94: Chapter 94 Heat in Extreme Cold

The limestone cave in the early morning was frozen stiff.

The fire pit was still burning, but the red coals were buried under thick ash, and the heat was clearly insufficient.

Lin Ye opened his eyes; the first thing he did was reach for the crossbow.

The crossbow was at his side.

The Dark Weaver was pressed against his right arm.

The engineer shovel leaned against the fire pit, its blade scorched black.

Zhao Mengmeng was sleeping on the other wooden bed, half her face buried in her fur cloak, mumbling curses under her breath.

Lin Ye did not wake her.

He got up and walked to the edge of the water reservoir.

The surface of the pool had frozen into a thick layer of ice, and the opening he had broken just last night was sealed again.

He tapped it twice with the hilt of his dagger, and the ice layer emitted a dull thud.

This thickness wasn't right.

Lin Ye squatted down to inspect the pool wall.

There were no large cracks in the clay, but the edges had frozen and shrunk, creating a few small fissures.

If it freezes for two more days, the pool will leak.

He shoveled a bit of hot ash from the fire pit, mixed it into the clay, and reapplied it to the outer edge of the pool wall.

After finishing this, he pushed open the wooden door.

A blast of cold air rushed in.

Outside the door gap, the Ice Waterfall had thickened by an entire layer.

The wooden boards on the outer side of the eaves that were visible last night were now mostly encased in ice.

The life-saving gap under the eaves had narrowed significantly.

The wooden beams bowed slightly under the pressure, and the vines were covered in white frost, pulled taut and stiff.

Lin Ye reached out and pressed on the wooden frame.

Creak.

The sound was very faint, yet it made one's heart sink.

"This is troublesome."

He looked up in the direction of the smoke vent.

The chimney cap was covered in a layer of fresh snow, but the smoke was still venting smoothly.

However, the crosswinds at the cliff top were too fierce, causing the smoke to billow up and down, occasionally blowing back against the ice wall.

Short-term travel is unrealistic.

The Ice Waterfall could seal the cave entrance shut at any moment.

If they were to encounter a beast tide or strong winds again, that snow forest path outside would definitely become a white graveyard.

Lin Ye closed the wooden door and returned to the fire pit.

Zhao Mengmeng was jolted awake by the cold wind and sat up abruptly.

Her hair was a bird's nest, and her gaze swept first to the crossbow, then to the door.

"What's the situation? Is something scratching at the door again?"

"Not for now."

Lin Ye stuffed a piece of charcoal into the fire.

Zhao Mengmeng took two seconds to compose herself, then saw the pile of things next to the fire pit.

Wolf pelts, Snow Chicken, Snow Cave Hog, Spirit Sheep meat, and half a basin of scraped-off white fat.

Plus the blood clots from last night that hadn't been processed.

The area around the fire pit was shockingly messy.

Zhao Mengmeng stared for a long time before cursing.

"Brother Lin, what's the difference between this cave and a slaughterhouse now?"

"There is a difference."

"What difference?"

"A slaughterhouse doesn't require you to keep watch yourself."

Zhao Mengmeng covered her face with the animal skin, her voice muffled inside.

"I really thank you. I haven't even had my first sip of chicken soup in the morning, and I've already been fed by reality."

Lin Ye picked up the engineer shovel.

"No traveling today. The primary goal is to hold the shelter and replenish high-calorie intake."

Zhao Mengmeng immediately threw off the animal skin.

"Does that mean we're mainly eating today?"

"Eat, repair the cave, process skins, cut meat, and break ice."

Zhao Mengmeng lay back down.

"Still sounds like hard labor."

Lin Ye pointed at the wolf skin.

"You scrape the fat."

Zhao Mengmeng stopped moving and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Why is it me again?"

"You said last night that you were responsible for digging pits, so I adjusted your position."

"That's a very flexible job adjustment."

Lin Ye threw the dagger over.

"Hurry up. Don't waste the fat; it's all going into the pot today."

Zhao Mengmeng caught the knife.

"Into the pot?"

"To make meat soup."

She sprang directly from the wooden bed, moving with agility.

"Then you should've said so earlier! Hurry up, I'm so hungry I could chew on rocks!"

Viewers who had just opened the Great Xia Live Stream happened to see this scene.

[Opening my eyes to wolf skins, frozen meat, and a fire pit; this scene is too apocalyptic.]

[Mengmeng was cursing about a slaughterhouse just a moment ago, but she revived the moment she heard about the pot.]

[You really will die if you don't eat high-calorie food in extreme cold; Brother Eye's arrangement is spot on.]

[I haven't had breakfast yet; I can't bear to watch this.]

Lin Ye walked to the cold, dark part of the cave entrance.

Where the ice blocks collected last night were piled.

He used the engineer shovel to shave off a large piece of clean ice, trimming away the outer layer covered in ash.

The ice chunks were tapped into the aluminum pot, which was then placed over the fire pit.

