BXBX NOVEL Chapter 52 - 52 Is it that magical?
As the live stream started, in an instant, more than ten thousand viewers surged in like a tide. In just a few seconds, the barrage of comments refreshed so quickly that they became unreadable, and even Bi Fang had to limit the message frequency.
[Here we come, front row seats!]
[Wow, broadcasting so early?]
[Damn, I was about to go to sleep, and then suddenly I got a notification that the stream started. That’s it, I can’t sleep now.]
[Holy cow, the guy above is hardcore. Have you not slept all night?]
[Seriously, ever since I started watching Master Fang’s streams, it’s either stick to a regular schedule or give up on rest altogether. It’s one or the other.]
[Is everyone else this intense?]
Bi Fang smiled. He didn’t realize his live streams were so popular that hardcore fans had emerged, which made him feel obliged not to “pad out” the time, so he started to prepare in advance.
He pulled out his backpack, took out a piece of clothing, removed the hood from his windbreaker, and then wrapped the clothing around his head like a sleeve. This created a double layer of protection and significantly enhanced the warmth.
“In extremely cold areas, we want to maximize the heat we retain. If you don’t wear a hat, the heat loss from your head can account for 40% to 45% of your body’s heat loss, and if your neck, wrists, and ankles are also unprotected, the heat loss will be even more.”
“These parts of the body have very little fat and act as excellent heat dissipaters. Plus, the brain is very sensitive to the cold and has a very low tolerance for it. There’s a lot of blood circulation in the head, mostly at the surface, so if you don’t cover your head, you will lose heat very fast.”
“So, when necessary, we’d rather take off a piece of clothing to use as a head cover to keep warm. That’s why I kept my hat on all yesterday, but this morning it was so cold that I suddenly felt one hat wasn’t enough, so I added another one on the fly.”
The audience watched Bi Fang, now bundled up in clothing and a hat, and began to comment through the barrage of messages.
[Looks like an Arab himself.]
[With those thick eyebrows and big eyes, I didn’t expect you to be a foreigner!]
[That rich exotic look, ah, it smells like curry!]
[Silly Ben sculpture!]
After ensuring he was well insulated, Bi Fang began to summarize some of the shortcomings he encountered yesterday.
“Today is my second day in Mohe, and as I was traveling yesterday, I realized that the snow here is really deep and soft. Once you sink into it, it’s very exhausting to pull yourself out, so I plan to make a pair of snowshoes first.”
When marching in the snow, snowshoes are a great help, especially when Bi Fang is carrying a hefty backpack. They become even more useful.
Large snowshoes distribute his weight over a wider area, eliminating the ‘postholing’ effect caused by walking without snowshoes and making it much easier to walk.
Mohe may be covered in snow, but there are areas with exposed shrubs and rocks, which makes snowshoes more advantageous than skis, and they are easier for beginners to use.
“Snowshoes mainly come in four design styles: Yukon, Beaver Tail, Bear Paw, and Western snowshoes. Each has its advantages, but I don’t have the conditions to make those as it’s too time-consuming and labor-intensive, so I opt to use branches to make snowshoes instead. We can look for broken branches under the snow and use them without harming the environment as much as possible.”
[Preserving the environment, good job.]
[This is why I like Master Fang. Other outdoor streamers leave so much trash even just climbing a mountain! ]
[Master Fang is the best!]
[Single forever?]
[Lu Wentao: It’s getting intense, rolling up!]
After chatting with the audience for a while, Bi Fang once again crawled out of the snow cave.
The sun was shining now, the temperature was starting to rise, and the bone-chilling coldness from before was gone.
After cleaning up any traces of his stay, Bi Fang did some warm-up exercises to get his stiff body warmed up, then shouldered his backpack and began to look for suitable branches.
With “Wilderness Survivalist” guiding him, Bi Fang knew exactly how to make tools and quickly found several branches over a meter long.
“To make snowshoes, first, you need to choose trees with dense branches and leaves, like pine trees, which isn’t a problem in Khingan Range as the most abundant trees here are larch and white birch. Then tie the bottoms of these branches together.”
Bi Fang twisted the cloth strips into a rope and then tied the bottoms of the branches he gathered together, bunching the middle part loosely around a central point. Next, he used a strap to attach the shoes to the snowshoe’s upper third.
A pair of simple snowshoes was made, and when Bi Fang stood up and walked around, he was not accustomed to them yet, but he could stand on the snow, and as he walked, he left behind just a rough outline, without sinking in at all. [Donald Duck, is that you? Do you remember me? I’m Mickey! Mickey by Ming Dynasty Lake!]
[Too many elements…]
[Holy crap, is it really that magical?]
With snowshoes, Bi Fang’s progress was much faster, almost effortlessly so.
“Sadly, those Yagda from yesterday were not nearly enough. My energy levels are low now, so I must quickly find some food, and it would be even better if I could catch some animals.”
Bi Fang took out his water bottle and replenished his hydration, looking around as he explained his next action plan to the audience.
The surroundings were still blanketed in snow, with the occasional glimpse of gray rock peeping through. Without the trees, one might have doubted the area harbored any life at all. What kind of animals could be caught in such a place?
“There’s an old saying in the Khingan Range, ‘Beat a roe deer with a stick and scoop up fish with a ladle, wild chickens fly into your pot,’ and even the bitter cold of Mohe is no wasteland. Although we can’t hunt roe deer now, this proves the abundance of the Khingan Range, especially in winter. If we find a river, we can start our fishing plan!”
[666, are you going to catch the ones swimming in the river this time?]
[It’s so cold, wouldn’t the river be frozen? How are you going to fish?]
[Seems like it’s easier to catch them when the river is frozen, right? I often see people making a hole in the ice, and the fish just jump out.]
“Not necessarily,” Bi Fang shook his head as he saw the commentary.
“Whether a river is frozen depends on the weather and its flow. In the Khingan Range, there are many rivers that don’t freeze, still flowing even at thirty degrees below zero!”
Treading on the snowy ground, Bi Fang continued toward lower terrain, while also providing some explanation.
The terrain of the Khingan Range is unique, widely covered with wetlands. Because streams flow out from the many ravines of the Greater Khingan Range, converging at the mountain’s base, the low-lying landscape, poor drainage combined with the widespread permafrost makes infiltration difficult, resulting in numerous wetlands.
Such terrain is generally fertile, and the water isn’t deep, so you can catch quite a few fish without going too far in.
“So, just like before, if we follow the terrain downhill, we are likely to encounter a river. This time we’re not looking for a water source, but to obtain food. Whether it’s frozen or flowing, it’s good news for us.”
He was extremely hungry; since yesterday, the only thing he had ingested were those red berries, which simply weren’t enough to replenish the calories and energy Bi Fang had expended!
But, with this weather…
Bi Fang looked up at the sun in the sky, squinting slightly.