemed they could only feel safe when staying by Su Qiao's side.

After regaining some strength, they hugged coconuts and came to find Su Qiao.

Actually, the distance was not far, and although the sky had grown dim by now.

They could still easily spot Su Qiao sitting on the open ground, making preparations.

"Husband!"

Liu Rushi called out.

Hearing the voice, Su Qiao turned his head to look; seeing that they could walk, he felt quite pleased.

"We'll sleep in that larger cave over there tonight. You two take the coconuts over there to rest first; I'm about to start a fire!"

Su Qiao raised his hand and pointed to the cave near the rock wall not far away.

The two women followed Su Qiao's gesture and looked over; seeing the cave was neither too big nor too small, quite spacious and clean, they were quite satisfied.

However, what they looked forward to even more was Su Qiao's claim that he could start a fire.

"Husband, we didn't bring flint, nor did we bring a fire starter; can you start a fire?"

"Of course, drilling wood for fire! I've done it before!"

Su Qiao said with some pride.

That's right, he had indeed practiced drilling wood for fire himself in the countryside.

Well, not exactly practiced, just tried it.

At the beginning, he failed several times, but as long as one had patience and care, it was relatively easy.

It just ruined one's hands at the start!

"Great! Then we can't just sit and rest; let's put down our things and help you gather firewood later, shall we?"

"Can you manage?"

Gathering firewood was also quite important.

Night would fall soon; the more supplies one could accumulate, the better.

Who knew when it might rain, or whether there would be enough firewood then.

These were all things to consider.

Besides, Su Qiao also wanted to make a torch, or set up some kind of barrier or obstacle.

Otherwise, the cave was too open; if there were really wild beasts on the island, danger could easily arise in the middle of the night.

"By the way, gather more dry grass to spread inside the cave. At night, the sea breeze will be very cold; with dry grass, it will be much warmer."

Since the two women did not intend to rest but planned to work, Su Qiao did not refuse.

Time was growing ever more pressing; he truly could not finish everything alone, so having helpers was just right.

"Alright, we'll go right now!"

"Be careful; best to take two branches, beat the grass to startle the snakes, and don't get bitten!"

Su Qiao couldn't help but remind them again.

The two women immediately followed his words, found branches, and then used the branches as clubs to go gather dry grass.

Meanwhile, Su Qiao had also prepared the tools for drilling wood to start a fire.

He immediately began drilling wood to make fire.

To save effort, he used the method of a wooden bowstring to start fire.

That is, like sawing, making the tool into a bowstring, so that the friction required much less effort.

Then he added wood shavings and tinder into the groove.

Soon, Su Qiao noticed smoke rising.

Greenish smoke appeared, and the yellow tinder and wood shavings turned blackened.

Su Qiao carefully poured them into the tinder and kept blowing air, urging it to burn.

Once, twice, thrice...

After blowing several times, the tinder began to smoke, and the smoke grew thicker and thicker.

Su Qiao not only did not give up, but a look of surprise appeared on his face.

That's right!

The thicker the smoke, the more sparks there are; it will ignite any moment.

As expected!

Whoosh!

In the middle of the tinder that had been emitting greenish smoke, a flame suddenly appeared and quickly began to burn.

The heat of the flame was felt by both of Su Qiao's hands holding the tinder.

Finally, there is fire!

Su Qiao quickly cupped the tinder and ran two steps to the cave entrance, set it down, then placed the small branches, dry grass, dry leaves, and other items he had gathered on top.

Soon, the small flame turned into a large flame.

A fire pit was formed as Su Qiao slowly added firewood.

At this moment, Liu Rushi and Qing'er also returned, carrying the dry grass they had just found.

Seeing that Su Qiao had truly started a fire, a few traces of relieved smiles appeared on her pale, beautiful face.

"Son-in-law, you really started a fire! That's wonderful!"

By now, the sky had turned completely dark.

Su Qiao helped carry the dry grass into the cave.

Although the two women carried it twice, it was still not enough; in fact, there was a huge shortage. Even for one person to use as bedding, it would barely suffice.

However, it was now dark outside, and he was worried about the danger the two women would face if they went out.

So he decided to go out himself and let the two women stay behind to guard the home.

"Here's what we'll do: you two wait here. I'll go find more dry grass. It already feels a bit chilly now, and it will definitely be colder at midnight. We must gather plenty of dry grass."

Su Qiao said to the two women.

Liu Rushi was somewhat worried about Su Qiao's safety. "But it's dark outside now. What if you encounter some wild beast?"

Su Qiao shook his head and said, "It's fine. I won't go too far; I'll just stay nearby. It's only just gotten dark, so there's still time. If it were late at night, it would be hard to wander around safely."

"Alright then. Be careful."

"Mm, don't worry!"

Su Qiao picked up a sturdy-looking stick, held it in his hand, and walked out of the cave to search for dry grass.

On the small island, there were plenty of tall trees, shrubs, and dry leaves from large trees, as well as abundant dry grass.