A sea breeze, seemingly coming from nowhere, made everyone shrink their necks.

"It's so cold," Gu Yuxin couldn't help but say.

Lu Wuyai took a breath. He had only heard a mournful cry. He knew it was the sound of a strong wind, but he hadn't expected it to be so cold.

"It won't cool down," Lu Wuyai said uncertainly.

Accompanied by a month-long smog, the temperature on the deserted island dropped every day. Sometimes, the temperature would drop below ten degrees Celsius late at night and in the early morning.

The wind howled, and the group of people and the little wolfhound quickly went into the cave.

"It's too windy outside, let the little wolfhound sleep in the tunnel tonight," Su Xi said.

No one would object, but now that everyone has come to the orchard, they find that the plastic film on the steel bars above their heads is being agitated by the pressure difference between the inside and outside, making a constant clanging sound.

“I will reinforce it again, and you can make dinner.”

After speaking, Lu Wuyai was about to leave the cave when Gu Yuxin stopped him. He took out a huge piece of special cloth from a container.

Lu Wuyai touched it and found it was the kind of leftover aerospace material he had used before. It not only had heat retention properties but also extremely high toughness. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be torn or scratched by a sword.

Holding the specially made cloth, Lu Wuyai walked all the way to the rocky mountain, replaced the original film, and then drove a one-meter-long steel bar into a nearby rock to ensure that it would not be blown away by the strong wind.

After doing all this, Lu Wuyai returned to the cave and prepared to eat.

Perhaps to cheer up their bad mood, Su Xi and Song Xiaoyou prepared a very lavish dinner.

Braised eggplant, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, hot and sour shredded potatoes, stir-fried rabbit with chili peppers, and twice-cooked pork—five dishes in total, plus a bowl of crucian carp soup.

The rice that grows is very fragrant. It's worth mentioning that the rice Lu Wuyai planted in the container actually sprouted. It'll probably be ready for harvest soon.

"Hey, I never thought rice could grow like this." Lu Wuyai felt very strange.

After a delicious dinner, everyone began to inspect various parts of the cave.

There's a lot of noise outside. The wind is noticeably strong this time, so everyone must be careful.

Upon arriving at the orchard again, Lu Wuyai looked at the swaying canopy above, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

The sea breeze is really strong.

After closing the tunnel door leading to the orchard, Lu Wuyai clearly felt the temperature difference. He checked the thermometer and found that the temperature inside the tunnel was 15 degrees Celsius, while the outside temperature was constantly dropping and had now fallen to 5 degrees Celsius.

"It looks like it's going to be very cold tonight," Gu Yuxin said, equally worried.

Will the fruit trees in the orchard be damaged by frost?

"It shouldn't be a big problem. The energy released by those black stones isn't just growth hormone..."

When night truly fell, everyone knew the extreme weather that the strong winds had brought.

Inside the container, Lu Wuyai woke up from the cold. Even with the blankets covering him, he still felt unwell, let alone anyone else.

Enduring the cold, he got up and walked towards the cave. He found a woman awake inside the carriage, turning on a pre-prepared generator to use electric heating to ward off the cold.

Half an hour later, the cave was filled with warmth. The little wolfhound, who had been resting in the tunnel, lay on the ground with its head drooping, looking very sleepy.

Lu Wuyai sighed. To reduce electricity consumption, he slept on the cement floor, with a layer of soft cotton wool beneath him. The air was filled with warmth.

In this state of sleep, everyone is in a deep sleep, and in this cold weather, the effect of electric heating is amplified to an extreme.

Early the next morning, Lu Wuyai put on his down jacket and braved the biting cold wind, heading straight for the rocky mountain.

"It's so cold."

Lu Wuyai shivered. The cold wind howled in his ears, as if something was whispering, which looked a little scary against the hazy gray sky.

What's wrong with this world?

Lu Wuyai was filled with doubt; he discovered that his night vision had disappeared. After a brief stay, he immediately returned to the cave.

