Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

Bows are a widely used hunting tool; Bi Fang had made one before the geese began their migration.

At the same time, I also have a blue “Archery Mastery Skill,” not making one would simply feel amiss.

The style of the bow and arrow was still the “Father-Son Bow.”

Behind a larger bow was bound a smaller one. Although it wasn’t as sturdy and durable as those made from a single piece of high-quality wood, its advantages included low material requirements for the wood and ease of production.

“It’s rare to find wood suitable for making good bows in the rainforest, since the trees here generally grow very quickly. Those who have studied biology should know that the longer the growth cycle, the higher the quality of the result, and vice versa.”

The high school geography teacher used to tap on the blackboard every day in class, explaining why rice from Northeast China’s Wuchang was tastier: because of its longer growth cycle and fertile soil…

Bi Fang remembered this very clearly.

Wood from the north was much better than that from the south, for the same reason.

Hundreds of years ago, the wood used to build palaces was basically felled from within the Greater Khingan Range and then floated down the rivers.

The Father-Son Bow, with its unique structure, overcame the lack of good wood and was very suitable for such an environment.

After busying himself for a few hours, Moyo grew tired around nine o’clock, and Bi Fang felt sleepy too. Waking up early every day and engaging in a lot of physical activity, it was very easy to become sleepy at night.

There’s an old saying that rang true: many people nowadays are just too well-fed, and that’s why they have time to worry about this and that; starve them for two meals, and they’ll be fine.

Bi Fang yawned, placed the bow, which was eighty percent complete, onto the ground, and muttered sleepily, “I’m dead tired, off to sleep, ending the stream for today.”

“Fellows, see you.”

[Boo hoo hoo, no sisters again, my heart is dead, I’m unfollowing]

[You’re clearly a dude…]

[Just because it says I’m a male on my profile, I’m a male? That’s discriminatory! I’m going to sue you]

[You guys are really something]

[Lots of goofballs here]

…

Day 11 of survival in the Banna Rainforest, more than half of the 21-day survival task had passed.

Early in the morning, the water monitors crawled out of their cave early. As cold-blooded animals, they needed to bask in the sun every day to raise their body temperature. ɽαƝο₿Ɛṥ

The terrain surrounding the shelter was relatively open, which perhaps explained why it was so persistent in bringing its family here.

Bi Fang ignored the water monitor sunbathing nearby, got up to wash and take care of personal hygiene, then opened the live stream.

“I nearly finished making my bow and arrows yesterday. This morning I refined them a bit more, and now I can proceed with shaping and testing.”

Bi Fang lifted the longbow in his hand, which was very similar to the one he made for the geese hunt, consisting of two branches for the body and some ropes made from tree bark fibers as the bowstring.

This wasn’t the final bowstring; it was just for testing the bow’s efficacy by pulling on the string.

Bi Fang took out a “test stick” less than one meter long, about seventy centimeters, and cut a notch at the top, then measured and cut another notch every twelve centimeters or so.

He then placed the grip of the bow at the top of the stick and pulled the string to the position of the first notch.

“Each notch represents the degree of bend in the bow. Now I need to check the curve of the bow; if all looks normal, then continue to pull the string to the next notch.”

“But if you find some parts bending too much, you’ll need to trim both ends to make it bend equally with the rest. The same goes for areas that don’t bend enough.”

“When making a bow, don’t skip this process. These details will affect the overall balance of the bow, ensuring that the arrows you shoot don’t veer off but fly straight ahead, eventually falling to the ground due to gravity.”

Bi Fang checked the bow’s curvature step by step using this method until the string reached the last notch on the stick.

Next, he shortened the length of the string to test the second smaller bow.

After both bows, the large and the small one, had been tested, he combined them and tested them again. After some adjustments, they were both successful; there were no issues with Bi Fang’s craftsmanship.

The bow and arrows had been completed the previous night; Bi Fang dried them and took them outside.

“If you’re a beginner, don’t expect to immediately succeed in hunting with a bow and arrow. What you need to do first is practice extensively, familiarize yourself with the bow and arrows in your hands, learn how to nock, draw, aim, and shoot at different distances, and only then, when you’re confident, go for the real deal.”

With his system skills, Bi Fang was naturally experienced, and he always felt that solidifying skills was a significant cheat.

Any skill that appears on the panel would not become unfamiliar or clumsy due to the passage of time or a long absence of practice.

A piano master ten years ago remains one after ten years without practice.

Bi Fang aimed at a large tree, fired a few shots in succession, retrieved the arrows, and then headed into the jungle, following the animal trails.

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked about archery techniques, have I?”

[You never did, facepalm]

[Right, we just saw arrows whooshing at the poachers]

“Have you heard of the Archer’s Paradox?”

[Oh, I know that one, it’s about how the second arrow will never catch up to the first one!]

“???”

[Ah, is that so?]

[Something feels off…]

[Man, that’s Zeno’s paradox, the one with the turtle…]

“I’ve never heard anything about the second arrow not catching up to the first one…” Bi Fang curled his lip, “I think what you’re referring to is the philosophical paradox of Achilles not being able to outrun the tortoise; it has nothing to do with what I’m saying.”

