After seeing the man off, Li Long looked at the dried meat hanging from the rope and decided not to go out that day. He would fix up the wooden cabin first.
The mountain winds were strong, and Jade Mountain River and the others had taken that into account when building the cabin, coating the outside of the logs with mud. After living there for several days, Li Long found that the mud was not thick enough to provide much insulation, so he planned to mix some more and apply another layer, mainly on the west and north walls. Those were the directions the cold wind blew from.
Of course, if he had enough time, he also planned to reinforce the other sides.
Mixing mud took a little skill. It was not as simple as a child peeing into dirt to make mud; first, he had to find the right soil. The top layer of humus beside the spring was not very suitable. It was not sticky, fell off easily once dry, and was black. Smeared on the walls, it looked rather like dung, which Li Long did not like either.
He therefore needed to dig away the top layer and use the hard, clayey soil underneath. Yellow clay would have been even better, of course, but finding that took luck. Li Long dug two holes near the spring without finding any, so he did not insist. Ordinary black sandy hard soil mixed with chopped grass would also work for plastering walls. But without a bricklayer's trowel or a large shovel, he might not be able to get the walls smooth.
He was the one living there anyway, and nobody else had any say, so there was no need to fuss too much.
He dug the soil out of the