Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 17 Completion of the Main House

A rocky beach.

Zhou Ye hid behind a large rock, secretly watching a herd of deer in the distance.

The herd of deer numbered about twenty, spaced about a hundred paces apart. What was rather strange, however, was that these deer seemed remarkably disciplined; they were lined up, taking turns licking a rock face nearby.

This left Zhou Ye completely puzzled. How could even the wild beasts here have become spirits?

Let's not worry about all that, let's first consider whether we can catch a few.

Although Zhou Ye no longer lacked meat after hunting wild boar, the urge to hunt when prey was right in front of him was still irresistible.

Drawing a javelin, Zhou Ye used the large rocks and bushes as cover to quietly approach. Based on his current strength, he needed to get within thirty paces of them.

In this way, Zhou Ye quickly reached the fifty-step mark. The next step was even more crucial; he absolutely could not disturb the deer herd.

After taking a few deep breaths, Zhou Ye once again dodged and hid behind a clump of bushes a few steps ahead. But the deer acting as lookout seemed to sense something and immediately began to look around.

Seeing this, Zhou Ye dared not act rashly. He waited for quite a while, until the deer herd had calmed down, before he made his move again…

However, as soon as they stood up, they were spotted by the deer herd. With the lead deer letting out a sharp cry, the entire herd took off running.

After chasing for a few steps, Zhou Ye threw the javelin with all his might, but it landed behind the deer herd and only hit air.

With regret, Zhou Ye retrieved the javelin. Perhaps it wasn't even a battle; he hadn't even gained any experience points in basic throwing.

However, Zhou Ye found it a bit strange. What were those deer licking? It was clearly a rock face. Could rocks taste that good?

Upon reaching the rock face, we noticed a water stain. Water was slowly seeping out, forming tiny droplets on the rock.

So those deer were licking water droplets?

Using a tree growing obliquely on the cliff face, Zhou Ye climbed up to the top. He immediately discovered the source of the seepage: a dozen or so cracks, each a few feet in diameter. Water was constantly seeping from these cracks.

Zhou Ye wet his palm and licked the water with his tongue. He immediately felt a bitter taste in his mouth. Then his eyes lit up, and he was overjoyed: "Salt! This is rock salt. So this rock wall is rock salt rock!"

Thanks for watching those wilderness survival shows. How to obtain salt in the wild? This is a very important topic. This includes seawater extraction and using rock salt.

Zhou Ye not only knew about this mineral, but also knew how to extract salt using traditional methods.

Speaking of salt, this is one of the most worrying shortcomings in our little home. So, having discovered these rock salt stones, what else do we need?

After quickly running around the area and finding no other threats, Zhou Ye ended his patrol of the area behind the steep cliff.

After Zhou Ye hurriedly returned to his small home, he took his tools and dug out over a hundred kilograms of rock salt that very day...

……

However, the most important task at present is still to make bricks.

Once the kiln was warmed up, Zhou Ye placed the finished mud bricks into the kiln and officially began firing the bricks.

Without modern instruments to monitor temperature, firing bricks using traditional methods would be a long process that requires very slow heating.

The most crucial day is the third day. The brick kiln needs to reach extremely high temperatures, and bellows must be used to blow air constantly. You can hardly close your eyes all day.

Therefore, the first day was relatively easy. Apart from adding some charcoal from time to time, there wasn't much else to do.

Taking advantage of this free time, Zhou Ye began to extract salt.

Crush the rock salt into powder with a sledgehammer, then add the powder to a basin of water. Once the salt has dissolved, pour the brine into a water vat and add wood ash. When in doubt, wood ash is always a good choice.

After a day of settling, filter out the impurities and then purify with charcoal.

In one more day, we can start boiling the salt. The salt that is finally extracted is edible table salt.

Therefore, during these three days, Zhou Ye was extracting salt while firing the brick kiln. He eventually discovered that the salt content of these rock salt stones was not very high; 100 jin of rock salt stones could only yield a little over 30 jin of salt.

But no matter what, having a source of salt at all meant I could finally relax.

After the most arduous third day, the brick kiln began to cool down slowly. After another day of firing, the charcoal was allowed to extinguish itself, and natural cooling began.

It is important to know that the temperature for firing bricks must not change suddenly, otherwise the bricks will crack.

Finally, the natural cooling phase began, and Zhou Ye suddenly had some free time again.

In about twenty days, it will be early autumn. The crops in the fields should be ready for harvest. We need to hurry up and plant the winter wheat.

With this in mind, Zhou Ye used the next few days to build a waist-high fence around the land and covered it with a thick layer of clay. He also placed many scarecrows in various locations.

Although it can't stop those big wild beasts, it can at least scare away small animals and birds from stealing food... right?

Finding that there was still plenty of time, Zhou Ye took the opportunity to build a smokehouse outside his small garden...

And so, the natural cooling process finally ended, and the moment to witness a miracle arrived.

When Zhou Ye opened the brick kiln, he saw rows of red bricks neatly arranged. The quality was absolutely up to standard, certainly enough to build enough chimneys.

Now we've reached the final stages of finishing the main house.

Over the next few days, the chimney was built. Then the roof was completed. Inside, a fireplace and hearth were built, and outside, a thatched roof and reinforced concrete walls were laid…

That day, seeing that the three main houses had been successfully completed, Zhou Ye smiled with satisfaction. After nearly three months of transmigrating, he finally had a home.

As arranged, the central room will be used as the kitchen and dining room. The room on the right will be the bedroom, and the room on the left will be used as a storage room.

Less important supplies will be stored in the vacant bamboo hut. More important supplies will be stored in the main house.

Move everything to its designated place. As for the remaining items in the yard, we can deal with them later!

To celebrate moving into his new home, Zhou Ye cooked a lavish feast that evening. The dishes included fish, meat, vegetables, and fruits. He even indulged himself a little, pouring himself a full glass of wine.

After drinking and eating, Zhou Ye was already slightly drunk.

The construction of our little home is basically complete. Almost everything related to food, clothing, shelter, and transportation has been taken care of. Whatever the future holds, let's at least be happy today!