Feng Shan hung up the phone with Jie Luo.

He suddenly noticed Tom staring at him with a lecherous expression, just like... just like he was looking at a naked woman.

The hairs on his neck stood up. He’d heard that foreigners could be extremely perverted, and that besides women, they were also very much into men.

’Don’t tell me Tom has the hots for me!’

’Disgusting!!’

Just then, Jennifer, who was sitting to the side, spoke with a beaming smile. "Mr. Feng, could I borrow your satellite phone? I need to contact my company to arrange a shipping time."

"Of course!" As he handed her the phone, Feng Shan subtly shuffled away from Tom.

After getting the satellite phone, Jennifer left the bus.

"Feng, I’d like to develop some business with North Slope Petroleum Company. Could you help me with an introduction?" The clueless Tom completely missed the wariness in Feng Shan’s eyes and kept trying to get closer.

"Sure! No problem!" Feng Shan was genuinely afraid Tom might lunge over and hug him, so he nodded hastily. "How about we all have a drink to celebrate the establishment of the new camp?"

Hearing there was alcohol involved, Tom’s eyes lit up. He rubbed his hands together excitedly. "It’d be even better if we had a party."

’A party, he says.’

’How about I get you a few muscular men while I’m at it?’

Feng Shan sneered inwardly and looked at Nash. "Go to the work shed and get that bottle of liquor I’ve been infusing."

’That bottle of liquor??’

Nash paused for a moment, then got up and left the bus. When he returned, he was cradling a large glass jar, and its contents startled everyone inside.

Soaking in a dark red liquid were several unidentified animal penises, along with some thin, round slices and what looked like twigs and leaves.

"Buddy, what is this?" Tom’s eyes widened as he stared at the items steeping in the jar. He turned to Feng Shan. "Did you steal a specimen jar from a hospital morgue?"

"What the hell do you know!" Feng Shan almost raised his hand to smack the ignorant old fool. "This isn’t some hospital specimen! This is a medicinal liquor we Chinese make. Its name is Two-Whip Antler Liquor. It’s made with Bear Whip, reindeer whip, and slices of antler. I also added honey and some herbs."

"This liquor has powerful restorative properties. Not only does it strengthen the body and act as an aphrodisiac, but it can also enhance one’s beauty. You know about the Emperors of old China, right? They could marry three thousand wives, all thanks to drinking this kind of liquor. I wouldn’t bring this out for just anyone."

What!!

The Emperors of China could marry three thousand wives because of this medicinal liquor? The idea was incredible.

Instantly, the men’s eyes in the small living area grew brighter, while the women secretly glanced at the long, submerged objects in the glass jar, their faces inexplicably turning red.

’The United States has only a little over two hundred years of history. How can it compare to China’s thousands of years of culture?’

’I can spin you guys silly with just a little bit of nonsense off the top of my head.’

Feng Shan twisted open the lid of the glass jar, and a faint, sweet aroma of honey drifted out.

"This is liquor? It’s not just honey water, is it?" Tom leaned toward the mouth of the jar and sniffed, a skeptical look on his face.

’Honey water?’

’Just you wait. You’ll find out how potent this stuff is soon enough.’

’I’d made it myself, using a five-to-one ratio of high-proof spirit to honey, just to mask the taste of the alcohol and herbs.’

’You think this is like the rum or whiskey you usually drink.’

"Want to try some?" Feng Shan asked with a grin.

"Let’s try it!" Tom nodded emphatically. The liquor bug in his gut had been stirred up. Faced with a medicinal liquor that only an Emperor could drink, how could he possibly resist?

Feng Shan nodded with a smile. "Jenny, what do we have in the kitchen to go with drinks? Let’s all have a taste."

"Smoked dried fish, and air-dried venison. I’ll pan-fry some cod, too. It’ll be ready in a minute," Jenny said with a smile as she walked into the kitchen.

Maria brought over glasses and set them on the table.

Feng Shan picked up the liquor jar, looked at the pairs of expectant eyes around the room, and couldn’t help but laugh.

"Tammy and David, you can only have half a glass. This medicinal liquor is potent. Your bodies won’t be able to handle it. Everyone else can only have one glass. If you drink more, you won’t be able to sleep all night."

"Liar. You’re just afraid we’ll drink all your liquor!" Erica said with a look of contempt.

’It’s no use trying to talk a damned ghost out of dying.’ Since he’d already given his warning, Feng Shan decided he’d just wait and watch the spectacle unfold after they drank.

"Suit yourself."

"I’ll pour!" Tom, who had been antsy with anticipation, grabbed the jar and filled a glass to the brim with the medicinal liquor.

Feng Shan raised his glass. "Come on, a toast to breaking ground on the new camp."

Everyone eagerly responded, and for a moment, the room was filled with laughter, chatter, and the clinking of glasses. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Tom picked up his glass and, without a moment’s hesitation, drained it in one gulp.

As it went down, the sweetness of the honey filled his mouth, with only a slight hint of alcohol. His anticipation instantly vanished, replaced by disappointment. He asked,

"Feng, this stuff is weaker than beer. Are you sure this is what the Chinese Emperors drank?"

"Yeah, even girls wouldn’t drink this!" Erica chimed in, fanning the flames.

Yves took a small sip, letting the medicinal liquor rest in his mouth before swallowing it slowly. A fiery sensation shot from his throat straight to his stomach. His eye twitched, but he put down his glass without a word.

"You two can drink it like beer, then," Feng Shan said with a faint smile, then turned to remind David and Tammy to drink slowly.

Seeing that Feng Shan was ignoring her, Erica started drinking with Tom, going glass for glass in a lively back-and-forth.

Before long, a flush crept over both of their faces, and their speech started to become a bit slurred.

