Chapter 275 — Wei Zhao and the Primitive Man

Shen Yushu had no wish to be a freeloader who did nothing but eat; if there was work she could help with, she was hardly going to stand by and watch.

"Have a look around the shore and see if there's a glass bottle or anything like that. If not, some thin iron wire will do," Wei Zhao said, tossing the dry branch in his hand onto the sand and giving Shen Yushu her orders.

"Oh. What do we need a bottle and wire for?" Shen Yushu was a little puzzled.

"The bottom of a bottle works as a magnifying glass to start a fire, and the wire's for hanging up the fish." Having offered that much explanation, Wei Zhao set about dealing with the shark at his side.

Shen Yushu nodded. So that was it—she'd learned all about this in physics class, though she'd never imagined putting it to use. Still, she had to ask: "Couldn't you just rub sticks together to make a fire?"

"You could, but it's a lot of trouble." Deftly, Wei Zhao split the shark open down the middle and began cleaning out its innards.

Shen Yushu made a circuit of the shoreline, not daring to go far, but she found no glass bottle—only a few lengths of rusted, broken iron wire, she had no idea which fishing boat they'd fallen off before washing up here.

"Arrow Brand Bro, looks like you really will have to rub sticks together..." Shen Yushu handed over the wire she'd found.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao smiled wryly. "All right. I'll spin the stick fast in a moment, and you help blow on it."

"Oh, okay." Shen Yushu nodded. She'd learned about fire-making in history class, and she still remembered the general process.

The branches were simply too brittle—no rain for so long that they had dried out beyond all drying, and they couldn't take much force. Wei Zhao picked out two; a little pressure and they snapped.

"Wei Zhao, you think making a fire this way is a fun game?" Elder Jiao's voice came suddenly at Wei Zhao's ear.

"Elder Jiao?" Wei Zhao was slightly startled, then smiled bitterly. "If I don't make the fire this way, how am I supposed to make it?"

"When you rub the wood, you need only silently recite the first level's mnemonic of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, and the energy within your body will be passed into the wood in your hands!" Elder Jiao said.

"That works too?" Wei Zhao was somewhat taken aback; he'd never have imagined the energy in his body had this use.

"I've told you already—whenever a thing you touch requires energy, running your art will pass the energy of your body into it!" Elder Jiao explained.

"Uh... I know that, but what I mean is, even for rubbing sticks together to make fire, that works too?" Wei Zhao still could hardly believe it.

"Do you know the law of conservation of energy? Energy can be converted from one form to another, and the energy in your body is omnipotent, pure energy that can be converted into the energy of all things in the world," Elder Jiao said with a touch of scorn. He was truly at a loss for words over Wei Zhao's ignorance.

"Hm?" Wei Zhao hadn't expected the energy in his body to have such benefits. "Then when a car runs out of gas, can I take the place of the gasoline?"

"No." Elder Jiao poured a bucket of cold water over Wei Zhao's head. "The energy in your body can indeed be converted into the kinetic energy of an engine, but it cannot be converted into gasoline! If you had the ability to connect your hands to the engine while the car was running, perhaps you could manage it..."

"Sweat..." Wei Zhao was speechless. It seemed he really had been letting his imagination run away with him. Still, he was delighted with the information he'd gained so far. Following Elder Jiao's words, as he rubbed the wood Wei Zhao activated the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, and the energy in his body flowed through his hands into the wood...

"Whoosh—" The branch in Wei Zhao's hands burst abruptly into flame, giving Shen Yushu, who had been blowing on it, a tremendous fright—she very nearly singed her hair.

"Eek, scared me to death!" Shen Yushu hurriedly ducked aside, patting her chest. "Arrow Brand Bro, you scared me to death! How did this fire just spring up out of nowhere, without the slightest warning?"

"A fire—what warning is it supposed to give?" In truth, Wei Zhao had been startled too. That fast? In truth, yes—that fast.

"The primitive men in my history books who rubbed sticks together to make fire always had smoke first, and only then did the flames slowly come—how was I supposed to know it'd be this quick?" Shen Yushu wiped the cold sweat that had been startled onto her forehead. "But maybe it's just that you're too fierce, Arrow Brand Bro—better than a primitive man!"

"..." Wei Zhao almost wanted to ask whether this was meant as a compliment to himself. The comparison he was being measured against, however, left him utterly speechless.

"You tend the fire; I'll handle the shark." Wei Zhao left the business at hand to Shen Yushu and strode toward the shark. With his blade, he quickly cut the meat into small pieces, then rinsed them in the seawater to wash off the sand and grit, letting the salt water seep in along the way -- this way the fish would have some flavor rather than tasting completely bland.

Once rinsed clean, Wei Zhao threaded the shark meat onto the wire Shen Yushu had retrieved and walked back to her side. Seeing Wei Zhao return, she said, "Arrow Brand Bro, what do we do next? I'm all done over here!"

Wei Zhao handed her the skewer of fish meat. "Hold this for me a moment."

He then rummaged through the pile of branches behind them, pulled out the two longest ones, and stuck them into the sand on either side of the fire. He hung the fish meat from Shen Yushu's hands onto the sticks and said, "That's done. Give it a while and it'll be ready to eat -- but don't eat too much; we have no fresh water."

Before long, the fish meat was cooked through over the flames below, releasing wave after wave of savory aroma. Shen Yushu swallowed hard. "Arrow Brand Bro, can we eat yet?"

"You can. A little undercooked doesn't matter -- worst case, you'll get diarrhea." Wei Zhao turned over the shark meat on the wire with a stick, then spoke.

"Then maybe I'd better wait a bit..." The moment the word diarrhea came up, Shen Yushu's face went white. There was no toilet out here, no toilet paper either. If she got a stomachache in this place, wouldn't Arrow Brand Bro see? Wouldn't that be humiliating beyond belief?

"Heh..." Wei Zhao chuckled and lifted the wire off the sticks. "It's ready now. Eat from the middle -- that part's cooked through."

"Oh..." Shen Yushu used a stick to pinch a piece of shark meat and peeled it off the wire, bringing it to her lips with barely contained eagerness. She bit off a small piece, tasted it, then swallowed the whole thing. The shark's bones were large, and Wei Zhao had already removed them, so all that remained was pure meat -- no risk of choking on a bone.

"Wow, this is incredible!" Shen Yushu could hardly believe it -- the roasted shark meat was this delicious. "I feel like this tastes way better than shark fin. Why do so many people insist on eating shark fin instead of shark meat? It doesn't seem to be on any restaurant menu."