HUN Chapter 12: The Harvest from the Trap

Lin Yu'an gripped the logging axe and held the camera, vigilantly watching the bushes where the strange sounds came from. His heart beat powerfully in his chest as adrenaline began to quietly secrete.

He held his breath, trying hard to distinguish the movements in the darkness. The rustling sounds accompanied by low whimpers grew closer and closer.

Lin Yu'an took half a step back, positioning himself in a more advantageous stance for exerting force, while slightly adjusting the angle of the camera on his chest, hoping to capture something.

Just then, a pair of eyes glowing with an eerie green light in the darkness slowly emerged from the shadows of the bushes! Through the infrared camera, Lin Yu'an saw clearly what the visitor looked like: a fox! It had obviously been attracted by the earlier struggling sounds.

At this moment, it was greedily staring at the snowshoe hare not far away that was tightly strangled by the snare and barely alive. It let out threatening growls from its throat, as if warning Lin Yu'an not to compete with it for this "unexpected windfall."

Lin Yu'an laughed heartily at the camera, "Oh, so it's you, little guy. Looks like you want a share of the pie too, but that won't do. This is my prey."

Seeing that Lin Yu'an didn't retreat, the fox became even more agitated. It arched its body, the growling in its throat grew louder, and it even bared its sharp teeth.

Lin Yu'an hadn't brought his hunting bow and didn't want to get too entangled with it. Getting bitten by it would be more trouble than it was worth! When dealing with this kind of medium-small carnivorous animal, momentum was often more important than strength.

"Get lost!" Lin Yu'an simultaneously let out a short but explosive growl!

The red fox was obviously startled by Lin Yu'an's sudden momentum and fierce movement. It instinctively shrank back, and the whimpering in its throat also weakened.

It looked at Lin Yu'an warily, then glanced reluctantly at the snowshoe hare on the ground. Finally, it tucked its tail between its legs and unwillingly burrowed back into the bushes, disappearing into the darkness.

"Whew..." Lin Yu'an breathed a sigh of relief.

He shrugged at the camera, "Looks like my voice still has some use. Let's take a look at the trophy!"

He quickly walked to the trap. The snowshoe hare had completely stopped making sounds. He carefully untied the snare, picked up this rabbit of considerable weight, and showed a genuine smile on his face.

"Excellent! Perfect protein source! Didn't expect to have a midnight snack today!"

He excitedly waved the rabbit in his hand at the camera. This was the first real prey he had obtained since arriving at Chilko Lake, making it extraordinarily meaningful.

He didn't linger at the spot, picked up the rabbit, and quickly returned to the shelter.

Warm firelight danced inside the shelter.

Lin Yu'an began skillfully processing the snowshoe hare. He spoke to the camera while operating, providing detailed explanations: "When processing a rabbit, you should start skinning from the hind legs first. This way it's easier to maintain the integrity of the fur."

His knife work was precise and steady. Soon a complete rabbit pelt was stripped off.

"When removing the internal organs, you must be careful to avoid rupturing the intestines and contaminating the rabbit meat. Most of these organs can't be eaten, but they can be kept as bait for subsequent traps. Other animals might be interested in this."

He rinsed the cleaned rabbit meat with stream water, then divided it into two halves.

"Alright, now we can prepare our 'one rabbit, two dishes' wilderness feast!"

Lin Yu'an took one half and skewered it on a sharpened stick, setting it over the fire to slowly roast.

He also put some rabbit meat chunks together with the previously gathered wild Jerusalem artichokes that he had confirmed to be non-toxic into the stainless steel pot, added stream water, along with the seasonings and salt he had secretly brought, and began stewing.

Soon, the charred aroma of roasted rabbit and the delicious smell of rabbit soup permeated the small shelter. Sprinkling on a bit of salt made the famished Lin Yu'an's mouth water.

