American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 44 The house leaks and it rains all night
Lin Yu'an picked up the stainless steel pot and added about half a pot of stream water.

"Thorn-"

The water made a slight sizzling sound as it came into contact with the scalding oil at the bottom of the pot, and a steaming aroma of fish, oil, and water rose up.

He placed the stainless steel pot back on the stove, where the burning firewood provided a steady supply of heat.

As the water temperature rises, the solidified beaver fat and fish scraps that were attached to the bottom of the pot begin to slowly melt and disperse into the water.

The clear stream water gradually turned into a slightly turbid light yellow, and golden oil droplets floated on the surface.

Lin Yu'an added some salt and dried berries that he had picked and dried earlier, so there were no dried berries left.

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

Soon, the water in the pot began to bubble and gradually boil.

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

Instead of using an earthenware bowl, he picked up the stainless steel pot directly, brought it 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 kind of intense satisfaction than when he ate fried dried fish. It was a more gentle and comforting feeling.

He sipped the hot soup, feeling the warmth flow from his mouth and esophagus down to his stomach, instantly dispelling the day's fatigue. He faced the camera with a satisfied smile.

"Guys, this is absolutely the most efficient dinner ever! Not a single drop of oil, not a single whiff of aroma has been wasted."

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

After eating and drinking his fill, he carefully cleaned the cookware and then began preparing for the possible hunting and exploration the next day, checking his bow and arrows, sharpening his knives, and planning his route.

Despite the howling winds throughout the night, Lin Yu'an slept relatively soundly in the shelter.

On the forty-fifth day, a sixth sense alerted Lin Yu'an to an ominous premonition, instantly bringing him to his senses!
"Damn it! It's raining!"

As Lin Yu'an stepped outside the shelter, a biting wind, even more piercing than the day before, mixed with icy raindrops, swept over him.

Fine, cold rain, whipped by a fierce wind, lashed the earth at an angle. The waves on the lake were even more turbulent than yesterday, crashing against the shore and splashing water several meters high.

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

"The temperature has dropped significantly again, and the wind chill is probably close to zero."

He tightened his coat, a bad feeling lingering in his heart.

His first thought was of his gillnet, which held so much hope. Although he had found nothing during yesterday's inspection, he would still set it up in a relatively sheltered area in the river bend, hoping for a change in the situation.

Wearing a waterproof jacket and rain pants, he trudged with difficulty to the familiar river bend, only to be met with a sight that chilled him to the bone!

To make matters worse, the gillnet, which should have been submerged underwater, along with the heavy log he used to anchor the far end of the gillnet, which was over ten meters long, was also destroyed.

At this moment, it was completely overturned by the raging wind and waves and washed ashore in a haphazard manner!

"Fuck! My gillnet!" Lin Yu'an rushed forward, ignoring the cold waves that soaked his trousers.

He saw that the originally fine netting was tangled with the sharp rocks, dead branches and leaves on the shore, forming a messy tangled mess! Some water plants and garbage washed up were also hanging on it.

"Damn it...this is devastating!"

Lin Yu'an's voice was filled with anger! He had originally hoped that the gillnet would bring him some unexpected gains during the days when he couldn't go out to sea, but now it seemed that hope had been completely shattered.

"The waves were too big; even such heavy logs could be washed ashore, which shows how fierce the waves were last night."

He tried to untangle the netting that was stuck to the logs and stones, but it had become tightly bound together after being soaked in water and repeatedly pulled by the wind and waves.

"Damn it! It's impossible to repair this barbed net; we might as well just make a new one!"

Lin Yu'an stared silently at the gillnet. This meant that his most important passive fishing tool had also completely failed.

As if things weren't bad enough, the destruction of the gillnets was like adding insult to injury, further reducing his means of obtaining food.

He dragged his heavy heart back to the shelter, where the rain was pouring down without any sign of stopping.

The flames inside the stove burned less vigorously due to the intrusion of moisture.

He first carefully inspected the condition of the shelter. The stone walls and thick reed roof had withstood the test of wind and rain, and there were no obvious leaks.

But some cold wind and rain still seeped in through the gaps in the curtains and windows, making the room damp and chilly. He carefully filled these gaps with some spare dried moss and reed scraps.

Then, he began to take stock of his remaining food. He had only enough smoked dried fish for the last two days, and a small bowl of beaver oil; other than that, he had no other food reserves.

Lin Yu'an frowned, looking at the drizzling rain still falling outside the door.

"If this storm continues, I won't even have the chance to go out and set traps, let alone go hunting."

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

He discovered that the dried birch trees and small twigs he had previously stored had also become damp due to the continuous humid weather, making them difficult to light.

Fortunately, he still had some firewood stored in his shelter, but if the wind and rain continued for several days and he couldn't go out to replenish it, it wouldn't last much longer.

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

Harsh weather, food shortages, damage to key fishing gear, and dwindling fuel reserves... a series of blows came one after another, as if all of nature was against him.

In the afternoon, the rain subsided slightly, but the wind remained strong.

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

He put on the barely functional raincoat, donned a hat, and trudged through the muddy woodland.

As expected, the small traps remained empty, and the rain even washed away several stone slab traps.

He carefully searched under some pine trees for fallen pine cones, hoping to find some edible pine nuts, but most of the pine cones had been soaked by rain or eaten by other small animals, leaving only empty shells.

He tried to peel off some of the inner bark of the birch tree, but the slippery trunk and cold rain made the process extremely difficult, and the scraped bark was bitter and astringent, making it impossible to swallow.

"Am I really headed for the end?"

Standing in the wind and rain, looking at her empty hands, Lin Yu'an felt a deep sense of powerlessness and frustration.

This was the first time since he arrived in this wilderness that he had felt so close to the edge of despair.

He spoke to the camera, his voice slightly hoarse: "Guys, the predicament I'm facing right now is probably more severe than at any time since the show started. The terrible weather has not only ruined my fishing nets, but it's also severely limiting my movements."

"This makes obtaining food extremely difficult. I must come up with a solution as soon as possible, otherwise..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his solemn expression said it all.

Back at the shelter in the evening, Lin Yu'an sat wearily by the fireplace.

The flames in the stove were also somewhat dim due to the dampness of the firewood. He had to carefully allocate his meager food supplies.

Tonight's dinner might just be a small piece of smoked dried fish with a spoonful of beaver oil, cooked into a soup.

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12. How dare you cheat and still have the nerve to participate in the wilderness survival competition?
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(End of this chapter)