Chapter 57: Blizzard

"Hehe." Chen Fan wore a mischievous grin. "Kiss me once and I'll tell you."

Yang Keli planted a dragonfly-like kiss on his cheek. "Can you tell me now?"

"You'll see in a moment."

With that, Chen Fan pulled Yang Keli to the storage room, retrieved a block of glass, and walked over to the hallway, which happened to be exactly five blocks wide.

First, he mined out the cobblestone block directly above his head and filled the empty space with glass.

Then, he arranged nine iron blocks in a three-by-three grid on the floor and placed a beacon right in the dead center. A brilliant white beam of light shot straight up into the sky.

Several hundred miles away on a small island, a middle-aged man emerged from a subterranean cave to collect some snow when he caught sight of the beam piercing the heavens.

He squinted, murmuring to himself, what on earth is that pillar of light?

Could it be that a divine treasure has manifested?

In his mind, this was just like in the television dramas where the appearance of a peerless treasure is always heralded by a beam of light.

After a moment of reflection, he decided to take the risk and investigate. Gazing at the distant column of light, he whispered, "My son, my daughter, are you still alive out there?"

With that, he scooped the fresh layer of snow into a wooden bucket and retreated back into his underground shelter.

...

Inside the stone house, Yang Keli's face lit up with surprise. "Where on earth did you get a beacon?"

"Got it from a lucky block." The next second, Chen Fan curled his lips in a helpless expression, letting out a soft sigh.

"Too bad. Out of two lucky blocks, that was all I got."

Yang Keli quickly offered words of comfort. "It's already pretty good." She linked her arm through his. "At least it didn't drop TNT on your head."

Feeling the soft warmth against his arm, Chen Fan's lips curved upward.

"Keli, since the others aren't around, how about we... hehe!"

Yang Keli lowered her head, her face flushing crimson as she delivered a light punch to his chest.

"Not today, my aunt is visiting. Let's save it for next time."

Hearing this, Chen Fan felt a slight pang of disappointment, but he gently stroked her head and said softly, "Alright."

After lingering together affectionately for a little while longer, Chen Fan began pondering their next steps.

Things would proceed as usual; he and Yang Keli would head down into the mines to gather resources.

Time slipped away. Together, they managed to unearth half a stack of iron ore, a full stack of raw copper, five diamonds, and two emeralds.

By evening, after everyone had finished dinner, they retired early to their beds.

Chen Fan sat propped up against the headboard. Now that the food situation had been resolved, the next priority was defense.

They needed to hunt down a slime; defeating it would yield slimeballs, which could be used to craft sticky pistons for traps.

Before that, however, they had to keep mining. Once this bitter winter passed, they could set out on an expedition and rendezvous with Lin Haojie and the others.

His plans were grand, but fate rarely aligns with human desires.

Just as Chen Fan was deep in thought, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in the minds of all the survivors:

[Attention, survivors. A blizzard is about to strike.]

[Beware of natural disasters that may occur at any moment, and make preparations in advance! Wishing you all the best of luck!]

Suddenly, with a deafening boom, the previously calm sky outside was instantly overtaken by howling gales.

The violent winds swept fiercely against the house, producing a sound that resembled the shrieking wails of malevolent ghosts or the chilling, abrupt snap of decaying timber, making one's hair stand on end.

"What's going on?!"

Chen Fan furrowed his brow and peered out the window. Outside was a pitch-black void; visibility was practically zero.

"Chen Fan, this blizzard sounds terrifying. What should we do?"

Though fearful, Yang Keli forced herself to remain calm as she asked.

Chen Fan could clearly feel her body trembling slightly. He pulled her gently into his embrace, trying to soothe her anxiety.

"Don't be afraid, I'm here. I'll go check it out."

With that, Chen Fan quickly sat up and immediately shivered from the biting chill. The temperature difference between the bedclothes and the room was at least twenty degrees.

Even though there was a campfire burning quite vigorously, the room's temperature remained stubbornly low.

After getting dressed beneath the covers, Chen Fan rubbed his freezing cheeks.

He walked over to the campfire and tossed in a few logs, causing the flames to flare up instantly.

Of course, there was no need to worry about the wooden walls catching fire; Chen Fan had anticipated this issue from the start.

When setting up the campfire, he had surrounded it with a border of cobblestones, forming a square enclosure.

With everything tended to, Chen Fan stepped out of the room and into the hallway.

The house had been built with double-layered walls, providing decent soundproofing and insulation, so the roar of the storm inside was far less deafening than outside.

He pushed the wooden balcony door open just a crack, letting a freezing, bone-chilling draft rush in. Chen Fan shrank his neck back and peered outside.

Through the narrow gap, the sight before him left him utterly astounded. It was the heaviest snowfall and the most terrifying wind he had ever witnessed in his life.

Just hearing the howling wind sent shivers down Chen Fan's spine, deterring him entirely from stepping outside.

Some of the torches and wooden fences on the balcony had already vanished, yet Chen Fan still needed to check on the exterior conditions.

If any terrifying creatures approached, they could easily perish without ever knowing what hit them.

Chen Fan tried to push the door open wider, only to find it firmly obstructed, refusing to budge no matter how hard he pushed.

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past. Chen Fan's heart skipped a beat as a fine layer of sweat beaded on his forehead.

What was that? What kind of creature was it?

Chen Fan instinctively took a few steps back. Through the glass pane set into the door, he finally made out the situation and let out a long breath of relief.

The snow that had been cleared away that morning had resumed heavily by dusk.

The precipitation was massive, causing snow to pile up on the balcony at an alarming rate.

By now, the snowdrift was over a meter deep, blocking nearly half the wooden door.

"No wonder the door wouldn't open. Still, thank goodness it isn't completely sealed shut."

A sudden realization struck Chen Fan. If things continued this way and the doorway became entirely blocked, clearing it would become an impossible task.

Besides, judging by how long the blizzard was projected to last, it would inevitably bury the entire house before long, turning a simple exit into a massive ordeal.

Although the structure had a double layer, an excessive weight of snow on the roof would inevitably exceed its structural limits.

If a collapse occurred, all their hard work would be reduced to nothing.

At this thought, Chen Fan's heart tightened fiercely.

If they didn't clear it away promptly, they would live under the constant threat of a cave-in.

That loud crash from earlier must have been the small shop collapsing under the weight of the accumulated snow.

All drowsiness vanished from Chen Fan's mind; sleep was out of the question now. The snow had to be cleared through the night.

He went to Xu Zhou's room and woke them up, instructing them to clear the snow off their own roof.

At the same time, he woke Rem and the others, assigning them the task of clearing the ground-level snow.

Returning to his post, Chen Fan took up a stone shovel and began shoveling the snow from the doorway into wooden buckets.

Fortunately, thanks to their abundant log reserves, they had no shortage of buckets.

Moreover, once melted, this snow would serve as a vital freshwater resource.

After clearing away enough snow from the threshold, he managed to swing the door open wider, making the rest of the clearing process much more efficient.

The melting snow soaked the hallway floors, raising concerns about the wooden planks dampening and rotting, but that was a minor worry for now.

It took nearly two or three hours of grueling work to finally force the wooden door open fully and get a clear view of the outside world.

The snowdrifts had piled up to the level of Chen Fan's chest. Looking outward, he could clearly see that the small shop had been completely swallowed by the surrounding sea of white.

He raised his gaze to the roof, estimating the snow layer to be several tens of centimeters thick.

Fortunately, they had designed the roof with a steep slope during construction, allowing a portion of the snow to slide off before accumulating to dangerous levels.

Once the snow load on the roof became too heavy, however, true peril would follow.