Crossing the wilderness to survive, starting with a broken kitchen knife.

After finishing his meal, Zhang Shi shed his clothes and rushed excitedly to the bathroom. Three days of intense wilderness exercise had left Zhang Shi covered in grime. A hot shower gave him the illusion of returning to modern civilization. Drying himself with rabbit fur, Zhang Shi sat by the fireplace to dry himself. In the night, the firelight brought a small ray of warmth and light, giving Zhang Shi a rare sense of peace.

Lying down in the chair, Zhang Shi's eyelids grew heavy, and a strong sense of sleepiness set in. He yawned and stood up, just as he was about to return to his bedroom to rest, he suddenly heard a dog barking outside.

Zhang Shi had to wake up, quickly put on the wilderness hunter suit, holding Lao Duan, and looked out the window vigilantly.

The night was pitch black, and even with the oil lamps, visibility was limited to a small area around them. The sound came from the wooden gate of the wall, and from time to time, one could hear the sound of some creature hitting the wooden gate.

The courtyard was quite large, and the stone house was quite a distance from the wall. In the darkness, he could only hear the sound but not see the body. Zhang Shi did not dare to go out and check rashly.

"Damn! Don't tell me it's the wolves from the daytime that are here to seek revenge."

Where did the barking of dogs come from in this remote wilderness? Zhang Shi immediately thought of wolves.

Wolves usually move in groups. Zhang Shi's heartbeat suddenly quickened, and he was worried that the one-meter-high wall could not stop them.

He quickly clicked on the construction interface and found the additional operation option for the wall in the shelter column. Zhang Shi clicked on the interface and found that the wall could be upgraded with various exotic materials to enhance its defense.

Zhang Shi quickly browsed around and found the expansion section. He bought a batch of stones at the market and then raised the wall by one meter. This brought the wall to 1 meters, making it impossible for ordinary beasts to get in. Zhang Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside the wall, the sound of scratching at the door, mixed with the occasional bark of a dog, was particularly piercing in the silent wilderness. Zhang Shi checked the status of the wall through the system and found that the durability of the wooden door had dropped by 10 points.

Zhang Shi was getting impatient, and after some consideration, he carefully walked out of the stone house, holding the oil lamp, and approached the wall.

The beast outside the door noticed someone approaching, stopped attacking the wooden door, and began pacing back and forth outside the door.

Zhang Shi also came to the wooden door at this time. He was only one door away from the beast outside. He could clearly hear the beast's footsteps.

The wild beasts outside the wall became frantic again when they heard Zhang Shi's movements and began to cling to the base of the wall, trying to find a foothold to climb over.

"Clap!"

A cool sound suddenly came out, followed by the beast's shrill howl.

Zhang Shi was startled by the sudden sound, but then he was overjoyed. He remembered that when he came back that afternoon, he had casually placed a trap next to the fence, and he had never imagined it would have such a miraculous effect.

That small trap was a high-end item. While it couldn't catch large beasts, its attack power was substantial. Even if a tiger came, any animal with flesh and blood would be reduced to a mere three legs if caught by those sharp teeth.

The wailing continued for a while before it subsided. The beast was extremely clever, enduring the pain and using its mouth to reopen the trap, then limped away.

Zhang Shi could only hear the sound of sharp objects rubbing against each other, followed by the sound of departing footsteps.

Zhang Shi knew that the beast might have left, but he didn't dare to open the door to check, so he turned around and returned to the stone house.

After removing his heavy leather jacket and pants, Zhang Shi realized his back was soaking wet. Before he could clean it up, the system buzzed again. Zhang Shi checked and saw it was a video call invitation from Zhao Feng.

After agreeing to the video call, Zhang Shi's pupils shrank when he saw the scene on the screen.

I saw a burly humanoid creature lying on a luxurious bed with its upper body wrapped in cloth. Only its face was exposed, and there was a blood mark on the left cheek. It looked extremely miserable.

"Brother Feng, are you injured?"

Zhang Shi spoke in an urgent tone, his voice trembling a little, which made Zhao Feng feel warm in his heart.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

Zhao Feng then changed the scene. In the corner of the cabin, a half-grown golden leopard lay on its back, tied to a log with ropes. Seeing Zhao Feng looking at it, its face was ferocious and it howled.

"I got a one-time taming book from a treasure chest before, hoping to get a pet as a mount, but I failed to tame it."

"I'm not willing to give up. I finally found an immature beast, how can I just give up like this? I was thinking of taming it physically, but ended up getting all these injuries."

Zhang Shi marveled at Zhao Feng's ferocity. Seeing that he was in good spirits and his injuries didn't seem serious, he told him to get some medicine from the trading market.

Zhao Feng nodded in agreement, then his expression changed and he spoke to him in a very serious tone.

"Shi Tou, there is a green treasure chest next to the leopard. I caught the leopard and opened the treasure chest. I got something. Take a look." After saying that, Zhao Feng sent an item information.

[Revelation (Green) x1: Able to predict impending disasters. Next natural disaster: severe cold. Amidst the fog, everything is predetermined.]

Zhao Feng asked solemnly, "Have you noticed the temperature has been dropping recently? The items everyone has retrieved from the treasure chests are, more or less, some for warmth."

Zhang Shi understood what Zhao Feng meant and nodded.

"I've actually been speculating about natural disasters for a while now. While it's still early, we need to stock up on supplies to prepare for the severe cold."

Without hesitation, Zhang Shi traded the extra stone house design drawings directly with Ding Zhen.

Zhao Feng had already noticed the changes in Zhang Shi's shelter through the video feed. Before he could ask more details, he received a trade request. He checked the item information and couldn't help but stare wide-eyed.

Before Zhao Feng could refuse, Zhang Shi spoke first.

"I don't need anything right now. These are my extras. Selling them won't help me much. Don't worry, take them. Upgrade the shelter to level 3 so we can better withstand the coming cold."

Seeing Zhang Shi said so, Zhao Feng didn't say anything more and accepted the transaction items. He said word by word

"If you don't mind, I'll be your foster father!"

Zhang Shi couldn't help but laugh, then asked if he needed materials to upgrade the shelter. Zhao Feng, feeling like he was being sponsored, quickly rejected Zhang Shi's offer and turned to tinkering with the Ding Zhen.

Like Zhang Shi, Zhao Feng first gave himself an appraisal.

"Ding, confirmed at first glance, identified as: human."

Zhao Feng: Human. Panel (unlocked). Ability value: 6. Evaluation: At first glance, he's identified as an imbecile.

Zhao Feng: ...

Zhang Shi: ...