King of the Wilderness

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: Wilderness Routine

Day twenty-nine has arrived, after burning all night, the newly built clay brick fireplace still holds the scorching embers, keeping the entire stone house warm inside.

Lin Yu’an stretched lazily, his joints letting out a slight crackling sound, with a hint of lazy satisfaction on his face.

He walked to the fireplace, stirred the embers, added some dry pine cones and thin twigs, and the flames quickly roared back to life.

Camera activated.

”I slept too well last night! This fireplace is simply fantastic! I feel like I’ve moved into a luxury suite in a five-star hotel! Haha!”

Lin Yu’an said as he picked up a few pieces of half-smoked trout from the corner, skewered them with sharp sticks, and placed them at the mouth of the stove to slowly roast and heat.

”Guys, come take a look at the breakfast I’m preparing.”

Breakfast is crispy roasted fish, accompanied by a steaming cup of ”Desert Pine Needle Tea” with a faint pine fragrance, reportedly rich in vitamin C, though its flavor is quite indescribable.

Lin Yu’an chewed contentedly, ”Hmm... the taste of this fish is really good, the meat is still tender, and the smoky flavor remains.”

The construction of the new fireplace has greatly improved Lin Yu’an’s quality of life.

No longer having to endure the smoke-filled chaos of a simple fire pit, the flat opening above the hearth has become a natural ”stove.”

Directly roasting food on it, or placing cookware to simmer soups and stews, offers much better heat efficiency than using just a fire.

After breakfast, Lin Yu’an was not in a hurry to go out but decided to first make some internal improvements to his new home.

Using sharp sticks and parachute cord, he installed a few simple hooks and shelves on the stone walls.

To hang clothes, tools, and store some commonly used items, making the initially slightly messy interior of the stone house neat and orderly.

When the sun was shining perfectly, Lin Yu’an took his American Hunting Bow and ventured into the forest again, hoping for some luck.

”Today’s target is still to hunt for grouse and forest pigeon among other small game, and also to gather the Jerusalem artichokes that should be ready.”

He checked his Hunting Bow and Arrow as he spoke to the camera.

”Although I’ve discovered traces of large herbivores in the past few days, I still need more time to familiarize myself with their habits and the terrain of this area, can’t act rashly.”

He arrived at the area rich in berries, cautiously searching, his eyes scanning every corner of the forest, his ears alert for any suspicious sounds.

Unfortunately, today’s good luck didn’t seem to visit again, after spending nearly two hours, he only startled a few timid forest pigeons from a distance and didn’t find other prey.

Lin Yu’an wasn’t discouraged, he found a wind-sheltered rock to sit on and said to the camera: ”Seems hunting does need a bit of luck.”

”Luckily, we won’t be returning empty-handed, there’s a whole patch of Jerusalem artichokes in this forest waiting for us to gather.”

Just as he was about to return the way he came, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a special scene across the creek.

It was a shallow bank overgrown with dense aquatic plants, the water flowing relatively calmly, he vaguely saw some dark shadows swiftly darting between the water plants!

”Hmm? What’s that?” Lin Yu’an immediately crouched down, alert! Using the bushes on the bank as cover, he carefully observed.

He soon saw clearly the true identity of those shadows — it was a group of beavers!

There were as many as three or four plump beavers, busy munching the roots and stems of the water plants at that shallow bank.

One appeared to be playing, patting the water with their flat, wide tail.

Lin Yu’an’s eyes lit up instantly, his voice filled with excitement: ”Wow-oh! Guys! It’s beavers! This is something really good!”

But he didn’t take immediate action; beavers are very alert, and most of the time they stay in the water, making it difficult to hunt them directly with a bow and arrow.

Lin Yu’an analyzed to the camera: ”Directly attacking them is not a wise choice, I need to first observe their activity patterns.”

”Find their fixed path to shore, or their nest entrance, then consider using traps, or... other more effective methods to hunt.”

Lin Yu’an secretly observed by the bank for nearly 1 hour, the beavers had gone somewhere else, he roughly figured out the layout of their nest.

