Let's make a little mud stove.

“It feels even colder than that night on Eggshell Island!”

“Quick, get the bear fur coat! I want the bear fur coat!”

“Let’s huddle together a bit longer to keep warm!”

“Why don’t we build a fire in the cave?”

“No, the smoke would choke us to death!”

"Alright, frozen to death or choked to death. I'd rather freeze to death on principle..."

"Oh right, Lu Zhe, should we make a couple more bear oil lamps?"

Lu Zhe pondered for a moment: "No use. A little fire won't solve the fundamental problem! The temperature will continue to drop. Even if you all manage to endure it now, you will still get sick from the cold tonight. I would be distressed if any of my beloved consorts fell ill."

Ning Shu sighed: “Hearing such scummy words, I actually feel kind of warm. I’m done for. Are you guys sure I don’t have Stockholm syndrome?”

"That's not it!"

Shen Bing hugged her belly and shook her head: "Stockholm syndrome is when the victim develops a psychological dependence and admiration for their abuser. Lu Zhe cherishes you all so much, how could he ever abuse you? "

Hearing this, Ning Shu's face flushed slightly: "He obviously cherishes Qianqian the most."

Lin Qianqian blushed too: “No way!”

Jiang Yao said: “I think it’s Guo'er.”

Tang Xiaoguo said: “Yao Yao, can I take that as your strategic retreat?”

"Well..."

Jiang Yao sighed: “Let’s get back to thinking about how to keep warm. Why is it so cold today?”

As the girls were chatting, Lu Zhe suddenly had an idea.

He squeezed the mud and pebbles dug out from inside the cave. A perfect solution emerged in his mind!

One that could provide warmth to the cave without filling it with smoke and carbon monoxide!

"Is there any of the weeds left on the ground from before?"

"Most were thrown away. What’s left got mixed into this pile of dirt. You said this soil might still be useful so it wasn’t discarded."

"That's great!!"

"Use the weeds as fuel?"

"No!" Lu Zhe spoke very seriously: “Later, pick out all the rocks from the soil, remember to only pick out rocks, don’t pick out any weeds. Don’t throw away the rocks you pick out, I need all of them!"

Although the girls didn’t know what Lu Zhe was going to do, did they have any reason not to trust him at this point?

There was no time to explain!

Just do as told, ask later!

The few girls started sifting through the soil, picking out rocks!

Lu Zhe split another section of bamboo and turned it into thin bamboo strips with his commando dagger.

He then drew a 50 cm square about half a meter from the bamboo door on the ground. He started inserting bamboo strips along the edges of the square frame into the ground.

The bamboo strips were about 50 cm apart, with about 40 cm sticking out from the ground.

Then he tied a third bamboo strip at the top with a rope between every two bamboo strips.

That was considered one set of bamboo frames. Lu Zhe placed one set every 5 cm or so, leaving a gap, covering the entire square frame!

He then laid 10 bamboo strips horizontally across those bamboo frames, also leaving one strip out in the middle.

By this time, the girls had just about finished sorting out the rocks and soil.

One pile of rocks, one pile of soil.

Lu Zhe chose some soil and added water to it, starting to knead mud!

The soil here originally had quite high cohesiveness. With the addition of rotten grass leaves, its tenacity was further enhanced.

After kneading the mud, he started plastering mud along the bamboo frame, building up rocks.

The curious girls craned their necks:

Ning Shu nodded: "What is this for?"

Tang Xiaoguo acted like she totally got it: “It’s an umbrella swift rabbit hutch for raising bunnies!"

Jiang Yao said: “We live in a cave and the bunnies get a brick house? Isn’t that kind of backwards?"

Lin Qianqian sighed: “I don’t get it, what is this for?"

"No!" Shen Bing pondered for a moment: “If I’m not mistaken this should be a stove!"

Lu Zhe said: “My beloved consorts, if you have time, could you stop rambling and help finish plastering this mud stove!"

"Sure!"

"Coming!"

"I love playing with mud!"

"Exercising might make us less cold."

The shivering girls all gathered around.

With the soil to water ratio well controlled, the cohesiveness of this mud became very high, like putty.

With the six people working together, the bamboo frame quickly turned into a mud box stuck to the ground.

Ning Shu pointed to the last hole they couldn’t seal: “It’s hard to deal with this big hole, what should we do?"

"No need to seal this one, it can serve as the fuel feed opening. Two more openings are needed."

As he spoke, Lu Zhe dug out a flue hole towards the upper back of the mud box with his paratrooper knife, and finally made a hole at the very top for boiling water!

Lin Qianqian nodded: “I see, there is one strip missing horizontally and vertically for that upper hole!"

"That's right!"

Lu Zhe nodded: “Guo’er, do you still think it looks like a rabbit burrow now?"

Tang Xiaoguo pondered for a moment: “A sly rabbit has three burrows, and it just so happens to have three holes!"

Lu Zhe shook his head: “You got me there!"

Shen Bing still thought a bit further: “But doesn’t it need to vent smoke?"

"The removed bamboo sections could be used as a chimney, but they would easily burn through. "

"Bamboo would definitely burn if directly exposed to fire."

"Yes, we can create a transitional device."

"Do you know how?"

"I do!"

Lu Zhe split some more thin bamboo strips.

He bent the thin strips into rings, tied up the ends, making 8 rings!

Then he used four bamboo strips and banana fiber ropes to connect these rings from large to small, forming a cylindrical object.

"Let's continue plastering mud!"

Following the shape, they plastered on mud, forming a mud cylinder.

Shen Bing took it over to examine: “Good thinking.”

“Let’s continue the chimney!"

"Wouldn't just bamboo work?"

"The bamboo nodes have to be removed!"

Lu Zhe picked a bamboo that was two meters long and about 10cm in diameter!

Then he poked a thinner bamboo inside.

For some reason, all four girls shuddered simultaneously.

The bamboo nodes were smashed. With a rustling sound they spilled out, leaving an unobstructed hollow bamboo.

The stove’s flue hole was aligned to the transitional cylinder, and the transitional cylinder was aligned to the bamboo.

Lu Zhe propped the middle of the bamboo slightly higher. By the time it reached outside of the cave, it drooped down slightly again due to its own weight.

“Some modifications are still needed for the bamboo door to accommodate the chimney.

This way rainwater won't pour into the bamboo, and the rainwater falling outside forms a negative pressure, pulling the smoke out of the bamboo, forming an ideal chimney."

Lin Qianqian nodded: “Sounds great!"

By this time, the temperature had dropped further.

Jiang Yao hugged her shoulders, shivering as she asked: “Can we use it now? I’m freezing to death."

"Not yet! Go make a 20 cm diameter mud cake and a brick sized mud block with mud. Faster the better."

"Got it!"

The girls didn’t mind their freezing hands as they hurried to start on it.

Lu Zhe took a worn cotton piece of clothing and twisted out as much water as possible. He then emptied half a bottle of bear oil onto the clothing and kneaded it into a ball.

He then carefully stuffed it into the stove and carefully stacked a large number of branches and sticks on top of the clothing.

When the stove was just about full, Lu Zhe lit the clothing inside using an oil lamp. It was a bit difficult to ignite, but once lit it wouldn’t extinguish easily.

Once the clothing started burning, he swiftly sealed off the boiling hole with the mud cake. Through the fuel feed opening, he fanned air inside to stimulate combustion and circulation, while also letting the smoke billow out from the chimney opening.

After a short while, the fire inside the stove burned vigorously. He then blocked half the fuel feed opening with the mud brick.

As the temperature inside the stove climbed, the stove walls and transitional mud cylinder became increasingly sturdy.

The small cave finally began warming up.