The stones here, after years of being washed by the flowing water, have mostly become round and smooth, making them unsuitable for directly building walls.

However, what he needed was a small portion of these stones, those extremely flat slate stones shaped by the water.

"These are our best wedge stones."

As he searched the creek bed, he explained: "Their thickness varies, ranging from one centimeter to five or six centimeters. They're perfect for leveling and filling gaps."

The sky gradually darkened, and an orange-red sunset appeared on the distant horizon.

Lin Yu'an's stone collection work was finally nearing its end. Looking at the two piles of stones on the hillside and creek bed, he wore a weary yet satisfied smile.

He selected the first batch of foundational stones and main wall stones needed for construction the next morning and arduously transported them back to the pit's side.

Then, he returned to the camp and immediately started a fire to cook.

In the cold air, a warm flame quickly flickered in the stone oven, illuminating his face, darkened by sweat and dust.

After a whole day of intense physical exertion, his body desperately needed a substantial intake of protein and calories for recovery and replenishment.

Grilled rabbit meat, though aromatic, had a dry texture and lost a significant amount of precious juices during cooking.

Tonight, he decided to switch to a more nourishing cooking method that maximized the use of all nutrients—stewing rabbit meat.

He took the remaining rabbit from yesterday and, with his Damascus Hunting Knife, swiftly and cleanly broke it down into large pieces, following the bone structure.

He then placed them all in the slightly smoky blackened MSR stainless steel pot, adding enough freshwater to just cover the rabbit meat.

Soon after, he set the pot securely on the fire.

While waiting for the water to boil, he retrieved some broadleaf cattail roots he'd dug up a few days ago from the reserve nearby.

He used a knife to scrape off the rough outer skin of the stems, revealing the starchy, white flesh inside, and then sliced them thickly, planning to add them to the pot just before serving.

Bulrush roots are a great source of carbohydrates and become soft and glutinous after cooking, making the broth thicker.

He also took a small handful of frost-bitten rock cranberries from his gathering bag.

Instead of directly throwing them into the pot, he first sliced them up, squeezing out the tart red juice, and added the juice and pulp to the stew.

"The fruit acid from the cranberries works like cooking wine, efficiently removing the gamey taste from the wild rabbit meat while making it more tender."

Soon, the water in the pot began to boil, with a grey foam forming on the surface.

Lin Yu'an used a thin wooden slice as a skimmer to carefully remove all the floating foam.

He didn't linger by the fire doing nothing; to stew this tough wild rabbit meat until tender required at least one and a half hours or more.

He had other plans for this valuable time.

He adjusted the fire to a medium heat, ensuring the broth maintained a gentle simmer, then got up to start processing the two whole rabbit skins.

Using icy creek water, he washed off the blood and flesh remnants on the rabbit skins, then wrung them out with effort.

Without rabbit brains as natural tannins, he could only use another effective method—smoke tanning.

First, with the Damascus Hunting Knife, he carefully scraped away all remaining fat and fascia from the skin side of the rabbit skins until they were clean and smooth.

Once processed, he threaded the two rabbit skins together with a rope to form a pouch-like shape.

Then, he suspended them on a crossbar supported by a tripod, about a meter off the ground.

Next, he dug a small fire pit directly under this "skin pouch," gathering some half-dry, half-wet pine wood and moss rich in resin.

He first used embers from the campfire to ignite these materials. Once they began to emit thick, choking white smoke, he promptly covered most of the fire pit with damp moss, leaving only a smoke outlet.

"Smoke tanning utilizes the formaldehyde and phenolic compounds in the smoke to fix the collagen fibers in the leather, preventing them from hardening and rotting after drying."

Facing the camera, he explained, "At the same time, smoke tanning also imparts a certain degree of waterproof and insect-resistant properties to the leather."

Thick smoke rolled upward, continuously filling the inverted "skin pouch," thoroughly enveloping the two rabbit skins.

This process needed to last for several hours, which conveniently coincided with his cooking and dining time.

After setting up the smoking apparatus, he began preparing for stone work the next day.

He took out the hard Arkansas Stone gifted by Stan and his logging axe.

He utilized the time while stewing the meat to patiently sharpen the axe back to its optimal condition.

The meticulous sharpening stone slowly slid across the hard steel, emitting a "swishing" sound, interspersed with the whistling wind.

Along with the bubbling sound of the stew in the pot and the sizzling sound from the smoke pit.

This intertwined into a unique symphony of serenity and strength belonging to the wilderness!

Time quietly slipped away in focused work.

An hour later, the broth in the pot had thickened by half, and then he added the bulrush roots and some sea salt.

A rich aroma, a mix of meat fragrance, sweet smell of plant roots, and a hint of tartness from the fruit, spread throughout the camp.

Another thirty minutes passed, Lin Yu'an put down his work, approached the pot now a bit thickened.

He gently pierced the largest piece of rabbit meat with chopsticks, which slid in with almost no resistance.

"Done."

He removed the pot from the fire, setting it aside to cool slightly.

First, he drank a mouthful of hot soup; initially, there was a faint taste of meat, followed by a potato-like starchiness from the bulrush roots.

Finally, the appropriately sour cranberries perfectly balanced all the flavors, making the whole bowl of soup rich and not too hard to swallow.

A warm current slid down his throat and into his stomach, instantly dispelling the day's accumulated fatigue and cold.

Then, he began to enjoy the main course.

After a long, slow stew, the rabbit meat was saturated with the delicious broth, becoming extremely tender, easily falling off the bone with a light touch of the chopsticks.

He ate quickly, taking big mouthfuls of soup and meat, polishing off the entire pot of stew.

This wasn't just a dinner, but a timely energy recharge.

After the meal, he checked the smoked rabbit skins. The smoke had tanned the skins a beautiful, uneven golden-yellow.

However, the tanning wasn't complete and would need to continue tomorrow.

After completing all this, he finally felt an irresistible drowsiness overtaking him.

Tomorrow would be an even more challenging day.