ryethenovel Chapter 52: Barricades and Inspection Day!
Chapter 52: Barricades and Inspection Day!
After nearly a week, Yuan Linghan's wilderness shelter was finally completed. Looking at the smoke rising from the fireplace, he felt quite satisfied. This hillside, solid wood shelter relied on two large trees for its entrance.
The roof is still A-framed, with solid wood serving as beams and frame, covered with stripped spruce bark, and finally covered with a tarpaulin and moss. Unless you get close, it's difficult to spot the shelter from a distance.
What pleased Yuan Linghan most was the fireplace and fire pit built with stones and clay. Even if the temperature here later dropped to minus forty degrees Celsius, as long as the fireplace kept burning, there was no need to worry about freezing inside.
Building the fireplace and fire pit took even longer than constructing the shelter itself. Seeing the completed shelter, Yuan Linghan felt his week's hard work had been worthwhile. With this shelter, they could now face the bitter cold without fear.
Yuan Linghan placed all the ingredients he had collected and smoked recently inside the shelter. The dozens of smoked fish and rabbits gave him a great sense of accomplishment. In addition to the smoked meats, he also stored a considerable amount of dried mushrooms and dried berries.
After spending half a day thoroughly cleaning up the area around the camp, and chopping all the remaining firewood into firewood and piling it in the firewood shed that had also been built, Yuan Linghan knew that the next step was to store more food.
After briefly circling the camp, Yuan Linghan continued, "To ensure safety, the barricades need to be continued to be erected, aiming to enclose the entire camp. In addition, a larger smoke grate needs to be rebuilt."
The previously discovered clay can also be put to good use; one soup pot isn't enough to meet my needs for kitchenware. I'll try to fire some pottery using the clay before the snow falls; it would be even better if I could make some earthenware pots.
Although he knew that firing pottery would take a lot of time, Yuan Linghan, who had just built his shelter, only needed to spend some time each day firing pottery, and the rest of the time was perfectly sufficient for hunting.
Most importantly, he didn't want to stand out too much in the early stages; he preferred to play it safe and steady. Besides, the food he'd been preparing over the past few days was probably already enough to make other contestants envious.
In his view, the truly difficult part of this 100-day solitary existence in the wilderness is the later stages. Many things, if not planned properly before the snowfall, are beyond repair later on!
Fortunately, since arriving at Black Bear Bay, apart from two nights of light rain, the weather has been sunny and pleasant. On the tenth day, Yuan Linghan received a notification from the production team for an inspection.
Seeing the staff arrive by boat, Yuan Linghan went up to greet them. The head staff member smiled and said, "Yuan, congratulations on passing your first inspection day!"
"Thank you! I hope I can continue to welcome you all in the future."
"We'd like to too! Yuan, would you mind showing us around your camp?"
"Of course! Once you've seen my sanctuary, you'll believe I absolutely have the ability to challenge for the final championship."
"Really? We're looking forward to it too!"
Leading the five-person crew, they arrived at the newly improved shelter camp. Seeing the barricades erected outside, the middle-aged man in the lead exclaimed in surprise, "Yuan, are there wild animals around your camp?"
"Dim, this is Black Bear Bay. You should know better than me just how many wild beasts live here. Although I haven't explored deeper into the jungle recently, I've still spotted traces of black bears and wolf packs in the vicinity."
"Is this why you erected the barricades?"
"Yes! I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night to find my house raided by black bears and wolves!"
As he spoke, Yuan Linghan led the five people into the camp. The program crew members were quite surprised to see the permanent shelter Yuan Linghan had built. They seemed to have never expected that Yuan Linghan could construct such a sturdy shelter.
The entrance door was placed directly between two large trees, and a human-shaped shelter was built using stones and solid wood, taking advantage of the hillside terrain. The crew members were quite surprised to see that there was even a fireplace inside the shelter.
It's worth noting that while other contestants in previous seasons also built sturdy shelters, none were as robust and well-concealed as Yuan Linghan's. This clearly demonstrates Yuan Linghan's exceptional skill.
Team leader Dim quickly said, "Yuan, I now finally believe you have the potential to compete for the championship. Next, we need to do some basic physical examinations on you, and we also need to install cameras near the camp."
"Okay, although I mainly ate fish and rabbit meat for the past ten days, I didn't consume a lot of energy every day. Apart from having a strong body odor, I don't think I lost much weight."
After blood pressure and weight checks, it turned out that, as Yuan Linghan had guessed, he had lost less than a kilogram since landing. In contrast, one of the remaining eight contestants had lost nearly ten kilograms.
Therefore, it's clear that if you want to lose weight, you might actually consider signing up for a wilderness solo living program. While undergoing a basic physical examination, Yuan Linghan also handed over all the video footage she had recorded over ten days to Dim.
After a quick glance, Tim remarked with considerable admiration, "Yuan, I never expected you to be such a good fisherman."
"Dim, when it comes to fishing skills, I'm afraid I can't compare to the other anglers. In my opinion, skill is worthless compared to resources. It's a pity that once Black Bear Bay starts to freeze over, it will be difficult to have a catch like this again!"
"Indeed! It seems you're very good at planning. I hope you can succeed in your next challenge."
"Thanks! By the way, Dim, I saw a helicopter flying backwards a few days ago. Did a player withdraw?"
When asked, Dim didn't hide anything and said directly, "Yes! Contestant number eight was accidentally injured during the hunt. The situation was a bit serious, and he ultimately chose to withdraw from the challenge. This kind of accident happens almost every season."
"It seems the contestants you've selected this time are truly elite. But I believe the gap between them will widen after the snowfall. And I'll need to start preparing for the harsh winter."
"Then I wish you success in your challenge! I hope to see you here again next time I come."
"I hope so too!"
After a brief stop, Tim and his group left the camp. Outdoor cameras had been installed around the camp. The purpose of these cameras was to prevent any emergencies that the production crew wouldn't have time to handle.
Over the course of ten days, the participants had essentially completed the construction of their permanent shelters or selected locations for them. This would allow the footage captured by these fixed cameras later to serve as corroborating evidence.
This at least convinces the audience that the eventual champion did not cheat during the challenge. In addition, the production team can monitor the contestants' performance at all times through the cameras.
For example, if a contestant doesn't leave the shelter for a long time after snowfall, could an accident happen to that contestant?
Although the production team provided emergency call devices for the contestants, who can guarantee that they will be able to press the call device in time to call for help in case of an emergency? Adding an extra layer of insurance can reduce the probability of contestants facing life-threatening risks.
As for being watched by cameras 24/7, Yuan Linghan, who had no intention of cheating, could simply ignore them. The makeshift toilet was already set up, so he naturally didn't need to worry about his privacy being exposed on camera!