In the orchard, although the fruit trees have taken root and sprouted, it will take a long time before they can flower and bear fruit. During this period, everyone except Song Xiaoyou will gradually lose their night vision.

He looked up at the roof and found that the cold outside had not affected the orchard, even though the temperature here had dropped to zero degrees Celsius.

The energy released by these black stones allowed the 20 fruit trees to survive the sudden cold snap.

Finally, Lu Wuyai closed the orchard gate and entered the underground cave.

Meanwhile, Gu Yuxin and the others were also busy inside the tomb. It was time to harvest the herbs they had planted before.

Watching everyone's busy figures, Lu Wuyai also walked into the passageway and began to process the piled-up black stones, breaking them into suitable sizes so that Gu Yuxin and the others could tie up the herbs.

Lu Wuyai would also collect some scraps and put them in plastic boxes of the same size, plant some herb seeds, and make full use of them.

Everyone was working that day, seemingly having forgotten the harsh weather on the deserted island.

At dusk, Lu Wuyai heard something moving on the rocky mountain, so he called Song Xiaoyou over to take a look.

"There are two rabbits," Song Xiaoyou said. "I've fallen into a trap. I'll go check."

After speaking, Song Xiaoyou opened the cave door and returned safely three minutes later.

These are two short-haired gray rabbits. Song Xiaoyou grabbed their ears. They looked clumsy and not agile at all.

The moment he saw them, a thought suddenly popped into Lu Wuyai's mind.

“Leave it to me, you go do your work first,” Lu Wuyai said with a smile.

Soon, Lu Wuyai arrived at the orchard with the rabbit. He closed the gate, making sure he was the only one nearby.

Looking at the rabbit in his hand again, Lu Wuyai hesitated for a moment, but quickly made up his mind.

He walked over and picked up a black stone from the ground, about half the size of a fingernail.

At the same time, he opened the rabbit's mouth and stuffed the stone in his hand directly inside.

Yes, this idea came to Lu Wuyai's mind when he saw the two rabbits. He wanted to see what would happen after these creatures swallowed the black stone.

Under Lu Wuyai's expectant gaze, the rabbit that ate the stone grew to twice its size within 5 minutes at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Finally, with a bang, it exploded.

Fortunately, Lu Wuyai ran fast and was not stained with blood from the explosion.

But this scene gave him a huge shock. He suddenly remembered the two "disemboweled" corpses he had seen in the vegetable garden, which were likely "hanged" after eating stones.

"But why do you want to eat stones?" Lu Wuyai was completely baffled.

The orchard seemed to have been quiet for quite some time.

Here, Lu Wuyai picked up the rabbit's carcass after the explosion and found that most of the rabbit meat and bones showed signs of being charred. It was clear that the power of this explosion was not much less than that of a hand grenade.

“This is just another biological weapon,” Lu Wuyai sighed.

However, Lu Wuyai still had a lot of problems in his mind.

Looking at the remaining rabbits in his hand, Lu Wuyai decided to end today's experiment here, otherwise it would be difficult to explain why both rabbits had died.

After cleaning the rabbit, Lu Wuyai went to the cave entrance and started a fire to cook.

This kind of repetitive work can be quite tiring.

But being able to survive on a deserted island is better than anything else.

Dinner consisted of stir-fried rabbit and potatoes. The colors alone were enough to whet the appetite. However, since there was only one dish, no one ate much of it.

"Why does it feel like there's a little less rabbit meat?" Gu Yuxin said suspiciously.

“Yes. You think something’s wrong.” Lu Wuyai felt guilty, but still said calmly.

After dinner, Su Xi turned on a movie. The women sat together, eating the boiled sweet potatoes and potatoes, looking quite hungry.

As for Lu Wuyai, he went to the fruit orchard to check on the growth of the fruit trees.

As the days went by, the fruit trees in the orchard grew bigger and bigger, and they sprouted new buds, looking quite different in the cold weather.

After leaving the orchard, Lu Wuyai walked through the cave and came to a shipping container. He opened the iron gate and took a breath of fresh air.

