King of the Wilderness

"Hmm..." Lin Yu’an let out a long sigh of satisfaction, "This is amazing... It’s the truest taste of this forest!"

A small pack of Jin’er was quickly devoured by him, not a drop of the delicious broth in the package was left.

With the warm food in his stomach, a surge of warmth rose from his gut, dispelling the fatigue and chill accumulated throughout the day, replenishing his weary body with the most basic energy.

"Hmm... a perfect appetizer."

After finishing the Jin’er, he took out the banana core cylinder, whose skin had also been charred black, from the charcoal fire; it seemed to have expanded slightly from when it was placed in.

He used a stone knife to cut through the rattan and carefully peeled away the fully carbonized leaf shell.

As the leaf shell peeled off, a mixed scent of charred, fresh, and sweet aroma’s white steam burst forth, revealing a core inside that was as soft and glutinous as mochi, with a semi-translucent milky white color.

Having been steamed and roasted while wrapped in banana leaves, they perfectly retained all the moisture, appearing moist and shiny, with a layer of slightly sticky syrup extracted at high temperatures on the surface.

At the moment it entered his mouth, his eyes widened!

It was a miraculous texture he had never experienced! It lacked the smoky toughness of direct charcoal roasting, replaced by an extreme, evenly soft and delicate consistency, melting in the mouth!

The abundant starch had fully caramelized during the long, moist steaming, releasing a pure sweet freshness, even finer than the best taro paste, with a unique floral hint of bananas.

"My God..." he savored this hard-earned staple carefully, "This is practically nature-made mochi! No, even finer than mochi, with a refreshing wateriness, and not a hint of bitterness. It’s incredible."

With roasted Jin’er as a side dish and roasted banana core as the main course, this sumptuous dinner filled with primal wisdom completely freed him from the torment of Hunger, and his fatigued body was reenergized.

After accomplishing all this, the fatigue finally surged like a tide, with every joint and every muscle clamoring for rest.

But he didn’t lie down immediately, as there was one last task to complete—preparing the water source for tomorrow’s journey.

He cut a long slit down the middle of several broad banana leaves with a stone knife, but did not sever them completely.

Then he bent the leaves down at an angle, forming a natural drainage channel, directing the end of each channel to multiple simple water collection containers, folded from another giant banana leaf placed on the ground.

"This is one of the simplest and most effective methods for obtaining clean drinking water in the jungle—collecting dew."

He turned the camera towards the gently flowing stream not far away and explained softly, "I know you might ask, why bother when there’s stream water right beside us?"

"Because although the stream water appears crystal clear, we’re in a primeval forest, where upstream there may be animal corpses, feces, and the water is teeming with invisible parasite eggs and bacteria."

"Drinking it directly is gambling with your own stomach. Without medication, a severe bout of diarrhea could lead to dehydration and challenge failure. So it must be heated before consumption."

"Ailao Mountain’s nights have high humidity and significant temperature differences. As night falls, the temperature drops, causing the water vapor in the air to condense into dew on these cold leaves."

"The drainage channels I designed will collect the dew droplets from thousands of leaves into our containers below, drop by drop."

"By tomorrow morning, the banana leaves should have collected at least a liter of the purest dew, which is crucial for my long trek tomorrow."

Only after setting up this passive water factory did he truly feel at ease.

Returning to the shelter, he positioned a camera fixed on a rock facing him, and spoke into the lens summing up the first day.

His voice was somewhat tired, but his eyes, illuminated by the firelight, sparkled like stars.

"On the first day, we have a shelter, fire, a knife, a weapon, and had an unexpected sumptuous dinner along with clean drinking water being produced overnight."

"Ailao Mountain is indeed generous," he paused, a smile full of challenge appearing on his face, "But just having carbs isn’t enough. Our goal is always protein."

"Today, we’ve tackled survival and established a firm starting base. But from tomorrow, I’ll truly begin the core of this challenge—moving forward."

"My plan is to start officially advancing towards the final target Shimen Gorge after collecting dew early tomorrow morning. So I must travel about five kilometers upstream along this stream first, crossing the ridge in front of us."

His tone became more solemn, filled with reverence for the unknown.

"After crossing the ridge, we will enter a more complex area, which will be our biggest challenge tomorrow."

"My goal is to advance at least three to four kilometers before dusk and find a new safe campsite on the other side of the ridge."

"Today’s camp is just our starting point. From tomorrow, each day, I have to get closer to Shimen Gorge. The real challenge begins tomorrow."

After speaking, he carefully rested the Stone Spear against the rock wall, ensuring it was within arm’s reach.

Then, he curled up on the platform lined with thick fallen leaves deep in the shelter, closed his eyes in the warmth of the firelight, the crackling of burning wood, and the accompaniment of the gentle babbling of the stream nearby.

This would be his first night spent in Ailao Mountain.