Chapter 3 Like raindrops merging into the sea

"Ah?"

The old man was confused and then looked around, shaking his head, "Then I can't take you further. If we go deeper, I'm afraid I'll get lost myself, and it's not safe!"

Bi Fang paused upon hearing this and looked around, only then realizing that he had ventured deep into the Qinling.

"That's fine, let's stop here, and you should hurry back too before it gets dark."

"Hey, you're going to stay here alone?"

The old man was startled and couldn't fathom what the young man was thinking. He spoke earnestly, "Young man, it's okay to have fun and play around, but don't joke with your life. It's already deep here. If you don't follow me, how will you get back on your own?"

"In these deep mountains and old forests, there are jackals and leopards, not one fewer. Just look at this scar."

The elderly man rolled up his trouser leg with a serious expression, revealing the crosshatched bite marks on his calf.

Even with the undamaged image quality, the intertwined scars looked ferocious, exuding an ominous aura that startled the viewers.

[Holy shit, what bit you?]

[In these deep mountains and old forests, it must be a wolf, right?]

[666, are there really wolves in the mountains? What is the host planning to live stream?]

Bi Fang looked at the shape of the wound and also felt it was very similar to the bite marks of a canine.

Wolves prefer to bite the neck, but it's not a certainty.

For a moment, he regarded the man with a mix of astonishment and suspicion.

Unexpectedly, the old man he had casually encountered also had a heroic tale of fighting fierce wolves.

"Was this... bitten by a wolf?"

"How could that be!" The old man's yellowing eyes glared at Bi Fang, with an expression that said 'what are you thinking'.

"I was bitten by a dog. If it had been a wolf, do you think I'd still be standing here talking to you?"

Bi Fang: "..."

"Young man, I'm telling you this because dogs are already this dangerous, let alone wolves. You'd better hurry back, and I won't charge you for the ride," the old man said with sincere earnestness.

Bi Fang was touched.

Since his journey began, this was the first time someone had shown concern for him.

But he couldn't explain it clearly, and after much persuasion, the old man reluctantly agreed, riding away on his dark green, canopy-equipped tricycle with a putt-putt sound.

His silhouette was as upright as a marshal mounted on a donkey heading for the battlefield.

"Phew!"

Not until the old man's figure disappeared did Bi Fang sigh with relief.

It was a good thing he hadn't mentioned he was here for Wilderness Survivalist; otherwise, the old man might have tied him up and dragged him back on the spot.

However…

He glanced at the rising popularity of his live stream and couldn't help but beam with joy; the interaction with the old man had brought significant rewards.

Facing the drone camera, Bi Fang began to introduce, "Alright, now that the old man has left, I didn't want to scare him. Now I can tell you, I am currently in the Primeval Forest of Xiaxi Qinling Mountain, and I will bring you a highly dangerous outdoor live stream—Wilderness Survivalist!"

"As the name suggests, this time, relying solely on myself, I will delve into Xiaxi Qinling Mountain, find a way to survive in this deadly wilderness, and return to civilized society!"

"In the process of outdoor travel, no matter how well-planned, things can still go wrong. You can get trapped, lost, or even fall into deadly peril."

"So in these situations, how do we escape from difficulties? How do we stay alive? Today, I will act as a lost traveler and show you how to escape the siege of nature and find a way out!"

While explaining, Bi Fang opened his backpack and showed its empty interior to everyone, "You can see that I didn't bring any equipment, no food, and no water!"

"This is a true survival challenge against nature, a journey to the extreme!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Bi Fang walked toward the interior of the forest, stepping on the thick turf, advancing into the silent forest that underscored the tense atmosphere!

Just a few opening remarks had the audience's hair standing on end!

No matter how much they imagined, they couldn't fathom how to survive in a dangerous primeval forest without any supplies!

Eat dirt?

Gnaw on tree bark?

Beyond the necessities of survival, the forest was also fraught with danger; enemies lurked everywhere, ready to strike at any moment.

Beasts, venomous snakes, viruses, parasites, natural disasters…

In such a deadly environment, what else could humans do apart from resign to fate?

[He's crazy, truly crazy!]

[Without water and food, what will you eat and drink?]

[Oh my God, so scary, isn't this basically a death live stream?]

[Too fake, surely no one thinks this isn't a forest park, right? No way, no way, right?]

[No deception here, this really is a primeval forest. Whether it's the density of the undergrowth or the diversity of the trees, man-made forests can't achieve this. I'm a graduate student in college, majoring in horticulture.]

[But that doesn't prove anything. I bet the host won't last a day.]

[Exactly, the dude earlier was saying there are jackals and leopards around, encountering them would be game over!]

[All shills, whoever believes it is an idiot.]

