Lesson

Liu Xue started the butchering process by grabbing a cleaver from the toolbelt.

He placed the rabbit on the backside of a material box atop the barbecue grill cut off the rabbit's feet, head, and tail. He used his hands to tug and pull off the skin, but could not, only loosening it. He had to improvise: pinching its hide on its back and cut a thin slit to create an opening. Then it was a matter of grabbing the carcass by its back legs and neck, gathering a handful of skin, before twisting and pulling to break it. It was a messy and sloppy job that made his stomach churn.

Trying to get the job done fast, he moved on to the next step in a flash: removing the rabbit's innards, like he had done with the fish. He took two deep breaths before making small incision in the belly, careful not to slice open the bladder or colon underneath. He moved upwards to open the chest cavity, using a smaller knife to cut from the ribcage down through its pelvis before reaching in and pulling down: removing the rabbit's heart, lung, intestines and all the other organs in one swift motion.

Liu Xue tried to keep a straight face, but could not. He dumped the squishy, sloppy, and odorous mess of the innards into another material box before vomiting all over it. The sight was too much: smaller fish organs already made him queasy, so the upscaled contents of the rabbit's insides, the amount of blood, the living mammalian life he had taken, it was too much.

His gaze slowly fell towards the rabbit's dismembered head, legs, tail, and skin sitting on the side and immediately felt his stomach churn upwards and inwards to the material box for the second time.

"I had no qualms about taking its life, but dissecting and breaking it down is too much," Liu Xue mumbled, taking a sip of the A-grade water to try and clear his mind of the bloody images. "It's not the modern times that has spoiled me. It's the system. I really am stranded in the wilderness, resorting to primitive means to survive."

The optimism and excitement he felt about his future life on the island dimmed quickly. It was not all sunshine and rainbows like he had believed. While the system was there as a cheat to make his life easier, he still had to put in the work and confront his fears and discomfort. Survival, rather life, did not come free in this world.

It was a hard lesson Liu Xue swallowed down. His ego was somewhat in shambles. He had always thought of himself as someone stoic and cold, not bothered by the dirty darkside of the world. He had fought and got beaten black and blue before. He had seen shootings. He had heard nightmarish screams of agony before. None could compare the physical sensations of viscerating a life.

He continued the butchering the rabbit in silence, braving it through, forcing himself to get used to the sight, smell, and touch as soon as possible. He would be doing this often. He must get used to it.

Survival was not kind; life was ruthless, lessons he kept in mind since the day he was transported to this island. He needed to internalize them, fast.

"No more complacency about the tiger. No more arrogance about having a chainsaw and doing better than everyone else," Liu Xue repeated to himself. "You are not alone now. Your daughter is waiting for you to love and spoil her, so move your *ss and give her the life she damn deserves!"

He began cleaning the rabbit with razor-sharp focus, clearing the colon, chest, and abdominal cavities by pulling out any remaining pieces of innards or remaining membranes, and most importantly, the tail area. Making sure not to contaminate the rest of the flesh and meat, he cut a small section to find the rectal area and removed the excess stray poop. After giving the rabbit a thorough wash with the A-grade water and removing off some debris, blood, and hair left, he was finally ready to cook.

He did not have charcoal left, so he carefully wandered the edges of the jungle in search of dry leaves, sticks, and other kindling. The vegetation was lush inside the jungle because of its heavy canopy that blocked much of the excess sun, so it was a surprisingly tough job. He only came out with a few small but workable logs sticks and a handful of dry leaves, which was not enough to fill half of the charcoal tray.

"Whatever, I guess. I can make use of the wood in [Storage] and ignite that instead," Liu Xue said, deciding to compromise. "It might be a waste, but I have a full forestful of trees."

He hurried back to the house, water purifier, and grill. Finding that flies began to gather around the disgusting vomit and innards mixed material box, he quickly dumped it into the sea. If flies began to surround the organs, he was sure other stray beasts in the jungle would soon follow the smell of the blood.

Then he realized a conundrum in his predicament: he was about to grill the rabbit. Would the fragrance of barbeque not be more attracting to the beasts?

Liu Xue could only drop his expressionless facade and give himself a wry chuckle. "It's not too cruel to ask Xiao Bai to patrol the area while we eat, right? It's an infant fox, but it too needs to work to eat its share."

His stomach growled at the thought, as if affirming it. He could not bear the hunger anymore, so he grabbed the pepper shaker and a dozen pieces of wood in [Storage], sprinkled it as even as he could, stuffed the charcoal tray full, and used a flamethrower to ignite the flames. He placed the pieces of the rabbit he tiringly butchered and shut the lid, all before patting his stomach.

Waiting for the rabbit to finish cooking, he sat down with two hands behind himself, watching the waves shimmer and gently lap at the sandy seashore.