American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 325 How to Preserve the Flame? (Seeking monthly votes~~)

The first rays of dawn, like the sharpest stone knife, pierced through the impenetrable darkness deep within the Ailao Valley.

Lin Yu'an opened his eyes almost the instant the light came on.

There was no alarm clock, no birdsong; what awakened him was an instinctive alertness to environmental changes etched deep in his genes.

Outside the shelter, the fire had died down. After a night of burning and the erosion of the valley's heavy humidity, the outermost layer of charcoal had completely extinguished, leaving a thin layer of white frost and glistening dewdrops on its surface.

But as the breeze blew, a faint red light stubbornly flickered deep within the seemingly lifeless pile of ashes.

The air in the valley was cold and damp, probably only around 5 degrees Celsius. With each breath, the chill he inhaled completely jolted him awake.

"Good morning, guys." He spoke to the Action 3 camera already activated on his chest, his voice slightly hoarse from the morning chill, "I've successfully made it through my first night in the Ailao Mountains."

Instead of getting up immediately, he first showed the audience his overnight stay.

He pulled back the blanket covering him, revealing his Arc'teryx Beta SV hardshell jacket.

The camera zoomed in, revealing that the surface of the GORE-TEX PRO fabric, which had been treated with DWR water repellency, was covered with countless fine water droplets that rolled off like dewdrops on a lotus leaf, while the inside of the garment remained completely dry.

“Look,” he showed the inside of his jacket to the camera, “this is the power of technology. Without a sleeping bag, a top-of-the-line hardshell jacket is your last line of defense against hypothermia.”

"It cannot generate heat actively, but it can do two crucial things."

"First, it isolates moisture. While expelling the water vapor evaporated from my body, it perfectly blocks the intrusion of heavy dew and moisture from the outside, ensuring that my core area remains dry."

"Secondly, it blocks convection. It forms a sealed space, locking the heat emitted by my body between my clothes and me, greatly slowing down the loss of heat."

"Although I still feel cold, without it I might get into real trouble from hypothermia."

After saying that, he put the life-saving windbreaker back on and zipped it up. The pervasive damp cold was instantly shut out, and his core body temperature began to slowly rise.

The first thing he did was to rekindle the dying embers.

He didn't go outside to gather new firewood, because everything outside was damp after being soaked by dew overnight. He turned and went into the makeshift shelter made of rock walls and banana leaves.

The camera was focused on a clean corner inside the shelter, where a small pile of firewood was neatly stacked.

The firewood was carefully categorized by size, from the thinnest kindling to the thickest pieces of firewood, and then to the thickest pieces of main fuel, with each layer distinct.

He pointed to the pile of firewood, his voice carrying a hint of forward-thinking composure, "This is what I did before going to bed last night, preparing new firewood for the fire tomorrow."

“In an environment like the Ailao Mountains, you can never expect to easily find dry firewood the next morning.”

"So when the fire is at its strongest at night, use its heat to thoroughly dry enough firewood to start a fire and provide initial burning for the next day, and then store it in the driest place in the shelter. This is a habit that must be cultivated."

He took a small handful of kindling and a few pieces of dry bark from the pile of new firewood. Then he took a clump of dry, fluffy material from his trouser pocket.

“This is moss,” he showed to the camera. “But not just any moss will do; it has to be very dry. I scraped this off a rock that was in the sun yesterday when I was looking for a campsite.”

“Golden Cibotium barometz is a protected plant after all. Although I have a collection permit, the quantity found here is too small. If too much is collected, it may harm its population, so I have been looking for alternative ignition sources.”

Returning to the fire, I brushed aside the blackened charcoal and ashes that were damp with dew, revealing embers that were still shimmering with a faint red glow.

He gently placed the small clump of incredibly dry moss onto the embers.

"call……"

He bent down and blew the gentlest air onto the moss. The dry plant fibers ignited instantly upon contact with the high temperature, releasing a wisp of smoke with a faint earthy smell.

Quickly pile the prepared dry branches and bark into a pyramid shape on top of the smoking moss, ensuring that air can flow smoothly from below.

"Huh...huh..."

A tiny, orange-yellow flame peeked out from between the dry branches! Soon, with ample oxygen and a supply of dry fuel, the flame grew rapidly.

With a crackling sound, a cluster of warm flames blazed up again in the morning mist.

"Alright, we have a fire again." A relaxed smile finally appeared on Lin Yu'an's face. "See? The preparations we made before going to bed last night saved us so much time this morning. Efficiency is the most important and essential skill for survival in the wild."

"Now, let's go see another gift that Ailao Mountain prepared for us last night."

The second thing he did was to check the dew collection device that had been set up the night before.

The sight before him brought a satisfied smile to his face; the huge banana leaf drainage channels were covered with crystal-clear dewdrops.

Following the trajectory he designed, drop by drop, they are slowly gathering into the square containers below, made of folded banana leaves.

In each leaf bowl, a shallow pool of clear liquid had accumulated, shimmering with a pure light in the morning sun.