When the first piece of golden, almost dripping rabbit leg meat entered his mouth, that tender, juicy flavor with primitive charred fragrance made him feel like every cell in his body was cheering. Taking another sip of the steaming hot, rich soup that mixed meat fragrance with plant freshness swept away all fatigue and cold!

"Mmm! So delicious!"

Lin Yu'an let out a satisfied sigh and gave a thumbs up to the camera, "Guys, this is definitely the best roasted rabbit I've ever had in my life!"

He ate while sharing his joy with the camera, also expressing his longing for family. Warm food and hopes for the future were his most powerful weapons against loneliness and hardship!

At dawn.

Lin Yu'an's midnight snack from last night became a hearty breakfast. After replenishing sufficient energy, he once again came to the permanent campsite he had selected yesterday.

He stood in the center of the clearing, looking around, already beginning to sketch the blueprint of his future home in his mind.

"Well, starting today, I'm going to lay the first foundation stone for my new home!" Lin Yu'an said to the camera with a tone full of vigor.

He took out the homemade bark map and a small piece of charcoal from his backpack, and began sketching the rough outline of the shelter on the relatively flat bark surface.

While drawing, he explained to the camera, "Based on the terrain here and my initial conception, I plan to build a stone house semi-underground shelter."

"The main structure will utilize the natural slope of this hillside, digging inward partially to form a semi-subterranean space, which can better utilize geothermal insulation and be more stable."

He pointed to some scattered stones of various sizes below the slope and said, "The stone material resources around here look fairly abundant. I'll use these stones to build walls."

"Stone walls have much better insulation and defensive properties than purely wooden walls, especially in areas where grizzly bears are present."

"For the roof section, I'll use felled logs to construct load-bearing beams and rafters, then lay waterproof tarp."

"Finally, I'll cover it with thick soil, moss, and turf to form a 'living roof' that can both waterproof and insulate, while blending with the surrounding environment and increasing concealment."

His plan was clear and detailed. After completing the planning came the arduous physical labor.

He first needed to clear out a sufficiently level site and begin preliminary excavation work.

Without a shovel, he could only rely on the back of the logging axe and hard wooden sticks to gradually dig and pry up the somewhat hard soil and stones.

This was an extremely physically demanding and patience-testing process. Sweat quickly soaked his clothes, and his arms also felt sore from prolonged exertion.

But he didn't pause at all, just silently and repeatedly performed the digging motions, one after another.

While digging, he also kept an eye out for collecting suitable-sized stones with relatively regular shapes from the surroundings, stacking them aside for later use.

When the sun gradually tilted westward, after a day's effort, Lin Yu'an finally cleared out a flat area of about ten square meters and initially excavated the outline of a shallow pit.

He straightened his somewhat aching back, looked at this land that condensed his sweat, and felt full of accomplishment.

"Very good, the first step is complete!"

"Tomorrow, we can start trying to build the first wall! This will be the first foundation stone of the new home!"

He wiped the sweat and dirt from his face and showed a brilliant smile to the camera.

In the evening.

Lin Yu'an went to check the several simple "fish traps" he had set up by the stream yesterday. These small water bays simply enclosed with stones and branches were hoped to trap some small fish drifting with the current.

Fortunately, in one of the fish traps, there were actually two palm-sized trout swimming inside!

"Haha! Looks like we'll have fish soup again tonight!"

Lin Yu'an carefully caught those two lively trout, afraid they might escape.

He showed his catch to the camera, saying words that Westerners like to hear, "Although they're not big, this is nature's gift. In this wilderness, every bit of food is precious. We must learn to be grateful and learn to cherish, ensuring we make the best use of everything."

Dragging his weary body back to the temporary shelter, he skillfully cleaned the fish and used the remaining rabbit soup base to stew a pot of delicious fish soup.

Warm firelight danced once again in the shelter.

The aroma of fish soup dispelled the day's fatigue. Lin Yu'an sat by the fire, slowly savoring the fruits of his labor, his heart full of confidence for the challenges ahead!

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