Zhou Cang trudged forward with the sled; it was easy going into the mountains with an empty sled. But now, dragging a wolf carcass, he had to pull hard uphill and couldn't let go downhill, so he had to pick his path carefully.
He hadn't even gone two li before the sky had already darkened.
"I can't go on, I must set up camp as soon as possible. It looks like I'll have to make do in the mountains for a night!" Zhou Cang thought to himself.
The temperature was getting lower and lower. If it snowed, the lowest temperature at night could reach minus thirty degrees Celsius, and if not handled properly, people could freeze to death!
Zhou Cang decided to build a makeshift shelter.
He found a sheltered mountain hollow, which was a birch forest. Zhou Cang chose a slightly more open area, pulled out his axe, and began to chop down trees, specifically picking out thin, small birches. With a few swings of the axe, he'd cut down one.
He then found two trees to serve as the main support for the shelter, laying a birch log horizontally at waist height and tying it with hemp rope. Then he slanted other logs on both sides to form an A-shape, which created the basic shape of the shelter.
Next, he sealed both ends with shortened logs, inserted some branches into the gaps between the logs, and then dug out large piles of dry leaves from under the snow and piled them on top of the shelter. The branches inserted into the gaps could help hold the leaves in place, preventing them from sliding off.
He then spread a layer of snow over the leaves, leaving only a small opening for entry and exit. When sleeping, he could block the entrance with the sled.
By the time the shelter was built, it was completely dark, and snowflakes were falling from the sky. Zhou Cang's first snow since transmigrating to this era finally arrived.
Not far from the shelter, Zhou Cang piled stones into a circle and lit a bonfire in the middle of the stone circle.
He cut a large piece of meat from the roe deer leg he picked up from the wolf's den, skewered it with his spear, and slowly roasted it.
At this moment, the mountain forest was as quiet as a ghost realm. Zhou Cang gnawed on the oily roasted meat, and he even remembered to sprinkle a little crushed salt.
In fact, in the mountain forests of the Northeast at night, wild beasts would also be sleeping, and nocturnal predators posed no threat to Zhou Cang. The biggest danger was mainly the environment; extreme cold temperatures could cause rapid hypothermia.
People suffering from hypothermia would first experience shivering, which is the body's natural reaction to generate heat. If it worsened, they would shiver more violently, become disoriented, and eventually fall into a coma until death.
However, for Zhou Cang, with his previous life's wilderness survival training and battlefield survival experience, let alone one night, even living directly in the forest for two weeks would be no problem.
After gnawing off the outermost layer of cooked roe deer meat, Zhou Cang extended his spear back to the fire to continue roasting. The piece of meat was too large, so he could only roast and eat it layer by layer.
After eating his fill, he added two thicker logs to the bonfire and then raked out seven or eight scorching hot stones, using sticks to carry them into the shelter and arrange them along the side.
The primitive version of a heating device was now in place. These stones would continue to emit heat for at least two hours, and when they cooled, he would go to the bonfire to replace them with new ones.
Zhou Cang crawled into the shelter, dragged the sled over to block the entrance, and the wolf carcass on the sled would effectively block the cold wind. The gaps under the sled were filled with snow.
Inside the shelter, a thick layer of dry leaves had already been piled up. Zhou Cang wrapped himself in a cotton quilt and lay down in the pile of leaves.
With such a luxurious shelter, he couldn't say it was extremely warm, but it definitely wouldn't let Zhou Cang freeze to death.
His hunting rifle was loaded, and his knife was placed within reach.
Closing his eyes, Zhou Cang felt peaceful and content, except that he always returned to the battlefield in his dreams, often dreaming of enemies who died in his arms.
Just as he was holding his sniper rifle, preparing to shoot an enemy officer 300 meters away, that officer suddenly looked up at him!
Zhou Cang was so surprised that he even forgot to shoot!
The officer had a full beard and wide, round eyes. He grinned at Zhou Cang, and Zhou Cang heard his laughter!
There was at least a 300-meter distance, how could he hear laughter!
"Gugu gugu!" The officer made a laugh that didn't sound human!
Is this a person? Zhou Cang's forehead was sweating, and the trigger in his hand felt incredibly hot!
"Shoot! Shoot!" His comrade shouted frantically from the side!
Zhou Cang sharply pulled the trigger, but the gun did not fire!
A dud?
He pulled the bolt, chambered another round, and fired again.
Still no shot!
"Gugu gugu!"
The enemy officer was still grinning, as if mocking him!
"!!!"
Zhou Cang suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed the hunting rifle beside him!
"Phew! It was a dream!"
His fingernails still felt warm, so it seemed he had touched the heated stones while sleeping.
He slowly lay back down, about to continue sleeping.
Suddenly, the officer's laughter from his dream sounded again!
"Gugu gugu!"
"What the heck?"
Zhou Cang sharply raised his gun and poked open a gap at the top of the shelter. That was a firing hole he had deliberately left, blocked by snow blocks. It would open with a poke of the gun barrel. There were a total of four such firing holes, one for each direction.
He nervously aimed outside, seeing the flickering firelight, which meant the bonfire hadn't gone out yet, indicating he had probably slept for less than three hours. The forest at the edge of the firelight was pitch black.
"Gugu gugu!"
This time he heard it clearly: it was the hoot of an owl!
This creature's scientific name is the Ural Owl, famous for its terrifying call, which sounds somewhat like human laughter.
Once he realized it was a bird's call, Zhou Cang no longer paid attention to it. After all, it was too dark outside, and the owl was perched high on a branch, making it difficult to hit with the shotgun's pellets.
He added more firewood to the bonfire, a few wet pieces of wood. The fire would slowly dry out the wet wood and then ignite it.
Using wet wood could extend the life of the fire. It looked like adding firewood one more time in the latter half of the night would be enough until dawn.
Zhou Cang slept through the night with a scare but no danger, but Zhang Yue and Hu Xianglan were sleepless all night.
Zhang Yue waited until dark, but Zhou Cang did not return. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she prepared to go find the Production Team Leader.
Hu Xianglan stopped her, saying, "Xiao Yue, don't worry yet. Fugui will be fine."
"Grandma, you don't know, he almost froze to death when he went into the mountains before!" Zhang Yue said anxiously.
"It's different, Xiao Yue. Think carefully, what was Fugui wearing and what did he bring the first time he went into the mountains? And this time?" Hu Xianglan said with certainty.
"Fugui is not a child anymore, and his mind is clear now. This time he went into the mountains, whether it's his clothes, hat, bow and arrow, hunting rifle, or food and drink, he even brought matches and candy!"
"Fugui's meticulousness in going into the mountains is only stronger, not weaker, than his father's!" Hu Xianglan patted Zhang Yue's head.
"In these mountains, if you stay too close to the village, you won't catch anything good. Fugui must have gone further because he wanted to catch something big."
"Even if you go find the team leader now to arrange for people to go into the mountains to search, it would have to be at dawn. It's snowing now, and how many people would be willing to go into the mountains at night!"
"Trust Grandma, and even more, trust Fugui! Before noon tomorrow, Fugui will definitely return! And he will definitely be loaded with a full harvest!" Hu Xianglan's aged face was full of determination.