Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

Those who wonder why the inside of an ice hut does not melt when you make a fire fundamentally lack understanding of the concept of cold.

Most people find it hard to comprehend how one can still freeze to death indoors in winter even when the air conditioner is set to maximum heat and full power.

But many people from the north can understand.

If modern heating with air conditioning can’t achieve it, how could a fire meant to warm just one person possibly do so?

"Ice has excellent insulation properties. The outside and inside are two completely different temperatures, so the inner layer of ice and snow will indeed melt a layer. But with the subsequent rush of cold air, it will refreeze, turning into ice blocks. That’s why lighting a bonfire in a cave will not only not melt the snow house, but it will actually make it harder,"

Bi Fang shivered and briefly explained before continuing to dig out snow.

In the dim environment, although he couldn’t see the sky, he could still tell it was nighttime. Bi Fang needed to be extra careful to avoid snowflakes falling into his shoes—in such extreme cold, wetting one’s shoes could be fatal.

It was easy to find fire-making bushes, but food was not so easy to find.

The bushes, exposed on the surface before the blizzards arrived, were easily visible. Just a quick look yesterday and Bi Fang had used his excellent memory to record the location of all the bushes. Now, he just had to follow those memories.

Although the heavy snow obscured distances, with more searching, he could always find them.

But things like moss and lichen were already buried under the snow layers before the blizzard, leaving no trace for Bi Fang to remember; he could only rely on luck to search.

He searched for nearly twenty minutes.

In the blizzard, even staying for one minute was a huge test of physical strength. Bi Fang’s limbs were beginning to stiffen. If he hadn’t kept moving, he probably would have become immobile by now.

Luckily, after digging for nearly five to six meters, a hint of green finally appeared on the screen.

The tundra vegetation consists mostly of perennial evergreens that can make full use of the brief nutritional period without having to waste time growing new leaves and completing their entire life cycle, but the short nutritional period means that tundra plants grow very slowly.

Although there wasn’t much moss and lichen in sight, Bi Fang treasured them as if they were precious gems. They were lifesaving resources, after all.

Reinvigorated, Bi Fang dug them all up, not worrying about whether the leaves were tender or not. He’d take them back to figure it out; if they weren’t edible, they could still be used for making fire.

In a world of ice and snow, plants are the most valuable resource.

The solitary figure of Bi Fang trudged through the icy wilderness, cold and hungry, his hands and feet nearly numb. Fortunately, his mind was still clear, and he didn’t succumb to hallucinations. After an hour of leaving the cave and digging up the second batch of lichen, Bi Fang could no longer continue.

Lifting his legs that were as cold as ice pops, he crawled back into the burrow along the rope.

"Hiss."

Bi Fang shook off all the snow from his body, every muscle crying out in bitter cold, accompanied by shivering.

Stored fat had been rapidly depleted, and though he didn’t appear noticeably thinner, Bi Fang could still feel the change in his body weight.

Ordinary people wouldn’t noticeably lose weight after not eating for three days, but in the Arctic, it was a different story.

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Under Nature’s brutal test of minus fifty degrees, Bi Fang’s life hinged on his body fat. His previous weight gain had not been in vain.

In the cave, Bi Fang took off his shoes. Although he had been very careful, the blizzard’s snowflakes were pervasive. Although his toes were completely frozen stiff, he could still see that parts of his socks were wet from the melted snow. If he had continued to dig earlier, he might have faced the risk of tissue necrosis.

In extreme cold, tissue necrosis, especially in the toes, is a very common occurrence, even in modern times.

Food could wait, but Bi Fang had to start a campfire to dry his shoes, or else his feet would completely freeze.

He took all the dry branches and grass out of his backpack, selecting suitable materials for a simple Fire-Making by Wood-Drilling.

"Fuel is not scarce in this kind of environment. Greenland actually has vast forests, but we don’t have them here. We only have shrubs, but they’re also good materials. And they’re very dry."

"Don’t think these dead branches and leaves buried in the snow will become very moist, but in fact, they contain very little water."

"This is a simple physical phenomenon. When it snows, the temperature is low, and when the temperature is low, the air’s saturation vapor pressure is low, so the air can carry very little water vapor. When dry air comes into contact with a moist object, it causes more water from inside the object to evaporate, thereby becoming dry."

[No wonder my skin always feels so dry in the winter.]

[Aside from SpongeBob, nothing else can stay moist when it encounters water.]

[Dry climate in autumn and winter is the mainstream of the global climate.]

Bi Fang took off his gloves, unzipped his jacket to take out matches. He had to succeed on the first try, as his hands had already frozen stiff in just that short time.

He didn’t have any fire-making materials on him, so he had to resort to the most primitive way of making fire, and due to limited materials, he could only use Fire-Making by Wood-Drilling.

Using a knife, he shaved a branch into a velvet-like texture, quickly fashioning a tool.

With Bi Fang’s master-level experience, although his fingers were somewhat stiff, Wood-Drilling relies more on palm friction and arm strength. He managed to create black smoke on his first attempt.

The campfire was lit, and as Bi Fang brought his hands close to the flames, his blood began to circulate once more.

After toasting his shoes slightly over the fire, Bi Fang put them back on, and an indescribable sense of comfort rushed up his spine to the Heavenly Spirit Cover, making one unable to resist the urge to stretch.

Bi Fang wanted to shift to a more comfortable position, so he leaned against the wall of the cave. Instantly, the accumulated snow fell.

The fire was extinguished.

Hm?

Bi Fang looked up in surprise, only to find that a thick slab of snow had dislodged from the originally arched snow roof of his shelter, like a piece of white plaster falling from an old, decrepit ceiling.

The sudden accident stunned everyone.

Even after a full minute of silence, Bi Fang’s voice rose again.

"This must be the consequence of digging first and building later."

If it were a properly built snow house, one would naturally use snow bricks, stacking the solid blocks piece by piece. But Bi Fang’s method had been to dig a large hole and then form an arch on top.

Such construction is naturally not as sturdy or stable as one built block by block, and it’s normal for a piece or two to fall off occasionally.

Maybe just now, with the change in temperature, it had already experienced a slight deformation and loosening, coupled with a minor vibration, coincidentally extinguishing the fire that had just been lit.

Bi Fang had to start the fire again; this was his last chance, because his hands were no longer responding, and his toes even started to feel a sharp pain. He put on his gloves, desperately hitting his own thighs, until his hands felt again.