Zhao Mengmeng squatted by the wolf skin, gripping the dagger to scrape the fat.

Her technique was much more practiced than yesterday.

The blade pushed along the skin surface, and the white fat curled up in sheets.

"Brother Lin, what can this wolf skin be used for?"

"Bedding, door curtains, patching cloaks—anything works."

"It's so big, why not make a Wolf King mantle?"

"Do you want to wear it out to scare wolves?"

"If it scares them off, great. If not, I'll just tell them this was their former leader."

Lin Ye didn't respond.

He plucked the Snow Chicken, split open its chest and abdomen, and removed the innards.

Zhao Mengmeng watched him pick and choose, unable to help asking, "What's good about this chicken again?"

"It's fatty."

"You talk like you've actually picked chickens at a market."

Lin Ye sliced the chicken meat into thin slices.

Cut the Snow Cave Hog meat into chunks.

Sliced the Spirit Sheep meat along the fascia.

The animal fat was thrown into the bottom of the pot, melting upon contact with heat, and the aroma of oil immediately wafted out.

Zhao Mengmeng was halfway through scraping the fat when her nose twitched.

"Can't handle it, it's too fragrant."

Lin Ye crushed some coarse salt and sprinkled it in, then took out the purple-red berries saved from last night.

The berries were frozen rock-hard.

He tapped them open with the back of his knife and squeezed a small amount of acidic juice into the pot.

Zhao Mengmeng stared intently at the bottom of the pot.

"Are you trying to make hot pot?"

"Wasteland beast meat hot pot."

"The base is this simple?"

"Don't be picky when there's meat."

The hot soup bubbled.

The Snow Chicken slices curled up after being dropped into the pot.

The Spirit Sheep meat glistened with oil in the animal fat.

The Snow Cave Hog chunks sank to the bottom of the pot, slowly seeping out a rich flavor.

Outside the cave, the wind and snow slammed wildly against the Ice Waterfall.

Inside the cave, by the fire pit, steam rose up, defying the cold.

Zhao Mengmeng held a small pot, staring fixedly at the fire pit.

"Is it cooked?"

"Wait a bit longer."

"It's already boiling."

"The parasites aren't dead yet; you can join them."

Zhao Mengmeng immediately put the pot back.

"Then cook it for a while longer. I'm not the type to make new friends."

The livestream chat went wild.

[I give up, they're actually eating hot pot.]

[The survival show has turned into a food show; the Challenger next door is still chewing on tree bark.]

[Don't talk nonsense; Brother Eye is eating strategic reserves.]

[Is it too late for me to go downstairs and buy hot pot base?]

[If this pot of meat were on Blue Star, it would make me cry while eating three bowls of rice.]

Zhao Mengmeng was sweating from eating.

Her face was flushed hot.

"Brother Lin, this soup is top-tier."

"Don't drink it too fast."

Zhao Mengmeng held the pot.

"Eat more; you only have the life to curse people when you're full."

Lin Ye fished out a piece of Spirit Sheep meat for himself.

The meat was painfully hot.

He chewed it slowly and added firewood to the fire.

Outside the cave, the hot air from the smoke vent, mixed with the aroma of meat, drifted out from under the chimney cap.

The wind carried the scent over the cliff wall and pressed it toward the Water Pool.

By the side of the Water Pool covered in thick ice, several patches of snow stirred gently.

A black arthropod limb extended from beneath the snow.

The end of the limb was curved into a sickle shape, silently hooking onto the ice surface.

A second one, a third one.

Several massive shadows moved along the edge of the pool, staying very low.

They didn't look at the bone scraps.

Nor did they gnaw on the residual blood on the ground.

Their triangular heads all stared in unison at the waist of the Ice Waterfall.

There was heat there.

There was the aroma of meat.

There were living people.

Just as Lin Ye was about to drink the soup, his movements paused.

Zhao Mengmeng still had meat in her mouth; seeing him stop, she asked indistinctly, "What's wrong?"

Lin Ye put down the pot.

"We have guests."

"How many?"

"Three."

Zhao Mengmeng swallowed the meat hard and grabbed the crossbow.

"People can cut in line for hot pot? I'll make them line up for reincarnation."

Lin Ye walked behind the wooden door but didn't open it immediately.

He leaned close to the door gap to look outside.

Outside the Ice Waterfall, three giant black-brown spiders were climbing.

The size of calves.

Their eight legs were long, thin, and sharp, with the sickles at the ends stabbing straight into the hard ice layer.

Their mouthparts opened and closed, dripping yellowish-green liquid.

The liquid landed on the ice, sizzling and smoking.

A prompt popped up on the right eye's light screen.

[Sickle-Foot Wolf Spider]

"Retreat behind the fire pit."

Lin Ye turned his head.

Zhao Mengmeng approached with the crossbow.

"I can fight."

"They spray acid."

Without a second of hesitation, Zhao Mengmeng immediately retreated behind the fire pit, pulling over a thick wooden board to shield herself firmly in front.