Looking at a large raw leg of lamb, and sheepskin not nitrated in the hand, Zona still first built a fire, still grinding her hands raw pain, grass foam smoke, she hurriedly used her hands to gather, her cheeks bulging round, blowing vigorously to help the fire.
Finally, the dry, broken grass and dead branches were laid on top of the fire, and only then did the flames start, and a small wisp of smoke was dispersed by the wind into the forest.
Varg lay on his side in the old tree, through the layers of branches, looked at the pile of fire Zona, the swaying red fire is very dangerous, after his observation in the past few days, Zona, although thin and weak, but her manual dexterity and common sense is very strong, it seems that she is not so easy to die, any life has its own way of life and the knack of survival.
Zona also looked up and searched the very high and dense canopy, not hearing any movement. Conscious that the man had agreed to what he was doing in this territory, she planned to eat her fill first.
Only the not-so-small leg of lamb was set over the fire to roast, and in a moment the charred aroma of cooked meat and grease spread.
Zona sliced off a piece of the leg that had some fat on it, and that was roasting in the oil. zona placed the meat in a porcelain bowl and carried it up to the platform of the treehouse.
Standing here, one could only see one of the man's long legs, the muscles were gnarled and smooth, as if he could catch up with any prey, and on such a cold day, the man was only wearing animal skin pants on the lower half of his body, not cold at all.
Zona cleared her throat slightly, "Ahem, that, this is cooked, you can try a piece." Seeing the trunk of the tree move slightly, but she quickly put down the bowl and ran down the ladder kicking and screaming like a startled rabbit.
By the time Zona got off the ladder and turned back, the only thing left on the platform was the ceramic bowl, and a leaf that had just drifted down in it.
Zona stood for a moment, sniffled, with that, she went back to the fire and continued to eat her meat, glad that the man with the golden eyes had accepted her kindness.
The meat of the pan goat was softer and more delicate than that of the wild deer, better to chew, and while it was fresh and flavorful, it had little taste. Zona needed to eat salt, as well as fruits and vegetables, otherwise she'll lose strength over time, and would get on fire and have a lowered resistance.
When she got sick in such an environment, she thought she would die.
So Zona immediately acted, first build the stove, then go to explore the nearby mountains, wild grass and vegetables or pine nuts and fruit, can always find some.
Building an earth stove is relatively simple, first of all, you have to dig the earth, good thing this piece of land is not frozen deep, after half a finger deep you can easily dig the earth. If it was under the mountain, I'm afraid it would all be frozen a meter deep, the frozen soil is extremely hard, but her hands are soft and slender, and her strength is limited, with her strength, she can't plow through the frozen soil.
Zona gathered a clearing, took out a burning stick from the fire, and glanced at the wind direction. At this time of year, most of this mountain forest was northwest windward, which was just the right place to set the stove's vent downwind, or else the wood would have to smolder as it smoked.
She didn't go far, just in the clearing about ten meters in front of the tree root, she dug out a one meter wide, thirty centimeters or so soil pit. Bone knife is not good for digging, she can only sharpen a tree branch, not to mention, it is quite smooth to use. The last process is to spread the gravel next to the fire into the stove, so that the stove can be ventilated.
After everything was done, Zona started the earthen stove and turned back to bring down the old stone pot from the tree house. It was not a pot, but just a piece of stone that had been hollowed out of the pit, and it was quite heavy, so there was no way to do it but to lift it up and throw it down from the wooden house, and then push it with all her strength to the earthen stove.
It's definitely not good for frying things, but at least it doesn't leak and can hold water. So it was used to collect the little clean snow water left in the neighborhood.
Zona, who had been working all morning and was gray from the smoke, finally took her first sip of hot water.
A hot stream could be felt, flowing straight from her throat to her belly. It warmed her curled up intestines and ironed her thin body.
Right now it was midday, the sun was high, and although it was cold, the sunlight was warming.
Zona figured that the larger beasts were resting at this time of day, especially the wolves ...
After thinking for a while, she went back and got her bone knife, sharpened another stick, turned the thin rattan probably into a small basket and carried it behind her back.