Inside the container, bright lights always illuminate the plants, and a generator nearby is always running at its rated power.

There are quite a lot of vegetables.

Lu Wuyai was filled with admiration, especially at the end of the black stone, where the golden rice was already ripe.

He rushed forward, holding a dagger, and chopped down the rice.

Just smelling the aroma of cooked rice, Lu Wuyai was already imagining the glistening rice after it was steamed.

Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Lu Wuyai always felt that the rice was particularly sweet, and the yield of a single bunch of rice seemed exceptionally high.

After harvesting the rice, Lu Wuyai began to sow seeds in the same place, even scattering seeds in some corners.

Rice is not only easy to store, but also highly nutritious. It contains a large amount of nutrients and carbohydrates needed by the human body. For them, it is far more important than other foods.

The certainty that rice can now be grown is exciting for everyone.

Everyone laughed when they saw the golden ears of wheat that Lu Wuyai had placed on the ground. Even Gu Yuxin and Jin Xilu had already gotten used to eating and using chopsticks.

Humans are highly adaptable animals, especially in harsh environments.

Before going to bed that day, Lu Wuyai glanced at the vegetable garden again and found that the newly planted rice had already sprouted many roots and buds, and the tender green buds looked particularly delicate.

"The black stone didn't change color either." Lu Wuyai stroked his chin, thinking that the last time it took from sowing to harvest was almost exactly two weeks.

So this time, there shouldn't be much difference.

That night, Lu Wuyai had a dream. In his dream, he saw a sea of ​​rice paddies, with golden waves rising and falling as a strong wind blew back...

The hazy days of the second month are coming to an end.

Two whole months have passed since the ashes fell from the sky. On this day, everyone came to the orchard, ready to pick some small green fruits.

Indeed, after more than a month of growth, these two green fruit trees blossomed and bore fruit faster than anyone could have imagined.

In addition, the other 18 fruit trees in the orchard have also entered a period of rapid growth, and everyone can tell what variety these fruit trees are.

"Three durian trees, five apple trees, six loquat trees, and the remaining four fruit trees all seem to be plum trees." Lu Wuyai wasn't sure, but their current task was to pick the green fruit. After all, this matter concerned everyone's night vision ability.

Due to the loss of night vision, almost everyone stayed in the cave for the first month and didn't go anywhere else.

Soon, after eating the green fruit, the familiar sensation returned to their eyes, bringing back the wonderful feeling for everyone.

If anyone were to discover the fruit that grants humans night vision, something terrible would surely happen.

"Let's go out and have a look," Lu Wuyai said, and the others looked on expectantly. After all, apart from Song Xiaoyou, they hadn't gone out to play in a long time.

Soon, the group dressed and left the warm, spring-like cave.

As a result, a gust of cold wind blew in from outside, and Lu Wuyai retreated inside. It was too cold.

Tang Xin lifted the thermometer from the ground and found that the liquid inside had dropped to minus five degrees Celsius, which felt very different from the twenty degrees Celsius inside the cave.

"It's too cold." Lu Wuyai stamped his feet. Even he felt the air was rough and painful.

One by one, the women hunched their necks, wrapping their beautiful figures in down jackets.

It feels so good to be able to see at night again. Lu Wuyai and the others looked around and found that the forest was covered with a thick layer of ash and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

The sky was still overcast, and it was precisely at this time of day when the sunlight was at its strongest.

Lu Wuyai thought for a moment, then walked towards the puddle. Although he had to fetch water every day, seeing the clean water with his own eyes put his mind at ease.

If there's a problem with the water source, Lu Wuyai and the others will definitely have a headache, and eventually it will turn into despair.

“Let’s go back,” Lu Wuyai said.

The sky was still very dusty, and the rocky mountains were already covered with a thick layer of ash. However, no one bothered to clean it up because the reality was that the thicker the ash, the better it could block the invasion of cold air.

Before leaving the ground, Lu Wuyai glanced into the depths of the deserted island. The island's terrain seemed to have changed drastically since the last earthquake.

