CHAPTER 8: RAY'S ADVENTURE 2

Ray departed from the small pond area and chose the right side of the pond for his adventure today.

With the fire axe in hand, Ray methodically cleared the path before him and slowly vanished into the forest.

"This side of the forest is particularly denser than the other side of the forest. Is there a reason for it?" Ray murmured to himself.

As Ray gradually began mapping the forest, he observed that a few bamboos were peculiarly taller than the rest.

"Wow, such a tall bamboo tree," Ray exclaimed as he keenly observed them and discovered some peculiarities.

Some bamboo has one golden around it, while others have two rings, gradually increasing up to nine rings.

While observing the rings, Ray touched them and noted the hardness of the bamboo.

The hardness and height of bamboo increase with the number of golden circles present on it. If the hardness of a one-ringed bamboo is represented by the number one, then a two-ringed bamboo has ten times the hardness of a one-ringed bamboo, while a three-ringed bamboo has one hundred times the hardness of a two-ringed bamboo, and so on.

Ray accidentally broke a few branches, and sweet-smelling water oozed out of them.

"What is this? Is this water collected in this bamboo?" Ray questioned himself.

Ray collected some flowing water from the broken bamboo branch in his hands and tasted it.

"Ah, what a sweet water; it tastes sweeter than the nectar collected by the bees," Ray exclaimed.

After tasting the water and observing it being wasted, Ray decided to collect the liquid. However, he couldn't find any containers for it.

 Ray collected some in bamboo tubes, which were made the spot by breaking a few normal bamboo sticks and hollowing them to serve as water carriers.

After sealing the water carriers with leaves and securing them tightly with makeshift to prevent any leakage, Ray placed the bamboo tubes in the basket and began his forest mapping.

The entire afternoon Ray searched the right side of the pond and mapped it. 

The end of the right side of the bamboo forest leads to the base of the tall tree in his house's backyard which occupied a large part of the hill.

By the time Ray returned to the pond at the center of the bamboo forest, where his tent and other belongings were situated, the sun was setting in the west, and the fire in the stove had gone out.

Ray First placed the axe he was carrying next to the fire pit and entered the tent with the items he had gathered in his basket from scavenging in the forest.

Ray placed the basket beside his bed, sat down, and rested for a while after drinking a of water.

After a while, Ray began sorting the items he had brought from the. First, he took out the bamboo tubes from the basket, placed them next to his bed, and then started rearranging the mushrooms and wild vegetables in the basket in an orderly manner.

Ray took the woven basket containing the mushrooms and vegetables to the pond and dipped them in for a thorough wash.

After washing the vegetables, Ray took a tray and began cutting them to prepare them for cooking his dinner.

Ray took a large, strong, and slender bamboo stick fallen from the earlier earthquake fashioned it into a fishing rod, using a small mushroom bait, and began fishing.

While fixing the rod with a few rocks support, Ray began gathering dry grass and sticks to restart the fire that had died in the fire pit.

By the time Ray started the fire, a fish had hooked onto his fishing rod. He immediately dragged it out of the pond and began cooking his meal.

"What a large fish. This will suffice for my entire dinner today. I need not attempt to catch a few more, which would be wasteful," Ray murmured to himself.

He first killed the fish and cut open its stomach to empty its insides.

Ray skewered the fish with a long stick, applied oil and spices to it, and began roasting it over the fire.

"Next, I must fry these vegetables to balance my diet," Ray thought to himself.

Nearby, he skewered some mushrooms and vegetables, dipped them in spices and oil, and commenced frying them.

After a few minutes of roasting, Ray placed the cooked fish and vegetables onto a plate and began eating leisurely.

After his meal, Ray cleaned his utensils, then re-entered his tent and began organizing his map, which he had roughly drawn.

After examining it for a few seconds, Ray thought to himself, "If I attempt to sell this map, others will perceive it as a child's doodle and accuse me of trying to deceive them."

And decided to redraw them on a new sheet.

He took a clean sheet of paper and began redrawing the map, marking the locations that indicated the routes to the special bamboo and wild vegetable gathering places, as well as the mountain edges.

After finishing his work, Ray reviewed it and thought,

"Now it's perfect, or at least it looks like a barely qualified map."

It was already dark outside his tent by the time Ray redesigned his map.

He then exited the tent, sat by the fire pit, and began observing the night sky.

"Unlike his home world, the sky here was clear, unobstructed by smog or high-rise buildings," Ray murmured to himself.

As he was observing the stars, Ray began contemplating which of them belonged to his home world and whether he could see it among the others.

Noticing the late hour, Ray retrieved his axe and extinguished the fire. He then entered his tent, turned off the lights, and slept soundly.

The next morning, Ray awoke to the sound of small animals playing near the pond. He exited the tent, sat by the pond, and happily observed nature.

After freshening up and having a light breakfast, Ray commenced the mapping of the remaining bamboo forest.