HUN Chapter 44: When It Rains, It Pours

Lin Yu'an picked up the stainless steel pot and added about half a pot of stream water.

"Sizzle—"

The clear water made contact with the scalding oil at the bottom of the pot, producing a slight sound as a hot steam mixed with fish aroma, oil fragrance, and water vapor rose up.

He placed the stainless steel pot back on the stove opening, where the burning wood in the firebox steadily provided heat.

As the water temperature rose, the beaver fat that had originally solidified at the bottom of the pot and the attached fish meat fragments began to slowly melt and disperse into the water.

The clear stream water gradually turned into a slightly turbid pale yellow color, with golden oil droplets floating on the surface.

Lin Yu'an added an appropriate amount of salt, along with the dried berries he had previously picked and dried. Now there were no dried berries left at all.

He used a smooth wooden stick to gently stir the soup in the pot, allowing the various flavors to blend better.

Soon, the water in the pot began to bubble with "glug glug" sounds and gradually came to a boil.

When he felt the heat was about right, he carefully removed the stainless steel pot from the stove opening and set it aside to cool slightly.

He didn't use the clay bowl, but directly lifted the stainless steel pot to his lips and carefully sipped a small mouthful.

"Mmm! Delicious!"

Lin Yu'an's eyes lit up again. This time, it was a different feeling from the intense satisfaction he had felt when eating the fried fish jerky, it was a more gentle and soothing comfort.

He drank the hot soup sip after sip, feeling the warm current flow from his mouth, down his esophagus, and into his stomach, instantly dispelling the day's fatigue. He faced the camera with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Guys, this is absolutely the most efficient dinner possible! Every drop of fat, every trace of flavor, nothing was wasted."

"Tomorrow, we must work even harder! We absolutely must find new food sources!"

After eating and drinking his fill, he carefully cleaned the cookware, then began preparing for tomorrow's possible hunting and exploration, checking his bow and arrows, sharpening his tools, and planning routes.

One night of howling wind passed, and Lin Yu'an slept relatively peacefully in his shelter.

Day forty-five, his sixth sense warned him of an ominous premonition, causing Lin Yu'an to wake up instantly!

"Damn it! It's raining!"

Lin Yu'an walked outside the shelter, and a wind even more bone-chilling than yesterday's, mixed with icy raindrops, hit him in the face.

He saw dense cold rain being whipped diagonally by the fierce wind, lashing the earth. The waves on the lake were more turbulent than yesterday, crashing against the shore and splashing water several meters high.

"It looks like today's weather is even worse than yesterday's."

"The temperature has dropped quite a bit more. The perceived temperature is probably close to below freezing."

He tightened his jacket, and that bad premonition kept surging in his heart.

His first thought was of his gill net, which he had placed so much hope in. Although yesterday's inspection had yielded nothing, he had still deployed it in a relatively sheltered area within the river bend, hoping for a turnaround.

Wearing his waterproof jacket and rain pants, he struggled through the difficult trek to that familiar river bend. The scene before his eyes made his heart sink halfway!

Even worse, the gill net that should have been submerged underwater, along with the heavy log that was over ten meters long and served as an anchor point to secure the far end of the gill net.

Had now been completely overturned by the violent wind and waves, washed ashore in a chaotic mess!

"Fuck! My gill net!" Lin Yu'an rushed forward, not caring that the icy waves soaked his pant legs.

He saw that the originally fine mesh had become tangled with sharp rocks on the shore and dead branches and leaves, forming a hopeless mess! There were also some water plants and debris that had been washed up hanging on it.

"This is really fucking terrible... This is simply a devastating blow!"

Lin Yu'an's voice was filled with anger! He had originally hoped that during days when he couldn't take the boat out, this gill net could bring him some unexpected catches, but now it seemed this hope was completely shattered.

"The wind and waves are too strong. Even such a heavy log could be washed ashore, you can imagine how fierce last night's waves were."

He tried to untangle the mesh lines wrapped around the logs and rocks, but after being soaked in water and repeatedly pulled by the wind and waves, they had become tightly entangled together.

