Chapter Seven: The Snow Cottage

Cold.

Before dawn, Qin Fei was roused from his sleep by the biting chill inside the cave. In truth, the hours before sunrise are often the coldest part of the day. Qin Fei glanced at his status panel.

[Ambient temperature: -31°C. Perceived temperature: -5°C.]

His body’s perceived temperature had already fallen below zero. Could the outside world have become so frigid...?

The wind howled ceaselessly outside, roaring like a wild beast. Hearing it, Qin Fei made his way to the cave entrance and peered out. A fierce gale was raging, and snow fell relentlessly, veiling the world in white and shrouding the surroundings in obscurity.

The cold made Qin Fei shiver uncontrollably. Braving such a blizzard was simply unrealistic. For now, what mattered most was to light a fire and restore some warmth to the cave.

He gathered the remaining wood from his backpack and set it alight. Once the flames caught, the cave gradually warmed. Judging by the supply, Qin Fei estimated the fire would last at most another one or two hours.

While the fire burned, he melted some snow for water and stored it in his pack. Water was consumed quickly in these conditions. He waited in the cave for nearly an hour, but even as the flames dwindled, the blizzard outside showed no sign of abating.

His supply of wood was nearly exhausted; it was no use hiding in the cave any longer. He would have to brave the storm and push onward.

While the embers still radiated a bit of heat, he took out his herbal tea, poured it into his iron mug, and set it to heat. Before leaving, he intended to drink a cup of hot tea to stave off the cold, so his body temperature would drop more slowly in the freezing air.

It took nearly ten minutes to bring the tea to a boil, by which time the fire had burned itself out. After drinking the tea, Qin Fei stepped out of the cave.

Pushing forward into the blizzard was no easy feat. The winding valleys presented countless obstacles—when the wind was at his back, it was manageable, but should he turn into the wind, every step became an ordeal.

He had not gone far when he spotted several young maple saplings by the roadside. Maple saplings are tough and flexible, making them ideal for bow-making. Yet, their very toughness made them impossible to break by hand.

He had neither axe nor saw in his backpack. Pulling them out of the snow was out of the question—unless he was as strong as a grizzly bear, uprooting them was nothing but a fantasy.

His only option was to use his knife, painstakingly cutting them at the base.

Qin Fei checked his status.

[Ambient temperature: -28°C. Perceived temperature: -15°C.]
[Cold exposure: 20%+]
[Warmth buff: A cup of herbal tea not only slightly relieves your fatigue but also slows the rate at which your body temperature drops.]

His perceived temperature had dropped to -15°C. In such conditions, every extra moment spent outside greatly increased the risk of freezing to death.

But these maple saplings were too valuable to pass up. If he missed this chance, it would be even harder to return for them later.

Without hesitation, he drew his knife and began to saw at the base of a sapling. It was more like using the knife as a saw, scraping back and forth across the wood.

Luckily, after twenty years of singlehood, Qin Fei’s hand speed was extraordinary. Even as his hands trembled with cold and he could barely grip the knife, he finally managed to sever the sapling.

[Maple sapling: A young maple tree, tough and resilient. After drying indoors for ten days, it can serve as material for making bows and arrows.]

He stowed the sapling in his pack. Numb with cold, he dared not linger and quickly hurried on.

Cutting the sapling had been exhausting. Coupled with trudging through snow, sometimes against the wind, the physical toll was immense—enough to defeat even the strongest man.

After some distance, Qin Fei was utterly spent. Fatigue overwhelmed him, and he grew numb with cold, his legs continuing forward on sheer muscle memory.

He was so tired. How he longed to unroll his sleeping bag right here in the snow and sleep!

He looked at the ground, feeling the urge grow ever stronger...

No! He quickly rejected the thought. Sleeping in these conditions was suicide.

But he was truly on the verge of collapse!

Suddenly, Qin Fei remembered the “snow shelter” often used by the protagonist in this game when camping outdoors—a simple structure made by combining scraps of cloth and branches to form a makeshift haven in the snow. By taking advantage of the air pockets between snowflakes, such a shelter offered some insulation, much like down feathers in a jacket, with the cloth serving as the outer layer.

He wasn’t sure if this would work in real life, but he had no other choice. Without rest, he would never make it out of the valley.

Summoning his last reserves of strength, he dug a shallow pit in the snow with his knife. Then he propped up the pit with cloth and small branches from his pack, fashioning a crude shelter. Crawling inside, he piled a few extra branches above his head to prevent freshly fallen snow from smothering him and causing him to suffocate while he slept.

Four or five hours later...

Qin Fei slowly awoke. The blizzard had ceased, and a faint sunlight now shone in the sky. Nestled within the snow shelter, he felt warm all over—almost hot. The snow on the surface of the shelter was much thicker than before he’d lain down.

He had to be extremely careful when crawling out; otherwise, the surface snow could collapse and bury him completely.

Once outside, he retrieved the exterior cloth and branches, packing them away, though he abandoned the inner lining—it was too inconvenient to recover.

Restored by his nap, Qin Fei set off once more. Without the wind’s resistance, he made good time. After an hour or two, he finally emerged from the valley and onto a set of train tracks.

The railway was built atop a mountain. Looking down from the heights, he saw the endless sea in the distance.

Near the frozen shoreline stretched a long, seemingly endless road, with scattered low wooden cabins dotted along its edge.

Gazing at the familiar landscape, Qin Fei exhaled in relief—at last, he had reached the coastal highway!