The night the shelter was completed, Lin Yu'an lit the bonfire pit in the stone house he had built with his own hands for the first time.
The warm firelight reflected on the rugged stone walls, immediately dispelling the chill and darkness of the mountain forest.
Outside, the autumn wind howled, but inside the stone house, it was as warm as spring and full of a sense of security.
The only drawback was that the anticipated smoke exhaust method wasn't very effective, and the smoke produced by the bonfire was a bit much. He had to find a way to solve this problem. Fortunately, Lin Yu'an already had a preliminary idea in mind.
Lin Yu'an roasted a few trout he had caught during the day, and the aroma of the fish permeated the small stone house.
Once the permanent shelter was basically stable, Lin Yu'an had more energy and time to explore the broader surrounding areas.
He needed to find more abundant food sources, understand potential dangers, and make full preparations for the long winter ahead.
He would spend several hours each day, carrying his bow and arrows and backpack, venturing into areas deep in the forest that he had never set foot in before, spanning several kilometers.
During an exploration to the west, he discovered a path formed by large animals trampling repeatedly.
On the path, there were scattered some huge, plum blossom-shaped footprints and some gnawed tree bark and broken branches.
"Guys, look at this!"
Lin Yu'an squatted down, carefully examining those footprints: "These footprints... are very large and very fresh!"
"Judging from the shape and size, it doesn't seem like a white-tailed deer, but more like... an elk or an even larger moose! There must be big creatures around here!"
This discovery made him both excited and cautious. Elk and moose are excellent protein sources, and if he could hunt one, it would be enough for Lin Yu'an to get through the entire winter!
However, the presence of these large herbivores often means there are higher-level predators nearby!
In another dense bush near the lakeside, he discovered some tree trunks torn by claws and some huge feces mixed with animal fur and undigested food remnants.
"Oh... damn!"
Lin Yu'an looked at those marks, took a sharp breath, and lowered his voice towards the camera.
"This... is definitely left by a bear! And judging by the freshness of the feces, it shouldn't have left here long ago!"
Whether it was psychological or not, he seemed to clearly smell that strong, slightly fishy scent unique to bears in the air!
An intense sense of crisis instantly engulfed him!
He immediately looked around alertly. Although he never intended to provoke such a massive creature, the bear might actively attack him instead!
On instinct, he checked the bear spray in his space and that large-caliber bear hunting handgun. The existence of the space made him feel safe, but he must also be prepared for a face-to-face battle with a Grizzly Bear!
"Guys, I need to be more careful. In the future, every time I go out, I must stay vigilant and try to avoid those major beasts' core activity areas."
This close encounter with the bear felt like a cold splash of water on Lin Yu'an's slightly relaxed mood after the completion of the shelter.
He didn't continue exploring further but carefully retraced his steps back to the camp.
Lin Yu'an woke up again from the simple bed made of pine needles in the shelter.
The time had come to his seventeenth day of survival alone.
"Good morning, folks. Last night seemed quite peaceful. The early warning devices weren't triggered, and I didn't hear anything unusual."
"However, since discovering the traces of the Grizzly Bear, I always feel like there's a stone hanging in my heart! Today I must inspect the camp surroundings more thoroughly and set up a few more warning mechanisms."
After a simple wash-up with heated stream water and eating a few pieces of smoked fish and some nuts, Lin Yu'an began his patrols for the day.
He purposely thinned out the dense branches and bushes around the camp to improve visibility and avoid places where animals might hide.
He also set up a few simple, noise-making branch triggers on some key paths, hoping they could alert him in advance to approaching animals.
He carefully cleaned up the food scraps around the camp and buried them deeply far from the shelter, compressing them to reduce the spread of scent as much as possible.
He even considered making a wooden gate with spikes at the entrance of the shelter. But after thinking it over, he figured it was pointless without the necessary tools and materials. Wood spikes would only serve as a chew toy for the bears.
As he concentrated on thinking about how to strengthen the camp's defenses, a familiar sound of rotor blades grew from afar, breaking the tranquility of the mountains and forests.
Lin Yu'an perked up, looking skyward.
A small Bell helicopter flew from the distant valley, circled over his camp, and then slowly landed on the relatively open riverbank, which was a pre-arranged meeting point.
Lin Yu'an tidied up his clothes, ensuring he didn't look too disheveled, and quickly walked towards the riverbank.
After the helicopter steadied, the cabin door opened, and two staff members wearing jackets with the "Alone in the Wilderness" logo came down.
One was a technician carrying a professional camera bag, and the other was Michelle King, the marketing representative from the program team whom Lin Yu'an had met during his online interview.
"Lin! You look great!" Michelle King said with a professional smile, extending her hand.
Lin Yu'an gave her a gentle handshake, "Ms. Jin, I didn't expect you'd come to the wilderness yourself, just in time to check out the shelter I just built."
He jokingly pointed to the stone house not far away, almost blending into the hillside.
The technician walked straight to Lin Yu'an, skillfully changing the batteries and memory cards for the camera on his chest and the handheld one, carefully checking the equipment's status.
After inspecting, the technician nodded at him, "The equipment is fine, Lin, and the footage quality you shot is high."
Michelle King then took out a tablet to start a brief routine inquiry, "Lin, as per procedure, I need to check on your physical condition. How have you been feeling recently? Any injuries or illness? Are food and water sufficient?"
Lin Yu'an answered truthfully, "Everything's fine, Ms. Jin. I'm healthy, no injuries, food mainly from hunting and fishing, I can still maintain, and the water source is very sufficient, the creek's water quality is excellent."
Michelle nodded in satisfaction, recording something on the tablet.
She looked up, with a subtly meaningful smile, "Lin, there's something you might not know yet—you're somewhat of a 'viral star' outside!"
Lin Yu'an was taken aback, "Viral star?"
"Yes, your heroic actions in the supermarket, along with your unique identity as a Chinese international student and your story of signing up for 'Alone in the Wilderness' have sparked a huge public interest!"
"Many people are eagerly anticipating seeing your performance in the wilderness, and you could say you're one of the most talked-about contestants this season."
"Moreover, a reasonable offer has been made by your country's online video platform to buy the broadcast rights, so your family and friends will soon be able to watch your performance."
She paused, her tone carrying a hint of encouragement.
"So, Lin, perform well, seize this opportunity, and show your full potential! It's not just about that one million US Dollar prize but it could also bring unexpected changes to your future life."
Listening to Michelle's words, Lin Yu'an felt little waves in his heart. These didn't hold much allure for him; he just wanted to win the prize and live a peaceful life with Aliya.
"Thank you for the reminder, Ms. Jin, I'll do my best." He responded calmly.
The staff soon completed all their tasks, and the helicopter roared back to life, disappearing into the distant sky.
Lin Yu'an stood on the riverbank, watching the helicopter fade away, and the subtle feeling of temporary connection with the civilized world dissipated as well.
He returned once more to this primitive and solitary wilderness.
"Folks, the production team just left."
"I should go look for food too. But before that, I must solve one big issue—heating and cooking efficiency."
He pointed to the simple stone pit in the corner of the stone house, "This fire pit, although usable, produces too much smoke, and the heat loss is significant, wasting firewood."
"More importantly, burning an open fire in a confined space for a long time is very unsafe."
"Fortunately, a few days ago, I successfully caught nearly forty pounds of fish. I've smoked and dried them into about twenty-seven to eight pounds of jerky by now."
"The amount of food can support a plan I've had in mind for a while!"
"That is, to build a safe stove inside the stone shelter!"