Chapter 116: Chapter 115: White Phantom, Arctic Elf

It was only the first day, and the snowfall was already ankle-deep. In a few more days, who knew how thick it would get.

At that point, forget long-distance trips—just stepping outside would be a struggle.

However, the chances of a massive blizzard weren’t high. After all, global warming was a fact, but the ground freezing over was inevitable.

It was also possible that none of his recent theories would come to pass, and that no one would approach the four of them for a partnership at all. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

’That would be interesting too.’

While the two chatted, the sun, hidden behind the clouds, crept slowly toward its zenith.

"Lin, what are you thinking for lunch?"

Seeing that they had run out of things to talk about, Andre suddenly remembered the Black Bear he had hunted a few days ago. "How does bear meat taste?"

"It’s just okay. Not as good as beef, lamb, or pork. We have a saying online in Great Xia: ’ancestor-approved.’ It basically means that any ingredient that hasn’t been passed down and popularized probably doesn’t taste good."

"This is especially true for a country like ours, Great Xia, where we can turn almost any plant or animal into a delicacy. In our history, bear meat was part of court cuisine, the kind served to emperors, but the only truly famous dish was bear paw."

"Ever since the modern era, after animal protection laws were passed, bear meat has been completely removed from our culinary culture. So, even a professional chef might not be able to make this stuff taste very good."

"Bear paw?"

At the mention of it, Andre frowned. "Is that stuff any good?"

If he remembered correctly, he had tried it once before. He took one bite and nearly threw up, the gamy, foul taste lingering in his mouth for the entire day.

Lin Chen glanced at him and smiled without a word.

The larger the animal, the stronger the gamy taste in its limbs. It required several special preparation methods to eliminate, or else had to be masked with heavy seasonings.

For Western cuisine, which completely lacks a de-gaming process, it was naturally impossible to prepare well. That was why restaurants in North America almost never served unconventional dishes like animal organs, paws, or hooves.

One could say that aside from the meat, the remaining parts of an animal were a complete mystery to most North Americans.

Even pork belly, a favorite among Asians, had only one preparation method here: smoked into bacon.

Lin Chen’s silence instantly piqued Andre’s interest. A main ingredient once revered as imperial cuisine in a country of gourmands couldn’t possibly be bad.

’I must have prepared it the wrong way!’

’If that’s the case, I’m willing to gather my courage and try it one more time.’

"Name your price, Lin."

"You want to eat bear paw?"

To be honest, Lin Chen had just been bluffing. He didn’t have the slightest clue how to prepare bear paw, otherwise he wouldn’t have left it frozen in the storeroom for so long.

However, the main reason he hadn’t made it before was the lack of proper conditions and ingredients. Now that he had seasonings, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

"A bear paw is worth far more than lamb, not to mention it will use up a lot of seasonings, you know?"

"Of course. Name your terms, as long as it’s not something like sending me to hunt a bear alone."

Although Andre was confident in his hunting skills, with such rudimentary equipment, he didn’t dare to actively provoke the sovereign of the forest.

As for Lin’s kill... he could only chalk it up to the recklessness of a novice. If Lin had witnessed a bear’s fighting prowess with his own eyes, he probably wouldn’t dare attempt something so risky again.

Lin Chen gestured with his hand to indicate the time. "There’s about half an hour left. Let’s head down. It’s getting a little too chilly standing in the wind on the second floor."

The two had just jumped down from the stairwell when Andre pointed to the footholds carved into the wooden wall. "This thing is convenient for climbing up, but coming down is a bit of a hassle. It’s cold in the winter, and jumping down frequently will damage your knee joints. I’ll upgrade it for you later, embed a few wooden rungs in there."

"Okay."

Since someone was offering free labor, Lin Chen was happy to accept.

Since they were on the topic of bear paws, and he had nothing better to do, he decided to start stewing one right away to see what this supposed main ingredient of imperial cuisine was all about.

He had just reached the door to the rock-wall storeroom when he suddenly froze and put a finger to his lips, making a "shushing" motion at Andre.

Andre froze on the spot, holding his breath and focusing all his attention on his hearing.

Being closer, Lin Chen quietly pressed his ear to the wooden door.

After they fell silent, the whole world seemed to quiet down, and a faint, almost imperceptible sound from within the storeroom slowly grew louder.

"SCRAPE... SCRAPE..."

It sounded like something rubbing against a surface, or maybe like the noise he had made earlier when cutting frozen meat with his knife.

"Is that a pet you’re keeping?"

Andre pointed at the storeroom, his lips forming the words, his eyes questioning.

Lin Chen shook his head and pointed to the shelter’s back door, the one facing the hillside.

Andre understood. He gave an "OK" sign and began to move slowly and silently in that direction, his hand already gripping the Engineer Shovel at his waist.

The floor inside was clear of snow, branches, and leaves, so his steps made absolutely no sound.

But even so, the moment Andre reached the door and gently stepped into the snow outside, the sound from within the storeroom ceased abruptly.

In that instant, Lin Chen yanked the wooden door open. Before he could get a clear look inside, a white shadow shot out from the dim space.

"Andre!"

He shouted while grabbing his hunting bow and rushing outside.

But he was quickly stopped by Andre, who was standing in the yard.

"Put the bow down, Lin."

Andre pointed at the white shadow that had just squeezed through a gap in the fence and shook his head.

"A protected species?"

Lin Chen realized what it was, and a name surfaced in his mind.

Active in the snow during winter, agile, with white fur... there was only one creature it could be.

An Arctic Fox.

The two bent down and peered through the gap between the horizontal branches of the fence.

On the crystalline snow a dozen meters away, a pure white, adorable-looking fox with a piece of meat in its mouth was turning its head to look back at them.

The snow fox, also known as the Arctic Fox, is a white spirit only in the winter. In other seasons, its fur is a grayish-black, making it the veritable ugly duckling of the fox world.

Their population is quite large, and they are not on the endangered list. The main reason they are on the protected hunting list is to preserve the ecological balance.

They share the same food source as the eagle-owl they saw before—in other words, the owl—as well as weasels, skuas, and others. It’s a species that is also the biggest headache for the people living near the Arctic Circle.

Lemmings.

The reproductive ability of lemmings is on a whole other level in the animal kingdom. They can give birth to 12 pups in a single litter and can have 7-8 litters a year. The pups themselves only need about 20 days to reach adulthood and immediately begin to breed.

In just five or six months, a single pair of lemmings can grow into a massive colony with over 1.6 million family members.