Stranded on a Deserted Island—They All Started Plotting Against Me - Chapter 40 - Chapter 40

The pit was located behind the cave and required them to cross a gently sloping path.

The ground was covered in thick wild grass—so plush that it felt like walking on a spongy mat.

Amid the rustling of footsteps, Zhang Liu and Anya followed behind Qin Ruoshuang, passing through a rocky area before they finally reached the edge of the pit.

As they approached and examined it carefully, Zhang Liu finally understood why Qin Ruoshuang was convinced this spot could be used for bathing or as a water reservoir.

It was over a meter deep and about two meters wide. If filled with water, it could easily fit even someone with Zhang Liu’s build—and possibly two people at once.

As for Anya…

Zhang Liu gave her a quick sideways glance, his gaze a bit strange, mentally doing the math.

They could probably fit three of her in there without it feeling crowded.

Putting all other thoughts aside, from a practical standpoint, the size was perfect for either bathing or storing water.

Zhang Liu didn’t dare to climb down to check for sure.

The “one meter plus” depth was Qin Ruoshuang’s rough estimate based on the distance between the various leaves and weeds inside and the pit opening. The actual depth was unknown.

Qin Ruoshuang had simply assumed that if they cleaned it out and filled it with water, it would be a suitable reservoir or bathing pool.

How to put it… girls really are full of innocent ideas?

Zhang Liu turned to look at Qin Ruoshuang, who was full of hopeful anticipation, and could only smile helplessly.

Not to mention, clearing out all the fallen leaves, dry grass, and other debris would be a big project in itself.

Even after cleaning, hauling water from the cave to fill it would also be a huge task!

And even if the three of them painstakingly filled it with water, what if that goat-like animal they saw last night came by at midnight to drink, then left a pile of droppings to mark its territory? That would drive them crazy.

Droppings would be bad enough, but what if it urinated? Who knows what kind of invisible dangers might come with that…

While Zhang Liu stood there lost in thought, he suddenly realized he had almost missed a brilliant idea!

“Awesome!” A light bulb went off in his mind. Looking at Qin Ruoshuang, he said, “This pit is really amazing!”

If it weren’t for the gender difference, he almost wanted to give her a hug.

Qin Ruoshuang blinked, a bit stunned. She didn’t understand why Zhang Liu was so excited.

Could it be that he also really wanted to take a bath?

That thought suddenly popped into her mind.

“When I was on watch last night, I saw a goat-like creature drinking near that puddle of water. That means this place is likely a water source for the local wildlife.”

Rubbing his chin, Zhang Liu pointed to the deep pit and explained.

“This afternoon I’ll go into the woods to find some food to store, and starting tonight, I’ll keep a fire burning outside the cave to scare it away and prevent it from drinking the water. Tomorrow during the day, we’ll clear this place out and overnight turn it into a trap using the water as bait!”

Right now, his biggest worry was that something might go wrong while he was scavenging at the plane wreckage, delaying his return—and leaving Qin Ruoshuang and Anya short on supplies.

From the past few days of living together, Zhang Liu sensed that the two of them still had some unrealistic fantasies or empty hopes.

For example, Qin Ruoshuang saw a simple stone pit and imagined using it as a bath or water reservoir.

Anya even went so far as to invite him to scrub her back, which was inexplicably odd…

While he was here, he could try to correct this.

But if he wasn’t around, wouldn’t that cause problems?

However, if they could catch that goat, ninety percent of their problems would be solved.

That would be a huge amount of meat!

Enough to keep himself, Qin Ruoshuang, and Anya well-fed, with a good stockpile of food for quite some time!

Thinking of this, he instantly got excited.

But Zhang Liu still didn’t dare to jump into the pit recklessly. Instead, he picked up a fist-sized stone nearby and tossed it into the pit.

“Plop…” — like throwing it into mud.

Among the seemingly dry fallen leaves inside the pit, a sticky, pitch-black liquid suddenly splattered out around where the stone landed, and a foul stench of rot filled the air.

“Gross!” Anya immediately covered her nose and frowned, and Qin Ruoshuang’s expression nearby wasn’t much better.

Neither of them had expected the deep pit they wanted to use as a bath to be filled with such a stinking, rotten sludge.

Compared to the disgusted looks on the two girls, Zhang Liu’s expression was actually very happy.

The stone sank only halfway, which meant this was not a very deep pit after all.

And the amount of rotten matter wasn’t that much.

Once it was cleared out, he could lay a proper trap. If all went well, he might even be feasting on mutton the day after tomorrow while scavenging the wreckage!

Thinking this, he grew even more excited.

But his unbearably hungry stomach made Zhang Liu decide to head back for a meal first.

“Let’s go, we’ll eat first and handle this tomorrow,” he said, noticing Qin Ruoshuang’s slight disappointment. “The black rotten sludge is just leaves, grass, rainwater, and such that have decomposed together. I’ll dig it all out and throw it away later.”

“Can it really be cleaned completely?” Anya asked.

Though she hadn’t done much housework before, she instinctively felt that such black sludge would be hard to clean.

Qin Ruoshuang looked up at Zhang Liu with the same questioning expression.

“Of course,” Zhang Liu shrugged and explained, “There’s plenty of dry grass on the way here. I’ll pick a bunch tomorrow and burn it in here. Once it’s dried out, it’ll be much easier to deal with.”

After seeing only that thin layer of rotten matter in the pit, he had already planned this out.

He also wouldn’t just throw away the ash from the burned plants.

If they wanted to survive here long-term, this mixture of plant ash and decomposed leaves could probably be used as fertilizer—a treasure, in his eyes.

“Let’s go back and eat some warm shellfish first. Then we can split up and work this afternoon,” Zhang Liu said, his gaze landing on Qin Ruoshuang. He asked, “Qin Ruoshuang, I feel like your body has pretty much recovered?”

“Yeah!” She nodded vigorously, a confident smile on her face. “I’m just like a normal person now!”

“Oh, in that case, this afternoon how about you go check the nearby beach to see if there’s any driftwood to bring back for storage?” Zhang Liu rubbed his chin. “I see we already have a big basin of water at home. Water for today and tomorrow should be fine…”

“No way!” Anya immediately exclaimed in shock.

“Huh?” Zhang Liu stared at her, puzzled by her strong reaction.

“That water is the one Anya used to wipe her body with. I was saving it to pour into the pit,” Qin Ruoshuang said a bit embarrassed. “I’ll dump it out this afternoon and fill a fresh basin.”

Zhang Liu didn’t answer. Instead, he instinctively covered his mouth.

Earlier in the cave, because he was thirsty, he had taken several sips of that water.

He originally thought the slightly salty taste was caused by the gravel mixed with ash.

Now, thinking about it… it was probably…

Trying hard not to glance at Anya, Zhang Liu’s expression said enough without words.

“You didn’t actually drink it, did you?” Anya looked at him in utter despair.

Beside her, Qin Ruoshuang’s expression was equally complicated.

She never expected she’d end up tricking Zhang Liu like this.