80: Chapter 80 The Soft Light of the Cave

Zhao Mengmeng withdrew her hand from the edge of the water curtain.

"Brother Lin, it really is starting to frost outside."

Lin Ye walked to the cave entrance and looked out through the simple door plank.

"We can't let the fire go out tonight."

Zhao Mengmeng rubbed her arms, still talking tough: "If it goes out, we'll just light it again."

"With low temperatures and humidity, even flint can be temperamental."

Lin Ye turned and walked back. "Let's finish the rest of the work first."

Hearing this, Zhao Mengmeng's face instantly fell.

"I'd rather go out and pick a fight with a Pale Species right now."

Lin Ye handed over a dagger. "Those things don't drop hides; they're useless."

Zhao Mengmeng grumbled as she took the dagger and squatted back down by the fire pit.

She spread out the fur, which had already been scraped clean of fat, smeared the brains onto the inner side bit by bit, and then rubbed it repeatedly with her palms.

The raw hide made a sticky rubbing sound under her hands.

Every few rubs, she would gag.

"Brother Lin, I'll never complain about fur being expensive again."

"The thing you're making right now would sell for even more on Blue Star."

Zhao Mengmeng looked up and glared at him. "Quit lying to me. What kind of high-end product is cured with brains?"

"It's an ancient method."

"Ancient methods are still a nightmare."

The Great Xia Live Stream had long since erupted into laughter.

[Mengmeng: I thought teaming up with Brother Eye meant eating meat, but it turns out it's hand-rubbing fur.]

[Brain Tanning Method really works. My grandfather told me before that the leather becomes much softer.]

[Brother Eye's knowledge reserve is just ridiculous. Flour can explode, brains can tan leather—is the next step generating electricity from bones?]

[Don't jinx it; Brother Eye might actually try to figure it out.]

Lin Ye stopped teasing her.

He gathered the chunks of fat he had cut from the beast meat.

He rinsed them twice with stream water, then cut the fat into small pieces, tossed them into a pot, and placed it over the fire pit to render.

Before long, the fat began to melt slowly.

"Sizzle..."

The grease was forced out by the heat, and fine bubbles rose in the pot.

Zhao Mengmeng stopped rubbing the hide for a moment and twitched her nose.

"This smell... it's a bit fragrant, but also a bit strange."

"Animal fat. Once rendered clean, it's useful."

"For stir-frying?"

"For lighting."

The beast hide in Zhao Mengmeng's hands almost slipped away.

"What? You can light a lamp with oil?"

Lin Ye slowly stirred with a wooden spoon, and a layer of brown impurities floated to the surface.

He skimmed off the impurities bit by bit and tossed them into a bundle of waste leaves nearby.

The remaining oil gradually became clear, reflecting the firelight with a warm, yellow glow.

"Oil can burn, and a wick can absorb oil. As long as the container is stable, the lamp will stay lit."

Zhao Mengmeng stared at the pot of oil for a long time, her expression complex.

"Is your Archaeology Department for digging up graves or for pioneering the wilderness?"

"Self-taught outside of classes."

"The things you teach yourself are a bit terrifying."

Lin Ye rummaged through the miscellaneous items Zhao Mengmeng had scavenged and found a few small containers.

There was a tin can, a small milk pot, and a stainless steel cup with a dented rim.

He lined them up on a rock.

Next, Lin Ye walked near the cave entrance and peeled off a piece of dry bark.

He scraped it repeatedly with his dagger, producing tufts of soft, fine fibers.

He rubbed the bark fibers in his palms into thin strings, then twisted them into several wicks.

Zhao Mengmeng watched his movements, even forgetting to rub the hide.

"That works too?"

"As long as it absorbs oil, it works."

Lin Ye pressed one end of the wick under a small stone chip and submerged the other end in the oil.

The clear oil was slowly poured into the small containers.

He picked up the flint and struck sparks onto the tip of the wick.

The first oil lamp lit up.

The tiny flame flickered a few times before quickly stabilizing.

The warm yellow light fell upon the stone walls, illuminating the corners of the grotto that were perpetually shrouded in darkness.

Lin Ye placed the oil lamps by the bed frame, under the meat rack, and inside the cave entrance.

The grotto, which had previously relied solely on the campfire for light, was suddenly dotted with several soft points of light.

Zhao Mengmeng sat by the beast hide, her hands still smeared with brains, staring blankly at the lamps.

She kept up her tough act for a while before finally muttering, "It actually looks pretty nice."

Lin Ye set the last lamp down steadily.

"With light, it's easier to work at night. Even if the fire pit goes out, we can rely on these for a while."

Zhao Mengmeng looked down at the messy beast hide she was rubbing, her tone softening slightly. "This cave really feels like a home now."

The livestream went quiet for a few seconds before the bullet chat exploded.

[Holy crap, it really lit up! Fat can actually be used for lighting!]

[Brother Eye has renovated the grotto into an apocalypse cottage.]

[When that row of oil lamps lit up just now, I got goosebumps.]

[While others are still shivering in the snow, Brother Eye has already achieved lighting freedom in his cave.]

[The romance of a Great Xia man: fire, meat, a bed, and lamps.]

