Chapter 11: First Wooden House, Complete!
Zorua, the Fox Pokémon, is extremely skilled at using illusions to confuse its opponents.
Wild Zorua transform into humans or other Pokémon, protecting themselves from danger by hiding their true appearance.
In some special circumstances, Zorua will even transform into an exact replica of their opponent, escaping when the opponent is deceived and startled.
But this Zorua’s illusionary transformation ability is clearly not very proficient.
In what felt like an instant, it transformed back into its Zorua form.
It changed back!
Anna’s eyes widened, her large eyes filled with curiosity.
However, at that moment, Anna suddenly saw Zorua’s expression become tense. It crouched down, once again adopting a defensive stance, and let out a low growl of warning.
Seeing this, Anna was taken aback for a moment, then looked at the monster with disbelief, thinking to herself: No way? Hey! I’m the one who saved you!
Suddenly, a chill swept over from behind, and a vast shadow enveloped both the person and the Pokémon.
Only then did Anna belatedly realize that the monster wasn’t growling at her, but that enemies were approaching!
Realizing this, Anna spun around abruptly.
A monster nearly three meters tall, covered in a thick layer of white fur, had appeared behind them at some point.
It’s a monster!
“Roar—woo!”
Abomasnow let out a roar. It swung its terrifying claws, and the ice-cold, sharp bear claws instantly tore through Anna’s cotton coat.
It hurts…
Her adrenaline surged, and Anna only felt a sharp sting. She instinctively scooped up the Zorua in front of her and ran forward desperately.
“Roar, roar, roar!”
Seeing its prey about to escape, Abomasnow let out an angry roar and quickly gave chase.
The winter forest was covered in snow. Although the snow had stopped long ago, the biting wind had turned the once soft snow hard and slick.
Anna’s foot slipped, and the next second, she and the Zorua in her arms tumbled rapidly forward.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Wuuu—!”
The person and the Pokémon looked ahead with terrified expressions.
At the end of the path, there was a dangerous cliff!
Anna felt a sharp pain all over her body, and then she lost consciousness.
*
Building a wooden house is an extremely tedious and complex task.
After listening to the carpenter Tucker’s explanation, Lei Wen gained a general understanding of the process for building a cold-resistant wooden house.
First, flat and suitable terrain must be chosen, preferably in areas with deep snow that has been stabilized by wind and snow, to ensure a sufficiently stable foundation.
Tucker scouted the area and quickly found a suitable plot of land.
By noon, with everyone’s combined effort, a considerable number of trees had been felled.
These trees were carried out of the forest by strong men and then trimmed of excess branches by temporary carpenters holding tools.
Next came the actual construction of the wooden house.
To minimize material waste and enhance insulation, Tucker employed a dome design similar to an igloo, fixing the logs together using mortise and tenon joints.
Finally, materials such as accumulated snow, logs, mud, and dead leaves and branches from the forest were used to fill the gaps in the wooden house, preventing cold winds from penetrating.
No one wanted to die, so when faced with a severe survival crisis, everyone unleashed their astonishing potential, and the efficiency of building the wooden house was shockingly high.
With the cooperation of dozens of people, the first cold-resistant wooden house was completed in just one day.
At night, people lit a fire in the wooden house. The warm glow illuminated the entire room. A pot hung above the flames, simmering a fragrant bowl of oatmeal.
The gaps between the logs were sealed tightly. No matter how fiercely the biting cold wind howled outside, not a single draft entered the house.
Those who witnessed this scene with their own eyes showed expressions of excitement and thrill, and at the same time, a glimmer of hope arose in their hearts.
This humble wooden house offered them a faint spark of life in their desperate situation!
As long as they continued to work together, every family could have a small wooden house like this and safely get through the cold winter!
Seeing that the wooden house was effective, Lei Wen, though his expression remained unchanged, felt a sense of relief.
“Fortunately, the wooden house is effective. As long as we continue, it shouldn’t be a problem to safely get through this winter.”
“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. Go back and rest early tonight, and let’s continue working hard tomorrow!” Lei Wen said to everyone.
The people smiled and responded, “Yes! Prince Lei Wen!”
Lei Wen smiled and prepared to return to rest with Dratini.
However, as soon as he stepped out, he saw a woman running towards him with a look of anxiety on her face.
Seeing him, the woman seemed to find a ray of hope and quickly pleaded:
“Prince Lei Wen, my daughter Anna is missing! Please save her!”
Anna… Lei Wen had some impression of her; she was the ten-year-old girl who had led the response during his speech earlier.
“What happened? Tell me slowly,” Lei Wen said calmly.
The woman replied with sobs, “This afternoon, Anna returned to the tent from Physician Lila’s. She was reading there, and then I went to the toilet. When I came back, she was gone.”
“At first, I thought she had gone out to play, but Anna didn’t come back until dark… Prince Lei Wen, please, help me find Anna!”
Her husband had passed away on the way here, and she had only this daughter left in the world. Now that Anna was missing, Ellie felt like her world was collapsing.
“Ryan, go investigate the area near the tent.”
After understanding the situation, Lei Wen calmly gave instructions to his Guard Knight.
“Yes! Prince Lei Wen!”
Ryan didn’t ask any further questions and immediately turned to carry out the task.
Meanwhile, Lei Wen checked Anna’s status through the Territory Panel.
【Commoner Name: Anna 】
【Age: 10 】
【Occupation: None 】
【Special Abilities: None 】
【Loyalty: 99 （ Max 100 ） 】
【Life Experience: In the Kingdom Calendar year 138, Anna was born. 】
【In the Kingdom Calendar year 148, Anna accompanied Prince Lei Wen to the fiefdom with her mother. 】
Anna’s name had not disappeared, which meant she was still alive.
Looking at the crying woman, Lei Wen comforted her, “Don’t worry, we will do our utmost.”
Just then, Ryan returned and immediately reported:
“Prince Lei Wen, footprints leading into the deep forest were found behind the tent!”
