Logging Experience

A small mound of earth buried everything that had come before.

At this point, only three people remained in the camp.

George, Li Wei's new identity; his older sister Penny; and their mother Phila, who was also sick and looked very weak.

Bleak clouds of sorrow hung over them. Phila could no longer cry. She sat blankly inside the shack, as though trapped in an unfathomable haze. It was deeply worrying.

Penny, however, was strong. As she busied herself, she directed Li Wei to work.

"George, after you eat, take the axe and chop down some trees. They don't need to be too thick. We need a sturdier wooden house. Father is dead, the cart is broken, and we've even lost our way. We can't find the road to Ver Province, so we can only stay here for now. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. At least we don't have to worry about catching that dreadful plague!"

"Pull yourself together, for Mother!"

"I know."

Li Wei tried speaking softly. He spoke Chinese, after all, since he knew no other language and couldn't just pretend to be mute. Yet Penny could understand him. Clearly, some mysterious force was at work.

It was around ten in the morning when Li Wei scooped a bowl of sticky slop from the blackened pot. One glance was enough to make him want to vomit, but his growling stomach gave him no choice.

Besides, even this sticky slop could not be eaten without restraint. He ate one bowl, Penny ate one bowl, and less than half a bowl remained for Phila.

Although it tasted terrible, as rough as swallowing bran raw, it did have an effect. It showed clearly on his status panel.

[Health: 50 (Chronic Illness)]

[Stamina: 80 (Mild Hunger, -20)]

[Strength: 5 (Somewhat Weak, -1)]

[Agility: 3 (Somewhat Weak, -1)]

[Defense: 1 (Malnourished and Frail, -2)]

[Current Status: Chronic Illness, Mild Hunger, Malnourishment-Induced Frailty. Your stamina will slowly decline. Expected death in 36 months.]

--

Not bad at all!

Li Wei was quite satisfied. He circled the camp but did not find the axe Penny had mentioned. However, when he lifted the tarp over the Ox Cart, he found a fairly sharp, rust-free axe, along with several other tools: two hoes, a strange tool that seemed to be some kind of sickle, and finally, a chipped short knife.

Besides those, in the best-protected central part of the Ox Cart, were supplies covered by two whole layers of tarpaulin: a small wooden box and two sacks of wheat.

They were very dry, untouched by rain.

Li Wei fell silent as he looked at them. Based on his experience, his cheap father had probably caught a severe cold, then been drenched in the rain all night and eventually died of fever.

But he could have avoided getting wet.

There was high-quality tarpaulin on the cart, enough to build a completely waterproof shelter.

But if he had done that, the food supplies would certainly not have survived.

Damn it!

Li Wei took the axe, thought for a moment, then picked up the short knife as well. He carefully covered the supplies on the cart again.

Right now, the most important thing was to quickly build a sturdy wooden house. Judging by the vegetation and terrain around them, this was a place with huge temperature differences between day and night. If another heavy rain came, getting sick would be a real problem.

Meanwhile, Penny had chosen a relatively flat spot on the hillside. Holding a tool that looked like a shovel but was obviously clumsier, she cleared away weeds and leveled the soil. She worked briskly, clearly experienced.

By the stream, Li Wei did not rush to chop down trees. Instead, he carried over some relatively flat stones and barely managed to lay them across the water, forming a path. He did not want to wade across the stream.

Although his status panel lacked detailed information such as perceived temperature, wind speed, fullness, air pressure, or whether he needed to relieve himself, he did not dare let down his guard. This might not really be a game.

He had to make sure he would not get hurt. He could not let any tiny detail cause his health to deteriorate and eventually lead to a total collapse.

At the edge of the forest, Li Wei first used the short knife to clear away a patch of weeds and vines, leaving enough room to work and preventing himself from being bitten by venomous snakes or insects. That was equally important.

He did not want the mission to fail and this memory to be erased. Rather than return to Earth and endure his bleak, miserable life, he would rather be wiped out entirely.

As it turned out, such caution was correct. When he cut down a clump of weeds, a patterned little snake no thicker than a finger suddenly lunged at him and bit viciously. It was so fast that Li Wei almost despaired.

Fortunately, he unconsciously swung the short knife in his hand and knocked the little snake away. Otherwise, he would have been the one dying from venom.

The little snake quickly vanished without a trace, while Li Wei was drenched in cold sweat.

After that, he became even more careful. He even picked up a long wooden stick and furiously beat the grass for a while, only continuing once he was sure there were no snakes hiding inside.

It took him more than an hour to clear an area of roughly two hundred square meters. His stamina had dropped straight to 60, his endurance was nearly gone, and his stomach was growling again.

Not having enough to eat was the biggest problem.

With a sigh, Li Wei rested for a while before taking up the axe. Following Penny's earlier gestures, he selected a tree about fifteen centimeters in diameter.

Bang!

The instant the axe struck the trunk, both his hands went numb, and he nearly lost his grip on the axe. His strength was too low.

So Li Wei did not hesitate this time. He decisively added his remaining two Free Attribute Points to Strength, raising it to 7. If he were full and did not have the weakness debuff, his Strength should have been 8.

The effect was immediate. When he gripped the logging axe with both hands again, he immediately felt far more at ease, with a stronger sense of control.

Even the motion of raising and bringing down the axe no longer felt unsteady.

Bang!

Another strike rang out. His hands still went numb from the impact, but the chopping effect had improved by nearly half.

In particular, the increase in Strength greatly compensated for his lack of technique.

Not bad, not bad!

In one burst of effort, Li Wei chopped one side, then the other. Finally, he gave the tree a light push with both hands. With a creak, the tree, more than ten meters tall, crashed to the ground.

Almost at the same time, a line of information silently flashed before his eyes.

[Logging Experience +1]

Haha! Positive feedback!

Li Wei grinned, feeling a little pleased with himself. But when he looked down at his palms, he saw that three blisters had already formed.

The days of hardship had only just begun.

It was also because he lacked experience.

He took out the short knife and carefully cut a thin strip from his tattered sackcloth clothes. He wrapped it tightly around the axe's wooden handle. It might not help much, but it was better than nothing.

For this stage, he could only grit his teeth and endure.