"Really damn it! It's impossible to repair this gill net, it would be faster to weave a new gill net from scratch!"

Lin Yu'an looked at the gill net in silent contemplation. This meant that his most important passive fishing tool was also completely ineffective.

When it rains, it pours. The destruction of the gill net was like adding insult to injury, reducing his food acquisition methods by yet another option.

He dragged his heavy mood back to the shelter. The rain was getting heavier with no sign of stopping.

The flames in the stove were not burning as vigorously due to the invasion of moisture.

He first carefully checked the condition of his shelter. The stone walls and thick reed roof had withstood the test of wind and rain without obvious leaks.

However, some cold wind and rainwater still seeped in through the gaps in the door curtain and windows, making the interior somewhat damp and cold.

He used some spare dry moss and reed debris to carefully fill these gaps.

Then, he began to take inventory of his remaining food. There were only two days' worth of smoked fish jerky left, a small half bowl of beaver oil remaining, and apart from that he had no food reserves whatsoever.

Lin Yu'an frowned deeply, looking at the continuous drizzle outside the door.

"If this wind and rain continues, I won't even have a chance to go out and set traps, let alone hunt."

Just as he was worrying about food, another problem quietly emerged.

He discovered that the dry birch and small dead branches he had previously stored were also beginning to get damp due to the continuous wet weather, making them difficult to ignite.

Fortunately, he still had some firewood stored in his shelter, but if the wind and rain continued for several days without being able to go out to replenish supplies, it wouldn't last too long either.

"Fuel is also running low." Lin Yu'an felt unprecedented pressure, not expecting this rain to come so suddenly.

The weather was severe, food was scarce, his main fishing tool was destroyed, fuel reserves were running low... a series of blows came one after another, as if all of nature was working against him.

In the afternoon, the rain lessened slightly, but the wind was still strong.

Despite the cold, Lin Yu'an decided to risk going out to check the small traps he had previously set in the forest and try to find some emergency food near his shelter.

He put on his barely adequate raincoat, put on his hat, and trudged through the muddy forest floor.

As expected, the small traps were still empty, and rainwater had even washed away several pressure plate traps built with stone slabs.

Under some pine trees, he carefully searched for fallen pine cones, hoping to find some edible pine nuts, but most of the pine cones had been soaked by rainwater or gnawed by other small animals, leaving only empty shells.

He tried to peel some inner bark from birch trees, but the slippery trunks and icy rainwater made this process extremely difficult, and the scraped inner bark was bitter and astringent, completely inedible.

"Could it be that I'm really going to reach the point of desperation? Must I reach the point where I need to use the space food?"

Lin Yu'an stood in the wind and rain, looking at his empty hands, a deep sense of powerlessness and frustration welling up in his heart.

But then he changed his thinking. Now was the perfect time to record material showing weakness!

If he really reached the point where he needed to cheat, if he hadn't encountered any crisis at all, it would be easy for audiences to suspect cheating!

Just like Juan, the champion of a certain season, who won the championship by drinking only hot water for fifteen days.

Whether he had hidden cookie crumbs in his clothes was no longer knowable, but he was permanently pinned to the pillar of shame for cheating!

This was because his journey in this wilderness had been too smooth all along. Jerusalem artichokes, beavers, big fish, it had been so smooth it was like there was a script.

Now, for the first time, he felt so close to the edge of despair. He must make good use of this, as it could effectively avoid attracting cheating controversies.

He began speaking to the camera, his voice somewhat hoarse, "Guys, the predicament I'm facing now might be more severe than any time since the show began! The harsh weather not only destroyed my fishing net but also restricted my movement,"

"making food acquisition extremely difficult. I must quickly think of a solution, otherwise..."

He didn't continue, but his grave expression said it all.

In the evening, returning to his shelter, Lin Yu'an sat exhaustedly by the stove.

The flames in the stove also appeared somewhat listless due to the slightly damp firewood. His meager remaining food had to be carefully rationed.

Tonight's dinner would probably be just a small piece of smoked fish jerky plus a spoonful of beaver oil, boiled into a pot of soup.

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