After a solid night's sleep, the rabbit and fish stew left Lin Yu'an feeling refreshed. He smiled at the chest camera. "Good morning, everyone. Day four at Chilko Lake. It's a sunny day, perfect for heavy work. Today I will build the first wall of our new home."
He washed quickly with boiled stream water, reheated the remaining rabbit broth, and added a few Jerusalem artichoke tubers he had verified as safe. It was a plain breakfast, but enough calories for the tasks ahead. He checked the blades on his felling axe and multi tool to make sure they were sharp, then set out for the permanent site.
Stone wall construction was the most basic and most exhausting work he could do, so he began with a plan. Standing on the slope he had cleared, he explained his approach to the camera with the calm precision of someone used to engineering problems.
"Choosing the right stone is key," he said. "Size matters, but shape matters more. Look for rocks with at least one flat face so they stack tightly. I will use a binder of wet soil and wood ash to fill joints and windproof the wall."
He combed the nearby hillside and streambed, lifting and testing stones for flat faces and workable weight. Moving rocks was backbreaking work. "This stone is heavy," he joked into the camera as he pried a slab free and carried it to the building site. He did most of the labor by hand, though he sometimes used the container space discreetly to ease extreme loads. He wanted this shelter to be mostly his own work.
With a pile of suitable stones gathered, he began the first course. Each rock found its partner and he packed soil mixed with wood ash into the gaps to lock the faces together. He set stones so beds bore the load directly, and he tamped the joints with a wooden mallet to create tight contact. Hours of steady stacking raised the wall a few courses.
By midday his lower back ached, but the wall had taken shape. "Not perfect yet," he told the camera, breath a little heavy, "but this is our morning masterpiece." The progress gave a real sense of security.
He paused in the afternoon to conserve energy and check snares. Trap yields are inconsistent, and the rainy weather had likely reduced activity, but one elastic noose had a small catch: a gray wood pigeon. Another trap had been chewed through and the bait stolen. He knelt, inspected fur and teeth marks, and addressed the camera in a low voice.
"Looks like a mustelid or marten has been here," he said. "Their teeth chew through fiber nooses. I will reinforce traps with wire for those spots."
He repaired snares and rebaited key lines, then moved to a clearing by the stream to practice archery. He had chosen a 50 pound American longbow for reliability in the field. As he nocked arrows he explained the tradeoffs.
"A compound bow saves effort, but it is delicate. A recurve or longbow is simpler and tougher in a harsh environment," he said. He drew, held steady, and released. The arrow thudded into a dead snag twenty meters away. Repetition improved his form. "Not bad. With practice this will be a reliable hunting tool."
Rain began to fall late in the afternoon, thin at first and then steady. Back in the temporary shelter he banked the fire and prepared dinner from the pigeon, marinating it lightly with the spices he had hidden in his pack. The tarpaulin roof held. Raindrops pattered overhead while he sketched tomorrow's plan on a strip of bark: more stone selection, another wall course, and stockpiling wood.
The rain continued through the night and the air felt damp and cold the next morning. The ground around the shelter was muddy, and every step made a soft sucking sound. Lin Yu'an crawled from his sleeping bag and spoke to the camera, which had fogged slightly from the moisture.
"Good morning. The rain stopped for now, but the sky is still heavy," he said. "Our shelter withstood the test. No leaks. That's the main thing."
He banked the coals and ate the last of the Jerusalem artichokes for breakfast. "Those tubers are almost done for now. Best harvest in about twenty days," he told the camera. "We will save them as reserves."
He outlined three tasks for the day. "First, raise the stone wall. Second, check traps. Third, if the weather allows, practice archery." Then he headed into the freshly washed forest.
A note to readers: some may think the container space is underused. The cheat will not be developed fully in these early stages. The Lone in the Wild arc requires continuous footage and careful documentation so there is no room for easy shortcuts. Anyone who watched past seasons knows a champion was once accused of surviving on nothing but water. This story focuses on genuine wilderness survival, not leaning on a cheat code to do nothing. This arc is important for the plot that follows.