No matter the quality of the comments, there weren't many people in the live broadcast room, but there were quite a few sending bullet comments.

In some live broadcasts, there might only be one or two people sending bullet comments out of a hundred viewers.

Of course, some of these viewer counts might have been fabricated. It wasn't unusual for platforms to use bots to manipulate data.

Indeed, in the field of Wilderness Survivalist broadcasting, Bi Fang, as the first one to break new ground, caused an unparalleled sensation!

"I won't deceive anyone. You can judge for yourselves whether it's true or not. But please don't try to imitate me. After all, I've had professional training and a wealth of experience,"

[Despite that, I still want to say, it's crazy.]

[My goodness, you're hogging all the swagger for yourself.]

[When it comes to bragging, I bow down to you as the strongest.]

Indeed, nobody believed him, but Bi Fang wasn't bragging. In his past life at CWCA, he had wandered around, genuinely having seen all sorts of extraordinary things.

But it's fine if you don't believe it. Just don't rush off. Seeing two more people leave, Bi Fang became anxious and immediately decided to do something.

He walked straight to a tree, snapped off a straight branch, then moved to an area where sunlight was shining, and spoke to the camera.

"As a traveler lost in a primeval forest, the first thing we need to figure out is the direction, and then make a plan accordingly."

"There's an old saying: During the day look at the sun, at night the stars, and on cloudy days the plants. During daylight, the sun is undoubtedly one of the most important cues for determining direction."

[The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Can't you just use your hands to tell the direction?]

[666, just use your hands, really? Without knowing the time, how would you know where the sun is currently positioned? xswl]

[Don't you have a cellphone? Or a watch?]

[And phones and watches, why don't you ask if there's champagne steak available?]

"If you think the sun surely rises in the east and sets in the west, then you're mistaken," Bi Fang said, shaking his head as he read the bullet comments. "In the summer, above the Tropic of Cancer and excluding the Arctic Circle, the sun rises from the northeast in the morning and sets in the northwest in the afternoon. It's not absolutely east to west. In winter, it's the opposite. The higher the latitude, the more pronounced this phenomenon is."

"One summer, I went to Jiamusi. The sun rose from the northeast direction at a little past three in the morning, and it didn't set in the northwest until almost eight at night. So, we can't simply use time to determine the sun's direction. The deviation can be quite significant, let alone that we don't have watches on us."

The audience was bewildered. If this doesn't work and that doesn't work, then how do we determine direction?

"Here I'll teach you all, the easiest method is still the shadow-stick method, not only convenient but also with a fixed direction."

As he said this, Bi Fang stabbed the snapped-off branch into the ground, then used his finger to trace the shadow of the stick on the dirt, drawing a straight line and making a mark at the end point, A.

A few minutes later, to the confused audience, some of whom had even left, Bi Fang drew another line along the shadow and marked the end point B. Then he drew a straight line going through the two shadow end points.

"You see, the direction of this straight line is the precise east-west line. The end of the first shadow, point A, is west, while the end of the second shadow, point B, is east. The line perpendicular to the east-west line is the north-south line,"

Gesturing with his hands, Bi Fang said with a grin, "What do you think, pretty simple, right? The astronomer from the Yuan dynasty, Guo Shoujing, once used this method. No need to overthink it, just remember it directly."

The audience watching the screen was dumbfounded. How could two lines just drawn out of nowhere determine direction?

[Eh...]

[I know this, because... so... That's right, it's like this!]

[You didn't say anything though]

[Any genius want to explain?]

[Damn, I finally get it! It's because no matter whether the sun rises strictly in the east or sets in the west, it's always symmetrical around north and south. Accordingly, the shadows also reflect this. The two shadows are like an abridged version of the east-west axis, and by selecting their perpendicular bisector, the accurate east-west axis emerges!]

"That's correct, this is actually a simple physics problem, and that's the gist of it!"

Bi Fang nodded in agreement, thankful that someone else had explained it, saving him the trouble.

The concept itself wasn't hard to understand; it's just something most people wouldn't think of.

[666, incomprehensible but awe-inspiring]

[Boss, you're awesome!]

[Blue Seaweed sends the host fish balls*100—Impressive!]

Seeing the audience captivated, Bi Fang felt inwardly thrilled but held back his excitement, clearing his throat.

"Oh right, seems like I forgot to introduce myself earlier? Let's get acquainted again."

"My name is Bi Fang, a professional explorer. I've witnessed blue whales struggle to death under the attack of orcas and seen black panthers.\n I've crossed the Amazon rainforest and visited the land of the most mysterious miracles.\n

But all these moments, all these fragments of time, have become a piece of the puzzle in my exciting life, just like raindrops merging into the ocean.\n

This forest is the same."

"Today marks the first live broadcast of my adventure journeys, we will begin, right here, together!"