Blueprints of Time

Art of Survival

It's been a week since transmigrating into this unfamiliar world.

After finishing her morning ablutions by the stream, Ling Wei headed towards her traps. The forest enveloped her in tranquility, with only the gentle rustling of leaves and distant bird chirps disrupting the silence.

Upon reaching her first snare, a broad smile illuminated her face as she found a plump rabbit ensnared, larger than her previous capture. After dispatching it, she quickly but carefully reset the trap before heading to the next one.

As she approached the second trap, excitement turned to worry, as a pang of dread hit Ling Wei. There, caught in the snare, was another rabbit, even plumper than the first.

‘What if I’d caught an entire family of rabbits, with these two being the parents of the little one I—?!’ She shook her head vigorously.

"Don't be ridiculous, Ling Wei," she muttered to herself, interrupting her own absurd thoughts, though she couldn't shake the unease. She swiftly killed the second rabbit and held it alongside the first one she had retrieved and dispatched earlier.

Following the same process as the day before, Ling Wei skinned, gutted, and cleaned the rabbits by the stream. The tasks were finished once she had also cleaned the two new rabbit pelts. Upon returning to the clearing, she immediately hung the pelts beside the one already suspended from a tree branch to dry in the sun.

The previous evening, with the help of an app, Ling Wei had identified and gathered herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and wild garlic. Today, she aimed to season her rabbit generously with wild garlic and rosemary.

Since she caught two rabbits, she planned to cook one and smoke the other for preservation. This way, she would have meat to eat in the coming days if she decided to travel in search of civilization or at least a nearby village.

Ling Wei stoked the fire, creating a steady flame, and started roasting again. Once the meat was cooked, she decided not to consume the entire rabbit meat in a single meal. This time, she sliced the cooked meat into bite-sized portions, laying them out on a large leaf to cool down. The aromatic herbs had imparted a delightful flavor, enhancing its taste.

In addition to the roasted rabbit, Ling Wei had foraged some edible plants and nuts, which she thoughtfully arranged alongside it.

By incorporating these fresh elements into her meal, she crafted a more well-rounded and satisfying dining experience, combining the savory rabbit with the natural flavors of the forest bounty.

Beaming with pride at her plating, in that moment of childlike delight, Ling Wei displayed a wide grin.

Ever since her arrival at the clearing, Ling Wei has dedicated herself to crafting a wooden bowl that could hold water from the stream for drinking. She spent hours, days even, carefully shaping the wood, earning several cuts and splinters on her fingers. However, today the effort proved worthwhile.

Done with another satisfying meal, she carefully wrapped the leftover roasted meat in a clean cloth alongside some of oregano herbs to conceal the scent and prevent it from attracting unwanted attention.

The mentioned cloth had originally been Ling Wei's undershirt which she had ripped after the quick wash up by the stream earlier that morning, for situations like this. Now, she wore a long-sleeved shirt with only a bra beneath it. Her high-visibility vest had found a new purpose as a makeshift bed cover, laid over a bed of soft leaves.

She ascended a sturdy branch nine feet above the ground on one of the two ancient trees that provided her shelter. Securing the bundle of food, she made sure it hung at a safe distance of about a meter and a half from the tree's trunk, out of reach of curious animals.