Night erased the last streak of the setting sun.
Beneath the pitch-black, starry sky, only a boundless sea remained.
Two rabbits crackled over the fire, glistening with fat and giving off an enticing aroma.
"What should we do now?"
A gust blew past, and Zhou Youcai edged closer to the fire.
Li Ping'an tossed more dry branches onto the fire, making it blaze higher.
He tore off a roasted rabbit leg and took a large bite.
"Two options. Either we wait here for a passing ship, or we build a boat."
Build... build a boat? To cross the Vast Sea?
Zhou Youcai thought the idea was rather too wild and fanciful.
But then again, Brother Li could settle heaven and earth with a single stroke of his brush and still the wind and waves.
What else could be impossible?
Li Ping'an said, "Brother Wen, Brother Zhou, I'll leave gathering food to you. Ideally, get things that are easy to store.
"Old Ox and I will handle building the boat."
Wen Tao nodded. "Leave it to us."
Early the next morning.
The sea breeze carried a salty tang that left everything feeling damp.
A ray of sunlight spilled down, illuminating the lone island in the vast sea.
On the island, tree after tree came crashing down.
Fine Rain, the flying sword, scattered a swath of white light.
Li Ping'an sat on a rock, gnawing on the remaining Flood Dragon meat.
He did not know how to build a more complicated boat.
But if it was just a dugout canoe, he was quite adept.
He selected a larger tree, felled the whole thing, and lit a fire in the middle of the trunk.
Once the middle had burned into charcoal, he dug it out to leave a hollow, making a dugout canoe.