Who knows! As soon as I returned to the mountains to farm, I encountered a natural disaster.

Zhao Yeqing leaned down and observed carefully, "Is this a camphor tree?"

Mu Xi nodded: "It seems so."

Zhao Yeqing explained: "It's not surprising that camphor trees are evergreen trees all year round, but they prefer warmth and moisture and have weak cold resistance."

The specific cause of death was still unknown. Zhao Yeqing pulled the bushes next to him and found that even the bushes buried by the snow were dead.

Logically speaking, burying them in snow can keep the roots of the plants warm to a certain extent, and the probability of them all dying is relatively small, so the two of them can't tell whether it is because of the low temperature or the lack of light for nearly half a year.

Mu Xi carefully walked down the gentle slope and walked to the side of the camphor tree. He observed the fracture of the main trunk and touched it with his hand. He found that the inside was already 70 to 80% dry, and said:

"It snows and the weather is dry in winter, and the wind blows all the time. It is probably because of this that the trees are so dry that they break when pulled."

Zhao Yeqing pointed to another tree behind Mu Xi, "Then look at the tree behind you and see if it's dead?"

Mu Xi raised his hand and pulled, so it was not like the previous camphor tree that broke as soon as he pulled it, but when he pulled it, he clearly felt that the weight was wrong. He stepped forward and pushed the trunk, and sure enough, the trunk broke with a sound. .

After an extremely cold polar night, most of the plants we see so far have died. The only good news is,

They should have no shortage of firewood.

Many camphor trees have died, but there are still trees that are still alive, such as fir trees, pine trees and cypress trees.

These kinds of trees are very cold-resistant. So far, they have only lost all their leaves, and some branches are dry and broken, but they are still alive and strong.

Mu Xi broke off the broken branches and put them in a pile, and also pulled out the dead bushes on the ground.

The branches of the bushes are very small, basically the thickness of a finger. The two of them didn't need this kind of firewood before. It was mostly used to start fires. Now they can't pick it like that anymore. They have to pick up all the firewood.

When they came out, the two of them took shovels in order to clear the snow.

While Mu Xi was getting firewood, Zhao Yeqing started clearing the road back.

There is no need to shovel all the snow, and there is still more than ten centimeters left on the thick bottom, which will not affect walking. You only need to clear part of the snow, and the cleaning speed is relatively fast.

The straight-line distance to home was only about 1km, and Zhao Yeqing felt hot all over as he shoveled.

This kind of small firewood can be used with the firewood stand that was carried on the back. Mu Xi also brought it with him when he came out this time. After filling the firewood stand, he came over to help Zhao Yeqing.

It was past 11 o'clock when the two of them walked to the gentle slope. It was already past 1 o'clock in the afternoon, and two hours had passed.

About half of the road was cleared, and the road would be easy to walk after. Mu Xi turned back to the gentle slope, carried the pile of firewood on his back, and walked back.

After going back and forth, it only took less than ten minutes to get back to Zhao Yeqing.

"We'll clean up the rest of the afternoon. Now go back and drink some hot water to warm yourself up and don't catch a cold."

Zhao Yeqing didn't feel cold, but felt the changes around him, as if the wind was coming again.

My body is warm now, but if the wind blows over, the chill will be unbearable, and it will be easier to catch a cold if it is hot and cold.

He nodded in agreement and walked back along the trail he came from.

As soon as I got home and put down the firewood, the cold wind started blowing before I even entered the house.

The two hurriedly walked back to the house. The stove was still burning in the house, and it was still warm when they entered.

The coverings on the windows have been taped up again, and now electric lights continue to be used for lighting, but the windows still have to be sealed for warmth.

Turning on the lights in the room, the dim interior was lit up, and several dogs ran over to greet the two of them. The door was not closed yet, and Mu Xi was beating the snow embedded in the soles of his shoes at the door. Take it in and it will turn into water in the room.

The cold wind that filtered through the cracks in the door made several dogs sneeze in unison.

Zhao Yeqing hurriedly blasted them in, but be sure not to catch a cold.

They went back to the house to have lunch and rested for a while. When the wind outside gradually stopped, the two of them went out to clear the snow.

Mu Xi tested it and found that one rack of firewood can burn for about 6 hours, and the consumption of firewood for a whole day is about 4 racks of firewood.

This amount is really quite a lot, but it also has something to do with the types of trees on the gentle slope. The firewood here is thinner and easier to burn. Compared with the hardwood cut before, it is indeed consumed faster.

But it was only a short distance of about 1km, and the two of them had to walk for so long. Now they had no way to find more suitable firewood in the previous forest, so they could only make do with it here.

After clearing the road, the two had to spend most of the day collecting firewood.

If there was a sudden wind while collecting firewood, the two of them would hide behind a gentle slope. Mu Xi dug a hole in the snow at the bottom of the gentle slope, and they would hide in it when the wind blew.

Compared with the previous days when Cat Dong stayed in the house, it would definitely be harder to go out to find firewood after dawn, but Zhao Yeqing was happy with it and felt that he had endless energy every day.

As soon as she got up in the morning, she would make sure it was bright outside before humming a song and getting up to eat and drink, preparing to go out to chop firewood.

When the temperature on Mu Xi's watch finally started to change, the two of them also stocked up on firewood for nearly half a month inside the brick wall.

Now the temperature on the watch can jump up and down around 60 degrees during the day.

In just ten days from dawn to now, the body temperature has risen by at least ten degrees.

From the data point of view, everything is indeed developing in a good direction, but the two of them did not encounter any living creatures during the time they were chopping wood, and the vast white surroundings always made Zhao Yeqing feel that they were the only ones left in the world. The family is alive.

At this time, Mu Xi would tap her on the head: "What are you thinking about? How can any animal be willing to wander around in such a cold weather?"

makes sense.

It’s also because this winter has lasted quite a long time. It’s almost August now. Normally it should be the hottest time, but the temperature is still tens of degrees below zero.

The firewood reserves at home were sufficient for the time being, and the two began to deal with the things in the yard that were damaged by the wind.

The shelves that had been blown off before, the tiles that had been blown into the snow, and a few wolf heads that were randomly thrown into the snow in the yard.

The two of them don't have the habit of hanging wolf heads on the eaves as decoration. They are not hunters or bandits, and have no interest in that aspect.

Mu Xi said: "Just throw it in the yard. If those wolves want to kill you again, this will also scare them."

Not to mention, the deterrent effect is indeed there, but it is not those wolves that are deterred.