Chapter 275 — Wei Zhao and the Primitive Man

Shen Yushu had no wish to be a parasite, good only for eating. Where she could lend a hand, she would hardly stand by and watch.

"Take a look around the beach and see if there are any glass bottles or the like. If not, thin iron wire will do." Wei Zhao tossed the dead branch in his hand onto the sand and gave 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 can serve as a magnifying glass to start a fire, and the wire can be used to hang the fish meat." Wei Zhao offered this one line of explanation, then set about dealing with the shark.

Shen Yushu nodded. So that was it. She had learned all this in physics class, though it had never occurred to her to put it to use. Still, she asked, "Can't you just rub sticks together to make a fire?"

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

Shen Yushu walked a circuit of the beach, not daring to go far, but she found no glass bottle—only a few lengths of rusted, broken wire, fallen from some fishing boat or other and washed up here.

"Arrow Brand, looks like you really will have to rub sticks together…" Shen Yushu handed the wire she had found to Wei Zhao.

"Heh…" Wei Zhao gave a wry smile. "Fine. I'll spin the stick quickly in a moment, and you help me blow on it."

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

The branches were far too brittle. No rain for so long had left them dried beyond drying, unable to bear any real force. Wei Zhao picked out two, and they snapped at the slightest pressure.

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

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

"When you rub the wood, simply recite the first level of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Formula in your mind, and the energy within your body will pass into the wood in your hands!" Elder Jiao said.

"That works too?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. He had never imagined the energy in his body could serve such a purpose.

"I have told you already—whenever an object you touch requires energy, your energy will flow into it as you circulate your power!" Elder Jiao explained.

"Uh… I know that, but what I mean is, even for rubbing sticks together to make fire, this works?" Wei Zhao still found it hard to believe.

"Have you heard of the law of conservation of energy? Energy can transform from one form to another, and the energy in your body is pure, omnipotent energy that can be converted into the energy of all things in this world." Elder Jiao spoke with a touch of scorn. Wei Zhao's ignorance truly left him speechless.

"Hm?" Wei Zhao had not expected the energy in his body to carry such benefits. "Then when a car runs out of gas, can I stand in for the gasoline too?"

"No." Elder Jiao dumped a basin 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 link your hands to the engine while the car was moving, perhaps you could manage it…"

"Sweat…" Wei Zhao was speechless. It seemed he really had been letting his imagination run wild. Still, he was quite happy to have learned all this. Following Elder Jiao's words, as he rubbed the wood Wei Zhao circulated the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Formula, and the energy in his body flowed through his hands into the wood…

"Whoosh—" The branch in Wei Zhao's hands burst into flame, giving Shen Yushu, who was in the middle of blowing on it, such a fright that she nearly set her hair alight.

"Ah, you scared me to death!" Shen Yushu hurriedly ducked aside, patting her chest. "Arrow Brand, you scared me! How did this fire just start like that, without the slightest warning?"

"Start a fire—what warning is there supposed to be?" In truth, Wei Zhao had been startled too. That fast? In truth, it really was that fast.

"The history books say primitive people rubbed sticks together and first came smoke, and only then did the fire slowly catch. How was I to know it would be this quick?" Shen Yushu wiped the cold sweat startled onto her forehead. "But maybe it's because you're just too fierce, Arrow Brand—way better than a primitive man!"

"…" Wei Zhao very much wanted to ask whether that counted as a compliment. The comparison was simply too much to answer.

"You add the firewood. I'll go deal with the shark." Wei Zhao left matters here to Shen Yushu and strode quickly to the shark, using the blade to cut the meat swiftly into small chunks, then soaking them briefly in seawater—to wash off the sand and mud clinging to the flesh, and incidentally to let the salt seep in, so the meat would have some flavor and not taste of nothing at all.

Once washed, Wei Zhao threaded the shark meat onto the wire Shen Yushu had picked up and walked back to her side. Seeing him return, Shen Yushu said, "Arrow Brand, what do we do now? I've already got it ready!"

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

Then he picked the two longest branches from the pile behind him and stuck them into the sand on either side of the fire, hung the fish meat from Shen Yushu's hands onto them, and said, "There, that's done. Wait a while and it'll be ready to eat. But don't eat too much—there's no fresh water."

Before long the meat was roasted through by the fire below, giving off wave after wave of fragrance. Shen Yushu could not help swallowing. "Arrow Brand, can we eat now?"

"It's ready. A little raw won't hurt—worst case, diarrhea." Wei Zhao turned the shark meat on the wire with a branch and spoke.

"Then maybe we should wait a bit…" At the mention of diarrhea, Shen Yushu's face went white at once. There was no toilet here, no toilet paper either. If she got diarrhea here, wouldn't Arrow Brand see? How mortifying that would be!

"Heh…" Wei Zhao smiled and took the wire down. "It's fine now. You eat the middle pieces—they're cooked through a bit more."

"Oh…" Shen Yushu used a branch to pinch a slice of shark meat and pull it off the wire, then, a little impatient, brought it to her lips, bit off a small piece to taste, and then swallowed the whole thing. The shark's bones were fairly large and Wei Zhao had already removed them, leaving only the meat, so there was no fear of choking on a bone.

"Wow, so delicious!" Shen Yushu could hardly believe it. This roast shark meat was actually this good. "I feel like this tastes way better than shark fin. Why do so many people love eating shark fin and not shark meat? It seems like no restaurant even has this dish."

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