Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

“[Confess to leniency, resist to severity – the choice between spending New Year’s in jail or with family (funny)]”

“[It’s over, Master Fang is on a one-way path to crime…]”

The audience was shocked by Bi Fang’s skilled lock-picking, and equally unexpected was the fact that the lock was so flimsy?

“Ha, it depends on the lock. The one just now was a very common U-lock, and it was a short integrated type, not a long separate type. If it had been a long separate type, I probably wouldn’t have been able to pick it. But a short integrated type is just a regular bike lock. I don’t know who gave them the confidence to use it on an iron gate.

However, having a lock is actually a good thing. It shows that no one has brazenly broken in. Maybe some have climbed the fence, but those are just petty thieves. If it had been a thug, they would’ve cut the lock right away. Of course, now I’m one of them.”

Bi Fang shook his head, pushed the iron gate open, and stepped into the factory, only to be instantly dumbfounded.

On the factory gate happened to hang a long separation type U-lock!

Good grief, this was waiting for him!

Facing the second lock, the audience nearly burst out laughing.

Bi Fang hesitated for a moment, shook the iron bar in his hand and approached the factory gate, inserted it into the lock mechanism, and started twisting with force. After a while, he got nowhere, and the newly acquired iron bar was bent quite a bit, forcing him to give up.

Just as he said, the separate type U-lock is very difficult to pick. It is made of steel, that is often thicker than a rebar, and its strength is exceedingly high.

Unable to enter through the main gate, Bi Fang could only look around for other entrances. However, after circling the entire complex, he found that this was the only gate, and the other buildings had the same structure – quite troublesome. He would have to find another way to get in.

The structure of the factory was simple, squarely built, but aside from the main door, the windows were all uncomfortably high. Ordinary people would find it very difficult to enter.

Just as some viewers were about to mock Bi Fang’s fanciful thinking, he didn’t feel let down, but rather quite happy.

“The harder it is to get in, the better – doesn’t that just mean ordinary people can’t get in? It suggests that many valuable things haven’t been lost.”

Shh!

The Shuiyou collectively hissed, never expecting Master Fang to have such thick-skinned confidence – wondering whether to praise his optimism or his self-assurance.

After looking around for a long time, Bi Fang finally set his sights on a plastic water pipe. He tapped on it – it sounded solid, long, thick, hard, and quite “fresh.” It looked sturdy and usable.

Yet plastic pipes, given enough time, get oxidized and brittle, losing their support and hardness, making them unfit for climbing.

From his point of view, the pipe ended in a ventilation duct, a great opportunity to get inside the factory.

Though it was high, it was well worth exploring.

However, before attempting to enter, he needed to make some preparations since he couldn’t be sure what would be inside the air duct. It was necessary to make a torch for scouting the way.

There was no need for this in the resort because it hadn’t turned into ruins and the air ducts were in normal use, so there were no weird things inside. But Yemen was different; the air duct could have become a rat’s nest.

Therefore, a torch was needed for observation and to fend off snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

But it had just rained – where to find materials?

Bi Fang knocked around, and as a factory is convenient for finding “garbage,” he soon found something useful amidst a pile of trash. He pulled out a piece of broken felt, expressing his joy.

“A damp environment might not seem the ideal place to look for torch materials, but if you search hard enough, you will always find something.

We can use this tar paper – the material is great. It’s flammable and the flame lasts relatively long. Tar paper is made from thick paper pulp impregnated with tar and asphalt for waterproofing, commonly laid on factory roofs for water resistance. It burns steadily and continuously, perfect for making a torch.”

With tar paper, starting a fire became much simpler. Bi Fang searched the trash pile, finding many metal objects, but after considering them, he shook his head. Almost done rummaging through the pile, he finally found two blackened metal pieces.

Striking them together produced sparks.

The Shuiyou’s eyes brightened – weren’t these natural flint stones?

Bi Fang was also pleased, feeding his “let’s try” attitude, he searched and managed to find such high-hardness metal components, wondering what parts they could be.

“`

Each profession has its own area of expertise, and although Bi Fang was not familiar with it, as long as it was useful, that was all that mattered. He wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of searching for dry materials to make fire by wood-drilling. With these, it was no longer necessary.

