Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

Chapter 490: Chapter 487: A huge tail

Clay was not only used for making the walls, otherwise Bi Fang would not have gone to such lengths.

He also used clay to build a blast furnace, for iron smelting, which all required clay material.

Bi Fang inserted a stick and started to stir the clay and water, just like mixing cement, and soon a layer of gray water surfaced on top of the clay pit, accompanied by sand and silt.

“Has anyone washed gluten before? It’s when you wash the starch off the kneaded dough in water until you’re left with a sticky ball of gluten—our process is similar to washing gluten.”

After a while, Bi Fang scooped out the washed clay, drained the moisture, and successfully obtained a usable lump of clay.

Having removed all the clay, Bi Fang quickly ran into the woods and soon dragged out several thick vines, as thick as wrists, then he dragged the vines in circles around the shelter.

He did not connect the ends together, leaving a one-meter gap as an exit.

Next, Bi Fang used more vines to wrap around the pillars of the shelter roof, leaving a one-meter gap at the same spot for the entrance; once the vines were piled up to a meter high, a vine wall had formed.

But one layer on the outside was not enough. Bi Fang continued to search for vines, adding another layer on the inside of the pillars.

A double layer of vine walls, interior and exterior.

He tied every two vines tightly together with fine fiber ropes.

As viewers watched Bi Fang pull the vines and the whole shelter roof shook, they couldn’t help but worry it might suddenly collapse.

“That’s why I need both an inner and outer layer, so later on I can directly encase the support pillars. This way, unless the pillars are directly exercised, it’s impossible for them to fall over.”

Bi Fang kicked the vines, and the whole house shook, but it remained very sturdy. Once the clay was applied, the walls would be connected to the ground and become even more secure.

“Vines alone aren’t enough; I’m using them as a support structure. Next, we’ll apply clay on top. You know about composite materials, right? Reinforced concrete is a classic composite material. The steel reinforcement inside gives the whole structure much greater structural strength. This is similar.”

Having done all this, Bi Fang shouldered the clay, pouring it on top of the wall and smoothing it out with his hands to form the wall.

[Resin concrete, how brilliant!]

[Awesome!]

[Looks really sturdy.]

[Awesome, I’m going to build one in my yard today.]

For aesthetic purposes, Bi Fang also used a section of even wooden sticks to roll over the clay wall to level it out and make it smoother, with straight edges and corners.

After two full hours, the clay wall was complete, and by then it was about four in the afternoon.

Starting from noon, he had been working for several hours to finish the wall; it was certainly no easy task.

“Now we just wait for the clay to dry and harden. We could light a bonfire inside to speed up the drying.”

Bi Fang went inside the shelter, which now was a true refuge. Once the clay dried, it would become a natural rampart, advantageous whether for offense or defense.@@novelbin@@

Unless facing large creatures like the Wild Baizhi Ox or the Indochinese tiger, there should be no problems. Many venomous snakes couldn’t climb the smooth, meter-high wall.

This was what made Bi Fang the happiest—he couldn’t stand the cold, slimy snakes, and the thought of no longer worrying about such creatures sleeping next to him at night brought him genuine joy.

Moreover, the pillars supporting the roof had all been sealed up. Unless they were directly crafted, it was almost impossible for the roof to collapse.

“It’s good that I had the foresight to build a high roof, otherwise it would have affected the light now,” Bi Fang looked around while standing inside.

The wall was almost one meter high, but thanks to the combined efforts of Bi Fang and Leonardo in constructing the shelter, the edge of the roof was over two meters high, leaving more than one meter of space for light, feeling like a real “house.”

“But the interior is too monotonous, just brown earth. However, there’s no helping it. Everyone should also resist unnecessarily covering it with a lot of straw. Not that you can’t do it, but then you’d face two problems.”

Bi Fang tossed some more wood into the campfire: “First, an excess of dry grass tends to attract a lot of insects, requiring regular pest control. Second, it becomes a fire hazard; within a three-meter radius of the fire, it’s best not to place flammable materials unless you choose to light the bonfire outside the house.”

“Also, now that we’ve built the wall, let’s not forget to add a drainage ditch; otherwise, once it floods, you’ll be very uncomfortable.”

Bi Fang pointed to a groove on the ground while explaining, as there are many considerations in designing a shelter.

Different numbers of people build shelters of various sizes and shapes.

“If you’re just one person, then a three-meter diameter shelter is enough; it provides ample space while being easy to warm up.”

“Don’t overestimate the space you need; three meters in diameter is more than enough. Even though Leonardo and I built this together, as you can see, it’s just under four meters in diameter.”

Bi Fang stood up and walked seven steps along a straight line to one side of the wall within the shelter.

Normally, a person’s step is between 45cm to 60cm, so it’s evident from what Bi Fang said: the shelter is about four meters in diameter, even a little less.

“For a six-person team, constructing a five-meter diameter shelter is sufficient—it can even accommodate up to nine people.”

