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Chapter 1127 The Amnesiac Black Panther and His Poor Little Beauty (8)

The Amnesiac Black Panther and His Poor Little Beauty (Part 8)

Refining oil is a delicate task. In the past, with the help of natural gas and stoves, he didn't have to keep a close eye on it. But now that they can only burn firewood, Song Ning has to stand guard by the campfire by himself.

Fortunately, the vegetation coverage in this area was incredibly high. While he was burning firewood, he took some time to search the surrounding area and found a lot of usable firewood.

The sheep was rich in fat, and the mutton fat, cut into small cubes, slowly turned transparent and then developed a slightly golden, charred edge as it was simmered over a low flame.

The water in the pot slowly evaporated, leaving only the clear oil rendered from the mutton fat. Song Ning scooped up a spoonful with a ladle he found in the house and looked at it with delight.

He thought for a moment, then turned to look at the big cat on the roof, which seemed to be showing off, yet also simply sharing.

"Look, this is mutton fat. You can use it to cook or apply it to your face and hands when it's too cold. It can protect human skin."

The big cat looked down at the humans' actions, its tail swishing unconsciously.

Upon hearing Song Ning say that it could protect the skin, it leaped down and circled the pot several times.

He glanced at the mutton fat in the pot, then looked at the human face and hands with a puzzled expression.

Your big cat cares about you and is wondering if you're courting death.

The thought popped into Song Ning's head, and she couldn't help but chuckle as she quickly began to explain.

"Don't put it on your face while it's still hot; wait until it cools down before using it."

He took out an iron basin that he had prepared. It was kept in the tin shack along with the pot. He guessed that the previous owner might have used it to eat, but now it was perfect for him to use to store mutton fat.

Song Ning ladled a spoonful of the rendered mutton fat from the pot into an iron plate, explaining, "Put it here first, and it will be ready to use after it cools down."

Although the daytime temperature is still around 40 degrees Celsius, it is already October. Based on past experience, a severe cold wave will arrive in about half a month, when the daytime temperature will plummet to minus 30 degrees Celsius and the nighttime temperature will drop to almost minus 40 degrees Celsius.

In previous years, every winter, a large number of people would freeze to death in any base. Most of these people were elderly, weak, sick and disabled.

"In that case, we should start preparing some winter supplies."

Song Ning muttered to himself.

The reason he ran away this time was because he had long ago decided to take a desperate gamble.

Li Dabiao maintained strict control over the base. If they were lazy with the work assigned to them each day, they would have to work overtime at night, otherwise their food would be cut back.

This wasn't the first base Song Ning had stayed at; he had been worrying about what to do when winter came, but this incident gave him a push.

However, escaping the base now means that he will have to rely on his own efforts to get through the next three months of harsh winter.

With that in mind, Song Ning quickened his pace.

"I'll explain later. I need to do more preparations while it's still early."

Feeling a bit annoyed at being ignored, the black panther growled in his throat to express his dissatisfaction, but the humans in front of him seemed to genuinely disregard his presence and continued circling the stove.

He slapped the human's leg several times with his tail, but when the human ignored him, he suddenly growled, turned his head, and burrowed deeper into the depths, disappearing from sight.

What's going on here?

Song Ning was puzzled for only a second before the fact that he was about to face a harsh winter and had little supplies made him speed up.

The mutton fat in the pot had been mostly rendered out. This sheep was considered quite fat in the post-apocalyptic world, but the rendered mutton fat was just enough to fill an iron plate about five fingers wide for an adult man to hold up to about seven or eight tenths full.

Song Ning couldn't bear to throw away the rendered oil residue, so he put it in a lunchbox and covered it, planning to let Big Cat try it when he came back.

After finishing all that, Song Ning took a deep breath and decided to go for a walk along the route she had taken yesterday.

He wasn't sure if there were any zombies around, but Big Cat's actions yesterday clearly told him one thing: this area should be Big Cat's territory.

He vaguely remembered that the territory of this creature was about ten to twenty kilometers. Although he didn't know why the big cat didn't bite him to death, it was clear that he had now been incorporated into the big cat's territory.

In other words, within this range, he doesn't need to worry too much about encountering other stronger or fiercer animals.

"What a wonderful big cat!"

With a sigh, Song Ning began to put on her clothes, tied her trouser legs tightly with the rope she found, and zipped her jacket all the way up. This time, instead of covering her head, Song Ning chose to wear a hat she found at a workwear store.

"With water available, there's not much to worry about. If you're careful, you shouldn't get heatstroke."

Packing his backpack and utility knife, Song Ning thought for a moment before leaving, then deliberately rubbed himself against the door to amplify the scent left on him by the big cat before beginning to explore little by little.

Although this used to be a residential community, as a high-end community, the distance between each household is obviously very far.

Song Ning only saw three small buildings along the way, and they had all been reduced to ruins.

He had become quite used to it. After the apocalypse, the weather around the world became extremely hot. Typhoons, tornadoes, hail, sandstorms, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other disasters came one after another, as if they were trying to wipe out all life on the planet. Many buildings collapsed in these disasters, and most of the survivors did not have the ability to rebuild their homes.

In Song Ning's eyes, the tin shack where the big cat slept was already a rare and good place to live in the apocalypse.

It looks sturdy, at least, since it's lasted this long.

He did not go into the three small buildings. Although these places are no longer habitable for humans, they are a good place for many animals.

Song Ning didn't have suitable equipment, so he didn't dare to venture too far into these areas. He was only a little bolder to go into places like workwear stores that looked like they were still standing with their doors open.

The good news, however, was that he saw plenty of suitable firewood along the way, some of which looked like the remains of some kind of furniture, and others were dry tree branches.

He also saw a tree that had been struck by lightning, and there were many pieces of wood next to it.

He didn't take it away directly, but instead gathered the firewood together, making three piles in total on his way back.

Song Ning had already planned it out; if he gained something else from going out, he could bring back even more things.

Even if there's nothing to show for it, bringing this firewood back on the way back would still be a great gain.

This amount of firewood is probably not enough; we need to prepare more.

On another note, I wonder if he'll let the big cat sleep in his arms during the winter? If so, it might save some firewood, since the big cat is really warm.