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 hovered 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.
Ferocious beasts can also be driven away by various means, but tribes often encounter an endless situation in order to compete for various resources such as prey and population.
Therefore, if the Vine tribe wants to survive for a long time, it must start to consider how to protect itself when facing other tribes.
Jiang Xuan thought about it 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, ensure sufficient food for the tribe, and then find ways to increase the population.
Third, build a defense line for dangerous plants around the tribe, and use dangerous plants such as cage vines and biting flowers to protect the tribe.
Among these three things, the first thing is the current top priority.
Because the latter two take a long time to complete, and making weapons can improve combat effectiveness in a short period of time.
In the jungle, there are not many weapons that can be made with bare hands, Jiang Xuan intends to make bows and arrows.
The bow and arrow, a real long-range killing weapon, replaced the slings and spear throwers with extremely poor accuracy and short range.
Whether hunting or fighting with other tribes, the side with more excellent archers often has a greater advantage.
Shiloh has a bamboo bow, but it is too soft to withstand the strength of a warrior of one color, and it has almost turned into a toy.
Because of 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 bow. It is easy to make and can be made with only primitive tools.
As for those synthetic bows that are spliced and bonded with various materials, although they are more powerful, they are very time-consuming and require very high tools and techniques. Jiang Xuan can't make them at all.
The next day, Jiang Xuan prepared to make bows and arrows.
"Snapped!"
Jiang Xuan went to the creek to find a piece of gravel with high hardness. After breaking it, he picked out a few large pieces with sharp edges, and brought it back to the bamboo house. Choose the right wood.
"Boss, what are you looking for?"
Chi Shao followed unexpectedly. She was always worried that Jiang Xuan would go out alone, for fear that he would have an accident.
Jiang Xuan turned his head and said helplessly, "Sister, how many times have you said it, just call me Xuan."
Chi Shao said stubbornly, "Since you are the leader, then you must be called the leader."
Chi Shao is a very assertive person. It is difficult for others to persuade her to change her mind about what she believes. Therefore, Jiang Xuan had no choice but to give up persuasion.
"I'm looking for wood suitable for making bows and arrows."
Jiang Xuandao: "People from outsiders might find it here at some point. If we practice bows and arrows well, in the event of a conflict, at least we don't have to fight with them."
In short, the five members of the Vine tribe are too weak, young, and have poor combat experience. There is no chance of melee combat, and long-range attack is the best way.
Chi Shao nodded and said, "I've seen hunting bows from tribal warriors. Please help you find suitable wood."
"it is good."
After all, Chishao has been on the hunting team for half a year, and knows more about the animals and plants in the forest than Jiang Xuan.
The two walked around in the woods twice, Chishao saw a big tree, and her eyes lit up.
It was a big tree that needed at least five people to hug. It grew almost straight, very tall and dense.
Chishao used a stone knife to cut off some bark from the big tree. Inside was a purple trunk, and after a while, red sap flowed out.
"This tree, we call it the purple blood tree, because as long as you cut its bark, you can see the purple trunk and its sap, like blood."
"It is very tough and hard to break. In the past, the warriors of the tribe liked to use it to make spears. Most of the bows and arrows of the warriors in the hunting team were also made of this tree."
"But be careful, its juice is slightly poisonous. If you touch the juice with a wound on your hand, or if you accidentally eat this juice, you will feel pain all over your body within two or three days."
"After the soldiers cut down the purple-blooded tree, they usually roast it with fire first, or leave it for a few months before using it, and the juice inside will solidify, so there's no need to worry about poisoning."
Jiang Xuan nodded and took Chishao's words in his heart.
This tree is so big that even its branches are extremely thick and tall. If you want to make bows and arrows, you must find a small tree.
Fortunately, there were quite a few small purple-blooded trees near this big tree. Jiang Xuan chose the bowl-mouth-sized, straight-looking, small purple-blooded trees without knots, and cut down six of them in one go.
After the branches and treetops were removed, they were tied with rattan, and three peony trees each were carried back to the bamboo house.
After returning to the bamboo house, according to Chishao, he first hung the purple-blooded trees horizontally above the fire pond and baked them for a whole day, so that the sap inside would solidify and would not flow out when chopped.
Afterwards, he peeled off the purple blood tree and chopped it down bit by bit with a stone axe into a suitable bow shape.
The middle position of the bow body is the point of force and the place to be grasped. It is thicker, and the bow belly curved on both sides is thinner.
Pay great attention to this step. If you don't cut it well, cut it unevenly, or the wooden texture of the bow body is damaged, the manufactured bow will be easily deformed or even broken.
Because it is necessary to make five people's bows and arrows, it is obviously impossible to rely on Jiang Xuan alone. Everyone is helping with the rough processing, and the more meticulous work is done by Chishao and Jiang Xuan.
After the bow body was cut into a suitable shape, Jiang Xuan cut out grooves on both sides for tying the bowstring, then selected the toughest bark rope as the bowstring, bent the bow body slightly, and then tied the bowstring.
Next is the bow training session.
The bow that has just been made cannot be bent directly into a large amount, otherwise it will damage the bow body.
To tame the bow is to gradually adapt the back of the bow to the bending, and in the process, continue to scrape and adjust the body of the bow to make the bending range on both sides the same.
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 bowstring, and kept it in an open posture, and carefully observed the bending of both sides of the bow.
If the curvature of the bow body is not enough, use a stone knife to plan and scrape it again until the two sides are consistent.
When the bow is adapted step by step and bends to the right angle, take it off the bow rig, fix the bowstring, and polish it again.
At this point, a primitive single bow is basically completed.
If conditions permit, it is best to smear some tung oil on the bow to prevent moisture and cracks.
Jiang Xuan didn't have tung oil, but he found a natural tree lacquer based on Chishao's suggestion. After applying it, it can also have the same effect.
Later, Jiang Xuan made some feather arrows. The shaft of the arrow was a small shrub that grows straight. After baking and straightening, it can be used directly. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com
The arrowhead is made of polished Mitsubishi-shaped stone flakes. The fish bladder that Jiang Xuan had stored before came in handy. After boiling the fish bladder glue, adding some fibers can firmly stick the arrowhead on the arrow shaft.
The arrow feathers use the tail feathers of birds, break the tail end of the arrow shaft, clip the left and right symmetrical tail feathers, and then tie them with thin ropes.
After the arrowhead, shaft, and feathers are all done, a feathered arrow is finished.
Ten days later, the five bows and a lot of feather arrows were all made.
Everyone in the Vine tribe has their own bow and a batch of feather arrows.
Jiang Xuan and the five walked into the woods with their first bows, ready to try the newly made bows and arrows.
Jiang Xuan made the first move. He aimed at a big tree about 20 meters away. The diameter of this big tree was about the size of a washbasin.
He held his breath, bent his bow and shot an arrow, then aimed at the trunk of the big tree and loosened the bowstring.
"Hey!"
The feather arrow broke through the air in an instant, but passed by the big tree and stuck on another tree.
"It shot crookedly..."
Jiang Xuan felt embarrassed, after all, the people behind him were watching.
Chi Shao gently comforted: "It's okay, it's normal to shoot crooked the first time. Any archer needs a long training to shoot accurately."
Jiang Xuan nodded and said, "Keep practicing, I don't believe that I can't shoot!"
Jiang Xuan shot arrow after arrow. After shooting all the feather arrows, he went to retrieve the feather arrows and continued to practice.
He is a patient and persistent person. Once he wants to do something, he will not give up easily.
After an hour, he finally found some feeling, and occasionally he could hit larger targets.
Others are also practicing hard.