The weather was nice that day, aside from the lower temperatures in the morning and evening. The sunshine was still quite brilliant today.
Wen Qian was surfing the internet near the pasture for a while, but she hadn't received any messages from others. Perhaps it had been too long since she had contacted anyone, so no one would continue to actively reach out to her.
She searched for keywords like disaster, climate, and weather forecasts to check related information.
What she could see without searching was a discussion about an explosion at the M Country's presidential residence a week ago. However, the new president wasn't there, so it turned out to be a false alarm.
At the same time, she also noticed rumors about Yellowstone National Park.
The park itself is a massive volcanic crater, which she had known about for a long time. Every year, people worry that it might suddenly reawaken.
The park has become increasingly active year after year. No one knows when it might destroy the entire M Country. This year's data also shows greater activity than previous years, causing more concern.
But some people say that increasing activity year-over-year doesn't necessarily mean anything.
In the modern era of rapid technological development, humanity is still powerless in the face of nature's might.
Even if we could predict it, we would be unable to stop it.
People will migrate in search of suitable living environments, but what if nowhere is suitable?
Wen Qian only checked the news in this area for two hours before turning off her phone and walking back.
Winter is coming, so there will be frost in the mornings.
The wind here is stronger than in other places, making it very uncomfortable when it blows on one's face.
Wen Qian didn't go out but continued to add firewood to the small wooden house.
Previously, she had smoothed out the wood inside, applied insect repellent, and put the bed frame outside to sun before bringing it back into the room.
She had made the bed frame a bit smaller since the current house was not the same size as the original one. Here, she only had one small house filled with everything she needed for daily life, with even the movement paths pre-planned.
At this time, Wen Qian was decorating every corner of the small wooden house. After taking care of the interior details, she worked on the outside.
There was a porch at the entrance, with some bamboo poles stacked there. Wen Qian sawed the bamboo poles to a suitable height, then encircled her house with them, tying ropes in between to create a yard of sorts.
This yard is not of much use at the moment, but in winter it might help indicate directions. For other purposes, she'll have to wait until spring.
Afterwards, Wen Qian set up a ladder and trimmed the branches and twigs of the nearby trees.
The dried branches, along with the scraps from building the house that were still in her spatial storage, and the firewood currently scattered on the hillside, she began to gather around her house.
Before winter arrives, she needs to build at least a small shed near her home and pile some firewood underneath.
At the very least, the area around her home should look like a normal living space, not an odd place devoid of any signs of life.
Although she hasn't encountered anyone yet, she doesn't rule out the possibility of meeting someone in the future. After winter, if there's not a single piece of firewood stored in her home, that would be even stranger.
After trimming all the nearby trees, she went to the foot of the mountain opposite her house to chop down some more trees and bring them back.
Some were stacked outside the house, while others were stored in her spatial storage.
For the time being, all she had to do was chop firewood. If possible, she would have liked to store enough for the next ten years.
After building the house, she picked out suitable scraps from the remaining materials to make two small stools and a high stool.
Chairs were still too difficult for her, so she wouldn't consider them for now.
The windows were taken from the previous portable board house, with two layers of burglar-proof windows installed outside. Wen Qian made a curtain and a wooden board the same size as the window. When the time comes, she can seal one layer outside and one layer inside to prevent intrusion.
The small desk was something she had picked up before. Her desk from her previous home was not suitable for the small house, but the stainless steel table top above the fireplace worked well.
While chopping firewood, she went to the nearby stream and collected a lot of water.
She didn't directly take water from the stream but dug a pool beside it, allowing the water to slowly seep in. Then she brought it home, added disinfectant tablets, and used it.
For both water sources and wood, she had them nearby, but she deliberately went farther away to obtain them, hoping to spread her footprints wider instead of just staying around her small house.
She has settled in this place, starting to use the water, burn the firewood, and even attempting to cook local dishes here.
Of course, cooking here requires something like a pressure cooker, otherwise the food won't cook properly.
At the same time, she also tried to see if there were any other creatures in the nearby stream but found no fish in the closest stream.
Meanwhile, she also observed the surrounding wildlife, so far only spotting rats that had dug holes near her home and birds circling in the sky. She hasn't seen anything else.
However, this is fine. For her, too many small wild animals might attract larger predators at the top of the food chain, so it's better to have none.
It is quite desolate, though.
During this time, she walked eastward back to the old national highway, following it to the Jade Mountain Pass in the Jade Mountain Range, where there is a famous alpine spring.
Local residents and passing drivers all frequently come here to collect drinking water, as it is a very high-quality water source.
This was a place she had wanted to go for a long time, but she hadn't gone because her house wasn't built yet.
Now that it's almost done, she went and filled all her containers with the spring water before leaving.
Watching the nearby villagers collect water from the main spring and wash vegetables from the side springs, Wen Qian felt very envious.
This is a pass in the Jade Mountain Range. Walking along this route is quite barren, but this place has become a scenic spot, the only uplifting place on this entire road.
Wen Qian thinks she can come here regularly to collect water, using the stream water she obtains from other places for miscellaneous purposes, while getting her drinking water from this spring.
Xia Province has many places to explore, and there are many scenic spots that Wen Qian hasn't seen before.
Heading north through the uninhabited area, there is a very beautiful salt lake and salt field marked on the map.
There is also a hot spring with an extremely high sulfur content where not a single blade of grass grows, although it is a scenic spot. Wen Qian wants to go there and stockpile some sulfur, as it might come in handy in the future.
In any case, she tries to understand all the different places in the area, as familiarity is the key to utilizing them.
Wen Qian is not very clear about what has happened to this world. The last time she turned off her phone, she never checked for new information near the pasture again.
Coincidentally, just as she turned off her phone and walked home, a huge boom erupted somewhere on Earth.
Next, the entire globe shook, but Wen Qian was unaware of this.