The sound of the wind outside grew heavier.

The water curtain was whipped about by the cold wind, and the droplets falling onto the rock surface quickly turned white with frost.

A layer of ice crystals had already formed on the outer side of the low windbreak wall.

Lin Ye tightened the gaps at the cave entrance with wooden planks and stuffed two clumps of grass into the crevices.

The chill didn't vanish completely, but it had weakened considerably.

Zhao Mengmeng finally finished rubbing the last beast hide and slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

"Brother Lin, if you make me rub any more, my arms will be useless tomorrow."

"Hang them up for a slow low-temperature dry. Don't put them too close to the fire."

Zhao Mengmeng scrambled up and hung the beast hides on the wooden rack.

The inner side of the raw hides had darkened after being coated with brains, and the edges were still uneven, but they were much softer than when they were first skinned.

Lin Ye checked them over and nodded.

"They'll do."

Zhao Mengmeng immediately perked up. "I didn't 'kill the hostage' this time, did I?"

"Just minor injuries."

"Can't you be a little less stingy with your praise?"

"No."

Zhao Mengmeng rolled her eyes and turned to sit by the fire pit.

Lin Ye cut off a large piece of venison and took a few Spirit Sheep ribs.

The Spirit Sheep ribs had fat on them, making them more fragrant when roasted.

He skewered them with wooden sticks and set them by the fire pit, turning them slowly.

Soon, grease oozed from the crevices of the Spirit Sheep ribs and dripped into the charcoal fire.

"Sizzle—!"

The flames licked at them, and the aroma of meat instantly overpowered the fishy smell in the cave.

Zhao Mengmeng's eyes lit up in response.

"Now this is the kind of work a human should be doing."

"So was the work just now."

"Shut up and let me enjoy this moment of happiness."

Lin Ye scraped some coarse salt from the salt jar and sprinkled it evenly over the meat.

Once the venison was roasted to a charred brown on the outside, he sliced it with his dagger, revealing the hot juices inside.

Zhao Mengmeng took a skewer, blowing on it because it was so hot, yet she couldn't resist taking a bite.

The meat fibers were torn apart, and the hot oil mixed with the saltiness exploded in her mouth.

She puffed out hot air from the heat, but her eyes narrowed in delight.

"I can't take it; it's too delicious."

Lin Ye also took a bite of a Spirit Sheep rib.

Outside, the cold wind howled, while inside the cave, the fire pit burned brightly and oil lamps shone in the four corners.

At this moment, the killing intent of the Void Sea was kept at bay outside the water curtain.

The two ate in silence.

After finishing a skewer, Zhao Mengmeng took a few sips of the Sheep Bone Soup.

"Brother Lin, what are we uploading tonight?"

Lin Ye wiped the grease from his hands and walked over to the meat rack.

"Meat."

Zhao Mengmeng looked at the strips of meat half-dried on the rack, then at the fresh meat that had just been processed on the ground.

"Just pick anything?"

"I can't just pick anything."

Lin Ye's gaze fell upon each piece of meat, scanning them with his left eye.

Some had a dim green light with dense gray spots.

Some had a clean green light, but the amount of meat was too small.

After a dozen seconds, he selected a piece of hind leg meat from a Short-horned Deer.

The green light was pure, with very few gray spots.

Subsequently, he also picked out a large piece of fatty meat from beside the Spirit Sheep ribs.

The gray spots on this piece were also faint.

Zhao Mengmeng watched from the side, looking completely bewildered.

"You're pickier about meat than my mom is about vegetables."

"This is being uploaded for the country; we can't settle for mediocrity."

After those words, Zhao Mengmeng stopped her banter.

Both of them uploaded their items.

Then, the announcement for the National Destiny Challenge rang out.

His own return was a 9,000-fold critical hit.

Zhao Mengmeng's was 8,500-fold.

Both were of Excellent quality.

Blue Star, Great Xia Resource Plaza.

Heaps of fresh venison fell amidst golden light. The logistics personnel were already experienced; thermal trucks and cold-chain boxes were all in place.

But as the mountain of meat continued to pile higher, the scene still fell into chaos.

...

Inside the cave, the oil lamps burned quietly.

The charcoal in the fire pit glowed a solid red, and the beast hides hung on the rack, slowly drying.

Zhao Mengmeng yawned, her eyelids heavy with exhaustion.

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Chopping wood, mending hides, and checking the freezing status of the waterfall. If the water curtain starts to seal shut, we'll have to carve out an ice channel in advance."

"Sounds exhausting."

"So that's all for today."

Lin Ye picked up a wooden stick and poked the fire pit. "We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."

Zhao Mengmeng climbed onto her bed and draped the semi-dry beast hide over herself.

She watched the flickering shadows of the lamps on the cave ceiling, her voice growing fainter.

"Brother Lin."

"Hmm?"

"It's really nice having lamps."

Lin Ye leaned against the other bed, his crossbow within arm's reach and the Dark Weaver close to his right arm.

Outside the cave, the cold wind swirled with ice particles, slamming against the water curtain.

Inside, the firelight and oil lamps shone together.

Before closing his eyes, he only replied with one sentence.

"Go to sleep."