Wilderness Survival with Druid System

Chapter 409: Chapter 78: Bending Wood

Bending wood with fire is a skill that truly tests temperature control abilities.

You can’t burn it too intensely, or it will break.

Nor can it be too light, or it won’t bend.

You need to reach the exact point where the wood can be softened by heat without igniting.

Chen Wen learned a somewhat... unconventional method from Gan Tieshan.

Put simply, it’s like how electricians check for electricity — by touching.

Of course, not directly with a bare hand, but by wetting the hand before touching.

Generally, the lignin in the wood softens between 150 to 200 degrees Celsius, making the wood pliable.

Within this range, when you touch with a wet hand and quickly pull away, it feels very hot.

Gan Tieshan also taught the proper method.

That is to look and smell, to see if the wood surface turns dark brown and if there’s a caramel aroma.

If you can see and smell it, it indicates that the lignin has softened.

Ultimately, this job heavily relies on experience.

Gan Tieshan said that when he learned this craftsmanship from his master, it took him two full months to gain approval.

He practiced for over half a year more before daring to take on such work.

This is also why Chen Wen dares not make any guarantees.

This is his first time trying it by hand.

Chen Wen prepared the firewood and started burning the wood.

He held the canoe, keeping about a ten-centimeter distance between the flame tips and the wood.

This is to avoid scorching it.

At the same time, to ensure even heating, the canoe has to be moved slowly to distribute the heat evenly.

The heating process depends on the material and thickness of the wood.

Short ones may take just a few minutes, while lengthy ones may take hours of burning.

While burning, Chen Wen also took Brad’s clothes out.

These clothes were being put to use once again.

Chen Wen soaked them in a pot filled with cool water, ready for use at any time.

After about fifteen minutes.

Under the influence of heightened smelling, Chen Wen caught a very distinct caramel scent.

The scent was somewhat like aged caramel sunflower seed shells.

It wasn’t unpleasant but certainly couldn’t be considered aromatic.

Chen Wen waited a while longer.

After all, he has an enhanced smelling ability, which when converted to human perception, isn’t fully accurate yet.

About three minutes later, as the other side of the wood slightly changed color, Chen Wen finally removed the canoe.

He didn’t say much or explain, because as the wood is pulled away from the fire source.

Its temperature will drop quickly.

The wood must be processed and bent to the target shape as quickly as possible.

He stood up and placed the canoe on a stone rack.

Then, Chen Wen moved to the end that needed bending.

Bending wood requires a sense of touch.

One must slowly apply force, gradually increasing it until the wood begins to bend.

If the pressure is too much, it may crack with a snap.

Either the wood or the bone will break, at a minimum.

Chen Wen planted his stance firmly and slowly increased force.

As his strength transmitted to the wood, the charred area began to bend gradually.

Seeing this, a smile crossed Chen Wen’s face.

He paused for a moment and continued to exert steady force.

Finally, under Chen Wen’s attentive gaze, the cut edge of the canoe gradually lifted.

”Almost there!”

Chen Wen finally spoke, allowing Lin Jiawei, who was watching, to breathe a sigh of relief.

On the screen, Chen Wen moved swiftly.

Both his hands seemed as if they were wound with springs, quickly grabbing Brad’s clothes soaked in water.

He unfurled the clothes and placed them over the bent part of the canoe.

The wood, still at high temperature, suddenly cooled, emitting a sizzling sound.

Puffs of steam rose from under the clothing.

”This is to cool it down and accelerate shaping.”

Chen Wen quickly explained, ”Shaping requires a long time, but placing a damp cloth can shorten this time, though I still recommend maintaining the shape for over an hour.”

As he spoke, Chen Wen said with a bit of resignation, ”I originally wanted to find a place to fix the canoe, but after thinking it over, I wasn’t confident, so I decided to hold it down to fix it — very labor-intensive, people shouldn’t follow suit if they can help it.”

So, Chen Wen stood by the canoe, holding it firmly, waiting for it to set.

...

Outside the camp.

Feng Zhong, thanks to Chen Wen’s earlier reconnaissance, successfully found a three-meter-long Nile crocodile near the reed cluster.

Chen Wen had advised Feng Zhong against hunting those large Nile crocodiles.

The strength of those beasts is too enormous!

Once human strength falls short, one could be toppled by a death roll from those beasts.

Feng Zhong listened to Chen Wen in this regard.

He set his sights on a roughly three-meter-long young crocodile.

This crocodile was napping in the sun, as it was just the morning and the Nile crocodiles needed sunlight to warm themselves up.

Feng Zhong, with a snare and a long spear in hand, cautiously approached the Nile crocodile.

The young Nile crocodile was sluggish.

Partly because its body temperature hadn’t risen yet, and partly because while their perception ability is very acute underwater.

On land, they become a bit slower.

As a result, it only noticed Feng Zhong when he was about five meters away.

Noticing the crocodile’s movement, Feng Zhong acted immediately.

He extended the long spear with the noose, aiming to snare its snout.

Upon discovering Feng Zhong, the crocodile immediately reacted.

Following its instinctive genes, it swung its head to counterattack, aligning itself to face its opponent head-on.

But this head swing led to trouble.

The Nile crocodile swung its snout right into the noose.

Feng Zhong rejoiced, tightening the snare decisively.

With Feng Zhong’s added force, the snare quickly tightened, clasping the crocodile’s long snout.

A series of roars erupted from the Nile crocodile’s throat, sounding deep like a V8.

Yet Feng Zhong wasn’t an eagle-like man; he had no desire for a V8, only for meat.

Feng Zhong dragged fiercely at the Nile crocodile, planning to pull it further from the shore, as Chen Wen suggested.

But the crocodile would not resign itself to fate.

It flung its head with a vigorous shake, trying to escape the snare.

However, the snare tied by Chen Wen himself was not easy to break apart.

One big advantage of a sliding knot is that the more you pull, the tighter it becomes.

The crocodile found its snout even more securely bound.

Unable to escape, the crocodile resorted to its last ditch — the death roll.

Seeing the crocodile starting the roll, Feng Zhong almost laughed.

Goodness, you’re rolling on land?

Turn one more time, let me see?

Just as Feng Zhong leisurely watched the crocodile, intending to pull it along.

The crocodile’s turning motion wrapped the rope around its body several times.

As the rope shortened, Feng Zhong suddenly felt a force from the rope, transmitting through the long spear into his arm.

Feng Zhong paused for a moment, not letting go.

In the next second, with the crocodile’s continuous rolling, the long spear was yanked by its rolling force.

A violent force surged into the long spear, causing it to turn with it.

Feng Zhong, unprepared, lost grip of the spear.

He instinctively reached out to retrieve it.

Amidst the spear shaft tearing through the air with a whistling.

The spear, pulled by the crocodile, spun and struck hard on Feng Zhong’s back.

Feng Zhong’s expression twisted, akin to being lashed harshly by a whip.

His back twisted continually.

It twirled, and yet you were displeased.

The Nile crocodile seemed to know its effort proved effective, promptly halted spinning, and began retreating, intending to enter the water.

Though Feng Zhong could become the shining star of the association before Chen Wen, his shortcoming in one area was balanced by his strength in another.

Despite the pain, Feng Zhong clutched the spear fiercely.

Suddenly unleashing power, he ferociously dragged the three-meter-long Nile crocodile, pulling it onto land with the dirt flying.

A shallow trench even formed where the crocodile was dragged along.

Impressive?