Stuffing the torch, sawdust, and iron tools into his backpack, Bi Fang tightened the bandage on his hand, stuck the iron rod into his backpack behind him, and grabbed onto the water pipe with both hands. Then, with a jump, he stepped onto the pipe and climbed up effortlessly, as if walking upward step by step, looking relaxed and at ease.

A simple principle of mechanics was all that was needed, no need to hug the pipe and exert all his strength; he just had to keep his hands from letting go. With his upper body arched back and feet pushing against the pipe, he leveraged himself upward.

The high pipe, several dozens of meters tall, was reached in no time. Looking back, the sheer height was enough to make someone’s legs go weak.

[From picking locks to climbing water pipes and entering ventilation shafts, so skilled as if he knows something incredible]

[I’m so dumb, really, I only knew Master Fang was nimble, but I had no clue why he was so good]

[Come on, tell us, what are your side hustles, don’t prevaricate under everyone’s watchful eyes.]

[That’s it, I’m scared of heights, this must be over twenty meters, right?]

“Bullshit!”

Bi Fang arrived at the end of the water pipe, flipped onto the roof, and cursed with a laugh upon seeing these comments.

“These skills are very common; one of the training contents for special forces is urban combat. Picking locks and climbing pipes are routine operations. What’s with the astonishment, making such a big fuss?”

Taking everything out of his backpack and putting together a makeshift setup, a blazing torch appeared before the eyes of the online audience, quite impressive indeed.

No matter how many times one saw it, the ability to make fire with such simple tools was seriously powerful.

Just think about it, having a warm campfire in the wilderness is an immense motivation, just that alone could help one hold on for a couple more days.

Prying open the entrance with a steel bar, Bi Fang extended the torch inside to scout around, discovering a layer of dust and rust on bolts, indicating a lack of maintenance over the years.

“Surviving in the concrete jungle is as challenging as in Nature’s woodland, but both share a commonality: you need to know how to advance quickly and safely. This involves balancing confidence and advance planning, the perfect coordination of eyes and feet.

This is an old ventilation shaft, which may be the best route into the building. Since there are no other more obvious entries, this ventilation shaft could provide us an entrance. It’s a bit rusty, but it might be easy to get through.”

Wiping his hand over the dust, Bi Fang shook his head. He hadn’t quite gotten rid of yesterday’s smell from falling into the trash bin, and now he was about to get covered in dust again.

Looking at the dust, this old steel pipe had been out of use for a long time and severely eroded by the harsh climate.

“Now we can enter the ventilation shaft. I’ll try to squeeze in; if you’ve already found enough supplies, remember not to eat too much for lunch.”

Cracking a joke with his audience, Bi Fang first stuffed the torch in, then grabbed both sides of the vent, checked its stability, and dove in headfirst.

Entering the vent system was like exploring an untouched cave; the environment alone was daunting and oppressive, the air stale, every breath filled with dust.

He slowly climbed further in, the torch flickering dimly, casting a silence that was frightening.

“The torch here is not just for light, but also a reminder to us whether there’s enough oxygen for breathing.

The dampness also means more severe rust, so be cautious with the path ahead. It’s somewhat like navigating a minefield, filled with tension. You never know if the ground beneath you is stable, if the footplate is solid or rusted through. This means we have to be very careful, testing every step before taking it.”

Having crawled through a ventilation shaft before, Bi Fang was quite experienced. He stretched out his limbs as much as possible to evenly distribute his weight across every thin plate.

Until the light shone upon a piece of metal that was shockingly red with rust.

Damn it, to rust like this, doesn’t anyone do maintenance?

Frustrated internally, Bi Fang could only continue crawling forward. Having come this far, of course, he had to grit his teeth and persevere; to give up now would be to abandon all his preceding efforts.

“This part is too rusted; we have to pretend we’re walking on thin ice and distribute our weight. If necessary, use our hands to help distribute the weight.

This plate is too thin; tiptoeing on thin ice is better than having nowhere to step at all.

Be careful here; it goes straight down, looks like it leads directly to the next floor. We could drop a pebble to gauge the depth.”

Bi Fang inched deeper inside, and he could feel that he was entering the heart of the factory, but gradually, he realized he was starting to struggle for breath as the oxygen supply dwindled.

“`