“The placement of the fire pit is also crucial. If oxygen can seep in from underneath, the fire will burn more vigorously. We can dig four channels underneath to achieve this, starting from the four walls and digging a channel in each direction towards the fire pit. Of course, I won’t go to the trouble.”

“Lastly, the exit of the shelter should not face south under normal circumstances. Although that direction receives the most sunlight, we are not in a crowded city. If you want to dry clothes or sunbathe, it’s easy enough to take a few steps outside.”

“We should have the exit facing the east, where the sun rises,” Bi Fang said.

He extended his hand, pointing toward the gap he had intentionally left in the wall. The gap wasn’t undefended; instead, a layer of clay shaped like a doorstep had been piled up. It wasn’t tall, just palm height, with several holes dug into it.

The holes were for installing a door. Bi Fang had sharpened bamboo into a grid formation, with one long piece and two short ones arranged together. The longer piece could be inserted into the holes, with the sharpened end making it difficult for animals to climb over.

The only real gap in the entire wall was the drainage ditch, which could also be blocked with stones if it didn’t rain.

The shelter was not only situated on high ground, but also near a stream and in a relatively open area. It was one of the few spots in a several hundred meters radius where one could clearly see the sun, though the view was still narrow.

“Having the exit face east means that the sunlight streaming in at morning will wake you up. That will make you feel truly content, both physically and psychologically. Maintaining a cheerful mood is paramount in the wilderness.”

“Unless you’re in a desert or tundra, we cannot do anything at night; that’s the time when beasts hunt, which doesn’t align with human circadian rhythms.”

“If you’ve been watching my videos, you’d know that unless I’m making tools at night, I generally end the live stream and go to sleep before nine, adhering to the rule of ‘out at sunrise, in at sunset.’

In the wilderness, you must utilize the daylight hours as much as possible. There’s no entertainment at night and, given the conditions, you can only engage in simple activities.”

“If the exit were to face another direction, you would find yourself waking up later because the interior of the shelter would be dimmer. That would be an irrecoverable loss.”

Across the oceans, Peter nodded vigorously.

Many international viewers agreed.

The regular schedule Bi Fang followed led them to lead irregular lives themselves.

As for the domestic audience, they were experiencing a mix of pain and pleasure.

[To watch Old Fang’s live streams, I’ve actually taken on a regular sleeping schedule]

[Honestly, sleeping by nine and getting up at six, plus a nap of half an hour to forty-five minutes at noon, really keeps me energized all day]

[Me too, I’ve had to go to bed early and rise early just to catch the live streams]

[Staying up late really drains your vitality]

[It’s not so bad as long as you get enough sleep, it’s not considered staying up late]

“No,” Bi Fang shook his head. “Many people think that as long as they sleep enough, it doesn’t count as staying up late, but this is also wrong. Even if you sleep enough, but you sleep during the day and play at night, what you’re disrupting is your biological clock.”

The biological clock may seem mysterious, but it decidedly exists.

Disruption not only causes bodily fatigue and mental sluggishness, but more importantly, it endangers one’s health.

“Some might say the biological clock can be adjusted, but can you adjust the sunrise and sunset? Humans are diurnal creatures, just as bats are nocturnal. It’s determined by our genes and evolution, and no matter how you adjust, it cannot be changed—unless you stay in a completely sealed room all the time; otherwise, your biological clock will surely be messed up.”

[Awesome]

[Not watching anymore, it’s five-thirty, time for dinner]

[That early?]

“Is it that late already?” Bi Fang looked up and noticed that the sunlight had turned orange-red. He patted the dust off his hands and stood up. “Well then, shall we see how the wall is holding up?”

He went over to the wall and pinched the surface of the clay. It had started to harden, but given the high humidity of the rainforest, it would probably take some time to dry completely.

Fortunately, after checking, Bi Fang found that there were no large cracks in the wall, a sign that he had done a very good job. Essentially, this could be declared a successful wall.

“Time for dinner.”

Bi Fang scooped the fresh fish out of the water pool beside him. Yes, it was a pool.

The hole left from dumping clay had been emptied. Bi Fang dug it deeper, filled it with water, and used it as a pool to keep the live fish he had brought back.

So long as the basic problem of sustenance is solved, and there is a stable food source, life can get progressively better.

After scraping off the fish scales and removing the innards, Bi Fang wrapped the fish in tree leaves. He was about to take two fish into the shelter to cook when suddenly, a rustling noise came from the trees nearby.

In the exhibition hall, those who were about to leave now silently stopped in their tracks.

“Did you hear that noise just now?”

“What noise?”

“I didn’t catch it clearly… They all stayed, so I stayed too…”

“It sounds like something’s approaching, listen, it’s getting louder.”

As the sun neared dusk, Bi Fang silently moved and grabbed the wooden spear leaning against the wall.

The swishing of the leaves grew louder until, with a sudden rustle.

Out peeked a… no, a large tail revealed itself.