“The Archer’s Paradox refers to the fact that when you shoot an arrow, if you point it directly at your target when you nock it, it will definitely miss.”

What the heck?

Did I hear that wrong?

At this moment, millions of viewers in front of the screen want to dig their ears out, doubting whether they had just misheard.

Aiming at the target guarantees a hit, are you kidding me?

How many people have experienced professional archery practice?

Not even one percent, so the live broadcast room completely blew up, thinking that Bi Fang was talking nonsense.

Even… those who have had professional archery experience think it’s nonsensical.

[How is that possible? How does the archer aim at the target?]

[This is unscientific]

[As expected, is it starting to get metaphysical now?]

[I just came in and saw the host bragging, and this got onto the cover recommendation? Was it bought with money? It’s all rigged]

[???]

[Nonsense, I just went to try archery at the club yesterday, and I’ve never heard of such a thing, Old Fang, don’t you know your own club?]

Bi Fang spread his hands, “I really wasn’t talking nonsense, I take responsibility for what I say, if you don’t believe it, look it up. Modern archery indeed doesn’t have the archer’s paradox anymore, but you haven’t tried traditional archery.”

He didn’t expect the audience’s reaction to be so strong, but he could understand it.

People who have never used a bow and arrow find it unreliable, and those who have… emmm, they also find it unreliable.

Because modern archery has overcome this problem and wouldn’t encounter such a situation.

“Has anyone checked it out?”

The viewers, skeptically, opened up web pages and typed ‘archer’s paradox’ word for word. Moments later.

[Damn, there really is such a thing…]

[It’s the world that has a problem]

[Definitely Master Fang has once again exerted his mighty power, changing the physical rules of this world!]

Bi Fang didn’t care, he was often teased by netizens, but he cooperated and said, “If I had that ability, why would I still be live streaming.”

“Ordinary people naturally assume that one should aim the arrow directly at the target when shooting, but in reality, any arrow nocked onto the bowstring by a traditional archer is off to one side, to the left for right-handed people, and the opposite for left-handed people, which is how you accurately hit the target.”

Most people in the live broadcast room stopped talking, pricked up their ears and listened, only a small number of people did not search, and blindly judged based on their own feelings.

“You’d think that the arrow shoots straight ahead due to the bow and arrow being straight, but in reality, in high-speed photography, the arrow is seen to wiggle like a fish swimming away.”

Bi Fang pulled out a long arrow, its curvature demonstrating the good elasticity of the bow and arrow.

“Due to the limitations of our bow-drawing techniques and the construction of the bow and arrow, whether it’s the Mediterranean or Mongolian bow-drawing method, there’s always some friction, leading to the bowstring rebounding to the left or to the right.”

Bi Fang draw his bow and nocked an arrow, demonstrating what the Mongolian and Mediterranean styles were.

The Mediterranean uses the right hand’s three fingers to pull the string, and the arrow is placed on the left side of the bow handle. Left-handed archers use their left hand’s three fingers to pull the string, and the arrow is on the right side.

The Mongolian style of bow-drawing is essentially a mirror image of the Mediterranean style for left-handers.

However, with Mongolian style drawing, right-handed archers should place the arrow on the right side of the bow, and they use the right thumb to pull the string.

But because of using a single finger to draw the bow, it’s easy for the thumb to get scraped, thus the invention of what’s called a thumb ring, though this has been around since before the Qin Dynasty, when it was known as ‘shé’.

“I’ve seen many historical dramas, but I’ve never seen anyone draw a bow correctly; there’s even the pinch method of holding the fletching to shoot, which should be ancient human and some tribal techniques, very inaccurate, better suited for shooting balloons on top of your boyfriend’s head at amusement parks.”

The audience almost laughed out loud.

[How can actors compare with Master Fang?]

[Boyfriends, beware!]

[I’m watching]

[Are you also Xiahou Dun?]

“However, although the arrow may wiggle its head, there are two points on the arrow that do not sway from side to side—those are the nodes. The line connecting the nodes points to where the arrow will ultimately land. In other words, you can only hit the target if you align the arrow’s nodes with the target.”

“The position of the arrow’s nodes depends on the distribution of the arrow’s mass and its flexibility, as well as the bow’s draw weight and draw length.”

“With the same bow, if you change the arrow, the nodes will shift. So even experienced archers can’t be sure to hit the target with just any arrow they grab.”

[I’ve wasted my education]

[Then why has Old Fang’s archery club never mentioned this?]

[Right, I can hit the target even if I shoot directly at it]

[Damn, you all have been there?]

[Obviously, you’re the only one who hasn’t]

[Wait for me, buying a ticket right now!]

“Because the issue is known, modern bows have certainly been improved. Those who have played with compound bows should know that the grip of a compound bow protrudes on one side, allowing for direct shots at the target without considering the paradox.”

“The arrow rest also serves as protection; falling during the moment of release, it minimizes external forces’ effects. Nowadays, arrows don’t swing left and right anymore, but rather up and down.”

“In short, if you make a bow and arrow with your bare hands in the wild, you must aim off to one side when shooting, or else you’ll absolutely not hit the target.”

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