Arctic survival, starting in hell at minus fifty degrees Celsius

Sun Chengwu opened the tinderbox and looked inside; there was only a faint spark at the tinderbox opening.

Sun Chengwu blew on it several times, but the red spot not only didn't light up, it dimmed completely.

His heart sank, and he tried to fiddle with it a few more times, but there was no response.

The fire extinguisher went out completely.

Huang Shi leaned closer to look, his face instantly draining of color, turning deathly pale. He asked in a trembling voice, "There's...there's no fire."

Sun Chengwu felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Misfortune never comes singly; he had just escaped one tiger's den only to fall into another pack of wolves.

In despair, the air seemed to grow colder, seeping in through the gaps in my clothes.

Without fire, let alone scaring away the brown bears that might return at any moment, the sub-zero temperatures alone would be enough to kill them all.

"We can try starting a fire by rubbing sticks together!"

Lin Can took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. "I've learned a little bit about it, so it's theoretically feasible."

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Sun Chengwu quickly asked, "How do we retrieve it?"

Lin Can spoke quickly, "Find a relatively dry and flat piece of wood as a base, a hardwood stick as a drill rod, and some particularly dry kindling, such as bark fiber or hay."

It would be best to have a sturdy rope to make a bow drill; that would increase the success rate.

The group immediately split up and took action.

Su Wanqing and Zhao Na searched for dry grass near the tent.

Huang Shi endured the pain and groped for relatively dry, withered branches under the nearby snow.

Sun Chengwu, using his military knife, laboriously chopped at a fallen spruce tree under a relatively sheltered rock, shaping it into a usable form.

The materials were quickly gathered, but because it was snowing, the surface of the wooden planks was still somewhat damp, and the tinder was far from dry enough to meet the conditions for starting a fire.

The rope is fine; you can just untie the shoelaces.

The group handed the items to Lin Can, asking somewhat flusteredly, "Will this work?"

Lin Can didn't know either; she had only learned about it in theory and had successfully made it once by hand.

But that's assuming there are enough materials.

Having nothing now, all she could say was, "Let's give it a try and see what happens."

She sharpened the top of a wooden stick and placed the bottom into the dent in the wooden board.

Tie shoelaces to the drill rod to make a simple bow, then wrap the bowstring around the drill rod to make a bow drill.

She crouched down, pressed a small stone against the top of the drill rod, gripped both ends of the wooden bow with both hands, and began to pull it back and forth.

While Lin Can was making the clothes, Sun Chengwu stuffed the hay into his clothes to make it as dry as possible.

Squeak... squeak...

A screeching sound rang out, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the groove in the wooden board.

Soon, black powder was drilled out of the wooden board and accumulated in the groove.

Lin Can pulled hard, his breathing becoming increasingly heavy due to the exhaustion of his strength.

But after a while, there was only a little black ash in the groove, and not a single wisp of smoke came out.

On the contrary, her palms, from rubbing the bow body vigorously, soon felt a burning stinging sensation.

"No... I don't have the strength anymore..."

Lin Can stopped, opened his palm, and saw that his palm was already red and covered with several blisters.

Huang Shi took the bow drill and said, "I'll give it a try."

He stood on the wooden plank and pulled the bow drill with all his might.

This time, a little white smoke rose up.

Everyone's eyes lit up; they saw a glimmer of hope.

But once the cold wind blows, that little bit of heat is quickly carried away.

Huang Shi couldn't take it anymore; his arms were aching.

He stopped, slumped to the ground, and gasped for breath.

A sharp pain shot through the wound, and the white bandage stained red again.

Seeing this, Sun Chengwu pushed Huang Shi aside and said, "I'll give it a try."

Sun Chengwu adjusted the angle of the drill rod and bowstring, then knelt on the snow, pressing the wooden board down with his knees and holding the ends of the bow with both hands.

He took a deep breath and pulled hard.

Squeak squeak...

The sound was rapid and shrill.

The drill rod rotates at high speed, rubbing violently against the wooden board.

Because Sun Chengwu's speed is very high, the friction generates heat even faster.

Soon, a wisp of extremely fine smoke began to rise from the black powder that had accumulated in the groove!

Su Wanqing reminded them, "There's smoke!"

Sun Chengwu's spirits lifted, and he pulled faster and harder.

The muscles in his arms and shoulders were tense, sore, and painful, but he gritted his teeth and dared not relax at all.

Despite the excruciating muscle pain, Sun Chengwu increased his speed even further.

As the smoke increased, accompanied by a pungent cooking smell, a glimmer of light finally appeared on the black powder in the groove.

"It's almost done!"

Sun Chengwu's heart raced, his hands moved without stopping, and his eyes were fixed on the small flame.

The others were also worried for Sun Chengwu.

However, at that moment, a soft "snap" was heard, and the bow drill broke due to excessive force.

Sun Chengwu exerted too much force, causing his body to lean forward and fall face-first onto the snow.

The tiny spark that had just lit up fell onto the snow with a soft hiss and went out.

"Hold!"

Sun Chengwu couldn't help but curse, and looking at the broken rope, a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.

He opened his palm; it was worn raw and bleeding.

The broken wood chips were embedded in my flesh, causing excruciating pain.

The cold wind kept blowing around him, and his fingers were so frozen that he could barely feel them and couldn't even clench his fist.

Sun Chengwu gritted his teeth and pressed his bleeding hand into the snow; the biting cold temporarily numbed the pain.

Lin Can stepped forward, grabbed Sun Chengwu's hand, helped him remove the splinter, and untied a shoelace, saying, "I'll try again."

Everyone took turns pulling the bow drill, and even Su Wanqing and Zhao Na came to help.

After half an hour of friction, smoke finally started to rise again.

A tiny spark ignited from the groove.

fast!

Hurry up!

Whatever you do, don't let the rope break!

Everyone was holding their breath in resentment.

Finally, a tiny spark lit up.

Sun Chengwu immediately took out the clump of dry grass from his clothes, and with trembling hands, he lifted the wooden board and poured the sparks from the groove into the dry grass.

The crowd formed a circle, using their bodies to block the cold wind.

The spark grew larger and larger in the hay.

Sun Chengwu held it in both hands and blew on it gently, not daring to use too much force.

Finally, that spark grew bigger and bigger, turning into a small flame.

His eyes lit up. "It's done!"

He carefully held the burning hay and placed it into the already prepared fire.

At the bottom are dry leaves, above which is a triangular, hollowed-out pile of firewood, surrounded by charcoal accumulated over the past few days.

The flames ignited the dry leaves, which in turn ignited the dry firewood. The charcoal was baked at high temperatures, and red sparks appeared on its surface.

The group hurriedly gathered the scattered stones and rebuilt a circular stone wall around the campfire to block the cold wind.

A warmth emanated from the flames, though only a faint trace, it still dispelled the chill of the night.