Train Survival: You're really trying to survive!

Chapter 211 Temporary Snow Hut

With skis, Zuli and his group's speed increased significantly.

Their destination was the mountains downstream of the lake, which had a gentle slope and were easier to slide down.

Walking in the snow for extended periods, constantly in contact with it, not only accelerates the loss of body heat but also soaks their clothes, speeding up energy depletion. The water seeping in from the outside, combined with their own sweat, will freeze instantly when blown by the wind. At that point, their warm clothing will become like portable refrigerators—a potentially fatal situation.

Su Li carefully used his skating stick to support himself on the ground and began to glide on the snow. He had never skated or skied before, and now he only felt a surge of nervousness.

Song Mingyu was different. Now, she pushed herself up with both hands on the ground and circled around Su Li like a nimble puppy, constantly chanting, "Yes~ push with both hands at the same time, lean your body forward, and let the snow poles land on the sides of your shoes. That's how you put on more force~"

Following Song Mingyu's instructions, Su Li moved his body little by little with his snow stick, and soon he got the hang of it. His speed increased.

"Thanks, Mingyu. But how come you know how to ski? Aren't you a doctor?"

Where would a doctor find the time to learn to ski? Besides, Song Mingyu was transferred from pediatrics to the emergency room, which was truly a torturous ordeal.

"I used to go out and study with my classmates during my student days, but later I got busy with work and put many things aside," Song Mingyu said with a nostalgic look. "There are many things you don't know. Did you know that I even learned bass in high school?"

"It's hard to believe, Mingyu, that you're a band girl?" Su Li replied in surprise. Song Mingyu often looked like a dead-end office worker, which was completely incompatible with the lively and cheerful band girl.

"Hmph~ Who hasn't been young?" Song Mingyu said, humming a song.

The two chatted as they made their way toward their destination.

Two hours later, the two arrived at the foot of the mountain they were looking for. The mountain was not very high, and the slope was relatively gentle.

At this moment, Song Mingyu taught Su Li a technique for climbing a steep slope. The two of them faced each other, with their skis perpendicular to the slope, and then moved uphill little by little.

"Luckily, the mountain we chose was relatively small, otherwise climbing uphill would have been exhausting," Song Mingyu said thankfully.

Climbing uphill like this, although the speed is slow, helps retain more heat.

“It’s not just about the slope; high mountains are easily occupied by powerful monsters,” Su Li added. “Higher mountains and deeper lakes hold a special place in the eyes of monsters. On land, looking down often means the other party is stronger, while in the water, deeper places mean the other party has a wider range of activities. These advantages in hunting have gradually developed into a symbolic meaning, representing leadership and power.”

"It feels a bit like humans; people with power seem to like looking down on others from a high place."

"Humans are animals too. We all share commonalities."

"So I chose a lower mountain, where it's less likely I'll run into powerful monsters," Su Li said.

As she spoke, the sky gradually began to darken. Su Li glanced at the sky and realized that it was almost dark.

After dark, it's best to avoid going out unless absolutely necessary.

"Let's find a place to spend the night now."

Su Li looked around; all she could see was snow, not a single plant in sight. Sensing the state of her body, she realized that elemental erosion and elemental bacteria were on the verge of erupting.

"Let's drink the fruit tea first, then we'll find a higher place and build a snow house to make do for now."

Su Li was quite familiar with how to build an igloo; he had done a force analysis of an igloo on his physics exam.

He first found a place with relatively high terrain.

Then he took out the stones he had collected while digging the tunnel to survive.

These are large, square stone bricks that have been approved by the system, making them very suitable for the local foundation.

Zuli picked up the stone bricks and began laying the foundation.

The foundation was laid on both sides, and an air inlet was run underneath.

Then, Su Li walked to a spot that hadn't been trampled on yet and used her greatsword to cut through the snow. After cutting for a while, she moved a snow brick down.

The climate here is so cold that the outer shell of the snow has long been frozen solid. Snow bricks are very easy to collect.

Su Li knocked out the snow bricks and began to trim them with her greatsword. "Smooth the edges of the snow bricks so they can fit together later."

One snow brick, two snow bricks, three snow bricks—the two of them worked quickly and soon had stockpiled quite a few snow bricks.

Su Li drew a circle on the ground with her greatsword. It wasn't big, just big enough for two people to lie in. Then Su Li started piling snow bricks on top of the circle she had drawn.

By this time, it had gotten dark, and the temperature began to drop sharply.

Su Li glanced at the progress of the snow house; it was already over 1 meter high, but the most difficult part was yet to come.

"Let's start a fire; we need to build the igloo in the dark."

Song Mingyu took out the wood she had collected earlier and piled it in the middle of the snow house. Su Li's hands emitted flames, which she slowly ignited.

"Luckily, there's basically no wind here, otherwise it would be a real problem," Song Mingyu remarked.

They were lucky; they hadn't encountered any strong winds these past few days. Perhaps it was because the sun wasn't very strong here.

Light the fire; because the wood was made by the system, the smoke wasn't very thick.

Using the flickering firelight, Zuli and his companions continued building the snow house.

Now, it's time to start building the roof of the snow house. Su Li took out the branches left over from the previous logging and used them as supports to start building the roof of the snow house.

"Completed!" Su Li exclaimed with delight as she placed the last snow brick on the roof. "Great success!"

The flames scorched the interior of the igloo, melting some of the snow, which then refrozen due to the low temperature, forming a layer of frost on the surface.

"Hey, I've seen igloos since I was a kid and always wanted to build one myself. I never thought my dream would come true."

Su Li excitedly pulled Song Mingyu into the snow house.

As soon as she entered, Song Mingyu felt a wave of warmth, as if she had stepped into a greenhouse.

"Is the ventilation okay?" Song Mingyu asked.

“No problem, I left a ventilation opening.” Su Li gave a thumbs up; if this were a comic book, his teeth would probably be flashing right now.

Before long, the temperature inside the snow house rose, and Su Li and the others took off their bulky gear and warmed their frozen hands and feet by the fire.

On the fire were several glass bottles. These were the juices that Su Li and Sophia had left over. The remaining glass bottles were temporarily used as pots by Su Li and the others.

There are a total of 4 glass bottles. Two of them are used to boil water. After boiling, the water is poured into the other two glass bottles.

These two glass jars contain cloud-like pieces of brown ice tree root that have been boiled. These cloud-like pieces are rich in colloids and tree sap, and can also inhibit the growth of elemental bacteria, making them a very good food. After being cooked, they taste somewhat like white fungus soup.

Su Li drank the heated red plum fruit tea, and feeling that the cloud slices in the glass bottle were almost cooked, she added the little venison they had left.

A short while later, a rich aroma of meat... or was it? Well, Su Li found it hard to honestly call it the smell of meat; the smell was incredibly strange, a mixture of grassy and deer-like odors.

However, its advantage lies in being hot soup.

Su Li and Song Mingyu took the glass and slowly drank their dinner.

Licking her lips, Song Mingyu looked at Su Li.

"Sulli, did you know that venison can be used as a medicinal ingredient? Why don't you guess what its uses are?"

"..." Su Li's eyes widened as she looked at Song Mingyu, who had moved closer. "Sister Song, no!"