"This stuff... really packs a punch!" Tom slurred, his tongue feeling thick.

Erica giggled. "I feel... like I could knock out a bear with one punch right now!"

The others couldn’t help but laugh as they watched the two of them.

"Feng, is my uncle going to be okay?" Andy wasn’t drinking, but he knew Tom’s tolerance. Tom could usually finish a bottle of rum and still be fine to fly a plane, but now, after just a few glasses, he was already drunk.

Feng Shan leisurely took a bite of pan-fried cod, followed by a sip of the medicinal liquor. "He’s fine. But I doubt those two will be getting any sleep tonight."

"So hot, so hot!" Tom tore off his jacket. Beside him, Erica did the same, revealing two heavily tattooed arms, and picked up her glass again.

Nearby, Tammy and Maria were egging them on.

The atmosphere inside the bus grew more and more boisterous.

Just then, Jennifer finished her call and came back onto the bus. Seeing the lively scene inside, with everyone’s faces beaming with smiles, she immediately felt a sense of familial warmth and harmony.

The atmosphere sent a wave of warmth through Jennifer, and the professional expression she usually wore on her face gradually softened.

"Party, party! Have a drink!" Erica raised her glass and called out to her.

Tom drunkenly chimed in, "That’s right! No one’s going home sober tonight!"

Jennifer, unaware of the liquor’s potency, smilingly accepted the glass Erica handed her. "Well then, I guess I’ll let loose a little today, too!"

Everyone cheered as Jennifer drained her glass in one go, a flush rising on her cheeks.

The party lasted until the early hours of the morning.

An entire eleven-pound jar of the Two-Whip Antler Liquor was drunk down to the dregs by the three drunks. Tom was even about to fish out the Bear Whip and eat it.

But Feng Shan stopped him. That was the only "starter" he had for the infusion. If Tom ate it, he’d probably end up pissing blood by morning.

「Late at night.」

The polar night shrouded the vast land. Occasionally, the splendid aurora would appear in the sky, leaping, spinning, and dancing like a fantastical dream.

The ground was covered in a thick blanket of ice and snow, reflecting a cold, clear light under the faint moon and stars.

A biting wind howled, sweeping across the Tundra with bone-chilling cold.

Feng Shan slept soundly in his warm blankets, while outside the window, three figures were huffing and puffing as they ran laps in the windy, open space by the bus.

The medicinal liquor had stimulated their blood flow, making Tom, Erica, and Tammy unbearably hot. They had no choice but to run shirtless, trying to dissipate their body heat.

Their panting was exceptionally clear in the quiet night, and the white puffs of their breath were instantly snatched away by the cold wind.

"Damn this liquor! No wonder the Chinese Emperors could marry three thousand wives! Shit, I’m still hard as a rock! God, please grant me a woman!" Tom muttered, but his feet never stopped moving.

Erica gritted her teeth, her face as red as if it were on fire. Hearing Tom’s words, she instinctively ran a few steps away from him. "Stay away from me! This is all your fault! If I’d known, I wouldn’t have drunk so much!"

Tammy gasped for breath. "Hang in there! We’ll be fine after a few more laps. What kind of liquor is this? It’s so hot!"

Meanwhile, inside, Feng Shan rolled over in his warm bed, a smug smile on his lips as he drifted back to his sweet dreams.

...

At the crack of dawn, a thin glimmer of light quietly pierced the dense darkness of the Arctic Circle.

The reflection off the snow was no longer so cold and clear, but had taken on a soft halo of light.

The sky gradually transitioned from a deep ink-black to a dark blue, as if a giant palette were slowly being blended.

Feng Shan stepped off the bus, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

He took a deep breath of the cold, fresh morning air, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

Gazing at the faintly brightening horizon, he gave a big stretch, loosening up all his muscles and joints.

Yves emerged from the work shed in his cold-weather gear. His biological clock was similar to Feng Shan’s; the only difference was that one was the product of military training, and the other, prison.

"Morning!"

"Morning!"

"How are Tom and the others?" Feng Shan asked with a mischievous grin. The commotion outside the bus before he went to sleep last night had been quite something.

Yves’s lips twitched. He wanted to laugh but felt it wouldn’t be appropriate. "They ran until 5 a.m. and are back in bed now. They probably ran themselves to exhaustion."

"I warned them. Serves them right." Feng Shan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

That jar of medicinal liquor, besides the Bear Whip, Deer Antler, and Antler, also contained epimedium, cistanche, and Goji Berries that his great-uncle had bought. A normal person could handle one or two glasses at most, but those three had finished a whole jar.

"Khilla, those boxes still haven’t been opened," Yves said, pointing to three crates sitting in an open area of the camp.

’Oh, right!’

’I was going to open them yesterday, but got sidetracked by the White Wolves and forgot.’

Feng Shan told Yves to get a crowbar.

The two of them stood before the crates, tore off the outer layer of waterproof tarp, and revealed aluminum alloy cases underneath.

’What’s inside these things? They’re packed so securely.’

’It’s not another surprise from the Wild Bull Tribe, is it??’

Driven by curiosity, Feng Shan undid the latches and opened one of the metal cases.

His eyes immediately went wide.

The top layer inside the case held two AR-15 rifles, the seals on their muzzles still intact.

Yves told Feng Shan not to move. He reached in, picked one up, and expertly racked the bolt. After checking it, he handed it to Feng Shan with a puzzled look and said,

"Khilla, it’s an AR-15 automatic rifle. Brand new."

’Why would the Wild Bull Tribe send me automatic rifles?’

Taking the AR-15, Feng Shan turned it over in his hands. "See what else is underneath."

Yves nodded, took out the remaining AR-15, and removed the foam padding. Beneath it were two more guns.

"A SCAR-L, standard STD version. This is the kind I used in the military!"

...