HUN Chapter 46: A Glimmer of Hope, Burning the Boats!

Day forty-six.

After a night of wind and rain, Lin Yu'an spent the time in narration and reminiscence.

Yesterday he had already recorded enough "weakness" material. Today, after recording a bit more weakness material, it would be time to record material showing renewed spirit!

When the first ray of dawn light tore through the thick fog, the sound of rain outside the shelter finally stopped.

Lin Yu'an also turned on the fixed camera to record.

"The rain has finally stopped, but this damn weather is still not suitable for going out to fish by boat."

He looked at the lake surface in the distance where waves were still turbulent and shook his head helplessly.

"It seems that today's food acquisition is still a big problem. The fishing net still needs time to repair."

He began trying to whittle wood in a corner of the stone house to distract himself.

Lin Yu'an panted heavily and slumped dejectedly by the stove, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"The situation... is worse than I imagined. I really can't concentrate now. I still need to get myself moving."

He unconsciously touched the small cross pendant on his chest, the talisman Aliya had given him, which was also the source of his strength.

"Right! I can't give up yet! It's still far from over!"

A glimmer of light rekindled in Lin Yu'an's eyes!

Fortunately, the cold wind outside had weakened somewhat. He forced himself to gather his spirits and, braving the cold wind, checked the micro-traps he had set around the shelter again.

But unsurprisingly, the traps were still empty.

In the stormy weather, even those usually active small rodents were unwilling to come out and move around.

"It seems I can only go farther away to try my luck."

Lin Yu'an shouldered his bow and arrows, preparing to venture deep into the forest again.

He suddenly remembered the squirrel hole from which he had only taken half the nuts before.

So he decided to start from that squirrel hole and record material showing renewed effort!

He was somewhat excited and immediately got up to walk toward that squirrel hole.

Arriving at the familiar tree hole, he carefully peered inside. The hole was still quiet with no signs of squirrel activity.

He reached his hand into the tree hole, groped around for a moment, and his face showed a surprised expression!

"Still there! They're all still there!"

He excitedly pulled out handful after handful of plump pine nuts and hazelnuts, exactly the half he had deliberately left behind!

"Excellent! It seems this little squirrel really forgot about this place, or... it has already met with misfortune?"

Lin Yu'an silently apologized in his heart to the little squirrel that might no longer exist, then carefully packed these precious nuts into his bag.

At noon, returning to his shelter, Lin Yu'an spread all his food out on a clean stone slab.

A few small pieces of the last remaining smoked fish jerky, and the handful of nuts just obtained from the squirrel hole.

"This is all my food. Tonight I'm going to eat all this food to replenish enough energy."

"Today, regardless of the weather, I'm going to hunt regardless of consequences!"

He placed the stainless steel pot on the stove and poured in the last remaining small half bowl of beaver oil.

After the oil heated up, he first slowly fried the smoked fish jerky.

Then he put the pine nuts and hazelnuts, after cracking their shells, into the pot together with the smoked fish jerky to stir-fry.

The nuts, moistened by the oil, quickly gave off a rich aroma and their surfaces became golden and glossy.

When this pot of "hodgepodge" that gathered all his food was finished cooking, the entire stone house was filled with an invigorating aroma!

Lin Yu'an picked up a piece of fish jerky covered with oil and nut fragments, took a deep breath, then solemnly put it in his mouth.

The richness of the oil, the crispness of the nuts, the smoky flavor of the fish jerky, multiple flavors bloomed simultaneously on his taste buds, bringing an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

He ate quickly and thoroughly, consuming every bit of food in the bowl along with the last drop of oil.

A powerful warm current rose from his lower abdomen, reigniting the fighting spirit in his heart!

After Lin Yu'an felt he had gradually recovered his strength, he continued toward the forest with his equipment. This time he planned to go farther.

After carefully searching the area where he had previously discovered traces of large animals for a long time.

Apart from branches and leaves knocked down by wind and rain and some old footprints washed unclear by the weather, he found nothing.

But not far from this area, on the muddy shallows by the lake, he vaguely saw a series of clear marks!

"Those... those are... hoofprints?" Lin Yu'an's heart jumped violently, and wild joy instantly flooded his entire body!

Not caring about the muddy ground, he quickly ran to the lake shallows, crouched down, and carefully examined those hoofprints.

The hoofprints weren't large, but their shape was very distinctive, with deeply indented edges, clearly belonging to some ungulate animal!

"That's right! Definitely hoofprints! And judging from the size and spacing of the hoofprints, it's very likely a deer!"

"Excellent! It must have come out to drink water and look for food by the lake after the wind and rain stopped!"

Lin Yu'an quickly determined the direction the hoofprints went, they actually led into the lake water!

He observed more carefully and found the footprints indeed went into the lake water. Looking up into the distance, he saw the small island about 200 meters from shore not far ahead, and instantly understood!

"I see! This guy swam to the island!"

Lin Yu'an's eyes suddenly brightened, and the flame of hunting in his heart burned even more fiercely!

He hadn't expected that he was just trying to record some material showing renewed spirit, but had actually encountered an adventure that could truly renew his spirit!

The "Pioneer" canoe, which had seemed to lose its usefulness due to wind and waves, had now become his only hope!

Although the wind and waves on the lake surface were smaller than at their most violent, standing on the shore, he could still feel gusts of strong wind stirring up fine spray, and the water surface in the center of the lake was not calm either.

Using his canoe to cross this 200-meter stretch of water still carried considerable risk.

"This is definitely an adventure. The wind and waves on the lake haven't completely subsided yet, and it's unknown whether the Pioneer can withstand such strong waves."

"If the boat capsizes, in this icy lake water, hypothermia will be my greatest enemy."

"So before setting out, I must prepare for the worst-case scenario, at least ensuring I won't immediately sink into the water if the boat capsizes."

He immediately returned to the shelter. It was still early, and his gaze swept over the large waterproof hiking backpack he had brought.

Lin Yu'an's eyes lit up, "Got it! This waterproof backpack, if filled with some lightweight and non-absorbent materials, could become a decent temporary life-saving float!"

He immediately sprang into action. First, he temporarily removed some unnecessary items from the backpack, then looked for suitable filling materials.

"I need materials that have low density themselves or can wrap large amounts of air."

He first thought of the dry reed stalks he had previously collected and dried.

Gritting his teeth, he dismantled the reed door curtain, stuffing bundle after bundle of dry reed stalks into the waterproof backpack, letting the hollow structure of the reed stalks provide some buoyancy.

Next, he looked at his goose down sleeping bag rated for -30°C. Although reluctant, in this life-or-death moment, he couldn't worry about such things.

He stuffed the entire sleeping bag into the waterproof hiking pack. Both the inner and outer layers of his sleeping bag had good waterproof performance.

The fluffy goose down inside could wrap large amounts of air to provide buoyancy. Even if he really fell into the water, this buoyancy device should be able to last ten minutes without problem.

Finally, he repeatedly rolled and folded the backpack opening and completely sealed it with paracord and the backpack's built-in buckles to ensure its waterproofing.

A bulging "waterproof backpack life ring" that looked quite buoyant was completed.

"This simple buoyancy device, although not comparable to professional life jackets, should be able to buy me precious survival time at the critical moment!"

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