An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

In his haste, he only found a large rock about ten meters away from the lake.

Then let's choose it as our support.

Jiang Baobin always felt uneasy if there wasn't something particularly solid behind his back.

He put down all his equipment and, taking advantage of the last rays of the sun, busied himself gathering firewood.

He started by picking up the items from a slightly farther place, and to speed things up, he ran back and forth!

Why work so hard?

Even if you haven't eaten pork, you've still seen pigs run, right? When spending the night outdoors, the most important thing is fire.

The more firewood, the better.

As soon as the sun sets, it gets dark in mountain valleys like this.

Jiang Baobin started a fire.

The once lush weeds along the water's edge have now all withered.

Therefore, the fire can be lit very easily.

Although I've never used a tinderbox before, this thing is actually quite useful.

Once opened, blow on it and a small flame will leap up.

They made a simple stove out of stones and put the cooking pot on it to boil water.

Jiang Baobin used a knife to cut a sweet potato into small pieces, which he then hung on the fishing hook and the trap as bait.

The entire fishing line was only ten meters long, with a fishhook attached, which he casually tossed into the water.

The clips are similar, placed in three directions.

Take your chance.

With nothing else to do, he used the firelight to gather firewood nearby.

While Jiang Baobin was busy, Si Yan'er remained vigilant and on guard.

First, boil the water in the kettle and fill it up.

Then I threw in a bag of compressed biscuits, added some salt, and cooked a pot of porridge.

Jiang Baobin ate half of it and left the rest for Si Yan'er.

Actually, he was already starving, and this little bit of food wasn't even enough to fill him up.

But there's nothing we can do; we don't know what the future holds, so we can only practice strict frugality.

Watching the bespectacled boy stick his head into the pot and lick the porridge with a smacking sound.

Jiang Baobin understood why the system no longer prohibited bringing dogs into the mountains.

Because of the remoteness of the mountains, food is the most precious thing.

Dogs also need to eat, which will accelerate the depletion of their reserves.

Alas, every advantage has its disadvantages!

The mountain wind is blowing, it's so cold!

Jiang Baobin got up to exercise, starting with standing meditation. At this point, besides this, the only other exercise he could do was "Kundalini Qigong".

Otherwise, in the dark and on the uneven ground, if you twist your ankle while jumping around, that would be a real problem.

He stopped practicing after a short time because it was too energy-consuming.

If I'm already hungry and keep fidgeting, I won't have a good night.

This experience reminded him of when he first traveled through time.

My biggest wish at the time was to be able to eat my fill every meal.

Now, after going around in circles, I'm back to where I started. The system really knows how to play tricks on people.

Previously, Four-Eyes ate meat and fish at every meal, but now he has to eat porridge.

But it didn't seem dissatisfied at all. After licking the pot clean, it found a place to lie down.

Jiang Baobin brought back another pot of water and put it on the fire to continue boiling.

Call the dog over and take off its neck brace so it can sleep more comfortably.

At this point, the first long night after entering the mountains officially began.

There were no owls howling or wolves croaking.

If it weren't for the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the treetops, the whole world would be extremely quiet.

Jiang Baobin placed the rifle between himself and the large rock.

Place the spear on the other side of your body.

Further out, there was a campfire.

Above his head, on one side, was a pile of dead branches and rotten wood.

In this way, he could easily throw the wood into the fire without having to stand up.

The fire cannot be extinguished all night.

To say that he wasn't afraid at all would be a lie for Jiang Baobin.

It's impossible not to curse the system's ancestors for eighteen generations.

But what can we do?

We are at their mercy, like fish on a chopping board. Just bear it!

Although he spent a long time lying down that night, Jiang Baobin did not sleep well.

The main problem is a lack of stability; it won't be long before someone adds fuel to the fire.

I'm terrified that once the fire goes out, wild beasts will charge at us!

Finally, dawn broke, and Jiang Baobin, curled up in the blanket, poked his head out.

All thoughts of training were thrown to the back of their minds.

I have no energy, my stomach is flat, what's the point of exercising?

The fire went out just before dawn; there was nothing they could do, all the firewood had burned.

Sigh, what a disastrous night!

After getting up, Jiang Baobin first went to check the fishing hooks and clips he had set the day before.

Damn! Nothing to show for it.

The good news is that the bait on the hook is gone, which means there are likely fish in the lake.

The bad news is that the bait on the trap is intact, which means there aren't many animals around.

Jiang Baobin couldn't help but wonder: Did his arrival scare them all away?

Ignoring his frustration, he picked up firewood again without stopping.

Just as I was busy, Four-Eyes came running back.

Wow! He did manage to get something; he has one in his mouth...

Holy crap! How did you end up catching a mouse?

The dog is clearly unhappy – what's with your eyes? This is a rock squirrel, commonly known as a "fur-sweeping squirrel".

Jiang Baobin looked at it carefully and realized it was indeed different; its tail was much larger than a mouse's.

But are you sure this thing is really edible? Don't let it cause any weird or strange illnesses...

Hmm, the meat is quite fragrant, but there's not enough of it.

It looks like it's over 20 centimeters long, but its tail actually makes up more than a third of it.

After removing the internal organs, the meat weighs only about two ounces.

Even this small amount of food has to be shared between one person and one dog.

Well, Four-Eyes can eat more than Jiang Baobin because it chews up the rat's head and bones.

Led by Si Yan'er, Jiang Baobin re-set the traps in the area where rock squirrels were seen, hoping to catch something.

Then I focused on fishing.

Because he didn't have a fishing float, he could only hold the line with his hand to feel if any fish were taking the bait.

I fished for ages, but there wasn't a single bite.

He was forced to change his approach, replacing sweet potato bait with squirrel intestines (which he had snatched from a dog's mouth).

I waited and waited, hoping and hoping, from early morning until almost ten o'clock.

The result was two rotten eggs meeting—they tasted the same!

Could I have misjudged the situation? Are there no fish in this water at all?

Jiang Baobin was furious and forced himself to practice "Kundalini Qigong".

Then, stripping naked, he plunged headfirst into the water!

The sun is shining on the lake right now, and the visibility is quite good.

Jiang Baobin used his "Wave-Wrapping Skill" and "Fetal Breathing Skill" to swim towards the bottom of the water...

Under normal circumstances, the visibility in a freshwater lake is only a few meters to a dozen meters.

But this small lake is clearly special.

Jiang Baobin dived at least twenty meters in one go, and he could still see a long way down below.

This was far beyond his expectations. The water was clear, but it was too deep.

Who would have thought that such a small patch of water would actually be a sinkhole underneath?

Jiang Baobin turned back and went upwards, but unlike when he came, he didn't stare at the bottom of the water; instead, he searched around.

He kept surfacing, but he didn't even see a single fish hair!

Now I'm stuck in a bind, and the thought of changing campsites suddenly popped into my head...