Lin Yu'an carefully picked up one of the leaf bowls, brought it to his lips, and drank the clear, sweet water of life in one gulp.

“Ah…perfect water,” he sighed with satisfaction.

That pure and sweet taste, without any impurities, instantly moistened his parched throat and awakened his dormant body.

"No filtering or boiling required; this is nature's most efficient gift. Replenishing fluids is the first priority before starting your day's work."

He carefully collected the dew from all the leaf bowls. But this brought up a new problem—how to carry it?
He looked around, his gaze quickly sweeping over the surrounding plants. There were no sturdy bamboos, not even a piece of bark of a suitable shape.

"It seems that today we have to use the oldest and most helpless method to carry water."

He faced the camera with a slightly bitter smile, then pointed to his stomach.

He didn't offer any further explanation, but instead picked up the banana leaf bowl filled with dew and began to drink it all down in large gulps.

He didn't put down the leaf bowl until the last drop of water slid down his throat, letting out a long burp.

"In the absence of a container, drinking an excessive amount of water at once to saturate the body is the only way."

As he rubbed his slightly swollen belly, he explained, "This will prevent me from getting dehydrated and in danger during the next three to four hours of intense hiking. Survival is a constant process of weighing options and making choices."

“Alright, now that we’ve solved the water problem, the next issue is keeping the fire going.” He walked to the campfire. “I need to make a portable fire starter so I can have a flame anytime, anywhere.”

Lin Yu'an walked to the campfire that had been reignited, feeling the warmth brought by the flames, but there was no relaxation on his face.

"A fixed campfire in the wild is just a temporary safe haven. A movable fire is the key to starting an expedition."

“I can’t spend hours every day making fire by friction, especially when the weather is unpredictable. So I have to make a fire pot and protect it like I would my own life.”

Instead of searching for bamboo or clay, he turned his gaze to a huge, long-dead oak tree beside the shelter. Several large, horseshoe-shaped, brown mushrooms were growing parasitically in the middle of the trunk.

I used the bottom of a stone knife to strike the base of the mushroom, and it took some effort to break it off the tree trunk intact.

“Wood hoof mushroom,” he held up the mushroom, which was bigger than his two palms, to the camera. “In ancient times it was called fire velvet mushroom, which is a natural and reliable tinderbox.”

He placed the mushrooms on a flat rock and began to process them carefully.

“Look at its structure,” he said, pointing to the cross-section of the mushroom with the tip of his stone knife. “The outermost layer is a hard shell, like armor, which is waterproof and fireproof. The innermost layer is a lignified tube, and what we need is the layer sandwiched between them.”

He painstakingly cut open the hard husk with a stone knife, revealing the inner layer of dense, golden fibers with a texture like the finest suede or velvet. "This is the tinder layer. Its fibers are extremely fine and rich in complex organic matter. When ignited, it does not produce an open flame, but rather smolders in an extremely slow and stable manner, like the finest spices or cigars."

Carefully using the tip of a stone knife, he carved out a fist-sized cavity in the center of the tinder layer.

Then, using two sticks, take a piece of charcoal that is burning red-hot and covered with a layer of white ash from the campfire and put it into the cavity of the mushroom.

Then, some dried moss tinder that had been prepared earlier was gently placed on top of the charcoal.

"call……"

He bent down and gently blew a breath into the entrance of the cavity.

The heat from the charcoal instantly ignited the dry moss, sending up a thick plume of blue smoke. The heat then began to transfer to the surrounding tinder.

The golden fibers, visible to the naked eye, turned black and carbonized in concentric rings starting from the point of contact, but never ignited a single flame; they simply emitted heat and smoke steadily.

"Perfect." After confirming that the seed had been successfully grafted, Lin Yu'an used fresh moss to seal the opening of the cavity. Then, using the vines he had prepared beforehand, he tightly bound the entire fungus.

A biological tinderbox brimming with primal wisdom was complete. He could even feel a steady, faint heat emanating from the gaps in the mushrooms.

"With it, it's like having a super match that can burn all day long. As long as there's enough oxygen inside, it won't go out."

"Wherever I go tonight, all I have to do is turn it on, add some hay, and I can embrace the fire again in seconds and never have to fight with wood again."

Only after securing the two vital elements of fire and water did he begin preparing breakfast.

By this time, the sky was already bright, and the morning mist gradually dissipated under the warm sunlight, revealing the valley's lush and vibrant true appearance.

He first reheated the remaining half of a roasted banana core from the previous night by burying it back into the hot ashes of the fire. While waiting for breakfast, he didn't idle around but began making the most important preparations for today's journey.

He glanced at the belongings scattered throughout the camp—a smoldering tinderbox of wood hoof mushrooms, a newly made stone spear, an action camera and batteries, and a bulky Ronin 4D cinema projector… His brow furrowed slightly.

"Alright, guys, before we embark on this long journey, we must first solve a core problem—logistics."

