Chapter 18: Chapter 18: The Source and the Shelter

“Why are we heading to the source?” Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi with some confusion.

Xu Yi glanced at the girl, then explained, “Generally speaking, there are fewer animals at the source, so it can serve as our camp. If it’s suitable, we can build our long-term camp today.”

“That’s great, let’s go to the source first.” Lu Ke squinted her eyes, looked at Xu Yi with some surprise, feeling that he knew a lot.

She had read a book on wilderness survival and found no place to apply her knowledge.

So, the two of them walked upstream along the creek.

After about twenty minutes, they reached the source.

The source was a mountain spring, with a considerable water flow, emerging from over a meter high on the cliff, forming a small pond below.

“What a shame, there are no small fish or shrimp in this pond.” Lu Ke glanced and then said regretfully.

“But there are rabbits active nearby.” Xu Yi observed and found some small footprints, some resembling those of rabbits.

“Really? How do you know?” Lu Ke looked at Xu Yi with surprise.

“There are some footprints by the water. Look carefully, and you will know.” Xu Yi pointed to the footprints and told Lu Ke.

Lu Ke squinted her eyes and looked at Xu Yi with astonishment.

“You observe so thoroughly, I didn’t see it at first glance.” Saying this, Lu Ke felt a bit ashamed.

Xu Yi’s approach was indeed correct, and she had talked about growing up; this was her first lesson—to observe every place carefully.

“If you pay attention, you can do it too. This place is quite ideal, and we can build our camp nearby.” Xu Yi said happily, then moved to a place without footprints, scooped up some water, and washed his face.

“This water is so cold, indeed spring water. Come wash your face too.” Xu Yi invited her.

“Okay.” Actually, Lu Ke not only wanted to wash her face; she wanted to take a bath.

“Lu Ke, once we find a spot, you can start weaving a circular barrel. You can weave it around four sticks.” Xu Yi shared his idea with Lu Ke.

“What for?” She was somewhat puzzled.

“For bathing, of course. You might want some cover. I’m quite indifferent, but pausing the video won’t matter.” Xu Yi grinned, and if Lu Ke didn’t mind, he was happy to admire.

“Oh, I get it. Xu Yi, you’re so clever. I can use eight sticks to make it open and close, which would be more convenient. At the bottom, I can leave it slightly suspended to save materials and make it easier to fix in place.” Lu Ke thought Xu Yi’s idea was truly brilliant; perhaps she could bathe tonight.

“Alright, you’re the expert, you decide.” Xu Yi smiled slightly and then left the water’s edge.

Xu Yi looked around on both sides and chose the left side, about seven to eight meters from the water source.

There was a rock wall there, which could save one wall.

Another reason was that side was relatively dry, more suitable for camp construction.

Moreover, it was muddy ground, conducive to building the camp.

Having chosen the site, Xu Yi began to chop wood.

First, he cut eight sticks, each two fingers thick, for Lu Ke, and then started looking for those as thick as the mouth of a bowl for his own camp.

He needed nine bowl-thick trunks, two of which had to be 4.5 meters long, another two 4 meters, and the remaining five 3.5 meters long.

Xu Yi made a one-meter tape measure with a belt for accuracy.

Next to the camp, Xu Yi chose the woods, mostly bowl-thick; he could easily saw them down and cut them to the required length.

Xu Yi sawed a small groove at the top of each of the nine columns, making it easier to fix the beams while roofing.

Sawing these nine columns took Xu Yi over an hour, then he began digging holes in the camp.

All the holes Xu Yi dug were equally deep, about over 40 centimeters.

Then, Xu Yi buried the two 4.5-meter ones against the wall.

Next came the two 4-meter ones, and finally, the five 3.5-meter ones.

Once the nine columns were buried, the rough shape of a log cabin emerged.

The house was four meters wide, five meters long, with a reserved door one meter wide.

He checked the time; it was already 4:03 pm.

Lu Ke had finished weaving the bathing supplies and could spare time to help.

The roof didn’t need to be dealt with today, but they had to sort out the three walls.

Otherwise, sleeping in the woods wouldn’t be much different.

Available materials for walls included stones, thatch, mud, tree trunks, etc.

This area had few stones, but there was clay at the water source, though transporting it was hectic without the proper tools.

Finally, Xu Yi opted for the abundant thatch.

Plus, they had quite a bit of bark that could be cut into small strips for binding.

Once decided, Xu Yi took the Engineer Shovel to cut thatch.

Here, darkness fell around 7:20 pm, giving them three hours.

After collecting a bundle of thatch, Xu Yi chopped a dozen two-finger thick shrubs, letting Lu Ke fix the thatch in small bundles onto the shrubs, then onto the columns.

Xu Yi rushed to harvest the thatch, which was over 50 centimeters, quite suitable for makeshift walls.

Lu Ke realized time was tight, focusing more on firmness and density rather than aesthetics.

The two worked tirelessly for two hours, finishing 18 pieces of thatch.

“Xu Yi, do we have enough?” Lu Ke hid the hand nicked by thatch behind her back.

“Let’s settle for this; it’s getting dark. Once we secure them, we’ll need fire and firewood.

As for dinner, Xu Yi hadn’t thought of it.

“Okay, after binding them, we’ll have wind-blocking walls.” Lu Ke nodded; the nights here were quite cold.

So, the two went back to work diligently.

On both sides, they fixed six pieces each, raising the wall height to over two meters. With that height, it was sufficient.

In the front, only three pieces of thatch were needed, leaving three for Xu Yi to set up a simple ladder tomorrow to install the roof.

Now, they could only hope it wouldn’t rain tonight.

“It’s already getting dark; let’s hurry and collect some firewood.” Xu Yi checked the time, it was 6:54 pm, and the sky dimmed. A bit more, and accessing the woods would be challenging.

The two laid their backpacks inside the incomplete cabin, heading out together to gather firewood.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep