Live Strong in the Wilderness-Chapter 202: What Kind of Shelter to Build

It was an entirely white animal, looking rather gentle, resembling a sika deer, with beautiful antlers on its head.

It seemed to have been attracted by the fire, curiously looking over here.

Lu Ke immediately untied the small crossbow from her waist and aimed at the animal.

The animal seemed to sense something and immediately turned and ran, very fast.

By the time Lu Ke wanted to shoot, the target was already gone.

"So fast." Xu Yi lowered his hunting bow. He also saw the animal, but before he could notch an arrow, it had already disappeared.

Lu Ke glanced back at Xu Yi and then said, "Good thing you saw it too, or I would have thought I was hallucinating."

"Do you need me to take care of it?" Xu Yi came over. The fire was ready, and now they just needed Lu Ke to cut some pieces of meat to roast.

"Alright, I’ll roast the meat. Should we roast an entire leg, or..." Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi and saw him pull out a machete.

"One leg each, I bet the meat will be good." Xu Yi chopped off two hind legs, handed them to Lu Ke, and took over her task.

Lu Ke took the two hind legs and started roasting them.

"Xu Yi, do we have any plans for our new campsite? Is it going to be like the last one?" Lu Ke asked curiously while slicing the meat and rubbing it with saltwater.

The last campsite still had some drawbacks.

However, Lu Ke felt it would be different from before; the last one was too simple and not sturdy enough.

Now that they were rebuilding, it definitely needed some changes, not like before.

"I plan to build a stilt house; it feels safer that way." Xu Yi thought, with the forest around them, there’s unlimited wood to build a stilt house, making it safer at night.

After all, without fences or walls, sleeping on the ground is very dangerous.

A stilt house would be like Su Yan and Yun Qing’s rock cave, elevated and out of reach of attacking animals.

This way, they could slowly build their own wall. The fence they made last time was too low and not strong enough, unable to protect against large beasts.

But now they would make it higher and more robust, with no worries at night.

"I think digging an underground shelter could also work; it shouldn’t take too long, just a few days. Once the door is shut, the beasts can’t get in, right?" Lu Ke shared her idea, though the decision was still Xu Yi’s to make.

"An underground shelter is indeed good, but not suitable here; it’s too flat, and when it rains, water will accumulate, flooding the shelter, so that’s why I’m thinking of a stilt house." Xu Yi had noticed that the water flow was very slow, suggesting that the terrain was quite flat.

When heavy rain comes, not to mention the underground shelter, even ground level would likely flood.

Lu Ke realized and stuck out her tongue, saying, "I thought too simply; I didn’t consider that."

"It’s normal, you’ve lived in the city all your life, not used to this, nor have you learned. An underground shelter is a great idea, just not suitable here." Xu Yi said, as he had watched many wilderness survival documentaries and learned a bit.

"Okay." Lu Ke nodded and focused back on roasting the meat.

Xu Yi quickly finished processing the Mouse-eating Raccoon; after all, there wasn’t much to it. He kept one heart and tossed the rest into the water to wash away.

This meat would be enough for breakfast and lunch the next day, no need to make jerky.

After a while, the two started eating the roasted meat.

"Tastes good, a bit like chicken, delicious." Xu Yi said with a mouthful of grease.

"Oh, I was hoping our eight little chicks would grow quickly so we could have eggs." Lu Ke, hearing Xu Yi mention chicken, immediately thought of the chicks she had raised.

"It’s not that easy to get wild fowls to lay eggs often; they’re not domesticated, unlike selectively bred hens." Xu Yi didn’t overthink, just figuring to fatten them up as a food reserve, ready to be eaten when desired.

Gone with the storm, Xu Yi was also quite upset.

It was more than just eight little chicks, after all.

Being alive and continuing to face challenges is already an achievement. What was lost will eventually be reclaimed.

After eating, grease covered their hands, so they rubbed some dirt to clean off the oil and then went to the creek to wash up.

"Once our camp is ready, we need to make some soap. Having gotten used to it, being without is quite inconvenient. Xu Yi, isn’t this like the saying, ’Easy to go from frugality to luxury, hard to go from luxury to frugality’?" Lu Ke remarked, reminiscing how when they first arrived in the wilderness, even washing with hot water was a luxury, never mind being fussy about soap.

"It’s about striving for a better life. This time, let’s make some floral soap, there are plenty of fragrant flowers by the stream. Besides soap, we can also continue making paper." Xu Yi felt that only with ambition could there be progress; without concern, they’d stagnate, living no different from salted fish.

"Floral soap?" Lu Ke’s eyes slightly squinted with happiness.

After using it, wouldn’t her body smell lovely?

With that thought, Lu Ke grew eager.

"Yes, and we could also try making floral jam to see if it’s tasty." Xu Yi added, as many flowers are edible, especially with the scarcity of vegetables, they could explore using petals.

They used to have wood ear mushrooms to eat, but now they’re gone too.

The storm destroyed fish mint and straw tofu entirely, and to enjoy them again would depend on the vast forest around them.

Ideally, they could discover some genuine vegetable varieties to solve their vegetable crisis.

The lack of vegetables is their current significant issue.

This forest is large enough, and the resources are relatively richer than their previous location.

So, Xu Yi hopes for a greater harvest.

"Like rose jam?" Lu Ke’s eyes lit up. There really are many wildflowers by the stream, and the blossoms are quite large. If they’re edible, it would be great.

"Yes, as long as they’re non-toxic, we can experiment." Xu Yi nodded, thinking there are so many flowers, probably many bees, and naturally more honey too.

Just unsure if there are any honey-loving bears roaming this forest.

Honey and bear paws do pair well; Xu Yi missed that taste.