“I can’t carry everything in my arms like a caveman. In the complex terrain that requires the use of both hands and feet, my hands are my third and fourth legs. I need them to maintain my balance, clear obstacles, and deal with unexpected situations.”

“So, I need a backpack. But we don’t make those basic framed backpacks,” he said, a smile spreading across his face as he glanced at a few slender trees by the stream not far from the campsite.

“The Ailao Mountains have prepared high-quality materials for us.” He walked quickly to the stream and pointed his camera at the trees.

“Willow,” he stroked a newly sprouted, elastic branch, “is one of the most important weaving materials in primitive cultures all over the world.”

"Its branches are flexible and strong, and very easy to work with. I plan to use it to make myself a willow basket."

Lin Yu'an began selectively cutting the uniformly thick new willow branches with a stone knife. He did not damage the entire tree, but rather harvested the parts he needed, just like a gardener pruning branches.

He quickly gathered a large bundle of lush green willow branches at the campsite. "The fresh willow branches aren't flexible enough; I need to let them relax."

He soaked all the willow branches in the cold stream water and weighed them down with several large stones to allow them to fully absorb the water.

While waiting for the willow branches to soften, his breakfast was ready. He sat by the fire, nibbling on the sweet and soft banana core, replenishing his energy for the massive project that lay ahead.

Half an hour later, he pulled the willow branches out of the water. By then, they had become as supple as leather whips, able to bend freely without breaking.

The weaving work can now officially begin.

Lin Yu-an set up the Ronin 4D cinema projector at an overhead angle, while he sat cross-legged on the ground, like a craftsman who had inherited a thousand-year-old craft.

"The soul of a basket lies in its bottom."

He selected eight of the thickest willow branches, tied them together in pairs at the center with thin vines in a cross shape, forming a sturdy base in the shape of a star.

Then, he began the most crucial step—exposing the truth.

The sixteen branches, which serve as the meridians, are gently bent and erected from the bottom, forming an upward-stretching skeleton.

"Now, the skeleton is beginning to be filled with flesh and blood."

He picked up a thinner willow twig as a weft thread and began to weave up and down among the sixteen pillars.

“Rustle…rustle…”

The sound of willow branches rustling rhythmically echoed through the silent valley.

A tightly woven, gracefully curved circular basket grew upwards in his hands, circle by circle. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the willow branches, casting dappled shadows on his focused face.

An hour later, the main body of a large-capacity, streamlined willow basket was finally woven.

Finally, there's the carrying system. He used two bark ropes from the paper mulberry tree to thread through pre-drilled holes in the upper part of the basket, creating two wide and comfortable shoulder straps.

A wicker basket, though primitive, is far more comfortable and practical than a simple frame backpack.

He carefully placed the heavy flint knife, the food wrapped in leaves, and the tinderbox that was slowly emitting heat into his basket.

Then, the stone spear that had just been made was inserted diagonally into the woven gaps on the outside of the basket.

He hoisted the heavy mobile base onto his back, jumped a few times on the spot, and the entire basket remained as stable as Mount Tai without making a sound.

“Alright,” he turned around, showing his ingenious masterpiece to the camera with a proud smile, “Now, I’m a true jungle wanderer.”

With everything ready, he walked to the fire, squatted down, and began an important resource recycling operation.

After burning all night, the center of the fire still contained scorching embers, but the outer ash had completely cooled in the damp, cold morning air.

“Before we leave, we have to pack up last night’s legacy and take it with us.” He said to the camera, pointing to the pile of fine, grayish-white ash. “This is not garbage; it’s the best multi-purpose product we’ve found in the jungle.”

As he explained, he used a large piece of tree bark as a shovel to collect only the completely cooled and dried wood ash, which he then put into a simple little bag made of banana leaves.

"Wood ash is dry, fine, and highly alkaline, making it an insurmountable wall of death for most creatures that crawl on their bellies or feet, such as ants, leeches, and even centipedes."

"It proved to be a pretty good defensive line; my camp wasn't invaded by poisonous insects last night. When I set up my new camp tonight, I'll sprinkle some around the shelter, and I'll be able to sleep much more soundly."

“Finally, and most importantly,” his tone became serious again, “it is the oldest hemostatic and disinfectant. The fine, dry ash of the plant can be applied to small wounds and quickly absorb the blood to help it coagulate.”

"At the same time, its alkaline environment can also inhibit the growth of bacteria to a certain extent and prevent infection. In the absence of medical supplies, it may be a lifesaver."

He placed the leaf bag filled with wood ash on top of the willow basket for easy access.

After doing all this, they used the stream water to completely extinguish the embers and hot coals in the center of the fire, until they could no longer feel any heat when touched, and the last wisp of smoke completely disappeared.

"Take care of your fire and don't cause any trouble for this forest."

He took one last look at the shelter where he had only stayed for one night. Then, he shouldered all his belongings and turned to begin his journey upstream along the turbulent creek, a path fraught with unknowns and challenges.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(It took a while to verify the authenticity of the information, hence the late update)
(End of this chapter)