Zona was going to explore the nearby mountains and forests, looking for streams and wild fruits. Afraid of getting lost, she also pulled a piece of the silk ribbon that had been tied around her that day and carefully tore it into thin strips, so that she could tie it to a tree and make a mark when the time came.
She took the wooden stick, from the clearing near the ancient tree, gradually walked to the dense forest, thin body sizzling into it, disappeared.
Varg, who was resting on the branches of the ancient tree, suddenly opened his dark golden eyes, the sunlight shook his face through the branches, and he squinted slightly, his vertical pupils shrinking into a line.
Zona picked a route with gentle terrain, walked for a while already, birds are really quite a lot to see, occasionally there is a beautiful pheasant flying by, but she really can't catch up, so she doesn't think about it.
The deeper you go, the warmer the temperature, the more plants, but there is an indescribable flavor, not very good smell, Zona can not describe it.
The trees around them were getting older, not as thick as the one in the tree house, but they were tall and short, and the view was pleasant, most of them still had green leaves, just a few of them were lying on the ground, already dead.
Zona carefully walked over to the dead tree and examined it, realizing that it was solid and hadn't been hollowed out by an animal to live in it, before letting go and starting to search for it.
Sure enough! Under the rotten tree roots covered with dead leaves, there were some mushrooms and some big white fungus packets when they were lifted up! Zona didn't recognize them and didn't dare to eat them blindly, so she only put a few clumps of cockle mushrooms and white mushrooms in the rattan basket, and then covered the pits with rotten leaves and grasses.
Afterwards, she used a stick to turn over the low grass, she also saw a few watercress mixed in the weeds, the wild watercress is a little dry and thin, it should be due to the lack of rainfall in this place. But since watercress can appear, it must not be too far away from the water source!
She pinched these fresh wild vegetables, and continued to walk forward, but the further she walked, the wetter her feet became, and the worse the air smelled.Zona was a bit scared, she had already walked far away, and there were no more ribbons left in her basket to mark the spot.She was also afraid that if the watercress was in front of her, the air would be wetter, and the air smelled worse.Zona was a bit scared.
She was also afraid that if there was a wet swamp in front of her, she would be trapped in it and would not be able to get out. So Zona weighed in her mind that she didn't want to take any chances, and that if there really was no water, she could still ask that man with the golden eyes..
However, thinking of the disk sheep and stag neck similar to the sharp teeth bite out of the bloody holes, she is a little uncertain, suddenly, she's a little worried about whether that man is a blood drinker.
At this time the sunlight is no longer like noon is so full. The more she thought about the more chaotic brain, and even feel this forest chilled seepage, so patted his face, fight, no longer stay, turned back to go to the place.
To a curved neck tree, Zona is from the branch down to pull their own tied silk ribbon, suddenly the canopy "clatter" a few times, out of a furry thing! She was so frightened that she left the branch and stepped back.
Hiding behind a rock, carefully observed, but found that it is just a body some big squirrel, Zona did not make a sound, she knew that as long as she followed it, will be able to find the nut tree!
The squirrel in the woods quickly scurrying east and west, Zona also ran and followed it, but also did not forget to hang a simple and fast in the tree silk ribbon, at the moment the forest is not windy, do not worry about blowing away.
Not far, to a more open forest, here is rarely with the forest kind of extremely high and straight leafy trees, but there are a few more than twenty meters of trees, bark dark gray, there are deep cracks, longitudinal grooves. But the most surprising thing to Zona is that there are some yellow-orange, hairy fruits hanging on the trees.
See that fat guy a few times up the tree, disappeared, Zona on the ground to pick up ripe burr ball.
When she broke it open with her bone cutter, it was a chestnut!
Zona was excited! Chestnuts are delicious and filling, they can be boiled or roasted! And the ones that were broken open were full of fruit.
Without further delay, she put down the basket, dumped out the mushrooms and watercress that she was afraid of being crushed, and picked the ripe ones on the ground that had not rotted and put them in her basket. The chestnut thorns were so strong that Zona was stabbed, so she stopped picking them up with her hands, and instead held the basket in her right hand and poked them in with her left hand using a wooden stick.
There must be a lot of small animals to eat, the fruit on the ground is not a lot, Zona picked up half of the basket and then stopped, she decided to leave the rest to the other animals.