Looking from the rocky hill, it seems there's a black wall blocking the view.

Back in the cave, everyone was still busy with their own tasks. Gu Yuxin's herbal potion extraction had reached the third stage. As for the fourth stage of the magic potion, preparations were still underway.

The cave is bustling every day. Apart from Lu Wuyai, everyone else spends most of their time there.

Soon, the hazy days reached the middle of the third month, and the chill of late autumn continued to creep in. Coupled with the howling wind, no one went out except to fetch water each day.

The little wolfhound had grown quite a bit, much larger than when it first arrived. However, it would occasionally wander into the cave, its mournful cries sounding both sad and angry.

Lu Wuyai guessed that the other party might want Bai Lang.

After returning from the abyss, Lu Wuyai went back several more times, but each time he found only clues. Finally, even he had to give up the search. Perhaps the White Wolf was truly dead.

"You must grow up well." Su Xi stroked a pure white wolfhound, her eyes filled with love for them.

"When you grow up, you can go to the forest to find your mother."

Woof woof woof woof.

Before we knew it, late autumn had passed.

On this day, Lu Wuyai walked out of the field, looked at the still gray sky, and couldn't help but sigh.

"When will this end...?"

Lu Wuyai swayed, then walked forward upside down carrying the bucket, and soon reached the edge of the pool.

After filling the pond with water, Lu Wuyai looked at the fish swimming around and sometimes really envied them.

"A carefree life."

Lu Wuyai covered the bucket with a layer of gauze, carried the bucket back to the cave, and started a fire to boil water.

Today, the wood is used to start fires in the underground caves. To save on gasoline, and to prepare for the uncertain end of this gloomy day, everyone has revised their plans for survival on the desert island.

Timber was easy to find. The forests near the rocky hill had withered due to lack of sunlight. The thick tree stumps, too, had become dry on the inside and thick on the outside due to lack of nutrients, and could be felled without much effort.

Therefore, Lu Wuyai stored a large amount of firewood in the orchard, where he usually cooked.

In the cave, they hadn't eaten meat for a long time. Hunting had become a luxury in these conditions. Their only saving grace was their large stockpile of marching rations. Even without meat, they could survive for over a year.

If the marching rations do not spoil, the journey can be delayed by six months.

However, to prepare for a rainy day, one must make the worst-case scenario plan, and rice cultivation became the preferred option.

Therefore, Lu Wuyai set about clearing a piece of land near the orchard specifically for growing rice, hoping to store enough rice for this winter.

Holding a shovel, Lu Wuyai arrived at the edge of the orchard. He planned to excavate part of the space to truly expand the orchard's area.

However, it's easier said than done. Especially now, the orchard's structure is very stable. This will be a significant challenge without disrupting the existing space.

Lu Wuyai had no choice but to go to Song Xiaoyou, who was very familiar with the structure.

Soon, with Song Xiaoyou's help, Lu Wuyai began digging, but the process was not very smooth.

In the soil near the underground orchard, much of it was actually composed of hard rock, impossible to dig out. Worst of all, Lu Wuyai seemed to have dug too hard, disrupting the soil's balance and causing part of the orchard to collapse. Fortunately, no fruit trees were damaged.

“It won’t work here. We can only dig another hole in the ground, but I advise you not to dig a hole in the rocky mountain,” Song Xiaoyou said.

Lu Wuyai nodded, still terrified by what had just happened; it had almost buried him alive.

So, after leaving the cave, Lu Wuyai found a clean spot near the cave and dug again.

Here, it's only a dozen meters away from the cave. You can see it just by looking up. It's very safe and well-hidden.

Twelve hours later, Lu Wuyai had gone deep underground and had initially dug out a cave 5 meters below the surface. The area inside was currently only half the size of a basketball court.

Perhaps because the vegetation had died, the soil was no longer as compact as before. Lu Wuyai maintained a constant digging speed, worried that a sudden force would cause the ground to collapse.