He marked these positions carefully using charcoal on his homemade tree bark map.

”Alright, today’s exploration ends here.”

Lin Yu’an contentedly folded up the map, said to the camera: ”Discovered a potential ’Treasure’, it’s worth the trip.”

”Tomorrow, we’ll take a good look at how to turn these ’underwater engineers’ into our table meals! Now let’s gather those Jerusalem artichokes!”

Following the memorized route, heading towards the area beneath the sunny slope, the soil relatively loose and fertile, perfectly suited for the growth of Jerusalem artichokes.

Soon, a cluster of dry but still upright Jerusalem artichoke stems came into view!

He put down his backpack, took out a previously sharpened and fire-hardened stick from his waist, which served as his simple digging tool.

”Gathering Jerusalem artichokes is simple, just like digging potatoes, find the main stem and dig around it.”

He selected a stout-looking Jerusalem artichoke stem, carefully dug around its stem with the stick.

Soon, some irregular-shaped tubers, resembling ginger but lighter in color, were exposed.

”Wow-oh, look at the size!”

Lin Yu’an delightedly dug out a piece half the size of his palm, still carrying the fresh earthy scent.

Placed the dug-up Jerusalem artichoke aside, continued exploring around the roots of the same Jerusalem artichoke, its tubers typically grow in clusters, often producing several beneath a single plant.

This patch of Jerusalem artichokes is thriving, every plant yielding a substantial harvest, soil flying through his hands, freeing various-sized Jerusalem artichokes from the earth.

After spending about two hours, this patch of Jerusalem artichokes had been completely gathered, he roughly estimated the haul at least around forty pounds.

”Today’s Jerusalem artichoke gathering task complete! These are enough for me to eat for a week!”

Lin Yu’an dusted the soil off his hands, his backpack stuffed to the brim, his face showing a joyful harvest.

He secured his heavy backpack, with these Jerusalem artichokes, along with previously stored fish and possibly future caught beaver, food is assured for now.

Lin Yu’an hummed a tune off-key, full of harvest, headed towards the stone house shelter.

Back in the warm stone house, Lin Yu’an dumped all the Jerusalem artichokes from his backpack onto the ground, intending to select a few for tonight’s dinner.

The newly built clay brick fireplace was radiating cozy warmth, the flames in the hearth burning steadily.

He rinsed the selected Jerusalem artichokes with fresh water to remove surface soil and directly tossed them into the area below the hearth with remaining embers not too fierce.

Lin Yu’an used a fire stick to turn the Jerusalem artichokes for uniform heating while speaking to the camera.

”The simplest way to eat Jerusalem artichokes is to roast or boil them; roasted Jerusalem artichokes have a soft texture, with a hint of sweetness, very delicious.”

In the interval while waiting for the Jerusalem artichokes to roast, Lin Yu’an wasn’t idle.

He took out the birch bark map marked with the beaver activity area, and started studying it intently.

”According to my observations today, those beavers have fixed landing points, mostly concentrated near that shallow bank with dense water plants.”

”They are very cautious, shooting them directly with a Hunting Bow in open waters is too low a success rate, and if it misses, they can easily change their active areas.”

”Tracking down their nests and setting traps for ambush increases the hunting success rate significantly.”

He thought while sketching with charcoal on the map, planning various traps’ arrangements.

The aroma of roasted Jerusalem artichokes gradually drifted from the fireplace, triggering Lin Yu’an’s appetite, he scraped out the charred skin Jerusalem artichokes with a fire stick, letting them cool aside.

Soon he couldn’t wait to split open a roasted Jerusalem artichoke, its golden yellow flesh steaming hot, he blew it gently and took a cautious bite.

”Hmm... the fully matured Jerusalem artichokes compared to the ones half-matured previously tasted much better!”

”This soft texture is simply nature’s gift!”

While enjoying the delicious roasted Jerusalem artichoke, he continually contemplated the feasibility of various plans for capturing beavers.