King of the Wilderness

Chapter 357: Chapter 218: Inuit Snow House (Part 2)

As soon as he stepped out, the entire world was instantly devoured by the roaring wind. All other sounds disappeared, leaving only the howl of the wind.

He seemed like a lone boat, navigating an ocean churning with white giant waves. He could only lower his head, slightly hunching his body to reduce wind resistance, each step taken with utmost stability.

Braving the wind, relying on his memory of the terrain, he trudged arduously toward the direction of the lake surface.

He didn’t head for the center of the lake, but stopped instead at an area near the shore where the wind was most concentrated.

Here, the ice surface was almost ”polished” by the fierce wind, leaving only a layer of snow compacted as hard as stone.

He stamped forcefully with the heel of his boot, and the snow layer emitted a solid ”bang bang” sound, akin to knocking on a wooden plank, leaving only a shallow mark.

”It’s right here.” He murmured to himself, his voice nearly swept away by the wind.

Kneeling on the snow, he began the first step of the entire project, cutting the snow bricks.

Lacking an appropriate snow knife, he had an even better substitute, taking out the Triangular Hand Saw from his coat. Using it to cut the high-density wind-compacted snow was simply ideal.

Firstly, he used the Hunting Knife to accurately draw a rectangular outline on the snow’s surface, then aimed the saw’s tip at one corner of the line, easily piercing the snow layer and swiftly pulling it back and forth.

The fine teeth of the saw swiftly sliced through the compacted snow, producing a series of ”hiss hiss” sounds. The saw not only made cutting easier but also left cleaner, smoother edges.

Following the outline, he sawed out four neat grooves. Finally, wedging the back of the logging axe into the bottom crevice and using the axe handle as a lever, he pried upward forcefully.

With a ”crack” sound, a snow brick resembling a massive tofu block was perfectly pried up.

Lin Yu’an lifted the first snow brick up to the GoPro camera for display, as snowflakes furiously hit upon it but only futilely slid off.

”Look, everyone, a perfect ’wind-compacted snow’ brick. Its texture is extremely dense and uniform, almost devoid of visible ice crystal particles. Holding it in hand is quite heavy, at least a dozen kilograms.”

”Its compressive strength is enough to support the weight of an adult, which forms the foundation for today’s entire engineering project.”

For the next hour, Lin Yu’an resembled an indefatigable machine, repeating the actions of outlining, sawing, and prying amidst the fierce wind and snow.

Soon, around him was a neatly stacked collection of twenty to thirty snow bricks of various sizes, resembling a small white quarry.

Having prepared enough building materials, Lin Yu’an commenced his construction. Unlike constructing a brick wall by straightforwardly stacking the snow bricks vertically one by one.

He employed a building method inherited for millennia by the Inuit, full of geometric wisdom.

The first step was precisely sketching a perfect circle with a diameter of about one and a half meters at the chosen spot on the snow, which would serve as the foundation of the smoke room.

Then, arranging the first layer of snow bricks closely along this circle. Yet they weren’t placed in a horizontal ring.

Lin Yu’an used the Hunting Knife to trim the upper surface of this circle of snow bricks into a gently descending spiral slope.

”Now, it’s the most critical step in the entire building process.”

He explained to the camera, ”This snow house cannot be built layer by layer upwards, as there’s no cohesion between walls, making it prone to collapse. We need to use a spiral ascending structure.”

As he spoke, he placed a new snow brick at the lowest point of the spiral slope. The presence of the slope caused this brick to naturally tilt inward at a slight angle.

Using the back of the Hunting Knife, he lightly tapped, adjusting its position, and trimmed the side facing the previous snow brick into a perfect slanted surface, enabling a tight fit between them.

Then, he continued placing new snow bricks one by one upward along this spiral slope.

Each snow brick was placed slightly higher than the previous one and tilted inward at an even greater angle.

He acted like a masterful sculptor, continuously trimming the contact surface of each snow brick with the Hunting Knife, making them support and interlock like precise gears.

Soon, a white spiral wall began to converge, gradually forming the outline of a perfect hemispherical dome.

As the wall reached near completion, he paused. Using the hand saw, he carved out a semi-circular arched doorway in the direction facing the shelter.

Next, on the opposite side of the arched doorway, where the smoke duct would be connected, he cut out a smaller square opening in the same manner.

After finishing all these tasks, he carefully fitted the last meticulously trimmed trapezoidal snow brick like a keystone into the central void at the top of the dome.

With the placement of this last snow brick, the entire hemispherical snow house structure instantly completed its mechanical loop, becoming exceptionally sturdy.

Lin Yu’an patted the outer wall contentedly, then bent down to enter the newly born white dome. The noise of the wind was immediately isolated outside, and the world suddenly fell quiet.

”Alright, the main structure is complete. A solid shell to shield us from wind and snow.” He spoke to the camera, his voice creating a wonderful resonance inside the snow house.

”However, for a cold smoke room requiring precise temperature control, mere sturdiness is far from enough; it also requires stability.”