King of the Wilderness

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: The Second Episode Airs

The curtain of the second episode of ”Wilderness Solo Living: Grizzly Mountain” opens amidst great anticipation.

Once again guiding the audience’s gaze to the lonely and magnificent Chilco Lake.

After enduring seven days of harsh trials and the quiet departure of two contestants, the remaining survivors are facing increasingly intense challenges.

Among them, Lin Yu’an, a young contestant from China, with his unique survival strategy and firm execution, continues to be the most watched and discussed figure in this episode.

In the first episode, Lin Yu’an showcased his long-term plan for the shelter.

In this episode, through day-to-day actions, he demonstrated to all how strong Chinese people are at executing plans.

While the other experienced contestants, such as veteran Ron and huntress Kira, focused their main efforts on more proactive hunting activities and trap construction, aiming to prepare more meat reserves before the full onset of winter.

Lin Yu’an’s focus remained steadfastly on the construction project of his stone house shelter.

The camera captured his daily labor.

In the early morning, when the mist on the Chilco Lakefront had not yet completely dispersed, Lin Yu’an’s figure had already appeared at his chosen campsite.

Using a homemade crowbar, lifting heavy stones one by one, transporting them to the construction area.

To enhance the stability and airtightness of the walls, Lin Yu’an began utilizing local natural resources to make an adhesive.

Gathering a large amount of fine-textured clay, after bringing it back to camp, mixing it with ashes of grass and wood rich in potassium salt, adding an appropriate amount of creek water, repeatedly stirring and pounding, making it into a thick, primitive slurry.

”This slurry of clay mixed with ashes of grass and wood, once dried, has a certain adhesive and filling effect, effectively reducing drafts through the stone wall and increasing overall stability.”

Lin Yu’an explained his method briefly to the camera during a gap while filling stone seams.

This method of putting immense effort into shelter construction sparked considerable debate online.

Some viewers accustomed to traditional ”food-first” survival modes expressed confusion and skepticism about Lin Yu’an’s strategy.

[Is that Chinese contestant named Lin too obsessed with his stone house?]

[The one above is right! Carrying stones and mixing mud every day must consume so much physical strength. Isn’t it more practical to spend this time hunting or fishing more?]

[I see other contestants actively searching for food, while he looks like a construction worker. If food reserves can’t keep up, even the best house is useless.]

Unlike the general skepticism from North American viewers, Lin Yu’an’s fans on Bilibili showed immense enthusiasm and support for his ”infrastructure” actions.

[God An is awesome! This stone wall is laid out nicely! Even homemade cement! Chinese people are truly Infrastructure Fanatics, confirmed!]

[Snowshoe Rabbit caught! Fox wants to snatch food? If it were in Northeast China, we must give it to the God An!]

[Fishing rainbow trout with a hand line? Using self-made lures! And hooked fish? (Looking at my 20 rods and dozens of lures, I fell into contemplation)]

Of course, besides the intense construction of the shelter, Lin Yu’an did not completely slack off in food acquisition.

Every day, he checked the elastic steel wire lasso traps he had set up a few days ago.

The camera captured his joy when he found the trap successfully catching a plump snowshoe rabbit and driving away a fox.

In the aspect of bow and arrow hunting, Lin Yu’an also welcomed his first significant harvest on the show.

Unexpectedly encountering a spruce grouse leisurely pecking at berries in the woods, seizing the fleeting opportunity, he successfully shot it dead with one arrow from about fifteen meters away.

What truly fascinated numerous fishing enthusiasts was his use of spruce grouse feathers to make lures, successfully catching several rainbow trout over consecutive days in the tributary of Chilco Lake.

The largest of the rainbow trout weighed over three pounds, the others were slightly smaller but enough for him to feast for several meals and smoke for future consumption. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

As the four-sided stone walls of the shelter basically closed together, and the wooden frame for the roof was constructed with great difficulty, the time quietly came to the evening of the fifteenth day.

Standing before his initially scaled ”stone castle,” Lin Yu’an couldn’t hide the immense pride on his face.

Just as the audience thought he would take a short rest and start fully reserving food and fuel to deal with the upcoming winter, Lin Yu’an, in the camera footage that night, proposed another unexpected plan.

”Guys, the framework of this stone house is basically completed. But, as everyone can see, the chimney effect of the fireplace is very poor, and the heat loss is significant, wasting a lot of firewood.”

”I think, in order to safely and comfortably survive this winter, I need a real indoor stove with a chimney.”

This idea, so bold it seemed almost crazy, instantly sparked a huge uproar among the audience. Making pottery bricks for a stove? This sounds nearly impossible to achieve.

[Are you kidding? Does he think this is a survival simulation game? Making bricks? Does he have the skills and conditions for that?]

[I bet his plan will definitely fail! It’s a complete waste of precious survival time!]

[He should use this effort to hunt more or stock up more firewood. Winter is coming, without food or heat, let’s see how he handles it!]

Bilibili’s barrage presented a completely different style, with more encouragement and support.

[Pottery brick stove!!! God An is aiming for heaven-defying! Everyone stands up and applauds!]

[Running from the Stone Age to the pace of the agricultural civilization! This tech tree climb makes my scalp tingle!]

[Supporting God An! Just love the daring and doing! Isn’t it just making bricks? God An will definitely succeed!]

[Waiting for God An’s subsequent construction! Let’s see what the foreigners say then!]

As the audience intensely debated Lin Yu’an’s wild ideas, the program screen timely switched to another contestant, named David.

This experienced middle-aged hunter also demonstrated remarkable adaptability in the early stage of the show.

However, due to successive hunting failures over multiple days, on the fourteenth night’s evening, the camera recorded him alone curled up in a cold sleeping bag, eyes filled with despair.

Ultimately, under the dual collapse of physiology and psychology, he struggled to press the yellow rescue button, becoming another contestant leaving this episode with sorrow.

At the end of the 15th day of survival, the number of contestants in this season of ”Alone in the Wilderness”, had reduced from the initial ten to seven.

The wilderness’s cruelty and mercilessness once again showcased directly to all viewers.