Chapter 699: Chapter 41: Chen Wen’s Solution

The fire had already gone out.

At this moment, the ones keeping watch were Chen Wen and Hua Yun.

When they saw Dennis suddenly sit up, they immediately cast concerned glances in his direction.

"Dennis, what’s wrong?"

Chen Wen asked softly.

Dennis was shivering all over, and he stood up with slight movements.

"Cold!"

As Dennis spoke, his teeth chattered uncontrollably.

Upon hearing this and seeing Dennis’s extremely pale face, Chen Wen immediately took it seriously.

He looked at Hua Yun and said, "Mild hypothermia, go look around for firewood and start another fire."

Though the desert at night had no lights, the high stars and moon were bright.

They provided some illumination.

Upon hearing this, Hua Yun immediately went off with a dagger to search for firewood nearby.

Chen Wen, meanwhile, went to Dennis’s side, directing him to move quickly and warm up his body.

Regarding hypothermia,

Chen Wen would just say that no one understood hypothermia better than he did!

This mild hypothermia wasn’t even worth his attention. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

When he had Dennis moving, he also went to check on the sleeping Adam and another person.

They seemed fine, having normal faces with no signs of hypothermia.

After a few minutes,

Dennis, who had been moving vigorously, finally recovered.

He thanked Chen Wen and said, "The nights in this damn place are too cold! When I survived in the inland deserts and wastelands before, I always had a fire at night, so I didn’t notice this, but this time I almost got caught off guard!"

"It’s normal, a small, unnoticed detail in survival could cost our lives, be more careful from now on."

Chen Wen said.

At this point, Hua Yun returned with some firewood.

She glanced at the recovered Dennis and placed the firewood on the ground.

Chen Wen lit the campfire again so that Dennis could warm up for a while.

But the warmth this firewood could provide was not much.

After a while, as the campfire went out, Dennis was still lying on the ground, extremely uncomfortable.

Unable to sleep, his body was also gradually becoming colder.

Seeing Dennis in severe discomfort, Chen Wen frowned and thought of a solution.

After a moment, Chen Wen said, "Alright, Dennis, don’t sleep here."

Hearing this, Dennis was taken aback.

Chen Wen gestured to him to follow.

After walking a few steps, he led Dennis to the camels.

Pointing at the camels, Chen Wen said, "Sleep next to the camels, preferably between them."

Hearing this, Dennis’s face changed slightly.

"This... will it work?"

Chen Wen nodded, "As long as you can get used to the smell of the camels, it will absolutely work."

"Camel hair is long and thick, if you lie between two camels, it’s like being surrounded by two blankets, providing insulation."

"Also, lying between them, the tall bodies of the camels can block the cold wind and reduce the loss of body surface temperature."

"Moreover, dromedaries increase their body temperature during the day and gradually lower it at night. When they lower their temperature and dissipate heat, the body warmth will spread to you, creating a warming effect."

Chen Wen’s words left Dennis half-believing.

As a local, he knew camel fur was insulating.

But it was the first time he’d heard that camels release heat at night.

However, Dennis had no other choice at the moment, he was too cold, so he had to trust Chen Wen and slipped into the gap between the two camels to rest.

The smell of the camels wasn’t pleasant.

But compared to the ever-present danger of hypothermia, Dennis could overcome this odor.

Seeing Dennis slip into resting between two camels, Hua Yun couldn’t help but ask, "Will this work?"

"Theoretically, it should."

Chen Wen said, "But how well it works in practice depends on Dennis’s own feeling."

...

After handling Dennis’s situation, Chen Wen and Hua Yun resumed their watch.

While on watch, Chen Wen periodically glanced over at Dennis.

About half an hour later.

Chen Wen quietly walked over to take a look, then returned with ease.

"How is it?"

"It seems pretty warm, Dennis is sleeping soundly."

They finished speaking, exchanged looks, and then began to laugh.

There was a kind of feeling like parents watching over a child.

After the laughter, Chen Wen analyzed and summed up the experience from this incident.

"In the future, I feel that collecting firewood should become a regular task, with each member of our group taking turns to ensure there’s enough firewood daily."

Chen Wen said, as if recalling something: "I remember that in playing a certain medieval game, it mentioned that camel dung could be used as fuel. Not sure if it’s true, we can try it tomorrow."

Hearing this, Hua Yun was also stunned for a moment.

She frowned as she thought for a while, then said, "I’m not sure about camel dung, but horse dung can be used as fuel, though it usually needs to be mixed with other fuels. My mother’s hometown is in Inner Mongolia, and some herders there use horse dung as fuel."

Upon hearing this, Chen Wen instantly became excited: "Then it should be usable, after all, the difference between horse dung and camel dung is small, there should be similar properties!"

At this time, a soft voice came from behind Chen Wen.

"Don’t worry, camel dung can be burned."

Chen Wen turned his head and saw, in the darkness, Adam yawning and sitting up.

He walked over to Chen Wen and said, "The calorific value of dry camel dung is half that of coal, one ton of camel dung can replace half a ton of coal, and camel dung can also be mixed with coal to be used as boiler fuel."

Both Hua Yun and Chen Wen looked at Adam, curious about how he knew this.

Adam sat beside Chen Wen, explaining, "Hearing you mention camel dung reminded me. Previously, I heard about it from a survivor from the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, who said local farmers would collect and dry camel dung, then send it to cement plants, where it’s mixed with coal for use as boiler fuel in cement production lines."

Chen Wen realized and then said, "You kid, eavesdropping, huh?"

Adam shook his head, "Couldn’t sleep, this damn place is indeed a bit cold at night, I’ll take the watch, who among you two needs rest?"

"Let Hua Yun go, I’m still feeling alert."

Chen Wen said.

Hua Yun didn’t refuse, she indeed felt a bit sleepy at that moment.

After Hua Yun went to rest, Chen Wen and Adam continued discussing the issue of keeping warm.

Adam agreed to all of Chen Wen’s ideas on collecting firewood and camel dung.

Plus, the method of using camels for warmth also received Adam’s approval.

The two of them discussed and finalized their thermal insulation plan for the future.

One being the mix of camel dung and firewood for burning warmth.

The other being arranging the camels in a circle around the camp to sleep next to at night.

"With these two methods, I’m sure our nights will no longer be as cold as they are now."

Adam said with emotion.