An extraordinary life journey through old Beijing courtyard houses

They are hidden in the crevices of the boulders at the bottom of the lake, and cannot be seen from above.

They only appear when you swim close enough to them.

Just like a ghost suddenly appearing in a horror movie, it can be unbearable for the audience's hearts.

Jiang Baobin was indeed terrified and screamed with his mouth wide open.

As a result, he gulped down two big mouthfuls of water!

The first one almost choked to death! The second one almost made him vomit!

Damn! Still drinking?

Am I drinking corpse-soaking water all along?

vomit……

It paddled and kicked its way to the surface, barely managing to stay afloat, and didn't even care about the homemade fish trap anymore.

Jiang Baobin ran back to the shore, shivering and panting heavily.

Being frozen also calmed the brain.

The fact that a skeleton appeared at the bottom of such a deep lake is suspicious in itself.

Given that this is a task scenario specified by the system, it becomes even more suspicious.

Just as he was lost in thought, Four-Eyes ran back excitedly.

This guy actually carried a wild rabbit in his mouth for the first time ever!

Jiang Baobin patted the dog's head and praised it highly.

Looking at the rabbit in his hand, he keenly sensed that this was a kind of omen.

Given the system's track record, something's definitely up at Black Dragon Pool!

I must figure this out completely.

After that, whenever he had time, Jiang Baobin would repair the shack.

After creating the skeleton, you fill it with branches and dry grass, but that's still not enough.

It took another two whole days to heat the fire and mix the mud, until the whole thing was covered up.

And so, the shack was finally completed, and it had already been seven days since he entered the mountains.

Even so, the entire project is not completely finished, due to the influence of persecution complex.

Whenever he had time, he would move the largest stones he could carry to enclose three sides of the hut to protect it from fierce wild animals.

In this desolate wilderness, who can guarantee there isn't any?

Moreover, given the nature of the system, who can guarantee that it won't produce one?

When the tenth day arrives, which is one-third of the mission time has passed.

The stronghold built by Jiang Baobin has been officially completed.

This is a mixed structure of mud and branches, surrounded by large stones.

It is a full thirty meters away from Black Dragon Pool.

Although fetching water is quite troublesome, its biggest advantage is its seclusion.

Once an animal comes to the lake to drink, it is difficult to spot, making it ideal for hunting.

Anyway, that's Jiang Baobin's plan.

As for whether any animals will come, only God knows.

No, it's only the system that knows.

That's why Jiang Baobin went to such great lengths to build the shack so tightly sealed.

It was because he sensed a huge threat approaching—

He could clearly feel the temperature dropping rapidly.

The real test is about to begin!

Although the lake hasn't frozen over yet, the time available for fishing is getting shorter and shorter.

That already explains the problem.

Finally, even at the depth that the two fishing lines could reach together, no fish took the bait.

This forced Jiang Baobin to find another solution—

Since the fishing line was no longer needed, I decided to use it to sew a piece of cloth into leggings.

Then, the army pot, which had been polished to a shine with sand, was completely wrapped in a cloth.

Cut a slit at the mouth of the pot to serve as the entrance to this strange "fish trap".

Then, place animal organs, bones, or similar bait inside.

The next day, Jiang Baobin jumped into the pool early in the morning.

Just like a child getting a new toy, he was eager to test whether this so-called fishing tool was really effective.

Dive to where the fish are active and release it.

This guy just hid to the side and watched.

Perhaps because they have no natural predators, the fish are quite foolish, and before long, some greedy ones swam in.

Jiang Baobin was overjoyed and thought to himself: "Fish, fish, come quickly, there's something delicious here."

Seeing that the fish trap had been successfully set, Jiang Baobin turned around and dived down.

Through continuous practice, he was able to hold his breath for forty meters deep and for half an hour.

It's not particularly difficult for him to do anymore.

Unfortunately, the depth of the Black Dragon Pool was still beyond what his body could withstand.

Fortunately, he had enough food to replenish his energy, and he pushed his limits twice today.

Although he still hadn't reached the bottom of the pool, with the boulder as a reference, he had broken his own record every time.

During this process, he also transported two sets of skeletons stuck in the crevices of the rocks ashore and buried them.

He didn't want to see them every time he went down.

I also don't want to drink the corpse-soaking water anymore.

Well, it's just about finding peace of mind.

I'll still drink water as usual, but I'll try not to think about it that way.

It's harvest time again.

Jiang Baobin slowly swam to the edge of the fish trap, put his left fingertips together, and inserted them directly into the hole.

Instantly, the fish that had dived in to feast became trapped like turtles in a jar.

Sensing impending doom, the fish frantically thrashed about inside, desperate to escape.

It's a pity that humans, known for their killing and cruelty, would never let go of the meat that's already in their mouths...

In the middle of the night, Four-Eyes, who was lying at the entrance of the shack, suddenly raised his head.

Jiang Baobin, who was half asleep, was startled awake and quickly grabbed "Lee Enfield".

Four-Eyes let out a sob, meaning to tell him there was no danger.

Then the dog head looked towards the door again.

Jiang Baobin stepped over the already built but unused hearth and opened the wooden door...

He paused for a second.

Wow! It's like a completely different world!

Snowflakes were falling, and the world was much brighter than usual.

Although the nearby areas are brighter, it only serves to accentuate the vast, dark landscape of the distant mountains! Their imposing grandeur is overwhelming!

This was the first proper snowfall he had seen since he came to the mountains.

It's considered serious because although there were occasional light snowfalls before, they were never significant.

This one was clearly different.

He wasn't wearing a coat, and the cold wind, carrying snowflakes, whistled down his neck.

After shivering, Jiang Baobin added more firewood to the fire that had been burning all night, to prevent it from being extinguished by the snow.

After entering the shack, Jiang Baobin took out a knife and began carving on a tree branch that had been stripped of its bark.

There were already 14 similar marks.

He was pondering: the snow fell just halfway through the mission time, what kind of omen was that?

The snow continued until dawn.

Jiang Baobin, who came out to check the situation, looked towards the pool—

Steam rises from the pot, resembling a large soup pot.

Is this a pool of water that doesn't freeze?

The weather was bad, so Jiang Baobin wouldn't let Si Yan go out hunting either.

For breakfast, we ate dried fish that we had dried earlier.

Taking advantage of the time when he couldn't go out, Jiang Baobin practiced his kung fu while also burning charcoal.

The charcoal was reserved for the hearth in the shack, as the weather grew colder.

Even if a shack is considered indoors, it still needs fire, otherwise you'll suffer!

Charcoal burning involves placing dead tree stumps next to a fire and partially burning and roasting them.

Just to force the smoke out.

Otherwise, with the shack so tightly sealed (although a chimney was still left on the roof), if smoke were to come out, wouldn't that be tantamount to committing suicide by burning charcoal...?