HUN Chapter 43: Sudden Weather Change

On the morning of the forty-fourth day, Lin Yu'an was awakened by an unusual howling sound.

He lifted the thick reed door curtain, and a strong, icy north wind suddenly rushed into the stone house, making him involuntarily shiver.

Lin Yu'an walked outside the shelter, facing the bitter cold wind, and pointed the camera toward the lake, "The situation looks bad, strong winds have started!"

The normally calm Chilko Lake was now turbulent with waves. White-capped waves whipped up by the fierce wind crashed violently against the shoreline rocks, producing deafening roars.

The sky was also heavily overcast, with thick cloud layers hanging low, threatening to bring rain or snow at any moment.

Lin Yu'an looked at his canoe on the shore, tied to a tree with nylon rope and overturned, his brow furrowed tightly.

"In this weather, the Pioneer absolutely cannot go on the water."

"With such large waves on the lake, my little boat in these conditions would be no different from a leaf, too dangerous."

The plan to go out fishing was completely ruined, casting a shadow over Lin Yu'an's mood.

When he checked the gill net last night, it was already empty. He had planned to find a new location to set the net today, but unexpectedly such strong winds arose. Today he definitely couldn't set nets in deep water.

Returning to the shelter, Lin Yu'an sat by the fire, feeling the warmth radiating from the clay bricks, but his heart was somewhat restless.

"Both boat fishing and gill net fishing routes are temporarily unreliable. I must think of other methods."

After a simple breakfast, the first thing was still checking the traps. He first inspected those snare traps he'd set on rabbit paths in the forest.

However, after checking all four trap locations in succession, the results were the same, completely empty, without even signs of being triggered.

"Seems like in this windy weather, these little creatures are all hiding and not coming out much."

He also tried searching around that spruce forest area where he'd previously found grouse, but except for trees swaying in the wind and fallen leaves rolling everywhere, he didn't see even a single grouse feather.

With no choice, he could only stockpile more dry firewood to prepare for possible rainy days ahead.

Lin Yu'an returned to the shelter and opened his food storage bag. Very little remained inside, a few pieces of smoked fish jerky, a small handful of nuts, and some previously dried berries.

"The situation is indeed getting serious."

"This food, if rationed carefully, can last at most two or three more days. That means if I don't get new food tomorrow, I might face starvation."

A strong sense of food crisis, like the cold wind outside, began invading his heart.

He again realized how much luck had been involved in his previous successful hunts, whether beaver or grouse, while the wilderness norm was scarcity and uncertainty.

"I can't stick to just these few hunting methods anymore! I must take initiative, expand my search range, and try new hunting approaches."

In the afternoon, the wind slightly weakened but remained cold. The waves on the lake were smaller but still unsuitable for canoe navigation.

Lin Yu'an stopped waiting and began taking action.

He first targeted those potential food sources he'd previously considered "not cost-effective" or "troublesome to process."

"Before, I mainly focused on meat, but now I can't pass up anything that can provide energy."

He remembered some tall fern root stems he'd discovered during previous explorations.

"I know certain fern root stems are rich in starch and serve as important food sources for some primitive tribes."

"But I need to identify them very carefully and process them correctly, like prolonged soaking, crushing, and washing to remove toxic substances."

"This is a high-risk choice, but if I can confirm they're safe varieties and master proper processing methods, they could serve as emergency food."

He also thought about tree inner bark. In extreme hunger situations, the inner tender bark of some trees like pine and birch was edible, containing small amounts of sugar and nutrients.

Besides these plant sources, he also turned his attention to smaller animals.

"Before, I might have looked down on those tiny things, like wood mice and field mice."

Lin Yu'an faced the camera with a somewhat complex expression, "When facing survival, nothing is unacceptable, protein is protein."

He began carefully searching around the shelter and near dead wood and stone piles for traces of these small creatures, trying to create smaller, more concealed micro-traps.

Such as "hanging noose snares" made with thin line, or "micro deadfall traps" built with stone slabs and thin wooden sticks.

While setting micro-traps, he didn't give up hope for large game.

Despite the poor weather, he still decided to conduct a short tracking and reconnaissance mission.

He wandered the deep forest for over three hours but still found no traces of large animals.

At dusk, Lin Yu'an dragged his weary body back to the shelter.

Today's harvest remained disappointing.

Identifying and processing fern roots was too complex, without complete certainty, he didn't dare try easily.

He scraped some tree inner bark, but after tasting it, the flavor was bitter and hard to swallow, only suitable as a last resort.

And today's multiple micro-traps yielded nothing.

Lin Yu'an smiled bitterly, "Seems like nature wants to test my limits."

The atmosphere in the shelter was somewhat oppressive, with food scarcity weighing on his heart like a boulder.

Lin Yu'an rubbed his somewhat cold hands and opened his food storage bag.

"Though today's exploration didn't yield much, life must go on, and dinner can't be neglected."

"Moreover, especially at times like this, I must ensure energy intake to have strength for tomorrow's challenges."

He took several pieces of smoked fish jerky from the food storage bag, these were from pike he'd previously caught.

After smoking treatment, they displayed an appetizing reddish-brown color and gave off a faint smoky aroma, but had also become somewhat dry and hard from days of storage.

He also used a wooden spoon to scoop out a small piece of solidified beaver fat from another small clay pot.

Lin Yu'an placed the stainless steel pot over the fire stove opening. When the pot heated up, he cut off a large piece of beaver fat with his knife and added it to the pot.

"Sizzle—"

The beaver fat quickly melted under high heat, producing pleasant sounds while a rich, unique fatty aroma instantly filled the stone house.

When the oil temperature rose, he cut the dry, hard smoked fish jerky into appropriately sized pieces and added them to the hot oil pot.

"Smoked fish jerky is quite dry and hard by itself. Stir-frying it lightly with beaver oil lets the fish meat absorb the fat and become more moist, while bringing out richer flavors."

"More importantly, this way I can consume more beaver fat along with the smoked fish, I don't want to face a day of eating beaver fat plain."

Lin Yu'an carefully turned the fish pieces in the pot with chopsticks, ensuring each side heated evenly and was coated with that layer of golden fat.

When the fish pieces were stir-fried to crispy outside and tender inside, displaying an appetizing golden color, Lin Yu'an removed them from the pot and placed them in a clean clay bowl.

No rice, no vegetables, just these few pieces of stir-fried smoked fish with beaver oil. But to Lin Yu'an at this moment, this was undoubtedly a meal worth anticipating.

He picked up a piece of stir-fried fish jerky still carrying scalding heat, blew on it, then eagerly put it in his mouth.

"Mmm—!"

Lin Yu'an's eyes instantly brightened, and his chewing became particularly enjoyable.

After stir-frying with beaver oil, the originally dry, hard smoked fish meat became tender and crispy! The smoky flavor was perfectly activated and enveloped by the fat.

Lin Yu'an praised indistinctly while quickly chewing, feeling that pure satisfaction brought by fat and protein.

He sent those stir-fried fish pieces into his mouth one after another, eating with great relish.

Even the fat residue with fish meat fragments remaining in the bowl, he carefully scraped it up with his fingers and put it in his mouth, not wasting a single drop.

When the last piece of stir-fried fish jerky went down, Lin Yu'an smacked his lips with lingering taste, savoring the remaining aroma in his mouth.

He looked at the stainless steel pot that had just fried fish, its bottom still coated with a layer of golden fat and some fish meat char bits, a flash of shrewdness in his eyes.

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